I finally get you guys! (Ibanez content inside)

[seekfreed]

Well, after a few dabbles into Ibanez territory (PGM401-TFB, Xiphos and a cheap RG) I found myself not really connecting with the brand.
Up until this point!
Before I got this old girl I tried a Strandberg Boden for about half a year just to find that they are not for me as well. The build quality of it was top notch and I loved the endure neck, but the whole thing was just too tiny for me. What the Boden did was ignite my desire to get a HSS guitar with a trem that I could connect to.

So one day I stumbeld upon a relatively cheap "vintage" Ibanez and said f*ck it. Here are the pics!











If I did my research right this should be a 1989 (missed my birthyear by just a couple of months) Ibanez 540S. It has been beat to hell and back when you look and all the cratches and blemishes, but man that thing sings! I was surprised by how much I like this slim Wizard neck and the clarity of a 30 year old humbucker...
I've changed the middle and neck PU to a Gorilla custom P90 (sc size) set and love it even more now. The old single coils were lacking life and didn't have any real dynamics (I've read something about them being noiseless, maybe thats the reason).
A big bonus was the relatively recent and decent refret it recieved.
This Sabre will be my beloved everyday workhorse for standard tunings.


It might not be an used prestige but I guess I have joined the Ibby fan club now!

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Congrats! Classic Sabers are fantastic instruments.

 

[Shawn]

Very nice score!

 

[SonicBlur]

Those 80's-90's MIJ Ibanez are absolutely incredible! Congrats!!

 

[TheBlackBard]

Ah shit... that is gorgeous, just gorgeous. Awesome score, congrats!!!

 

[odibrom]

One can't go wrong with a Saber. Congrats!

 

[jaxadam]

Told you

 

[Kyle Jordan]

The S is the best design Ibanez has made. It kind of gets the "middle child" soft neglect from the company because it doesn't sell as well as the RG or even the AZ now, but there have been many fantastic S models over the years.

Congrats! I hope the guitar serves you well.

 

[Wolfhorsky]

What a great score. HNGD!!!

 

[aesthyrian]

1992 MIJ HSS Sabre... god damn man you did it right! I'm jealous as fuck.

Does this one have an AANJ or the bolt on neck plate? I can't remember if they started with the AANJ on sabres in '92 or '93.

and technically.. it is a used prestige as the prestige moniker didn't exist yet and this is still MIJ Fujigen like any current prestige model.

 

[Albake21]

One of us... one of us....

HNGD! Looks like an awesome score.

 

[tedtan]

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but I think that color is laser red (they had three reds in ‘89), but it’s definitely an ‘89, so that would be a 1989 540SLR.

And as someone above mentioned, this is a “pre-Prestige”, made with Prestige quality and parts in the same Fujigen factory that makes the Prestige line, just made before they were called Prestige.

Here’s the catalog page from the 1989 catalog.

 

[IbanezDaemon]

Great score! That's a killer Saber model!