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Road whores (Roadstar love inside)


jjpistols

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Glad this thread is here.Ive been meaning to ask people in the know.Been contemplating buying one of these for a while due to the extreme affordability which leads me too my question.Why are most Roadstars you see so damn cheap? I know Steve Lukather used em' etc. so I'm ****sure they gotta be decent. There probably one of the few guitars Ive actually not played......So why so cheap?

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well sir, it is a 335 model which were made for a half year (?) in '83. I've got a stock Hardrocker tremolo coming in the mail, the Badass rides a bit high and doesn't allow for low action. I could always shim the neck, but I'd like to see if the tremolo adds some more character to the tone.

Do you guys play through tube or solid state amps with your roadstars?

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Originally posted by sitamoia50

Glad this thread is here.Ive been meaning to ask people in the know.Been contemplating buying one of these for a while due to the extreme affordability which leads me too my question.Why are most Roadstars you see so damn cheap? I know Steve Lukather used em' etc. so I'm ****sure they gotta be decent. There probably one of the few guitars Ive actually not played......So why so cheap?



We prefer the term 'inexpensive'. ;)

I think it has something to do with people being afraid of the inherent 80's-ness of these guitars. But they're a great value and well built. Another thing I like about them is the huge number of different models made in just a few years. Any configuration or bridge was made. It's easy to find someting to your liking. I'm still trying to find an RG425 though. I like the HHX configuration a lot.

http://www.ibanezregister.com/images/images-roadstar/rg425.jpg

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Originally posted by sitamoia50

Glad this thread is here.Ive been meaning to ask people in the know.Been contemplating buying one of these for a while due to the extreme affordability which leads me too my question.Why are most Roadstars you see so damn cheap? I know Steve Lukather used em' etc. so I'm ****sure they gotta be decent. There probably one of the few guitars Ive actually not played......So why so cheap?




I'm guessing because they are 80s guitars, but not pointy - I don't really know - I overlooked them for years, myself, and I'm glad to have finally gotten into them


Originally posted by stanfield

well sir, it is a 335 model which were made for a half year (?) in '83. I've got a stock Hardrocker tremolo coming in the mail, the Badass rides a bit high and doesn't allow for low action. I could always shim the neck, but I'd like to see if the tremolo adds some more character to the tone.


Do you guys play through tube or solid state amps with your roadstars?



tubes, baby, cuz that's what I got ;) if I had SS amps, it'd be a different story

I was wondering what bridge was originally on yours - a shim would definitely help out your action - did you drill holes for the posts on the badass? the Ibanez trems on these are pretty cool, although I'm not much of a trem guy at all

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Here's a nice roadstar resource I've been using.
http://www.ibanezrules.com/
Click on 'Resources' for some scanned catalogs.



Originally posted by stanfield

well sir, it is a 335 model which were made for a half year (?) in '83. I've got a stock Hardrocker tremolo coming in the mail, the Badass rides a bit high and doesn't allow for low action. I could always shim the neck, but I'd like to see if the tremolo adds some more character to the tone.


Do you guys play through tube or solid state amps with your roadstars?



Right on. An early '83 model then.

I play through a Peavey ValveKing 112 tube combo.

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sitamoia50: they are not popular among the masses. Simple as that. Since there is not a huge demand for them people can't charge an arm and a leg.

One drawback is the bridges used. The Roadstar was born from the Blazer series some time in 82 if I am correct. For the first few years they used simple, more traditional fender-esk bridges. Ibanez then began to develope tremolo systems. Powerrocker, Hardrocker, Hardrocker Pro, Prorocker and finally the Edge 1 2 and 3. The later Edge systems are suppose to be good, but the earlier non-locking tremolos are not so great. Most people just end up locking them down with 5 springs and a possible block of wood and just use it as a hardtail. I have no experience with the locking systems that were used from '85 and on, so take what I say with a grain of salt. The Roadstar eventually grew into the RG series we all know today.

People that check out strat-style guitars are looking for the fender tone, roadstars do not have this as they are made of basswood (excluding the '83 RS100 made of ash = fender). Cosmeticly they don't have a knockoff fender headstock, but they do have beautiful necks. I like the headstock.

No one famous uses them as a main axe. They're old and not hip or trendy. You won't get people drooling over your brand new used 80's Roadstar with worn out frets. But everything I've read and heard from people about Roadstars has all been positive.

Anyways, I hope that gives you an idea why I THINK they arn't popular. They are certainly not a bad guitar.

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Originally posted by stanfield

sitamoia50: they are not popular among the masses. Simple as that. Since there is not a huge demand for them people can't charge an arm and a leg.


One drawback is the bridges used. The Roadstar was born from the Blazer series some time in 82 if I am correct. For the first few years they used simple, more traditional fender-esk bridges. Ibanez then began to develope tremolo systems. Powerrocker, Hardrocker, Hardrocker Pro, Prorocker and finally the Edge 1 2 and 3. The later Edge systems are suppose to be good, but the earlier non-locking tremolos are not so great. Most people just end up locking them down with 5 springs and a possible block of wood and just use it as a hardtail. I have no experience with the locking systems that were used from '85 and on, so take what I say with a grain of salt. The Roadstar eventually grew into the RG series we all know today.


People that check out strat-style guitars are looking for the fender tone, roadstars do not have this as they are made of basswood (excluding the '83 RS100 made of ash = fender). Cosmeticly they don't have a knockoff fender headstock, but they do have beautiful necks. I like the headstock.


No one famous uses them as a main axe. They're old and not hip or trendy. You won't get people drooling over your brand new used 80's Roadstar with worn out frets. But everything I've read and heard from people about Roadstars has all been positive.


Anyways, I hope that gives you an idea why I THINK they arn't popular. They are certainly
not
a bad guitar.

 

 

great points, I think - and I think the same applies to USA Peavey guitars, and to a lesser extent Yamaha

 

 

 

together with Peavey Amps and Crate

 

 

 

 

lots of people start out with gear from these brands, and suck, cuz they're just starting out -- after they have moved up and developed as players, they have replaced that early gear, but forever have that idea that stuff from those companies sucks, when in reality they sucked

 

 

 

 

 

people here give way too much credit to their gear

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God damn, I gotta learn how to sum up my babbling.

SM: late 83 ;) I think they went into production midway through the year. Nice amp man, I'm running through a Classic 30 (yay peavey). I've read the stock pickups sound a lot better on a SS amp. I have yet to try it.

JJ: No drilling at all my good man. I didn't make the original switch, I bought it used and a Badass was already mounted. There was never any modification, just a matter of swapping the bushings. It was seized so I replaced it with a NOS Badass. The old one also rocked forward and pushed against the paint.. I didn't like that becasue it would act as a lever and pull the unit up. Whoever owned it before me mounted the Badass with incorrect bushings and studs, and with the NOS one the whole thing sits an extra mm or two higher, but does not rock forward. The saddles have yet to be grooved so that makes the strings sit even higher, ever so slightly. Kind of a kick in the junk eh? I'm going back to stock.

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Originally posted by stanfield

God damn, I gotta learn how to sum up my babbling.


SM: late 83
;)
I think they went into production midway through the year. Nice amp man, I'm running through a Classic 30 (yay peavey). I've read the stock pickups sound a lot better on a SS amp. I have yet to try it.



Well then your 22nd fret must've fallen off. ;)

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