mike gregory - Posted - 10/18/2008:  19:59:39

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Friend of mine has an Ibanez ARTIST tenor.
He called Ibanez for info, and the persons he was transferred around to, all claimed that (as far as THEY know) Ibanez never made any.

So, since they may be fairly new guys at the job, and the banjo is minimum 20, max 40 years old, I figured I'd ask 30,000 people in fifty nations:

Anybody else HAVE one?

If it's that rare, it might be valuable just for being rare.

=):{ )
Mike Gregory, Banjo Maker Infraordinaire
When I say my instruments are as good as anything Gibson or Martin ever made,
I mean MEL Gibson and DEAN Martin!


My banjos can be seen on my own website
http://littlebanjos.lunare.net

banjopickingbuddy - Posted - 10/18/2008:  20:12:15

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According to their catalog they made them. Models 590TB 592TB and 589TB some catalog pictures at
http://www.noahjames.com/vintagepage/banjo.html

banjopickingbuddy

banjonz - Posted - 10/18/2008:  20:25:20

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You beat me to it buddy. While the catalogue shows the various 'Artist' models, I personally have never seen one. I would certainly doubt if I would place it's rarity in the same region are more famous older brands. At the end of the day, an instrument is only as worth what someone is willing to pay.

Wayne
New Zealand


Having smoking sections in restaurants makes about as much sense as having peeing sections in swimming pools!

stanger - Posted - 10/19/2008:  12:32:00

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Hi, Mike...
Ibanez DID make tenors! I don't own one, but during the 70's, the large music store here was the West Coast distributor for Ibanez. (still are, but their territory is smaller now). I played at least a half dozen tenors in the showroom. They also made plectrums, but I have never played one. I did take a look at one, though... just checked it out briefly.

While it's probable that the tenors are rarer than the 5-strings, I don't believe that they are all that hard to find. Ibanez may have sold many more in Europe than here in the U.S. because the tenor was more popular on the other side of the pond. The Ibanez brand name was used primarily in the U.S. and Canada; Hoshino sold the same instruments under the Blue Bell name and several others elsewhere. Courtney Johnson played a Blue Bell he acquired in Japan that in all respects was identical to a stock Ibanez.

Besides making tenors in the Artist series, which was the top o' the line, Ibanez also made them in cheaper lines that weren't imported as widely as the Artist banjos.

The Artist line had several divisions within it- Ibanez used the wreath inlays and maple for most of the Artist models, but some had maple and simple diamond inlays, and some were made from mahogany w/ flying eagle inlays. The top of the Artist line had an abbreviated vine inlay that didn't go all the way up and down the neck and was stained a dark walnut. The vine Ibanez' are rare in both their guitars, electric guitars and banjos. I never saw a vine tenor, but I'll bet they made a few.

By around 1978, Ibanez dropped the Gibson fiddle pegehad and the wreath inlays. The Artist series became the top of the line with only one model design, and had it's own peghead shape. The inlays were replaced with Ibanez' own design, and a sunburst finish was adopted as standard, rather than the blonde natural finish seen on the earlier ones. The banjo sales were tapering off rapidly by this time, and the new design only lasted for a couple of years before Ibanez quit making banjos.

I don't know why they never re-entered the banjo market in the late 90's when it began to boom again. They gained a good reputation, and the banjos were uniformly good in their quality.

At least some of the Ibanez catalogs aren't to be trusted, especially the earlier ones. The company must have translated some of their Japanese catalogs into English and did a simple past-up on at least a couple... I know I had at least one that offered products I never saw, and asked about. During the last years, I designed a banjo for them that was offered in a late catalog- in fact, it was on the cover- but was never produced, as far as I know, past the prototype I own.

I also designed their Bi-Centennial banjo, and it was produced in 2 runs of 76 each (one for the East Coast, one for the West), but Ibanez never produced any flyers for it, and it was never mentioned in their catalogs. There are some of these banjos in Japan, and I played one in Utah about a year after they were introduced. A friend of mine in Arizona also owns one. These are the true rarities.

You can see pictures of both in the photo section of my home page.
regards,
Stanger

The pen is mightier than the pigs.

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Edited by - stanger on 10/19/2008 12:47:18

banjopickingbuddy - Posted - 10/20/2008:  07:37:36

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Hi Stanger,
Interested in your comments about the Artist being top of the line, assume you mean top of the line tenor model right?
IMHO the Artist is a pretty poor excuse for a banjo. Alu pot. Cheap constuction bad plating and poor sound, how did it ever get to be top of the line?
You then go on to say that in 1978 the Artist became the top of the line, How then In 1982 In Singapore I purchased a Mountaineer BJ350G which I still own, I also have the 1982-1983 Catalog which does not list any Artist models at all. Only Mountaineer. Hunter and Blue Mountain, is that a tenor model? sure looks like it. Assume by then they had dropped the dreadful Artist model right?
Would love to see the 2 banjo's you mention are on your web page but must be getting old or something, can't find your URL what is it please?



banjopickingbuddy

banjonz - Posted - 10/20/2008:  11:37:33

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Mike, the link to the catalogue you posted doesn't show the alu pot ones. It shows the range then of the 'Artist' instruments that definitely shows substantial top-of-the-line ones. I don't know the banjo model you are referring to. You may be referring to a later catalogue. To view Stangers banjos, click on his avatar which will take to his homepage here. Go to the bottom of the page and click on 'Stangers banjos'. The instruments are right there.

Wayne
New Zealand


Having smoking sections in restaurants makes about as much sense as having peeing sections in swimming pools!

tonyT - Posted - 10/20/2008:  19:50:10

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In the late '70s I owned an Ibanez Artist (591 FB 5-str.) which was a great banjo. It was blonde maple, fiddle peghead, wreath pattern, tube & plate flange, flathead, and chrome plated (definitely NOT aluminum). The craftsmanship, sound, and playability were all very good. I wish I still had it!

Proud owner of an ''07 Hatfield Custom

stanger - Posted - 10/21/2008:  04:31:03

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quote:

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Originally posted by banjopickingbuddy

Hi Stanger,
Interested in your comments about the Artist being top of the line, assume you mean top of the line tenor model right?
IMHO the Artist is a pretty poor excuse for a banjo. Alu pot. Cheap constuction bad plating and poor sound, how did it ever get to be top of the line?
You then go on to say that in 1978 the Artist became the top of the line, How then In 1982 In Singapore I purchased a Mountaineer BJ350G which I still own, I also have the 1982-1983 Catalog which does not list any Artist models at all. Only Mountaineer. Hunter and Blue Mountain, is that a tenor model? sure looks like it. Assume by then they had dropped the dreadful Artist model right?
Would love to see the 2 banjo's you mention are on your web page but must be getting old or something, can't find your URL what is it please?



banjopickingbuddy

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Hi, buddy...
Like I mentioned, Hoshino didn't import everything they made to the U.S.

Here, the Artist series were excellent banjos with wood rims, tube&plate flange, cast brass tone ring, chrome plated parts, ebony fingerboards with real pearl inlays, and Gotoh tuners. Almost all were blonde maple.

The Artist series included all 3 common banjos- tenor, plectrum, and 5-string. I know Hoshino made mando-banjos, but they were never sold in the U.S.

The company may well have used the Artist name on less good banjos exported elsewhere. I don't know what they exported to other Asian countries at all. The Ibanez name is one of several the company owns- it is possible that they used one of their other brand names for the banjos that were branded Ibanez here in the U.S.

The original Artist line that was imported here was confusing. There were a lot- too many- versions on a theme, with some prices higher or lower, all bearing the block inlay with the Artist engraving in it. When their banjos were re-designed, the simplified the line to just those 3 you mentioned. The Mountaineer I designed was never made, and only featured in one catalog that was issued for about a year. When the final catalog was printed, the name was assigned to a banjo originall called the Woodsman. That one is yours.

Though the line was simplfied, all were offered in the 3 versions, as before. there was never a banjo that was only made in a tenor version that I know of.

I designed the banjo in early 1978, and received the prototype later that year. The revised line didn't enter the U.S. until mid 1979. Your 1982 is a very late one, and by then, Ibanez was sending almost no banjos to the U.S.

That banjo you mentioned is the one I call the Banjo From Hell. It has been around forever under hundreds of different brand names and is still being imported here to the U.S. I agree with you on it's quality, although there are better and worse versions.

To view my banjos, just click on my Hell Rooster picture; that will put you on my home page, and there, you will see a Photos section. There are several folders in my picutres section, but you'll be able to spot them if you dig around.
regards,
Stanger

The pen is mightier than the pigs.

mps.bob - Posted - 10/21/2008:  06:44:31

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I have an Ibanez tenor that is gold plated , two piece flange, forty hole flathead and is rosewood. Very attractive and good sounding. There is a maple plectrum Artist here in Memphis , that a member of The Streamboat Strummers(a four string banjo band) plays. Also sounds wonderful.

mps.bob - Posted - 10/21/2008:  06:44:32

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I have an Ibanez tenor that is gold plated , two piece flange, forty hole flathead and is rosewood. Very attractive and good sounding. There is a maple plectrum Artist here in Memphis , that a member of The Streamboat Strummers(a four string banjo band) plays. Also sounds wonderful.

Lorix - Posted - 10/26/2008:  14:52:55

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quote:

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Originally posted by banjonz

You beat me to it buddy. While the catalogue shows the various 'Artist' models, I personally have never seen one. I would certainly doubt if I would place it's rarity in the same region are more famous older brands. At the end of the day, an instrument is only as worth what someone is willing to pay.

Wayne
New Zealand


Having smoking sections in restaurants makes about as much sense as having peeing sections in swimming pools!

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Having smoking sections in restaurants makes about as much sense as having peeing sections in swimming pools!

LOL :-D

Norman Clegg - Posted - 04/23/2009:  07:16:07

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1st post here at the Forum....!

I purchased my Artist 593 FB-BR back around 1990. I play very little bluegrass and I'm not usually interested in resonator banjos, but this one was/is so visually pleasing, with great versatility in tone & action.....and is very well-made, to boot. The hanging tag was marked "1978" but I suppose it could be a 1977 product, as pictured in the '77 catalogue. It came with the original crushed-blue-velvet-lined case.

I played it a lot for a year or so after I bought it. I put heavy gauge steel strings & the thickest, thumpiest Remo head I could find on it, as I usually frailed it and wanted a warmer, cluckier tone (which I got). Nice little player; not extraordinary....but very nice. MASSIVE volume.


The banjo hadn't seen the light of day in years, so I recently took it out for a drive. There's a couple of things I'd definitely change in the setup but it's still a fine banjo and I wouldn't even think about letting it go.

(.....and let me tell ya, this little gem is in flawless condition; it looks like it literally just rolled off the line....!)


Incidentally, all I've been seeing & reading about this model indicates that everyone seems to have the blonde finish; mine is the only brown finish I've encountered. Anyone else out there have the brown finish model?




Best to all from ol'' Cleggy

RMH - Posted - 04/23/2009:  08:03:05

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http://www.4stringbanjos.com/1_TENORBANJOS.html

Here's one.

Ron

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Edited by - RMH on 04/23/2009 08:04:01

goldtopia - Posted - 04/23/2009:  08:48:20

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I had an Ibanez Artist in the 70s. I sold it cheaply because I needed the money and have have regretted it since. They may not be up to the standards of today but it was one of the very best at that time. It was a good Mastertone clone, thats why its worth a lot of money now. The Japaneses stopped making it because of rising costs. Anything the Japanese do they do well and were unable to maintain the standard of costs to continue manufacture. Ibanez banjos are still eagerly sought after and I would like one, though I cannot afford one.

Bill.O

www.bluegrassminstrels.co.uk

beegee - Posted - 04/23/2009:  17:14:32

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I have never seen a US-imported Ibanez Artist that wasn't first-rate, 2PF, Gibson-like components. I've owned 2, wish I had another.

There is an Ibanez Artist open-back on ebay that is indeed a cheapie and I was surprised to see it.

__________________________
"It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing." -Seneca

stanger - Posted - 04/25/2009:  10:51:13

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Yup. The Artist series was pretty extensive. Most of them were blonde maple, with slightly modified wreath inlays in an ebony board.
They Artist line also included the same banjo with simple diamond inlays, and one mahogany model with flying eagle inlays.

Around 1976i-77, they extended the line with a banjo that was maple stained dark tobacco brown, gold plating, and had an abbreviated vine inlay in the board. These banjos had armrests with an etched 'engraving' pattern, and some had a shaved pearl floral center inlay on the back of the resonator, in a circular vine shape. Others had 2 multi-purfled concentric rings, as did all the blondes.

I can attest to their durabiltiy, for sure. I designed the Bi-Centenntial model for them, and used it as my primary gigging banjo for over 30 years. Although it's retired now, it's still ready to go to work. I swapped tone rings on it after I bought a very early Kulish Earl Scruggs ring, and it's very good sounding.
regards,
Stanger

The pen is mightier than the pigs.

Charley wild - Posted - 04/25/2009:  15:51:23

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I owned the same model except it was the gold version. (592G) I bought it used in the early 80's. It was a dandy banjo with nice tone and ring. A lot of banjo for the money!

quote:

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Originally posted by tonyT

In the late '70s I owned an Ibanez Artist (591 FB 5-str.) which was a great banjo. It was blonde maple, fiddle peghead, wreath pattern, tube & plate flange, flathead, and chrome plated (definitely NOT aluminum). The craftsmanship, sound, and playability were all very good. I wish I still had it!

Proud owner of an ''07 Hatfield Custom

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"The dogs bark but the caravan moves on"
Arab proverb