Vintage Ibanez Blazer 550: Strat-Tastic.

Josh shows off his matching headstock metallic blue beauty. Feast your eyes, and feast ‘em good.
1981 BL550 straight (straight, no pedals, one cord) to Ampeg Reverberocket Reissue 2x12 50w on dirty channel.

[@davidlynch4338]

This is probably one of the best review (show and tell) videos I have seen. Great playing, great humour and maaaan... that is a great guitar.

[@joshoptical]

david lynch Dang! Biggest compliment I’ve ever received on a video! Thanks so much for tuning in!

[@86Nazar]

Great review! I've got the same model from the same year in red with white pickguard. The body is birch with very thin basswood veneers on top and back (stripped mine to bare wood). My #1 guitar!

[@joshoptical]

Amazing! Red is rare. Enjoy!

[@shockmarkets7384]

The Blazer was my first. Bought it in '89. It had been repainted a creamy colour which went well with all the brass. Mine was originally blue like yours. The whammy bar was still there too. It was recommended as a cheap, very respectable, strat copy by mate. And that head stock - yeah baby!

[@joshoptical]

They’re so good. The pickups are what they are- not at all traditional strat- but the guitar is phenomenal

[@gordonkennygordon]

Good day, sir! I have an '82 Blazer that I bought from a friend back in the mid 90s. It had been heavily and clumsily modded then, and I haven't changed it since, because, mostly, I'm not a real guitar player. As it it, it's a fantastic punk rock guitar, which is about the level of my ability. But half the electronics have been pulled out and replaced, and I got curious about what it was supposed to be originally. So this is to thank you for the clearest explanation and demonstration of coil tapping and phase switching I've ever come across. So....thank you very much! Cheers Kenny

[@joshoptical]

Amazing! Glad someone heard this tree fall in the forest cheers and enjoy the Blazer- great guitar.

[@lostgroovemusic8494]

Nice guitar I just brought one ☝️ 1980 you still got yours

[@joshoptical]

Nice! No sold to a student a year ago

[@jonevettu1422]

Great review! And a great guitar! The blazers are so underrated and known! I would love to see some comparisons to new strats with this bl550's . I have some roadstars and blazers and they play so great! The necks are so stiff. Thanks for an entertaining video! And your guitarplaying is super:)

[@joshoptical]

Jone vettu dude thank you so much! Very positive and helpful feedback. Please Subscribe and keep up with all I offer here!

[@JWS1968]

I had this guitar in candy apple red with a black scratch plate and gold/brass hardware. including gnarled volume and tone knobs. The headstock if I remember was not painted, but I might be mistaken. It was a long time ago when I sold it. It had fucking great pick ups and was absolutely beautiful to play and sounded fantastic. It is one of those guitars I sold many years ago but always think about now and again and wish I never did. I wonder who has it now.

[@joshoptical]

John Stockton those are coveted! It probably was a matching headstock. Would love to see it.

[@JWS1968]

@@joshoptical I remember I sold it for £120 and as the guy left with it in his hands I had that sinking feeling that I'd just made a mistake. I don't mean that in the way that I'd sold it too cheap because £120 was probably a fair price back then. But it was just a beautiful guitar and a pleasure to play.

[@65Superhawk]

I have a 1981 same guitar same color. I opened it up tonight and can confirm that the middle pickup is a Super 6 while the outer two are Super Tap 6s. That may explain why the tap effect is less pronounced in positions 2 and 4. I buy these whenever I can and steal the Super Taps for Strats

[@joshoptical]

65Superhawk nice! One just like it for sale locally. Yes the middle pup doesn’t tap. I just sold mine for real life reasons.

[@richardcurtis4556]

Great job. Thanks.

[@joshoptical]

Thank you for watching! Anything else you wanna see from me?

[@livekaos]

I have the same model from 81 without the whammy bar. Amazing guitars always in tune. The middle pickup does not have the coil tap. I’ve made several mods and finally cut a new pick guard and install some DiMarzio noiseless single coils. I still have the original ones and all the rest is the same. I think I changed the pots. You really don’t need another guitar. I have 2 backups for this guitar, another Ibanez RT650 and a Fender American Stratocaster.

[@joshoptical]

LiveKaoss meaning it’s actually a hardtail? I just have mine decked. I want to get it floating but the setup is so perfect I’m scared to change it! Glad to learn my middle pickup isn’t unusual. I just have to lower it real low to get good quack.

[@livekaos]

Guitars Ruin Lives mine is an hard tail, the 500 is an hard tail and the 550 has the whammy bar

[@joshoptical]

LiveKaoss rad! I didn’t know about that part of the series. Thanks for tuning in and please Subscribe for more.

[@boddumblues]

FWIW the normal out-of-phase sounds are not out of phase electrically, but they are mechanically, as in where the strings vibration is picked up. This may be a little long winded to explain ;-)

[@joshoptical]

Right, Strat positions 2/4 are often referred to as OOP when they are not. The blazer gives you the option of a true out of phase sound in 2 & 4

[@allatsea2746]

Right. The main problem is that people (and mixing consoles etc.) use the words "phase" and "polarity" as if they were the same thing, which they are not.

[@65Superhawk]

I am driving to Nashville to pick up one of these right now. Same color but the pick guard and pick up covers are white. I'm hoping it is One of the 550 models but I cannot be sure from the pictures. It has the same knob and y switch configuration

[@joshoptical]

65Superhawk nice! Just sold mine cause of real life. Let us know how you like it!

[@keithbarto5464]

65Superhawk I just played a 1981 BL550 today at the local place where we can used/vintage gear and this old Blazer was hanging all alone by itself..its cosmetically in a worn down ugly state but the mind blowing speed of the neck has me scheming rt now as I type this .. trying to figure out how to find an extra $350 because after 36yrs experience with over 25 alone doing it as an actual working guitarist, and Ive played and owned more axes in my time than most and that gives me an experienced veteran's perspective: Hands down, the slickest..fastest,..absolite BEST guitar ive ever had the privilege of laying my hands on. Including my current aresnal of Evertune Equipped, LTD EC-1000ETs that I swear by..no contest. Ive gotta get this old worn out guitar into my possession somehow. Ill probably never touch any of my others anymore if I get it. Its a 'Life altering' level of special mojo all over it..

[@AverageRider717]

Rock on... from your Pickup Trading Post admin brother.

[@joshoptical]

Catching up- thanks!

[@colinparks619]

I wanna see a blazer with some fender custom shop pickups put in

[@joshoptical]

That’d be cool. Ibanez quality and fender tone

[@janattaaya]

Something must have got disconnected regarding your phase switch in position four, it should be hum-cancelling, as is your position 2. Back in the day they didn't make the middle pickup "reverse wound reverse polarity" like they do now, so position 2 and 4 still had hum. The phase switch just switches the two pickup wires, reversing both phase and polarity, making the combination with the other pickup hum-cancelling. I always thought that was a nice feature for recording. I love these pickups by the way, they are about as hot as p-90s, I never understood why everyone changed them out for weaker strat-style ones :-)

[@joshoptical]

janattaaya just sold it! Glad to know this though. Thanks a bunch for commenting, didn’t know that about the wiring.

[@timec818]

Cool video i have questions Is the pickup Hum-censling In the settings 2 and 4 Like other strats a? Oh the phase-switch to do it?

[@joshoptical]

POS 2 & 4 do reduce him significantly like on most Strats. The out of phase switch doesn’t have an appreciable affect on hum from what I remember (it now lives elsewhere)

[@timec818]

@@joshoptical it's my wife but 2 for me used as a Christmas present so a just interested if I had to sat them in the right spot on my partcaster-tele😊 Thanks allot 😊

[@Kris-P343]

Great Review! I prefer rosewood on my fretboard....my 82 blazer is the exception, mine is the hardtail version, I'm hunting for another!

[@joshoptical]

Frank Marsh dude thank you so much! Yeah if these cane with rosewood boards I’d lose my mind. What do you like best about yours?

[@Kris-P343]

@@joshoptical The neck is pretty much perfect for me, I did re fret it with Evo Gold medium frets and the action is the lowest of any guitar I own. The stock pickups sound really nice,(I'm saving them) but I did swap em for a set of hand wounds. My Blazer is Ash, med weight and very comfortable. The Blazer is definitely a gem in my book, but the secret is out lol and prices are on the rise. Thanks for showing us your Blazer and getting into some of the history as well, just subbed!

[@treborob]

Great review! thanks

[@joshoptical]

Thank YOU for watching!

[@Daniel_Rothardt]

Hey bud, I just purchased an 82 Blazer 550 with a brass bridge. I'm so excited for it to be shipped. I heard those bridges can cause problems, though and I just wanted to see if you ever experienced any issues with it?

[@joshoptical]

Daniel Not in the slightest, but I always decked the bridge on that guitar. Trying to float in a vintage bridge is a dicey proposition. Let me know how it goes. You’ll love the guitar

[@Bairov]

Will fender super bullets fit into this block?

[@joshoptical]

@@Bairov I don’t know.

[@cristianperezgarcia7720]

Que guitarra mas genial! Mejores que muchas fenders u.s.a y el perrito es un sol 😁

[@joshoptical]

Yes it is! Sammie passed on last month sadly. He was the greatest I will ever know.

[@iwanttobemonke1408]

@@joshoptical😦😭😭. He lives on in doggy heaven

[@iwanttobemonke1408]

Shoutout Sam

[@joshoptical]

Yes my Sammie. Love of my life.

[@lostgroovemusic8494]

What’s your opinion on these guitars you think they are better then Mexican standard strats ?

[@joshoptical]

By a country mile. First off they’re way cooler- nothing interesting about an import Strat- more importantly these are just stellar guitars. Ibanez Japan craftsmanship is just exceptional. And you can get them for a song- though the demand is surely going up.

[@rodolfomisao123]

May u tell me which Song is the third that u played?

[@joshoptical]

Seems like Sultans Of Swing by Dire Straits. Does that sound right? Can you give me a time stamp?

[@rodolfomisao123]

@@joshoptical sure 4:16

[@downonluck59]

Nice jamming and tone! Makes me want to record some tasty riffs. I’m no where near your level of playing though 👍

[@joshoptical]

Get to it!

[@faithman2k]

The body is northern ash.

[@joshoptical]

faithman2k right on! Did you take that from one of the old catalogs?

[@faithman2k]

Yes, but I also have one and the finish has chipped through to the wood on part of it. It's a nice whitish ash :-)

[@faithman2k]

PS. The pickups are Super Tap 6 in the neck and bridge... with a Super 6 in the middle. The tap was not included in the middle pickup. From what I understand, the pickups are Ibanez's version of Schecter's Dream Machine pickups used by Mark Knopfler. Personally, I think they are better. I've been researching this guitar since I got in 1990. I wore the frets away and am saving up for a refret... got distracted by a few different guitars in the meantime

[@stoofbuis]

pu's sound like SD quarterpounds

[@stoofbuis]

or like rio grandes

[@joshoptical]

stoofbuis yes very similar.

[@martindisslertation8882]

basicly a nice video, but the volume difference between talking and playing makes it almost impossible to watch. it is annoying to change the volume every 15 seconds. use a compressor!

[@joshoptical]

Martin Dissler you ain’t wrong! Wanna send me one?

[@martindisslertation8882]

@@joshoptical you need to add compression in the post production software. it is a standart. you can also manually drag the waves of sound to the same level in most software. if not: download audacity and use that for the sound.