The Beatles called it a day back in 1970. The Stones keep popping back up again every few years, but it's a pretty intermittent thing. By default, then, the Grateful Dead - or Dead & Company as they go by now, with John Mayer in the lineup - must be the longest lasting rock outfit in the world, forming as they did way back in 1965.
A high water mark
Built just eleven years after the Dead's first gigs, as guitar building in Japan was starting to move out of the infamous "lawsuit era", the Bob Weir Professional remains a high water mark in not just Japanese building, but instrument building worldwide. Ibanez would now be featuring their own innovative designs, no longer simply copying the big name American models.
Double Rainbow
The Bob Weir model was a variation on John McLaughlin's famous 6-12 double-neck guitar, the Double Rainbow, created by a pair of legendary US guitar builders, Rex Bogue and Ren Ferguson, Bogue blueprinting the intricate electronics and Ferguson the physical appearance. The "German carve" around the edge of the body brings a touch of class rarely seen elsewhere, elevating the otherwise loose SG shape to something else entirely. Bob Weir was instantly impressed with the finished product and began using his Professionals immediately, first on the Grateful Dead's classic album, Terrapin Station, then his own solo release, Heaven Help The Fool.
Features
Alongside the various big name associations, the list of features on these guitars is incredible:-
A hand-carved, book-matched Ash body
Hard Rock Maple neck
Hand selected Ebony fingerboard
Ibanez 'Gibraltar' bridge, for extra sustain, bite and clarity
Velve-Tune double-worm gear tuners, with thumbwheel tension adjustment
Smooth-taper volume and tone controls
And bringing it all home, a sensational set of the famous 'Super 80' humbuckers - a very PAF-sounding pickup, with a high-end sparkle that always seemed missing in Gibson's own PAFs. These pickups have been so highly thought of over the years that Ibanez recreated them a few years back, for use in some of their higher-end models. Wax-potted ceramic units in the 7.9 - 8k output range, if they can be found on the vintage market, they sell for US$250 - US$350 a set. The pickups became colloquially known as "Flying Fingers", due to the engraved hand with butterfly wings design on the covers, (see pic # 5).
Scarlet Begonias
Complete with its original Ibanez hard case, (pic # 8 and right), this magic sounding Bob Weir Professional is in overall Excellent- condition, with just the odd small dinglet here and there, plus the expected wear of the gold parts, to show for its 40+ years of use. The guitar comes from the private collection of one of Australia's best known players and is in prefect, professionally maintained order - take it out of the case, plug in and you're ready to kick straight into 'Scarlet Begonias', 'Picasso Moon' or 'Dark Star'!
Free courier delivery
As with all Just Guitars instruments FREE COURIER DELIVERY is included to any address in Australia. ($100 airfreight to New Zealand, $175 to the US, Canada, UK and mainstream European countries)
Weight: 9lb 13oz / 4.45kg
Just Guitars
