Ibanez Musician guitars were first offered in the 1978 Ibanez Electric Guitars Catalog, but the earliest models bear late 1977 production dates. These guitars are not as popular as the Artist series but may be some of the most beautiful guitars ever produced by Ibanez. The first models were hand-crafted and feature a multiple-layered wood construction that give them their distinctive look.
The Ibanez Musician seems to be an evolutionary next step to two Artist guitars, models 2700 and 2710, introduced in the same year. (See the 1977 Artist Series catalog, pages 4 and 5). Those two guitars featured neck-through body construction, and used Super 88 pickups. The model 2700, in fact, is a dead ringer for the MC500, except it has the Artist body shape.
The Musician was made available in five models: MC500, MC400, MC300, MC200 and MC100. Each model was available in either a natural stain (NT) or dark-brown stain (DS) version (except for the MC100, which was available in dark-brown stain only).
Model Features
These details are taken from the 1978 Ibanez Electric Guitars Catalog, linked above.
MC500 and MC400 Models:
Body Materials:
MC400: mahogany core, ash top/back, flat top
MC500: maple core, ash top/back, curved top
7-piece laminated neck, rock maple, black walnut
24 frets (VelveTouch)
Polished ebony fingerboard with abalone dot inlays
Half bone, half brass nut
Hardware/Controls:
Suregrip Control Knobs
Gold-plated hardware
Gibraltar I adjustable bridge with sustain block
Gibraltar slotted tail piece
Ibanez "cloud"
Super 88 pickups (tri-sound)
Volume and Preamp Boost controls
Ibanez EQ Tone System (three-band, high/mid/low, EQ knobs)
Ibanez Velve-Tune machine heads (pearloid knobs)
Colors:
Natural (NT), Dark-Brown Stain (DS)
MC300 Variations:
Ash/Mahogany on both NT and DS models
Neck: 5-piece neck, ebonized rosewood
Tuners: Velve-Tune II
Controls: Individual volume and tone, Tri-sounds
MC200 Variants:
No tri-sounds
Chrome hardware
MC100 Variants:
Super 77 pickups
No sustain block under bridge
Detachable neck
DS Color only
Early Model Feature Evolution
By examining many eBay auctions and matching guitar features to the serial numbers on the guitars, it is possible to build an accurate time-line of the subtle design changes in the model, especially from the model's introduction to late 1978.
You can view the running list of Musician auctions here: [http://www.chucke.com/mc/mc-tracking.html].
