Fairytale made by Ibanez?

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Author Message Evamatze Username: Evamatze Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 12:02 pm:    Hi there I was looking for an L-5 type hollowbody guitar when I found a guitar that the seller claims to be an Ibanez produced L-5 copy. Here's his description (translated from German..) Fairytale L-5 copy made by Ibanez in 1972 I'm selling a "Fairytale" L-5 copy, made by Ibanez in 1972. A music shop in Zurich, Switzerland had ordered this guitar straight from Ibanez then. It is absolutely flawless and beautifully crafted and it sounds better than many of the original Gibsons. Pickups show some wear, finish is like new. Including hard case. It's a dream to play on. 900.- Euros What do you think? Is it possible that Ibanez produced guitars called "Fairytale"? You can have a look at that guitar here: /link{http://www.archtop-germany.de/-Suche_Biete/-suche_biete.html},Ibanez Fairytale in the middle of the second row} I have some more pictures, but I can't upload them (don't know why), so if you want to see more pics, I will send them via email. Thanks a lot for your help. It would be really nice to own a good L-5 copy for that price... Matthias Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 3:00 pm:    Matthias: I have never heard of the Fairytale brand. Maybe some of our members from Germany or Europe have heard of it. There is an Ibanez L5 right next to the Fairytale model. How much is that one? Lespaul Username: Lespaul Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 4:16 pm:    Harry and Hasy think it is a brand for the European market. Check their UPDATED site. They put on a disclaimer though...... Paul Evamatze Username: Evamatze Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 5:25 pm:    Hi thanks so far for your help. I just want to make sure that this guitar is really made by Ibanez and worth something... Johns: The (real) Ibanez L5 copy next to the Fairytale is 2.200 Euro (donīt know how much that would be in $, but I think it should be something about $2.500). I found another "Fairytale" on harmony-central.com and one user writes something similar about his guitar, a Fairytale W-300A: ------------------------------------- Price Paid: US $160 used Features: 9 I don't know when this used acoustic gem was made: I would guess somewhere in the 70's. It was made in Japan. The "F" in "Fairytale" is the same as the Fender "F" (coincidence?). Mother of pearl markers, in Japanese clan icon (sort of a diamond, sorry I am not that up on which clan it is). 20 frets, joins the body at the 14th. Seems to have a laminated spruce top, maybe koa 3 piece back and sides. It has a varnish finish (pre-plastic). Standard dreadnought size, no cutaways. Schaller gears, non-locking. Bridge height adjustable. Purfling on neck also extends up around the head. Rosewood fretboard. Sound: 10 I bought this for it's sound, which is incredible. I like Neil Young, Chris Isaak, Beatles and "da blooz". It is as balanced as a Taylor, response is alive. Pull offs and all that are effortless and easily nuanced. It plays so easy, all the way up the neck. I like everything about the sound. It is perfect. To make sure I wasn't too nuts, I took it back to the acoustic room and compared sound side by side with a $1400 Martin. Prefer the Fairytale. Action, Fit, & Finish: 9 Who knows how it was out of the factory? But it is fine for me. The action is low, yet no buzz. I noticed on the interior bracing of the top it appears that string or whatever was carefully wound about the intersections of the braces (as opposed to just some glue soaked cloth). It is missing the truss rod plate and pin at the tail for the strap (no big deal). No flaws on the constuction. Dings you bet, and some scratches. Reliability/Durability: 9 It has been around, but it could be worse. The hardware is all fine, no looseness (if it ain't loose by now, I doubt if I will loosen it). The finish is enough without being too much as to muddy the sound. The guitar has gotten from Japan to Musikhaus Kuhn in Zurich (according to a sticker on the back of the head) to Seattle in one piece, so it must be somewhat durable. I doubt if it was ever polished. Did have to degunk some areas. Customer Support: N/A I can find no reference to them on the net. Probably went out of business for making too good of a guitar in Japan back in the 70's Overall Rating: 10 I've played off and on for about 35 years. I have guitars ranging from a Guild Starfire IV to a Yamaha guitarlele, all told maybe 6 scattered in the US, Bali and Thailand. I didn't need another guitar, but I could not let this one go. "It's out of a fairytale". I don't know how I would ever find another one of these, but if you ever see one, get it! It just has the best sound, distinct yet blended, sustain all day, ease of playing, quality of sound that lifts your ability up right away. Like I said I compared it to some Martins, Taylors and Guilds. I couldn't believe no one else had grabbed it, other than perhaps seeing the name of it and thinking "oh yeah, that one's gotta be right up there" (not!). And with all the guitars they have lying around to seduce you, this one could be easily overlooked. On the manufacturers sticker inside it says (in large print) "World's Finest Guitar". How could it pass that claim up? Maybe not the finest, but I would stack it up against anything under $1500. Anybody else out there have one of these sleeping beauties? --------------------------- That doesnīt sound too bad, does it? Maybe tomorrow I will be able to play the Fairytale, and if I like it, I might buy it. Is there a way of finding out if it was produced by Ibanez or not? And if it was made by Ibanez, would 900 Euros (approximately $.1000) be a fair price? I mean, for 700 Euro I can get a brand new Ibanez AF105NT or something similar by Epiphone... Thanks in advance for your advice Matthias Evamatze Username: Evamatze Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 5:40 pm:    Hi here are some pics (hope it works...) of the Fairytale... maybe you can tell me more about the guitar now (does it look like Ibanez made it?): /image{image #1} /image{image #2} /image{image #3} /image{image #4} I have some more pics available, but I donīt want to use too much web space in my first thread... Thanks again Matthias Evamatze Username: Evamatze Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 5:44 pm:    Didnīt work. Sorry... Second try: Evamatze Username: Evamatze Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 5:50 pm:    Ok... wonīt try again... Sorry... but I was so close... Hasy Username: Hasy Registered: 11-2002 Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 10:20 am:    Hi Matthias yes, Fairytale was the housebrand of music kuhn in zürich, switzerland. I got a statocaster at home, like the 2375sb, only a diffrent logo. Music kuhn odered his own name-brand by beginning of the seventies. I sort alot of much stuff in flea markets in swiss. Les Pauls, Stratocasters, Telecasters, SG....... Theres two produktions: First: Same produktions like the 73 Ibanez catalog and second a cheaper produktion with thin bodys and bad hardware. I dont know wich timeshredule the second one was, the first one are 100% Made in the IBZ Factory by 73/74. Greets Hasy Lespaul: Yes, the Ibanez Vintage Page and the Ibanez Sixties Page was updated, new layouts and easyer navigation. So check out and search for new chapters :-) Have fun Evamatze Username: Evamatze Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 3:10 pm:    Hi Hasy I was able to play the guitar today, and it really has that thick and warm sound I was looking for. The guitar is really heavy (at least compared to Ibanez AF105NT and Epiphone Joe Pass - which I tried last week), so I think it must be one of the first production ones. Also, the seller claims it to be a 1972 model, which puts it close to the 1973/1974 range you mentioned. The only thing I didnīt like was the bridge because it seemed that for each string there were at least 2 cuts where one could slip the string into. I donīt know if this would be a cheap fix or not (how much is a new bridge?). Iīm sure you can help me with this one. The other thing Iīm worried about is that he had really dirty strings on it and I donīt know if that fat sound would disappear if I put new strings on it (I donīt want to keep those dirty stings ;-)) I also donīt know if any of the new production Artcores or Epiphones would deliver the same fat sound if they had flat wounds on them. I was only able to test them with round wounds, and they sounded just like any other electric guitar. Any advice regarding which guitar to go for is appreciated Matthias Evamatze Username: Evamatze Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 9:14 am:    Hi Iīve just received an email from Musik Kuhn in Zurich. The say that they ordered those guitars from Aria during the 70s/80s. They also say that those L-5 copies had original Gibson pickups in them. Does the Aria brand make this guitar less valuable than if it had been produced by Ibanez? Or is it more or less the same? Also there is a serial number on the guitar which I think leads the guitar to be a 1980 production year: 0980xx canīt be 2009, so the first digit has to be the year, and with a 0 in the first place it should be a 1980 production guitar. Am I right here? thanks for your help Matthias Hasy Username: Hasy Registered: 11-2002 Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 4:17 am:    Hi Matthias I heard a other story about this brand. Cames from the IBZ Factory, not Aria. OK, whats true, not my job to ask for. Matsumoko & Hoshino Partnership ? Theres a rumor about a partnership in the end of the sitxties. Actually we found no ibz catalogs and infos from this timeshredule 67-69. There some interessing points in these 3 years. I sort a picture of a 1968s IBZ mosrite copie, with a aria backplate and the typical aria truss rod cover. IBZ Metal Logo was mounted on the headstock..... I still work on this unknown timeshredule, to know, whats going on. So we look forward......... Does everbody know the reading of aria serials ? Sorry, i dont know :-( Hope it helps. Hasy Fox Username: Fox Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 7:00 pm:    Hasy, have you visited: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/serial_no.html Thereïŋ―s some info about Aria serials.. Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 10:43 pm:    Fox: Cool site! Has anybody seen the SG with leaves carved in the top and Vine on the neck? Looks like the LP I've seen before. Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 10:44 pm:    Oops, forgot the link: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/electra/catalogs/1977/pg16.html Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 12:27 am:    John...The SG with the leaves is the "electric oak" model and the LP version is known as the "super Magnum" very nice gits, as good build quality as what Ibanez was making at the time. Both guitars were produced for a couple of years in both set and bolt type construction, with and without "lawsuit" headstock shape. Aria produced a LP with the exact same leaf pattern on the fretboard-looks like the same factory...can provide picts if yer interested Evamatze Username: Evamatze Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 4:07 am:    I bought the "Fairytale" guitar last Friday and so far I'm really happy with it. The only thing I will change is the bridge. It has been messed around with, because the original setup didn't lead the strings exactly over the pickups' polepieces. Now the strings are exactly over the polepieces, but the strings are not exactly straight from the tailpiece over the bridge. Maybe I will buy a new wooden bridge and have the tailpiece/bridge set up properly. Otherwise the guitar ist just perfect with new .012 Thomastik nickel flatwounds. Fat and mellow sound, just what I was looking for... When I have the bridge changed I will check if the pickups are really Gibsons. It would be nice to know that. As for Aria vs. Ibanez: I don't care anymore who made it. It's a great guitar, that's what counts, and it was a lot cheaper than if it had "Ibanez" on its headstock. I'm happy. Matthias

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