[J3LLY]

My Ibanez 540P
Had it maybe 25 years lives in a case very rarely used its like new ( I play bass Ibanez SR1200 )
Picked it up as part of a package deal
I understand they are rare and was just looking around the web for information
Found a one for sale ( Reverb ) for crazy money £2,500 ( I'm UK based )
Is that a realistic value

 

[JsXLine6]

That is definitely as close to mint as it gets for a guitar that age... especially one that was played at all. I've seen ones that are super clean go for close to $2K USD... but not 2500 that's pretty crazy. I am not sure about the P but... from memory I think the ones with the mini toggles were only out one year in 1987... That was the case for the 540R, that might make yours worth more, or at least makes it more rare. But your bridge has the newer style arm holder and your neck plate is the newer stye as well... so I doubt it's a 1987. Personally I hate the idea of the mini toggles. It's too difficult to play with those live. That's pretty damn sweet though man! Someone on here might just scoop that thing up.

 

[J3LLY]

That is definitely as close to mint as it gets for a guitar that age... especially one that was played at all. I've seen ones that are super clean go for close to $2K USD... but not 2500 that's pretty crazy. I am not sure about the P but... from memory I think the ones with the mini toggles were only out one year in 1987... That was the case for the 540R, that might make yours worth more, or at least makes it more rare. But your bridge has the newer style arm holder and your neck plate is the newer stye as well... so I doubt it's a 1987. Personally I hate the idea of the mini toggles. It's too difficult to play with those live. That's pretty damn sweet though man! Someone on here might just scoop that thing up.

Thanks for the reply
Have been researching a bit more serial ( 801267 ) returns
Is there a better Ibanez serial finder ?

And found this 540P doc

A couple more photo's

 

[JsXLine6]

A vendor on here, @Rich Harris, he could give you an accurate build date on your guitar. Yours does seem like an early model because you have the Ibanez backstop in the spring claw cavity. They didn't do that for very long. Rich is the encyclopedia of everything Ibanez.

 

[J3LLY]

Thanks I'll get a message out to Rich
Also found this 540P

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Nice guitar, and certainly one of the cleanest of that model I've seen. The Backstop alone is a pricey part, and you have the additional original case candy. It's a 1988, which had no tone control and the volume + toggles in a line. Colour is DG.

For dating and serial numbers, see info here: https://www.ibanezrules.com/catalogs/reference/dating.htm. When you're advertising the sale, it's enough to state the year.

£2500 is overkill, imo. Though these weren't around for long, they were still regular production instruments. By this definiton, every other Ibanez produced for a year or two is rare and should have massive markup! For those prices, you're getting into signature model territory. However, given the condition, the Backstop and other candy, you could still get a decent price for it, as old Ibanez stuff has gone up in recent years. I would agree with JsXLine6, $2000 (£1500) is more realistic.

 

[J3LLY]

Nice guitar, and certainly one of the cleanest of that model I've seen. The Backstop alone is a pricey part, and you have the additional original case candy. It's a 1988, which had no tone control and the volume + toggles in a line. Colour is DG.

For dating and serial numbers, see info here: https://www.ibanezrules.com/catalogs/reference/dating.htm. When you're advertising the sale, it's enough to state the year.

£2500 is overkill, imo. Though these weren't around for long, they were still regular production instruments. By this definiton, every other Ibanez produced for a year or two is rare and should have massive markup! For those prices, you're getting into signature model territory. However, given the condition, the Backstop and other candy, you could still get a decent price for it, as old Ibanez stuff has gone up in recent years. I would agree with JsXLine6, $2000 (£1500) is more realistic.

Thanks for the reply and link