[deadbearbobby]

hey all,
ive got a tough choice to make and could use a little help making it. i have the choice of either an ibanez mc 150 in the beautiful off white finish with the 1982 style change or a 1981 mc 550 with dark stain and the traditional musician body shape from 1977-1981. the mc 150 is of course less expensive but only by $373, i like the shape of both of them but the mc 550 appears to have a longer gap between the butt end of the guitar and the tailpiece, this is only an issue because i want to place an ebony tailpiece on it later, and of course the switching options are more limited on the mc 150. does anyone have an opinion on these two either way? help please, oh and how difficult is it to put nickel 59's in to the 550?
thanks and peace
<deadbearbobby>

[Tennessee Jedi]

hey all,
ive got a tough choice to make and could use a little help making it. i have the choice of either an ibanez mc 150 in the beautiful off white finish with the 1982 style change or a 1981 mc 550 with dark stain and the traditional musician body shape from 1977-1981. the mc 150 is of course less expensive but only by $373, i like the shape of both of them but the mc 550 appears to have a longer gap between the butt end of the guitar and the tailpiece, this is only an issue because i want to place an ebony tailpiece on it later, and of course the switching options are more limited on the mc 150. does anyone have an opinion on these two either way? help please, oh and how difficult is it to put nickel 59's in to the 550?
thanks and peace
<deadbearbobby>

http://www.noahjames.com/vintagepage/musician.html
Yo my Brother !
The 150 is for chopping. Once you route the f out of it it wont be a collectors item.
The MC 550 ? You might not want to chop but then again you might.
There are some other guys on the board who have Musicians ; maybe they can help you.
My Musician is going under the knife next week.
Peace !

[Tennessee Jedi]

[kac123]

I have a few examples of each model. The 550 is a tremendous guitar, but is generally more of a collectors item. If you buy an unmolested 550 you'd be crazy to modify it. For an everyday player the 150 is a tremendous value. The only thing you'll loose vs. the 550 is the tri-band active EQ, which is pretty noisy compared to today's circuits especially if you crank up the treble. The 150 has the push-push coil taps (similar to Yamaha SG1000/2000/3000) plus the neck-through and the sweet sounding Super 58's vs. the thinner sounding Super 80's on the 550's up to 1981 -- they put the 58's in on the last year of production in 1982. If it were up to me, and if I were looking for a player, I'd go for the 150 and use the $350+ I saved over the 550 and buy a killer rack effects system or state of the art pedal system. Much more versatility, better sounds and no worries about having to deal with batteries for my active guitar circuit. Also, the 550 is usually about 2-4 pounds heavier than the 150 so if you play long gigs that might be a factor also. Hope that helps.

[deadbearbobby]

i went for the 550, sending the first payment monday it is about time for a new-ish guitar, been wnating an ibanez musician for awhile. thanks everyone
<deadbearbobby>