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540 Power II
SN: 891171 YEAR: 1988 OWNER: Chris Clancy

Details & History

Ibanez 540 p2

serial #891171 I believe that makes it an 89

color magenta it looks a little more reddish in the pictures than it really is. pickups original f2 and f3 I bought this guitar new in a small local music store for about $350.00.It was marked down quite a bit, so I asked the owner of the store why it was so cheap.

He basically told me that it was too weird looking, so nobody wanted it and it had been sitting there for about a year so he had to get rid of it. After a couple of years, it had an "accident", and the top round part of the body broke off. So I took it apart, put it in it's case, and there it sat for about 10 years.

I have recently repaired it and must give much thanks to my brother ,Rick, for repainting it in the original color. Pat Diburro (diburro.com)a very skilled luthier in my area, wired it back up, and set it up right. I had forgotten how awesome this guitar is to play. The neck is wide and thin and very comfortable. I know these guitars are a little rare, so I will never sell it. I only hope to pass it down to my son or daughter someday.

Thanks for looking.

Chris Clancy

 

 

SN: N/A YEAR: 1992 OWNER: Jon Robbins

Details & History

I have gotten many requests for pictures of my 540 Power II. The review I put up at Harmony Central also included a e-mail I received From Alex Skolnick. In trying to identify this guitar I was told it was a Alex Skolnick model, here is what Alex had to say.

"Hi Jon- The 540P is a great guitar, but I can't claim it as the "Alex Skolnick" model. I did a couple ads with it, so people associate it with me, but it's just called a 540P as far as I remember. Good luck!
Alex Skolnick".

 This guitar was bought new at American Music in Bellevue, WA in 1992, the list price was $1500. They also had it in white and fluorescent yellow. It has Two humbuckers unlike the other ones on this site, A F3 at the neck and a F2 at the Bridge. It has 22 frets with sharktooth inlays. I have taken out the standard Ibanez 3 way switch, "I got tired of constantly having to mess with it", I replaced it with a standard three way toggle. I had to drill a hole in the front of the body, so I just covered it with one of my old credit cards. I also tried to install a EVH D-Tuna without any luck. The live shot is from "The Rock Candy" in Seattle circa 1993. This is where Pearl Jam recorded there Evenflow Video. It is a beautiful Trans Cerise metalflake "stock" color. This guitar sounds and plays awesome! The neck is way thinline, and the sustain is very powerful. This is my Baby, and I will never sell it.

 

 

SN: 891513 YEAR: 1989 OWNER: Nuno

Details & History

Ibanez 540 Power II (USA)

serial number: #891513

i bought this PII used for $600, case included.

she's in pretty good conditions, a few small dings here & there (she's 13!), and the neck is almost untouched. this version is identical to the prototype holden by Alex Skolnick in the 1990 Japanese catalogue, with H/S configuration, F3 (hum) & C2 (single) IBZ/USA pick-ups, one volume knob, 3-way switch, Edge trem, bright yellow finish, cosmo-black hardware, and no pick-guard.

the F3 humbucker is impressively powerful and low-ish, with plenty of harmonics and infinite sustain (and i play thru a 75w solid-state combo! go figure...). the C2 vertical single is incredibly silent, the same as an humbucker, yet with a typical single-coil twangy tone. on the clean tone, she's pretty elegant and incredibly balanced between basses & trebles. also on the clean tone the sustain is endless. the neck is a Wizard but slightly wider, in fact the nut is 45mm instead of the typical 43mm on many Ibanez models. the frets are medium-sized, fat and smooth. the bends are pretty easy and wide with these frets. the neck is a one-piece maple with rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets with sharktooth inlays and binding all over the reverse headstock, too. the body is basswood, with the typical oddly reversed shape, and it's lovely cause it's slightly smaller than the standard size. i love small guitars cause they fit better your body size, unless you're tall like Vai or Gilbert... anyway, she's pretty handily and light yet perfectly balanced... a shred machine, definitely! i hope you'll like her.

 

 

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