From the golden era of Japanese guitar manufacturing we have this very cool Ibanez 2453 "Howard Roberts" model.

A legend of the LA scene during the middle decades of the 20th Century, Howard Roberts paved the way for the studio players of the 70s and 80s whilst recording some seminal albums of his own. Constantly tinkering with his own guitars he was approached by Epiphone to design his own guitar in the early 60s, the model being discontinued by Gibson in 1969.

The Gibson version was introduced in 1974 featuring a 25.5” scale length, 16” waist, maple laminate body, three piece maple neck and retained the epiphone headstock design of the original with the vine inlay. 

This Ibanez 2453 is an incredibly faithful version of the Howard Roberts, albeit with a shorter scale length (regular Gibson 24.75" rather than the 25.5" that Gibson used on the original). 

Apart from the addition of a bigsby and a Hofner style bridge, this is a totally original guitar. The deep wine red finish looks fantastic, while the iconic Super 70 pickup is perfect for those classic clean jazz tones. 

There's some signs of a life well played, with some scuffs to the top and back and some scratches on the sides. There's signs of a couple of different tail pieces having been on the guitar at some point. There are no breaks or repairs.

We've had a couple of Gibson Howard Roberts over the last year or so, and we have to say that the build quality of this Ibanez is right up there with its USA counterpart. It sounds great, plays great, and is a must for any Howard Roberts fan or vintage Ibanez collector...