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Obsession, Part 3, My 1979 Ibanez ST-50 #J704333


T he Ibanez guitars in my collection always have had a special place in my heart, and I will show you my small collection in chronological order. 

I would say that by far they are the most outstanding player grade instruments that one can buy. The market is slowly catching on to some of them, like the Les Paul copies and other direct knockoffs like the Modernist Series (Gibson Flying V, Explorer, and Moderne copies). In my quest to get more vintage Ibanez guitars into the stable, I started looking at what the had to offer a player that was not looking for a pristine and expensive wall hanger. I think the Studio models of  the late 70's and early 80's are the perfect place to start. HERE is a link to the original Reverb listing of my guitar.

My Studio 50 (ST50) is one Ibanez models from the beginning of the post-lawsuit era. The serial number indicates it was built in October 1979. I would assume that it was built in the famous FjiGen Gakki factory in Japan, a place known for making some of the best instruments ever produced. The Studio series came out in 1978 and included several models with the ST-50, ST-100, ST-200, and the ST-300 being the most popular. The higher number models have fancy active electronics circuits and all sorts of tiny switches. 

The ST50 is the simplest model, and I actually prefer the simpler electronics and knob configuration. The three knobs are a master volume and tone for the two V-2 pickups, although many examples seem to only have one volume and one tone. I would describe these pickups as rather high output and good for clean or distortion sounds. I don't think this guitar goes great with fuzz, as they are a tad muddy. You can hear it in action here on the tune, "Fripping Out." You can tell that the pickups are a little mushy at times, which can be used to great effect, but in all I think you need to back of the gain to really make this guitar sound its best. 


The guitar has nickel chrome hardware and sports a slightly offset shape mahogany body, somewhere between Les Paul and SG, although it is on the thinner side, more SG like. In 1980, the body was switched to birch. The large, post lawsuit headstock shape reminds me a lot of the Roland guitar synths of the 80s, and I believe that they were made in the same FujiGen factory. The headstock is used on many of the Ibanez from this era, and the Musician series are very close in design. I would say that the body shape would appeal to someone who wanted a guitar for a Dead cover band, as they have that 70's Alembic/custom builder kind of vibe. I find that like may SG type guitars, the guitar doe suffer from neck dive. I tend to find it more comfortable to sit with. If I were to gig with it, I would probably have to go very low strung with it, or high up in a Robert Fripp-esque fashion. 

The maple laminated neck has a plain dot-neck rosewood board. The next is extremely flat, and it is quite chunky especially towards the body. I really like the neck for intricate picky and chord playing, but I would not take it to a blues gig, as I find it a tad too flat for bending notes. The frets are quite large, and I find it really easy to play. It would make an excellent solid body jazz guitar. The longer 25.5" scale length is nice, as it creates a tight feel. If you like to pick heavily, this guitar is a total shred machine. Lots of access, lots of frets, and straight as an arrow! 

Below are my pics of the guitar as well as those from the seller's listing. If you like old player grade guitars, I don't think you can go wrong with the ST50. 

Here are the SPECS. 









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