1994 Ibanez Talman TV650

guitarz.blogspot.com

The Ibanez Talman is a typical example of a series of great guitars that didn't find their players - between 1994 and 1998 several varations of the Talman were released, with different designs, woods (including a composite wood known as Resoncast), and pickups (humbuckers, minibuckers, lipsticks, P90s and different combinations), then the model disappeared, I feel, before anybody even had the time to notice that Ibanez could do something else than JEMs.

This beautiful Ibanez Talman TV650 seems to be a poly-hybrid - the body and the pickguard merge Telecaster and Firebird designs, with a typically Japanese long lower horn, the pickups are two mini humbuckers and a lipstick in central position, a rare but quite logic combination, the knobs and the switch come directly from a stratocaster but the control/jack plate that belongs to the Talman but fuse Tele and Strat gear in a genius strike.

I'm usually not a fan of golden gear but there it fits perfectly the the cream finish of the Resoncast body and the perloid binding. It's a superb instrument and it's a pity that it's been discontinued so quickly, it had the potential of a classic - we need news classics, the old ones are tired and boring. 

Look at another Talman here.

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Danelectro Mod 7

guitarz.blogspot.com

This Danelectro Mod 7 is a guitar to my heart! It has everything, the design - look at that blobish mother-of-toilet-seat pickguard! - the personality - did you ever hear of a 7-string with lipstick humbuckers? - plenty of cool technical details like the six-way rotary switch for pickups combinations plus an extra switch to go to lead mode with the 3 pickups in series, and the concentric tone/volume knob. 

It has the typical Danelectro masonite chambered body with a classical yet original one cutaway design, lipstick pickups with a double one in bridge position, a slightly gold sparkle black finish... A perfect combination of vintage feel and innovation, it's been strangely short lived in the late 90s, I guess that it's again one of these too brilliant guitars that didn't find its market because people just want cheap Les Paul clones... Well let me tell you, yesterday I was gigging with my Dan'o Longhorn Baritone plugged on a Sovtek Big Muff Pi and a Marshall bass combo a and I had the most terrific sound one can expect from a guitar!

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Fernandes Rieko and Maki Tele

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Of the weird and wonderful guitars we showcase here on Guitarz, some which I enjoy the most are the often surreal (to us Westerners anyway) instruments associated with Japanese bands. This left-handed Tele-style guitar from Fernandes is adorned with photos of Rieko Miura and Maki Miyamae from J-Pop group Coco, who were active from 1989-1994.

I'm guessing this guitar was a souvenir item for sale to fans. I can't imagine it being used by the group in a live situation. I mean, who'd play a guitar with a picture of themself on it? It does beg the question, why are only two of the group featured on the guitar and were the other members represented on a different guitar? Also, as it is left-handed, was there also a right-handed guitar (surely?) and if so, how did the artwork differ or was it merely a mirror image?

Granted, this is an extremely cheesy guitar but one that I find fascinating.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

90s Acoustic Dean

guitarz.blogspot.com

This electro-acoustic guitar from Dean has something vulgar that is almost exciting (like Patricia Arquette wearing pink leopard-print leggings and lake placid blue lace bra in True Romance, if you see what I mean..) I cannot find anything about it on the Web, though it's just from the 90s and from an important company, and not some brandless Japanese cheapo from the 60s - if anybody has info, it's welcome.

I'm busy with electro-acoustic guitars lately, and quite desperate to see that they are at 99% even more conservative than electric ones ; that's why I chose to show this one here: even if I think it's quite ugly, at least it tries something different.

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Ibanez Talman TC420

guitarz.blogspot.com

OK, OK, OK, lately we've been showing plenty of über-cool guitars, vintage ones, rare ones, exotic ones, custom ones, but guitars need also to be simple, humble, cheap, practical, mainstream and still cool, such as this Ibanez Talman TC420 - a short lived model that existed in many versions but only between 1994 and 1998 (there still is an acoustic version).

The Jazzmaster-shaped Talman was first made of fiberboard (a MDF called Resoncast) with lipstick single coils à la Dan'o, then with mini-humbuckers, humbuckers, P90s and different pickups combinations, then it shifted to different kinds of woods - this is the case of the basswood TC420 that is one of the later models. I like several things on this guitar, particularly the strat/tele control plate with one knob and the jack socket (I wish I'd find one of these for my projects - I love one knob guitars) and the perloid pickguard (I usually don't like perloid but here it fits), but in general this guitar has a good feel (and I don't hate Ibanez just because Steve Vai is a show-off)(too many brackets).

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!