Is the 1998 Ibanez SC-500N worth anyt...

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile

Author Message   Inlayusa Username: Inlayusa Registered: 09-2006 Posted on Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 1:29 am:    I own a Ibanez SC-500N (Engelmann Spruce top with mahogany back) that is in near perfect condition with the correct Ibanez S-series HSC. I have had it for 5 or 6 years and have put about 20 hours of total play time on it. It is a beautiful guitar and plays like a dream. I also have 19 other guitars including PRS’, Gibson’s, Martin’s, Taylor’s and Guilds) just to drop a few big names and that is why I haven't put any wear on it. My question is should I consider selling this guitar or do you think in the years to come that this guitar will become valuable? How much do you think this guitar is currently worth? It really needs to go to a home where it would receive more love (playing time) then I can give it? I have watch eBay for years and only seen a few come up for auction and none in the last few years. Is this because they are worthless or because they are that rare? Thanks for any help and advice you could give me. See this beauty at the following URL: http://www.inlayusa.com/sc500n.htm   Ibnzplyr Username: Ibnzplyr Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 3:49 am:    They are rare and have been going for about $600 to $700 dollars. Who knows about future prices? Scott   Captainibanez Username: Captainibanez Registered: 01-2004 Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 7:18 am:    Inlayusa, in Australia we bought 10 of these rare birds in and they used to retail for $1795.00 aussie. Personally , there far from worthless. These guitars had a fantastic sound for recording.Even as a live axe through a dedicated acoustic amplifier,you could achive a much broader spectrum of tonal range than you could with a mic'd up traditonal classical guitar. Food for thought I say ! Captain Ibanez   Ibnzplyr Username: Ibnzplyr Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 11:07 am:    I liked mine for picking, but when playing fingerstyle, there was string/electronics noise everytime I touched and let go of the strings, like an electronic popping noise. This came out on the recordings, not extremely loudly, but definitely noticeably. Changing the strings didn't help. So I sold it. Maybe a guitar tech could have worked on the electronics. It is a beautiful guitar, though. If you never play fingerstyle, I'd keep it.   Ibnzplyr Username: Ibnzplyr Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 11:12 am:    Just to clarify the above, it made what I should describe more as clicking, not popping, noises when the strings were touched by hand. This didn't happen with the pick. Maybe a grounding issue. It was a stock guitar, no mods.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 4:07 pm:    Ibnzplyr, The guitar has nylon strings, plastic tuner rolls, bone or synthetic nut and bone saddle, so a grounding problem is impossible. I'm thinking of two other possibilities: 1) If you walked on shoes with synthetic or rubber soles on a synthetic carpet just before you walked into the studio or even in the studio, you were charged with static electricity. In that case you should have bought shoes with leather soles or just played on bare feet, instead of selling your guitar. 2) Another possibility is that you wore a quartz watch on the wrist of your picking hand. If it comes too near the piezo strip under the saddle it might give a signal and if you use a pick the distance between your wrist and the piezo might be bigger so that the quartz signal is not picked up. $600-$700 is a steal compared to a new Godin Multiac. If the pre-amp system is comparable with the LR Baggs this guitar is one for my harddisk. Save and quit. Ginger   Ibnzplyr Username: Ibnzplyr Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 4:32 pm:    Points well taken, Ginger. Yes, the nut, tuning peg mechanism, and saddle were all synthetic, but the first three strings were metal; they weren't all nylon. That's how it came, and when I bought new strings, that's how the new set was also. I don't recall what I was wearing on my feet, but it was the same with my other guitars, which never exhibited this problem. BTW, I didn't have a quartz watch on my picking hand. Thinking back, my feeling was that the problem might have been a super sensitive or faulty piezo system. It was too bad because otherwise I really loved that guitar. Would love to hear from people who have this guitar and if theirs clicks when you play fingerstyle.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 6:05 pm:    The bass strings of a nylon string guitar are metal wound, but the core is nylon. These metal of the windings makes NO CONTACT WITH ANY OTHER METAL parts. There is no need for grounding the strings, besides it is impossible. A super sensitive piezo system is a plausible explication. Comparing this guitar with other (non-piezo) electric guitars doesn't give a clue, since they are grounded and the static electricity can flow away after one touch. BTW You can also touch the copper heating faucet to loose your charge, before you start playing. Listen to the "Sails" album of Chet Atkins, Mark Knopfler and Earl Klugh (all finger pickers). The Chet Atkins nylon string has typical clicks too. It seems intrinsic to piezo systems. Ginger (a finger picker too)   Ibnzplyr Username: Ibnzplyr Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 6:44 pm:    I am surprised that Atkins, Knopfler and Klugh would accept those clicks in their recordings. You mean I have higher standards than them? I decided to look for a cool acoustic nylon, and took my time. I went to Ensenada, Mexico with no thought of buying a guitar (if that can be possible-- maybe it can't), and when I coincidentally saw the same mariachi guitar man for the second straight night in different restaurants in different parts of town, he offered to sell me his guitar. It's very ornate, with tons of birdseye on the sides. So it did work out for me after all. This guitar just found me.   Petruz Username: Petruz Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 1:18 pm:    "Thinking back, my feeling was that the problem might have been a super sensitive or faulty piezo system. It was too bad because otherwise I really loved that guitar." Ibnzplyr, maybe that's the point. I had one of these guitars and sold it because of the extremely sensitive and rumorous piezo. Prior to that i changed the strings to Thomastic nylon flatwounds, wich helped a lot; but the noise was always there. Another factor wich made me sell it was the very narrow neck, not practical for fingerstyle. The two "E" strings kept slipping out of the fretboard all the time. Just a side comment: probably your mariachi guitar is a lovely instrument with the warm, deep and sad tone that only a "real" nylon guitar can deliver. Put a Fishman or a good Baggs on it and enjoy! P.   Ibnzplyr Username: Ibnzplyr Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 1:40 pm:    Thanks for confirming the problem with this guitar. Since we had the same problem, it is likely something inherent in the system. Yes, this instrument has a lovely tone. I don't have any pickup on it yet and will check out your recommendations.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 2:59 pm:    As a matter of fact, you wrote that you don't have a SC500-N to put a pickup in anymore. Problem solved! Before you start with another SC500-N: Buying a guitar with a pickup you don't like + a good aftermarket acoustic pickup/pre-amp system + having it professionally built-in is too expensive. The collectors value won't increase because it won't be original anymore. You COULD end up with a helluva player. But the result is unsure. Calculate first and compare the cost to the price of a second hand original Godin Multiac Nylon. Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 4:11 pm:    Ibnzplyr, In order to compare, you need to do something first... what? Finding a second hand Multiac ACS Slim Nylon? Easier said than done according to this site: There are also people who are enthusiastic the original Saber Classic Nylon. Playing on a hypothetically available guitar can be difficult, if nobody sells it. How much time do you want to spend searching for something that's not available, if you want to have a particular sound. So I say OK, create your helluva player from the available material and keep it! Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 4:13 pm:    I forgot the site: http://www.mindwaltz.de/sc500n.htm Ginger   Ibnzplyr Username: Ibnzplyr Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 5:33 pm:    Hi Ginger: Sorry, I didn't make it clear. I have an antique, handmade acoustic, nylon string guitar made by the maker Hernandez in Paracho, Mexico. Above, Petruz suggested I add a pickup to it. So that's the guitar I wrote about in reference to getting a pickup, not the SC500 I had.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 7:03 pm:    Allright! I thought the Ensenada guy sold you the Ibanez. The cheapest way to amplify that one, without drilling through the bridge under the saddle and without making a hole for the jack output, is a K&K Hotspot. It's a stick-on flat button single head piezo transducer. You stick it on the bridge. Retail: $36.- direct from K&K (online) $28.80 http://www.kksound.com/hotspot.html For a better balance there's also a Twin Spot Classic for Retail: $65.- direct from K&K (online) $52.- http://www.kksound.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=KOS&Product _Code=TSC What's so good about it, is that you can use it on any instrument. And when you sell the (undamaged) guitar, you keep the "spot" for the next. Professionally installing aftermarket piezo + preamps is expensive. It is often more interesting to buy a guitar with it built-in. The cheapest Fishman is a Sonicore with a Classic4 Equalizer. It is built-in in several midprice steelstring guitars from Korea and China: Cort Earth 100F for instance, on the cheaper AW models of Ibanez, but with another equalizer with built-in tuner. Don't buy this one retail, the result and the cost will be the same as when you buy a OEM built-in in a cheap MIC guitar. OEM is always cheaper, Ibanez nylon string models: GA5TCE € 205.00 NT Natural Spruce Mahogany (shallow body) - Classical (G) IBZ Under Saddle w/AEQ303 Preamp W50PC GA5WCE € 195.00 NT Natural Spruce Mahogany - Classical (C) IBZ Under Saddle w/AEQ303 Preamp W50PC Ginger PS: I have contradicting info about the OEM pickup used in the PF60SCE. Could be that there are some with Fishman Sonicore installed.   Petruz Username: Petruz Registered: 5-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 8:30 am:    here's a guy using nicely an SC500. www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4TkgLnkBs4&mode=related&s earch=

Add Your Message Here Post: -Color- Black Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Orange Cyan Gray White -Font- Arial Courier Symbol Times Verdana -Size- Smallest (-2) Small (-1) Normal Large (+1) Largest (+2) Enter Item number: Username: Posting Information: This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here. Password: Options: Enable HTML code in message Automatically activate URLs in message Action: