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desert rose - Posted - 03/11/2010: 03:12:45
In that condition he is he could win the lottery before he gets half what he wants
No collectors value at all
Its a well used Japanese banjo
Scott
shano - Posted - 03/11/2010: 03:28:14
Thanks Scott, just about what i thought. I have seen a few in very good condition go for around the £300 mark in the UK so coupled with the cost of having it prettied up i was thinking he will be lucky to get over £50......(about $75 for my US friends)
joemac - Posted - 03/11/2010: 03:37:26
I agree, its in poor shape, however in it's defence it was the best of the bunch by far in its day as far a asian banjo's went. it is rare in gold and they play amazingly well, great tone etc. Ibanez did a great job on that model. However you are absolutley right, it is grossly over priced, still i bet it's a good £500 worth, even today, in that nick. just an oppinion.
beegee - Posted - 03/11/2010: 04:05:39
1200 GBP = $1793.88 U.S. Dollars. Uh......no.
I think no more than $250 USD (167 GBP) "IF" someone wanted a fixer-upper or beater.
JIMBO53 - Posted - 03/11/2010: 05:23:04
There are 3 Ibanez Artist's in the classifieds going for $800-$1k, and this is before you get your "best price out the door". For what it is these are good banjos but will never really be collectable. I would think the only Asian banjo that holds it value and is considered collectable are the late 70's-early 80's Gold Stars.
alanjg1 - Posted - 03/11/2010: 14:53:01
I'm happy to be corrected here but I have a feeling that this isn't an Ibanez Artist. I think it is an early pre Artist Ibanez.
I seem to recall that the Artist banjos had a multi-ply rim. I am pretty sure that this one will have a 3 ply hard maple rim. I asked the seller. Let's see if he replies.
I have one for sale that looks like this but it is in almost mint condition. It has a solid 3 ply rim, Ibanez on the peghead but I can't see 'Artist' anywhere.
It is extremely well made with a much better finish than the Artist banjo that I once owned.
Like I said, I'm happy to be corrected and I probably will be!!
Cheers
Alan
Edited by - alanjg1 on 03/11/2010 14:56:20
opotable - Posted - 03/11/2010: 15:20:52
alan, i don't want to argue with you on the details cos i don't know. but shoot me some pics and a price on yer banjo, my brother in otley could look at it for me if it seems interesting.
shano - Posted - 03/12/2010: 00:17:55
Alanjg....i would be interested in your banjo....where is it advertised.
Banjowen - Posted - 03/12/2010: 01:13:16
I owned an Ibanez Artist (with the vine inlay)for 18 years...In 2005 the year that I sold it, they were being sold in UK music shops for around £800, and thats what I sold mine for, in my opinion they were one of the best Japanese Gibson copies ever made.
Banjowen - Posted - 03/12/2010: 01:24:42
quote:
Originally posted by beegee
1200 GBP = $1793.88 U.S. Dollars. Uh......no.
I think no more than $250 USD (167 GBP) "IF" someone wanted a fixer-upper or beater.
Beegee, forgive me but your talking silly, I know we're not talking "American" banjos here but Ibanez banjos where/are decent instruments, and £167 in my opinion is insulting to Ibanez banjo owners.
shano - Posted - 03/12/2010: 03:43:36
Owen, £167 would indeed be an insult to Ibanez owners but the condition of this one is very poor...quite a few dinks all over, the resonator in particular looks poor and the condition of the lacquer makes me think it has been exposed to water by whatever means at some point . Could be a victim of poor storage in high humidity area or something but the general overall appearance would lead me to question its worth, especially as an auction item where its playability will not be known until you get your hands on it.
As a 'sold as seen' item, based on those pictures and the vague description, I would not offer over a £100 for it.
Take a look at the second link I posted, the one that went for just short of £400.....far superior condition.
I'll also add that I have asked a couple of questions of the seller and had no replys so that also sets me off wondering.
Edited by - shano on 03/12/2010 03:57:51
shano - Posted - 03/12/2010: 10:27:55
Now says sold for £800.....thats a whole lot of cash for something that condition...unless he's telling a few porkies.
alanjg1 - Posted - 03/12/2010: 10:52:58
The seller seemed genuine.
I asked how many plies were in the rim. He replied that it looked like 3.
Also he told me that he had an offer of £800 which he was going to accept unless I wanted to bid.
It's probably a nice banjo even though the pics didn't do it justice. Also a rare model.
Neck needs re-finishing or it could probably be turned into a speed neck quite easily.
Alan
shano - Posted - 03/12/2010: 13:47:26
Alan, he never answered my questions but he had an offer on the other day of the first one to come up with £500 got it which makes me wonder what is going on.
Caveat emptor as they say. I guess it could well be a bargain for someone but without seeing it in the flesh and hearing it, I would be very dubious.
stanger - Posted - 03/14/2010: 10:55:44
quote:
Originally posted by alanjg1
I'm happy to be corrected here but I have a feeling that this isn't an Ibanez Artist. I think it is an early pre Artist Ibanez.
I seem to recall that the Artist banjos had a multi-ply rim. I am pretty sure that this one will have a 3 ply hard maple rim. I asked the seller. Let's see if he replies.
I have one for sale that looks like this but it is in almost mint condition. It has a solid 3 ply rim, Ibanez on the peghead but I can't see 'Artist' anywhere.
It is extremely well made with a much better finish than the Artist banjo that I once owned.
Like I said, I'm happy to be corrected and I probably will be!!
Cheers
Alan
Hi, Alan... It probably had a multi-ply rim, as you said. I've never seen a stock Ibanez with a 3-ply. The plies are also metric, so they differ in width from the U.S. multi-plies. Actually, that banjo is a late model, one of the last series Ibanez made. It was made somewhere between late 1978 to 1981 at the latest. The Ibanez copies from the early to mid '70s are structurally the same, but the wood finish, peghead shapes and inlays are much different on the later ones. The neck finish failure is very curious to me. While the entire banjo is grubby and the gold is largely worn off, that's to be expected on any banjo that is never cleaned. Ibanez used a catalyzed polyester finish on their banjos that is bomb-proof- the stuff is very hard and resistant to scratching. The milky look of the neck finish indicates the polyester's bonding to the wood has failed, and I've never seen it before on an Ibanez. The polyester was either scratched completely off at some place on the neck, allowing moisture to get between wood and finish, or it was a bad batch of finish. The materials also could have been mixed improperly, which is more understandable than a bad batch of factory supplied material, as the catalyst is added just before the spraying process begins. The colors on the reso are also very curious- they are very unlike any Ibanez I've ever seen in their extreme color contrast. It's possible that this banjo may have been made in Korea, shortly after Ibanez moved most of it's production equipment there in the '80s. I have never seen a Korean-made Ibanez banjo, but anything's possible when a company makes a big move like that. The biggest problem is always the new labor force, and with a language difference, I'm sure a lot of stuff was lost in translation. regards, stanger
alanjg1 - Posted - 03/14/2010: 11:38:41
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the comment. This is all interesting stuff.
For anyone who is interested in this stuff I have posted some pics of it on my homepage as I don't know how to post them in the thread.
I bought my Ibanez some years back from the original purchaser I believe and it was virtually untouched and unmolested. No rim change or anything.
I have only ever seen a couple of these like mine and they had three ply rims. I also owned a blonde Artist model and that had the multi ply rim as did a friends Artist banjo. They were still very nice instruments though.
You can see the wood is very much like the eBay banjo that started this thread.
This one of mine was made in Japan. The sticker is still on the back of the peghead.
Cheers
Alan
opotable - Posted - 03/14/2010: 17:09:44
thanks for the photos alan.
shano - Posted - 03/15/2010: 01:56:52
Beautiful condition Alan.....mind is working overtime at the minute mulling a few things over.
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