ibanezgitarrero
Ready to RAWK.
Hi again,
here is (yet) another rather special guitar you won't find very often: An Ibanez SC500NNT, serial number F97..., made in Japan. This particular model appeared in the catalogs 1998 and 1999 exclusively. It came into my hands back in 2003.
It is a hybrid construction, that is, basically a classical guitar with nylon strings, but it comes in the shape and with many features of a solid-body electric guitar. In this case, a modified version of the well-known Saber body made of Mahogany with a laminated Spruce top was used. Around the body's outline there is a sort of inlaid binding with three black stripes. A 2-piece mahogany neck is bolt on, featuring the All Access Neck Joint. The Rosewood fingerboard - its scale length of 25.1" is somewhere between the standard measures of Strat and Les Paul - has 22 relatively small frets and beautiful medium-sized Abalone dots. Also, two Abalone dots cover the bolts or screws that mount the wooden bridge. The body is finished in a high-gloss clear coat, while the neck and the back of the headstock feel more natural, like a matte finish. The slotted headstock has an inlaid Ibanez logo at the very top and classical side-mount tuning pegs with attractive tortoise-like heads. To improve the looks, I have replaced the ugly stock rubber knobs by dome-style wooden knobs made from Rosewood.
The SC500N is extremely lightweight and perfectly balanced. For the shorter scale length, I tend to use a set of extra high-tension nylon strings, because otherwise the strings would feel too sloppy. The mechanical vibration of the strings is transferred into an electrical signal through six separate piezo transducers inside the bridge. A battery-powered preamp is on board, with a volume pot, a 2-band equalizer for highs and lows and an extra battery compartment on the back. This allows for a very easy 9V-block replacement using just a fingernail.
Without amplification, I think all hybrid guitars like the SC500 and others are pretty much useless - except for practising in a quiet room. On stage or for recording, you definitely need amplification, and the way you amplify the instrument contributes a lot to its tone. From my experience, the SC500's pickup and preamp system delivers a very well balanced and "high fidelity" sound with no overpronounced (or attenuated) frequencies whatsoever. I achieve the best results when plugging directly into the console - a very natural and direct sound.
Here are the pics!
here is (yet) another rather special guitar you won't find very often: An Ibanez SC500NNT, serial number F97..., made in Japan. This particular model appeared in the catalogs 1998 and 1999 exclusively. It came into my hands back in 2003.
It is a hybrid construction, that is, basically a classical guitar with nylon strings, but it comes in the shape and with many features of a solid-body electric guitar. In this case, a modified version of the well-known Saber body made of Mahogany with a laminated Spruce top was used. Around the body's outline there is a sort of inlaid binding with three black stripes. A 2-piece mahogany neck is bolt on, featuring the All Access Neck Joint. The Rosewood fingerboard - its scale length of 25.1" is somewhere between the standard measures of Strat and Les Paul - has 22 relatively small frets and beautiful medium-sized Abalone dots. Also, two Abalone dots cover the bolts or screws that mount the wooden bridge. The body is finished in a high-gloss clear coat, while the neck and the back of the headstock feel more natural, like a matte finish. The slotted headstock has an inlaid Ibanez logo at the very top and classical side-mount tuning pegs with attractive tortoise-like heads. To improve the looks, I have replaced the ugly stock rubber knobs by dome-style wooden knobs made from Rosewood.
The SC500N is extremely lightweight and perfectly balanced. For the shorter scale length, I tend to use a set of extra high-tension nylon strings, because otherwise the strings would feel too sloppy. The mechanical vibration of the strings is transferred into an electrical signal through six separate piezo transducers inside the bridge. A battery-powered preamp is on board, with a volume pot, a 2-band equalizer for highs and lows and an extra battery compartment on the back. This allows for a very easy 9V-block replacement using just a fingernail.
Without amplification, I think all hybrid guitars like the SC500 and others are pretty much useless - except for practising in a quiet room. On stage or for recording, you definitely need amplification, and the way you amplify the instrument contributes a lot to its tone. From my experience, the SC500's pickup and preamp system delivers a very well balanced and "high fidelity" sound with no overpronounced (or attenuated) frequencies whatsoever. I achieve the best results when plugging directly into the console - a very natural and direct sound.
Here are the pics!
Now that's cool!! I wish I had had that when I was in my classical phase. 
Thanks for sharing it!
