PR-400- Anybody ever play one of these?

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Author Message John Shanley (Johns) Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:57 am:    I found this neat looking acoustic for auction on Ebay. It's an '81. Thought I'd share the picture and ask if anyone has experience with playing one? JohnS Kyle Kruszewski Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:57 am:    Woah! Cool. According to the Ibanez vintage site (http://www.chmc.com/~alnico5/acoustic.html), that guitar I believe is called the "Ragtime" and originally sold for $350. Kinda looks like the Macaferri Selmer Django Rheinhardt played, doesn't it? Never played one, so I have nothing really to offer. . . If it's cheap, you might just want to pick it up. :) Later, Kyle Mark Cadle Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:57 am:    I have a Ragtime Special RG470, which I bought in '82. It is similar to the appearance of the above, except it has abalone inlay around the top and side binding except at the back. It has a raised rim around the soundhole with inlay. The headstock is similar but slightly different at the top, with multi-strip binding. Finish on mine is all black. The soundhole is smaller, but the neck has the same extension on the treble side into the soundhole and the bridge looks identical. Soundboard is different to normal rosewood. The back is slightly bellied like a double bass (fiddleback I think it's called). The body is smaller than dreadnought size, and being all mahogany the sound is bright and more trebly than usual. Tuners are gold Ibanez adjustable-play smooth-torquers. Guitar was made in Japan, and was the earliest cutaway accoustic I'd ever seen. Makes an interesting accoustic lead when played with a conventional rythym accoustic. paul greene Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:57 am:    i have a ragtime special the same as in the photo mine is sunburst brown with gold tuners it has a model number as R640stv though not pr400,inside the soundhole the sticker reads ragtime special-specially designed and meticulously crafted for the fingerpicker i would be interested to know what these are selling for over there Steve Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:57 am:    I also have a Ragtime Special exactly as in the photo. Mine is from 1981. I got it in 1986 for $100. The guitar is made of plywood, but it's still a pretty neat guitar. I think it would record pretty well since it's not boomy sounding. Unfortunately, someone installed a pickup and thus drilled a hole for a volume pot on the top and a input jack on the side. But it's still the best $100 I've ever spent. Mark Cadle Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:57 am:    Plywood? According to the Ibanez page they're solid mahogany. As they were a limited guitar and I can't see any plies on the soundboard, and the back is visibly bookmatched. If you ever amp it up you'll find out that it's pretty resonant. I have problems with feedback on mine - homemade piezo! Anything Ibanez put bindings and abalone inlay on (mine has heaps around the top and sides) was always topline stuff. Despite it's lack of bodysize, mine has no problems cutting through on solid-topped DNs. Mark Cadle Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 10:57 am:    Actually, I know it's solid - I drilled the strap-pin out for the jack plug. The sides and braces are mahogany - reddish, fine grained wood. Looks identical to the body material of my Ibanez Les Paul. Look in the picture above - the reddish wood visible in the soundhole is mahogany. Matt Hayden Posted on Monday, October 08, 2001 - 4:48 pm:    Mark, the RG470 may be solid, but the R400 is not. I have had two of them (first one broken) and I love it to death, but it's plywood top and sides. I've often wished that they were available in solid woods, and have thought about retopping mine with solid spruce, since the top's failing anyhow. In any case, I used it as a gigging guitar for fifteen years. It records nicely and I love the neck.... Daveyanco (Daveyanco) Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2002 - 9:42 pm:    I don't know about your that was made of "plywood"?, but got 2 of them, R400 & R640 and neither is made of plywood... The R400 is mahogany back & sides w/spruce top. The R640 is maple back & sides w/SOLID spruce top. The R460 (not 470) is mahogany back & sides w/spruce top. The R620 is rosewood back & sides w/Solid spruce top. The R620 & R640 also have sound box within the "D" shaped sound hole..... Stan_The_Man (Stan_The_Man) Posted on Wednesday, July 24, 2002 - 11:24 pm:    Hey this is really a coincidence.... I almost bought that guitar on EBay... I have an R620S Ragtime Special. I love this guitar, it's rosewood so it sounds very sweet. I too bought this back in the 80's. Mine has a built-in pick-up. Anyone have any idea what kind it is, or if it came installed? I cannot find any legdable writing on it. Anyway, I've left it stock, like I say it's great. I went out looking for a new 6 string, and after playing probably 300 assorted Martins, Taylor and others, I have decided that I can't get anything equal to it for under $1000.00. Keep on playing... Thanks, Stan Johns (Johns) Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 10:45 am:    Stan: That's a great endorsement of your RS620. I've thought about trying for one of these, myself. Billyboy Username: Billyboy Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Thursday, November 25, 2004 - 9:55 am:    Hi folks, I've just registered becuase I've just bought an Ibanez R-400 Ragtime acoustic from eBay. I paid £137 for it. I'll try to get some snaps uploaded. It seems pretty nice, if a little dull sounding compared to my other acoustics, both of which have solid tops. I guess this is a feature of the R-400's....Anyway, just thought I'd see if anyone has anything new to add. Aerocol Username: Aerocol Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 1:59 pm:    Hi, I'm new here and enjoying reading the posts.... I don't understand the details about the R400 though. I looked on harmony central and the reviews there are slightly confusing regarding the solid top. What do Ibanez mean when one is Spruce and one is solid spruce??? The 400 clearly has a center join on the spruce top. Would they do this if it was a laminate????? Does it mean that a 2 piece top is not classed as solid but a one piece is?? Some people clearly say that the 400 is solid spruce and laminated back and sides?? cheers Col Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 4:12 pm:    Col: The term laminated top refers to the materials used to build the thickness of a top. It has nothing to do with the "seam" you see running down the middle of almost all acoustic guitars. A laminated piece of wood is like a sandwich, with the most appealing wood applied as veneers on the top and bottom of the stack. This means you'll see these layers on the top and inside the sound hole(s). Now, what "meat" is in between the "bread" of the laminate sandwich is not quite so easy to determine. In the old days, a laminated Spruce top most likely had lesser quality Spruce layers in between. Today, you might very well find lesser quality woods, of different species, in between the Spruce veneers. So, the year of the instrument has a lot to do with the actual woods and construction techniques used. Solid Spruce tops are a big deal from a marketing standpoint. The general rule to follow is: if a guitar has a solid top, the catalogs will almost ALWAYS tell you straight out. If they don't say so, there's a reason why they don't! Aerocol Username: Aerocol Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 5:27 pm:    Thanks John, So the R 400 is definitely a laminated spruce top then even though its 'seamed'?? Hmmmm I was hoping it was solid......... Guess I will wait and see if a 620 pops up on ebay....... Cheers Col Ibnzplyr Username: Ibnzplyr Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 8:01 pm:    Is every R400 a "Ragtime Special", or are some 400 models just a "Ragtime" (without the "Special")? Scott Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Saturday, February 19, 2005 - 4:14 pm:    I simply call laminate plywood. Snowjays Username: Snowjays Registered: 09-2004 Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 5:10 am:    I bought my R400 Ragtime new in March 1982 for $279 Aus. At the time they were new on the market here.(Still have the sale docket in the case) It reciently underwent surgery due to buckling on top from years of travelling in the heat of the outback. My luthier had to steam the top around the bridge where it had lifted away from the framing. I was told then that steaming the top was the best option because it was solid spruce and not ply. Afetr steaming and regluing to the frame, it did require some reshaping if the bridge. If the top was made of ply is steaming an option? Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 7:55 am:    I've seen tops buckle before but its usually caused by string tension due to inadequate bracing. It ocuurs quite frequently on 12 strings that are always tuned to the A 440 pitch. If the bridge was lifting from the top then most likley it was glued after the finish was applied instead of directly to bare wood. This process is used in mass production of cheap guitars to be blunt. Snowjays Username: Snowjays Registered: 09-2004 Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 5:16 pm:    The bridge and facia had lifted off the struts inside the body, causing it to lift and buckle. Not uncommon living in the tropics. But, yes, cheap mass production also adds to problem. But I wouldn't have thought laminate/ply tops could be steamed back into shape, and the buckle was the same inside as out leading us to believe that it was solid instead of ply. Still is a great sounding guitar though. Aerocol Username: Aerocol Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 5:59 pm:    Hiya, Can anyone give a definite answer to whether th e400 has a solid or ply top? anyone have one that has the dhole lip removed so as to see the ply? I don't want to get one if it is ply I'd rather search for a 640 cheers col Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 8:33 am:    Guys: Here's a link to the catalog page for the Ragtime Series acoustics. It shows the R400, R460, R620 and R640. It specifically says that the 400 and 460 have spruce tops while the 620 and 640 say SOLID Spruce. I don't know for sure what year this catalog is, but I'm sure it's from the early eighties and it's a USA catalog. So, the differences in solid vs. laminated tops that has shown up in this continuing thread of messages may simply be due to the specifications in a particular year. Also, note that some of the model number prefixes are different. There's an "RG", a "PR", and just plain old "R". Unless these are simple typos, regardless of how much they look similar, we're are talking about different guitars. What's the morale of the story? Buyers beware! You must know your Ibanez acoustic guitars itimately. First off, you must know the manufacture date and trust a catalog description if you can find one. If a seller or owner swears his guitar's features are different than the catalog specs for that year, maybe you're comparing apples and oranges? Double-check it's year, model number and finally it's country of origin. Japan, Europe, Australia and the US have different distributors and different specs. Finding detailed catalogs for every year is the hardest part of the assignment, because there are not a lot of acoustic catalogs online. This community of Ibanez fans is always working to change that situation. But help is needed. Acoustic owners: if you have catalogs, can you make them available on-line? Also, can we all be more specific when discussing a particular guitar? Can we make it a habit to include the serial number (which should help decipher the year of manufacture), what country the guitar was imported to and then always double-check that we have the correct model number? Artfield Username: Artfield Registered: 04-2001 Posted on Saturday, July 02, 2005 - 4:06 pm:    Today i bought a black Ibanez Ragtime Special R460 1981, for a very good price. The guitar hadn't been touched for a very long time, when i tried to play it i broke a string. After cleaning the guitar and fitting it with new strings i'm amazed about the full acoustic strong sound it has. It plays rather good, action could be a bit lower, a job for my luthier in the future and maybe some nice electronics added soon.Finally i found a good Ibanez acoustic guitar. Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Saturday, July 02, 2005 - 10:50 pm:    Oh no, here comes the purple spray can again! Ace

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