Red revival

Alright folks, this is something I got from the after-market; an Ibanez S540. The ex-owner is an old-timer who gave good mileage to this guitar for sure. We had a good chat. He told me he bought it in 1994 but S540 fans would know that '94 was the year, Ibanez had the Quantum (Q) humbuckers in the S540 so this one is definitely a pre-'94 as it featured a set of DiMarzio IBZ USA pickups.

Let me share with you how much I got it for. It was listed for $700. Upon personal inspection, there were many dings, scratches & the gash you see above was the deal-breaker for me. However, this was located at the rear of the elbow relief of the body so it's invisible from the audience view point. These were all undeclared in the listing so folks, if you are dealing with a well-used instrument which looks fine in listing photos, you are the wiser if you take time & see the instrument in person. Sometimes, the seller might deem it unnecessary to declare because it's a well-used instrument anyway but the buyer needs to know & it will inevitably be the decision-making factor. Together with the worn out frets, I managed to talk the price down to $600.

In the listing photos, the rear of the guitar cavity, where the whammy springs reside, was uncovered. Then I realized the bridge in this guitar was not the Lo-Pro Edge it was supposed to feature - darn! A cheap Chinese product was in place. As such, the trem block was not catered to match the thinner body depth of the S-Series, the reason it could not be closed & left exposed. I thanked the seller for his time & was about to walk away when he asked me how much a replacement bridge would cost - at least $200 was my answer. He told me he really had no use for this guitar any more & wanted to let it go to the first person showing real interest, so the price was further marked down to $400. Final question before I make my decision - are the electronics working? He could not assure me so the price was further marked down to $350. It sounded like I had squeezed dry a senior citizen of his prized possession but as you will see in further episodes here, despite its Japanese pedigree & DiMarzio manufactured pickups, it's not worthy of its $700 asking price. The guitar was purchased for $350 & I wasn't sure if it's a steal or daylight robbery. 

To be continued...