Help with Blazer Info

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Author Message   Byork2112 Username: Byork2112 Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Thursday, May 04, 2006 - 11:43 pm:    Hey guys, this is my first post. You guys rock, and you have made my year with this information. Let me introduce myself. My first name is Brian, im 41 years old, and because of having ms i find myself back in college, and wanting to play in a band again. While getting all of my equiptment out i came across my first guitar; an Ibanez Blazer series. I knew that my mother had given it to me as a christmas or birthday present, but couldn't remember exactly when. What i do remember is Strat players coming up to me and saying that the Ibanez sounded more like "real" strats than their fenders. At times, i would swear when playing through a wah pedal i would channel the spirit of Hendrix. For whatever reason, the factory decided to put the jack into the pick guard instead of the standard horizontal type of jack. Well damned if i didn't step on my cord and break the pick guard twice. By the second time i did it, i had to get my hair cut and a real job, and didn't have the money to fix the Ibanez a second time. So it sat in pieces, but will soon be brought back to life. From the information on this awsome site i have determined that my guitar came from the Iida factory, build year is 1980 i believe, which is around the time I thought I recieved it. Serial # is I800272 It says made in Japan on the neckplate. I will start at the headstock and work down as i have a few questions I hope someone can answer. The headstock has the Ibanez logo (gold lettering w/black border,blazer series in all black no border) on it and it does seem stenciled with paint and not a sticker or whatever. It has the little registered tradmark R. The tuners have no ident on them at all they are chromed. The neck doesn't have a fretboard, the neck is the fretboard; is this common on the lower priced models? The guitar itself is all woodgrain with clear coat, but the truss is covered on the back of the neck with what looks like a narrow strip of walnut. The wood of the guitar looks like alder but also kind of resembles ash as well. Is alder a common wood in these guitars of this era? I'm sorry this is so long, but i am so excited to get this guitar going again I'm not thinking of how i could shorten my questions. It has three single coil pickups that are the sealed type (single bar, im guessing)# on the bottom of the pickups is 800 808. the numbers are separated like I wrote them. I'm in the process of drawing up a schematic, and so far it looks just like the simple strat design, electrically. Three single coil pickups, 1vol,1tone, 5 pos. switch in/outphase switch. I'm not going to touch the finish on this guitar, but I am going to find the best pots,switchs, and capacitors and resistors with close tolerances to replace the old ones and shield the electronics. The bridge is a very simple one, and is not in very good shape because of corrosion and oxidation, sorry guys im not well versed in Ibanez yet so i don't know what type it is. All i know is that i loved this guitar, and I have played other Ibanez guitars that i was very impressed with. I guess i should wrap this up. If you have any info on where i could get this type of bridge (hopeing to borrow digital camera and post pic). I know this guitar is not an Ibanez that is highly sought after, but it is mine, and i love it, and will restore it back to health with loving care. I have looked and looked, and i haven't seen one quite like it. All the Blazer series I see seem to be newer than mine with beefier pickups/bells and whistles. It came with a white pick guard on light woodgrain Yuk! I will replace with black perloid and either gold or black hardware. I'm not sure if a standard strat type of pick guard will work or not since the jack is supposed to go into the guard itself and not like a strat or all other Blazer series guitars. If fact, I have never seen another strat type guitar with the jack on the pick guard. That is the only thing that i don't like about this guitar. It was new when it was purchsed. Would it hurt if I put a regular strat type jack in it by drilling another hole? I also have a 12 string hollowbody Greco that some idiot took half the tuneing pegs off, and with no skill filed the nut so badly that it would need replaced. I can't find a picture of one of these quite like it, it is not a Gibson rep that i can tell, the body is smaller and nothing like an ES etc}. Anyway, that is for a different thread, and time with pictures. Hey guys, sorry this is so long, but i love my Ibanez, and when i found this site it was like I had found my home. Looking forward to learning about and collecting these wonderful guitars. I hope this long post does not spoil my first impression on this site. Thanks so much for all of your hard work and dillegence in find this information, and i look forward to talking with you brothers in Ibanez. Brian   Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 9:47 am:    Byork2112: It sounds to me that you have an early 1980 Blazer. The "I" would stand for Sept., not Iida. Sounds like it could be a BL300 if it is a non tremolo, or a BL350 if it has a trem. Take a look at these catalog pages from the '81 catalog for more info and specs and see if they match your's. http://www.ibanezrules.com/catalogs/us/1981/p10.jpg http://www.ibanezrules.com/catalogs/us/1981/p11.jpg The only thing I haven't seen in the catalog is the white pickguard.   Blazerplayer Username: Blazerplayer Registered: 04-2006 Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 1:03 pm:    Hi Byork2112, I share your enthusiasm for the Blazer. I am also starting my Ibanez collection and while looking for trem replacement arms came accross this site for Gotoh parts. Their bridges look identical to what I have seen on both the trem and hardtail Blazers from the early 80's. Granted it wouldn't be a NOS part, but these parts look eerily similar to the old blazer parts. The 201/203/205 series looks very simialr to the fixed bridge, and the GE101 /102 looks like the trem bridge. Hopefully someone else on this board can confirm or deny this. http://www.hosco.co.jp/HOSCO_ENGLISH/Pages/gotoh_catalog/bassbridge_std.html http://www.hosco.co.jp/HOSCO_ENGLISH/Pages/gotoh_catalog/tremlostd_series.html   Blazerplayer Username: Blazerplayer Registered: 04-2006 Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 1:52 pm:    Oh my bad, I meant to say this looks like the fixed bridge for the Bass on the first URL.

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