Ibanez Blazer Returns

July 11, 1997 -- Ibanez recently unveiled two new guitars under the old Blazer name. "The original Blazer's were what players needed in the 80's as an alternative to the traditional single coil guitar," remarked Paul Specht of Ibanez. "But the new Blazer guitars are what players now and in the future-instruments that end the need for switching between traditional single coil and traditional humbucking pickup guitars." Thanks to a unique multi-radius design both the BL850 and the BL1025 feature a neck with the comfortable, rounded broken in feel of the best old guitars. "This is a neck that's as comfortable as a pair of old blue jeans," continued Specht. Additionally, the BL1025 neck gets six extra steps of hand finishing and oiling to give it a feel that Ibanez claims rivals or exceeds that of much more expensive all-handmade guitars.

BL1025: The deluxe model Blazer BL1025 features a Wilkinson VSV vintage tremolo bridge, specially designed Sperzel locking tuners with individually calibrated string heights (for even string tension and no string trees). The single coil section of the new Ibanez JL/Daisensei humbuckers have same construction as a regular single coil pickup so they offer genuine single coil tone. A unique switching system offers all the standard pickup configurations of both the classic single coil and classic humbucking guitar, plus configurations not available with either. The list price as of April 1, 1997 is $999.99. Available Finishes: Cayman Green, Vintage Burst

BL850: The Blazer standard model is fitted with a Gotoh 510AT tremolo, Sperzel locking tuners. Pickups include the IBZ V7 humbucker in the neck, IBZ S7 Single in the middle, and IBZ V8 humbucker in the bridge, all controlled by the Ibanez Split 5 switching system. The list price as of April 4, 1997 is $679.99. Available finishes: Black, Vintage Burst

For more information, visit their web site at www.ibanez.com.