S540TS-BK
Triple - Single Coil
Prototype

Firstly an introduction.
The text below if a full transcript from Rich Lasner (Ibanez Designer 1984-89, see history page for more from Rich) on his views about this guitar. I was sent some pictures of an S540 looking guitar but with a pickup configuration I'd not seen on the S range before, Namely a Triple - Single set up. The Triple made up of a Humbucker and Single Coil mounted together with in one pickup ring. The Serial Number would suggest a June 1987 Build. Nothing in the catalogues. So I contacted Rich to ask if he had any Knowledge about the Guitar.
Firstly here is what Nigel (the owner sent in way of history).

Please find attached the following pictures of an Ibanez guitar I picked up around 1990. The body is very similar to that of a Saber, however the pickup arrangement is strange and I have not been able to find it in any Ibanez Cats.

I purchased the guitar from Nick at Abbey Road Music in Torquay Devon who had ordered for me from Ibanez a Joe Sat copy in Black. I waited for some months before one Saturday morning Nick phoned me to say that it had arrived. When I got there it was quite obvious it wasn't what I had ordered but I tried it and took an instant liking to it. Nick charged me a reasonable amount of pennies for it and off I went. Some months latter Nick phoned me one evening explaining that somebody from Ibanez had contacted him to find out what had happened to the guitar and wanted to know if he could retrieve it, obviously I kept it as I was actively gigging with it. Once I settled down and had my first child I sold off all my gear and forgot all about the Ibanez as it was left in my fathers loft. It wasn't until recently during a clear out that my father asked whether I wanted it or should he through it away. I said I would pick it up and keep it for Jack my son.

I opened the case and the smell and sense of playing all came back to me. I subsequently called some old buddies one of which asked whether I still had the Ibanez and he was now involved in the music business, and explained that he had never seen one the same since and thought it would be a good idea to plant some postings on the net. So that's where I am.

I remember seeing this guitar (or one much like it) at our annual meeting for new models in Nagoya at the Hoshino Gakki office at the end of 1986. Every year, the Japanese guitar staff (Fritz Katoh and Chuck Fukagawa at the time) would have Fujigen make up a couple of dozen “what if” protos to show to the worldwide Ibanez divisions to see if they want to order them for the coming year. The US passed on this model. I don’t know if the Asian or European markets bought any. The Japanese serial number makes me wonder if this was a proto, or if some were actually produced for the domestic Japanese market. I took a close look at the pickup- It seems like a thrown-together affair, as the extra coil is simply a special single coil sitting on its own mounting screws. Some of the 3-coil Ibanez pickups were made as 3 coils on a single metal plate and mounted as one huge pickup. I wish I could see the 3-coil pickup mounting ring more clearly- On protos, the ring would most likely not be mould-made. Someone would have hand-fabricated the first few.

After sending the better picture of the Pickup Ring, Rich Replied.