The Ibanez SB70 (Ibanez Studio Blazer 70) is an unusual and seemingly rare guitar from 1982. Legend has it that Ibanez were using up spare Blazer necks and adding them to Studio bodies*. Rumour has it that only 300 were made, resulting in the rather amusing nickname of 'The Spartan' and it is true that it's simple, austere, basic even, but effective, very very effective. When these turn up for sale they often have evident signs of heavy use, and an active life! A musical instrument should be played rather than be an ornament and you can tell from the state these guitars are normally in that they have been loved and used!

It is a no frills guitar, but where often guitar manufacturers will choose hardware/pick ups as an area that can apply cost control, this is not the case with the SB70. The pair of Dimarzio humbuckers with the tapping microswitch gives a very decent choice of tones. It's an allrounder - you can play clean, jazz, blues, screaming distortion and the guitar aqcuits itself very well indeed.

*It's worth noting that the body is in keeping with the later Studio body shape rather than the earlier studio bodies, the reasoning for Ibanez producing these guitars could be conjecture, the late 70s and early 80s was a period of intense innovation, evolution and development at Ibanez. The Studio, the Artist, The Musician, The Roadster, Roadstar...Ibanez were trying all kinds of things, and it could be that this was an idea that was started but simply not taken further due to other ideas that were being pursued at the time, there are other examples where this seems to have happened. The RS500 for example seems to have been produced in very low numbers, but ultimately it looks very similar to the RS1600, which was produced later. The SB70 reminds me of the radius, or JS series - in particlular the JS6.

The production lifesan of the guitar was so short it doesn't appear to have made it into any of the Ibanez catalogues.

They are cracking guitars, and often available at a very affordable price (that is, when they are available at all!) Though they may need a bit of TLC. There are some nice examples out there where people have striped the body and gone blonde!

The following link has some excellent information about the SB70 as well as a decent register of serial numbers.http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/index.php/topic,20623.0.htmlB70