Ibanez Model 2461BS 'Johnny Smith', 1975

ibanez-johhny-smith-lawsuit-1975-cons-full-1

Serial Number	N/A, built in 1975 as model 2461BS
Pricing	$999 CAD with original case. SOLD
Neck	Curly maple neck with bound ebony fingerboard, split block markers in mother of pearl, open-book ‘lawsuit’ headstock with split parallelogram and Ibanez inlay; three-screw truss rod cover. The center piece of headstock inlay has a chip. Metric hex Key truss rod adjustment nut.
Frets	Original frets with very little play wear.
Body	Laminate spruce top, laminate curly maple back and sidees. Bound F-holes, Multiple-ply binding on body.
Finish	Original gloss poly sunburst finish in good condition.
Hardware/electronics	Gold plated hardware, original tuners, L-5 style tailpiece, ebony bridge and base, faux tortoise pickguard. This guitar has been converted from a 2-pickup Super 70’s model to single, with the original bridge pickup removed and the pickguard getting covers to hide the holes from the controls.
Playability/Action	Plays very well and cleanly, and there is plenty of room to adjust the action in any direction.
Case	Original case included.
Comments	Ibanez started making more or less direct copies of popular North American instruments in the early 1970’s, but before long, lawsuits were threatened. In 1977, Gibson’s parent company Norlin finally filed for copyright infringement based on Ibanez’s (identified as Elgar USA) use of the open-book headstock. However, by time of filing, Ibanez had already ceased using Gibson’s open-book shape and moved to their current design – which is based on the Guild shape. There are many differences, some subtle, some not, between the Ibanez models and what they copy, but overall these are excellent instruments.This example, the 2461BS, is based on the Gibson Johnny Smith and is in good condition with minor wear. It was originally a dual-pickup model but the bridge pickup has been removed.The 2461 model was in production in 1975 to 1977, and by late 1975 Ibanez was adding serial numbers to the back of the headstock. This example doesn’t have the serial number, and so is from the earlier part of 1975.