1960’s Ibanez EG1800 ‘Rhythm’

Yes, this is an Ibanez. It’s teeny-tiny, rare and hell cool.

My drummer Fred has been playing in bands since the early 80’s. In that time he’s picked up bits and pieces of some very cool gear at various Brisbane hock shops, before the internet ruined everything. Amongst the various guitar & amps, Fred bought this little Ibanez and a 40 watt Goldentone tube amp for $20. Yes, that’s right… $20. The Goldentone was destroyed at a party when Fred sat on it and the tubes exploded… (these things happen *bites knuckle*) but the Ibanez has kept on ticking through the years.

It’s a very strange model. I’ve never seen it in any Ibanez catalogue or website. It seems to be a copy of a Supro Ozark or something similarly obscure.

There also seemed to be a sister Guyatone model, made in the same factory.

Though primitive looking, it actually plays and sounds surprisingly good. The neck is pretty chunky, due to the lack of truss rod, but has a deep V carve that is easy to play.The headstock also features a tiny Ibanez logo… probably one of the first guitars to carry the spaghetti Ibanez logo. The truss rod cover is just ornamental… no truss rod here!

The pickups are Supro look a-likes and actually sound REALLY good. Powerful sounding, with heaps of body to them but a good deal of twang. Put it this way… they don’t sound like cheap pickups. The middle position with both pickups on has a weird reverse phasing thing going on, as the sound gets quite quacky and compressed. It’s a usuable sound but not as nice as the neck or bridge pickup by themselves.

The body is a beautiful piece of wood. I’m not sure what it is… it may be maple. It has a bit of figuring in it and is quite pretty. The edges of the guitar look fantastic with some beautiful dark grain.

The only real cheap looking thing on this instrument is the bridge. It’s a badly cast alloy one piece unit. Fred’s has started pitting pretty bad, but hey… it works and is original.

The back of this guitar is covered with the signatures of the members from Southern Culture On The Skids, who Fred is a big fan of and who we’ve played with a few times.

Strapped on, it’s a very light and small instrument. Due to the big neck, it’s not really a shred machine, but if you’re in a Mummies type garage band, this thing would rock. The fact that Fred has kept this guitar for over 25 years shows how good it is.

*update – I’ve found the catalogue that features this guitar! Thank you Ibanez Collectors Forum. Check it out here!