Captain, please help with info for 43...

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Author Message Oxygenetic Username: Oxygenetic Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 5:35 pm:    Hey, Captain! This was my first "real" electric guitar. At the time, I was looking for a strat and couldn't find one in my budget so, after playing this one at the store, I found it to be comparable. What a surprise it was when I found it to be such a workhorse with its own unique tone. I have since gone on to own an American strat, a Les Paul Gothic, a '78 Les Paul Standard, a Kramer Baretta, and many others...this one ranks up there with the best! It has been onstage with me since the get go and is one of my favorite guitars that I own! It's NEVER let me down and has even survived a 6 foot fall off a stage with a barely visible scratch!! I've been curious about the guitar but have not found ANY info on it on the web. Is it THAT rare? Or did no one but me like this guitar? I swpped the pickups out over the years and got the best result out of hot rails in the mid position. It screams, it sustains, and just rocks. The serial number is F009544, so I know it's a 1990 made in Fujigen, and was the 9544th made that year. That's all I got. Help with original specs and any other info would be fantastic! Thanks! Here are some pics of "Black Bear:" Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 7:20 pm:    Oxygenetic: Here's a link to the 1990 catalog and the 430s pages. http://www.ibanezrules.com/catalogs/us/1990/s.jpg http://www.ibanezrules.com/catalogs/us/1990/s_2.jpg However, it looks like there was a 430s in 1991. It appears that the bridge changed from a HQ Low Profile to the HQ-J. http://www.ibanezrules.com/catalogs/us/1991/s.jpg Which bridge do you have? Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 8:16 pm:    Hey Ox, I am a proud 430SII owner as well. You can get the specs from John's link. A few things to add: It was only available for a year, and was the only Sabre body style guitar available with 3 single coil pickups. The one I have is thinner and lighter than any other sabre I've ever seen. I believe it has the original Wizard neck, which was thinner than the wizard 2. According to Jim Donahue, this guitar was shipped with an experimental electrostatic paint that did not require sanding or buffing. But when they showed up at Hoshino USA, the finish was unacceptable, and they buffed them out. Mine was white, and the paint was in very bad shape. It has since gotten a new paint job, bridge and pickups. I loaded it with a Dimarzio Chopper and FastTrack1s, and it is surprisingly twangy and aggressive, for being a light mahogany guitar. I just perchased a ProTrack to try out. -Sven Oxygenetic Username: Oxygenetic Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 1:44 am:    Wow, thanks guys! Johns-I'm not sure about the trem, but by looking at the catalog, the HQ came in cosmic black and the HQ-J came in chrome. Well, at this moment, without pulling my trem out, it's chrome. If that's the only standard to go by, I'll have to say it's the HQ-J. I'll get back to you on that. Funkle-do you have any idea why it was only available for a year? Was it not popular or were they just pumping out bigger and badder s models, making this one obsolete? AND, does it place any value on the guitar for only being available for such a short time? I have to tell you, the weight is an amazing part of this axe to have such a deep tone. By the same token, it can get twangy and screamy. I love its versatility!! And the neck was a big part of the sale for me...it was SO THIN and played so fast, I'd have been a fool not to get this one! So, I wonder, could that experimental paint be the reason I have barely a scratch on it? Especially after having fallen off stage (I thought I lost a good friend...great thing when my buddy tuned it and handed it back to me a song later...played like a dream)! So you like Dimarzio? It's funny, I wanted the single coil setup for the strat sound, but once I got my strat, it was time to experiment and in went the stacked humbuckers. Like I said, I have SD Hot rails in the mid, and SD Little '59 at the bridge. The original neck pickup is still there for my clean tone, although I'm searching for something even warmer...I might go with a JB Junior. I've never tried Dimarzio. Have you tries the SD's and if you have, whatcha think? Better or worse, especially in this guitar? Thanks for the info, guys...anyone else got more? Ox Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 3:58 pm:    Actually, I was wrong, it was available for 2 years. As far as why it had such a short life, this is anybody's guess. Many fine models had short lives as a result of the marketing and management powers at work at Ibanez. I have a feeling that this was not a top seller for Ibanez. Mine came with EMGs that sounded pretty sterile. In choosing replacements, I was not going for a strat tone, and wanted to bring out the tone of the light mahogany. The goal is a warm soulful tone with a hint of single coil character (very much like the 542R). I think the Chopper great sounding, but too aggressive for this guitar - it will TWANG with the best of them. I have not tried the SD singles yet, but would like to experiment with the cool/hot rails (what do you think of the HotRail?). I have a DiMarzio Pro track which I need to install - this is supposed to be voiced more a little more like a humbucker. I have been very satisfied with the pickups DiMarzio has made for Ibanez, so I am experimenting with their products. The paint on mine was trashed. It had big chips and lots of little concave cracked areas under the strings. The cigarette stained white was not the prettiest of shades The HQ bridge is made by Gotoh. It is a very solid well made bridge, but I felt it was too chunky and awkward looking for this svelte looking guitar, with is why I switched to a Wilkinson. -Sven Roger Username: Roger Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 1:52 am:    Hey guys, Just stumbled upon this thread searching for Info on the HQ Low Profile bridge. Do you happen to know what whammy bar this bridge takes? I need to find a replacement. Thanks Captainibanez Username: Captainibanez Registered: 01-2004 Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 4:35 pm:    Rodger, the trem arm for the HQ Low Profile bridge is part number YEH371C-3. This may help you track one down if your Ibanez distributor has any of these arms still instock...in a dark corner somewhere...hehe If they don't, then you could try using the trem arm from the Ibanez SAT30 trem which is a current tremolo system. Its part number is 2SA2C1C it may fit????? .Try your local Ibanez dealer first and see if they have a SA160 or RX40 instock and try the trem arm in your guitar to see if it fits. Captain Ibanez Roger Username: Roger Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 5:42 pm:    Captain Ibanez...I'm eternally grateful!...you're the only one I have talked to that even knows what I'm talking about when I mention the HQ bridge. Even Ibanez's customer service didn't recognize it. Now my search begins Thanks again, Regards, Roger

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