1984 Ibanez DT 555 Destroyer Replica Build:

83 blazer said:
Here's a page from a Japanese Ibanez catalogue for you Robert!
View attachment 6480

And this is a page from an English language Ibanez catalogue. I had a copy of this back in the day. I used to stare at it for ages cos it had Dave and Adrian from Iron Maiden playing Destroyers as well as Phil Collen (who was new in Def Leppard) pictured in some band called Girl? (No internet so couldn't look them up to see who the hell they were!)
My copy of the catalogue is long gone, but the Ibanez Blazer I bought at the time still remains!
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Awesome! Dude! That was on my wall back in 1982/1983! Thanks for posting this!

I just found out (through a colleague) that Phil's original black triple-humbucker Destroyer was a generic 1980 DT400 that was customized by Hoshono Guitars in Glendale, California for Ibanez and the Kahler was installed and set up by Dave Storey...
 
My Destroyer replica bears the original serial number of my DT555 which was stolen from me in 1988.

Here is that serial number decoded:

Screenshot_2017-07-10-21-58-14.png

I received that guitar from Joan Chesbro of Chesbro Music in Idaho Falls in 1983 - as a early release demo...however, the serial number on it indicated it was built in January 1984...several months after I received it!!!
 
Ibanez Destroyer Trivia:

Ok, Guys and Gals...


You might find this of interest...I bought my '1984' DT555 from Joan Chesbro at Chesbro Music, in Idaho Falls. At the time, they were a HUGE Ibanez retailer. During my first conversations with Joan Chesbro, she said she was "having trouble getting a hold of a DT555" for some reason....but added she would "see what she could do." This was in November or December of 1983.

After a few weeks, she called and told me she found one - a demo - in Glendale, California. We now know that Tak Hoshono was building Ibanez USA models, and doing custom work in general for Ibanez, at his Glendale shop. In fact, it was Tak Hoshono that built Phil Collen's original Destroyer from a 1980 DT400 and it was Dave Storey who installed the Kahler on it at Hoshono's shop.

Joan Chesbro told me she ordered the guitar and arranged for it to be shipped to her facility in Idaho falls, and if I wanted it, she would sell it to me - at full retail - and ship it to me.

The guitar arrived in the same box that it was sent to her from Hoshono Guitar Works in Glendale. I am currently looking for my invoice, because it was dated December 1983 and yey showed the 'A84' (1984) serial number. The same 1984 serial appears on the 1988 police report where I reported it stolen.

My DT555 had the "Pro-Rocker" locking trem with fine tuners...but, a 1983 should have had a Pro-Rocker tremolo. Either way, I had Wayne Charvel replace the Ibanez tremolo in June or July of 1984 with a Floyd Rose.

For whatever reason, it appears that this guitar was built outside the normal production line - possibly even built entirely by Hoshono - in 1983, but assigned a 1984 build code????

Now, from interviews with Ibanez staff, we know that Ibanez was sending Japanese made (Hoshino Gaki) parts to Hoshono Guitars in Glendale for assembly because importation taxes were lower on component parts than on completed guitars and we also know that PRC and JEM guitars also did contract assembly work for Ibanez in the USA, including some of the artist models....so the question is, how did a DT555, produced and later sold in December of 1983 in Glendale, California, end up getting a 1984 serialization????

Thoughts???



Herndon Serial Special.jpg

Ibanez Serial Dating.png
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I might have found something...i recall a conversation with Wayne Charvel years ago about serial numbers and production dates on his guitars. I don't remember all the details, but I seem to remember him saying the switch to January dates happened about mid month December because they didn't come back to work for Christmas until the day after New Years....


Plausible? ? ?
 
Shown is the serial from a documented original DT555. The "Crafted In Japan" and the serial number were applied separately (by the factory) resulting in both positioning and colorization errors...

Note the pronounced volute...

Serial Number Decoded:

A = January

85 = 1985

0006 = 6th unit produced in that calendar month

IMG_20170714_44186.jpg
 
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Just got a call from the builder this morning. They found an imperfection in the finish on the body and the QC inspector flagged it for refinish. This will delay completion, but I am pleased with their pro-active approach....

Herndon July 15 2017 QC Refinish.jpg
 
Hackmaster said:
Really looking forward to seeing this beauty in your tone hungry hands.
Click to expand...

Hack,

I can't wait!!!! I been wanting another since mine was stolen in 1988....only now I realize it wasn't just because it was the same guitar Phil Collen played...it had a lot to do with a thicker than average neck profile, 24.75" scale and a whopping 16k from its humbuckers....Hurry Up!!!!!
 
Here's an example of the comparison between a genuine Ibanez and a replica. On the originals, the words "Crafted in Japan" and the serial number are always two different shades of gold because these letters were cut from two different label sheets:

DT555 ORIGINAL.jpg

On a replica, in almost every case, Ibanez replicas have the two lines of characters printed on the same sheet, as shown below:

DT555 REPLICA.jpg

It is also very common to see the "Crafted in Japan" and the serial number misaligned, both vertically and laterally on the genuine guitars, because the labels were placed individually.
 
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