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Simon Sekiden’s Ibanez/Ricky 2388

Here’s Simon from Sekiden’s vintage Ibanez beauty…
(image by Paul Rankin)

I’ve lived in Brisbane for about 14 years now, and been playing in bands for the same amount of time. Along the way I’ve gotten to meet most of the people in the Bris music scene and nerd out on the guitars that they play. Ben Nose from Godnose had his awesome vintage Ibanez Flying V. Dan from Sixfthick had his sunburst 5 string Musicman bass (before it got nicked.) John from Dick Nasty has his checkerboard Explorer. And Simon had his freaky cool Ibanez Ricky.

Before Ibanez got into making speed machines like the RG550 in the 80’s, they made some really great guitars in the 70’s. Most of their catalogue consisted of copies of famous American axes like the Les Paul and the Strat. They also copied some rare models, like this particular guitar which is based on a combination of the Rickenbacker 480 & 481. This model was known as the Ibanez 2388.

The Rickenbacker 480 was based on the 4000 series bass, with neck binding but strangely for Rickenbacker… a detachable neck. Unlike the Ibanez, it had dot fret markers and no body binding.

The 481 was a deluxe version of the 480. Still with bold on maple neck, body and the Rickenbackler bass body style, it also featured body binding, slanted frets, humbuckers and a pickup phase reversal switch.

Simon found his Ibanez 2388 years ago at a pawn brokers for $160. I know… how good is that?! I would’ve clutched it like a Golum and cackled like a mad man (it’s happened to me a few times…) What an absolute bargain. He’s made a few modifications to it over the years. The original pickups were microphonic as hell, so Simon replaced the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Firebird minihumbucker.

Simon only plays with 5 strings as he mainly plays power chords, and he reckons the high E is just a pain… with going out of tune and breaking. He’s also changed the tuners, and had the neck repaired after it mysteriously got snapped on a Japanese tour. Apart from the neck being cracked, the fingerboard was hanging off the end of the neck. It’s quite tricky to break a triple laminated neck, but those awesome airline handlers are experts in such matters. Just ask Dan from Sixfthick. They broke his Burny Les Paul… twice.

The inlays show Ibanez’s attention to detail by being the cool glitter types used on the older Rickenbackers. They look even better 30 years later when they go greeny grey. They also look great on stage when the lights hit them.

All in all, it’s a great looking guitar. Especially with that awesome sticker. I had a quick play and the neck is actually a lot more comfortable than the old Rickenbacker I had. It’s profile is a lot less ‘square’ and the frets are nice and tall. The guitar itself is pretty heavy… almost like a Les Paul. It just feels solid and well made. It’s guitars like this which show why 70’s Ibanez’s are so sought after. They’re great guitars.

It’s Simon’s trademark axe. It’s the ‘Sekiden’ guitar. When you think Sekiden, this is the axe. I wish I had a trademark guitar… but that’s the price you pay when you’re a guitar nerd. To me it would be like choosing which pair of shoes you’re going to wear for the rest of your life. I can’t make those types of important decisions.

photo by Annabel Taylor

Check out Sekiden here at their website…

And here’s the Sekiden video of ‘Pinball Summer’ featuring Simon’s Ibanez Ricky.