”If with the Artist 5000 series we are faced with models released in low number editions, with the Musician 5000 we even enter the mysterious field of unique historical models, built in very few copies, each different from the other. In the specific case of this Musician 5000, 3 are known but a fourth has also come out in Germany, purchased from new in 1983 at a shop in Berlin, which makes the mystery even denser: how many are the existing MC 5000 in the world?
Lorenzo
In the second half of the ’70s the Hoshino Gakki, owner of the Ibanez brand, began production of original instruments such as the Artist, the Iceman and the Musician, which was released on the market in 1977.
As often happened in the Japanese production, there were multiple versions of a specific model and the top-ends were usually particularly elaborate, built with selected exotic woods of rare beauty and rich in extremely complex inlays.
On the keyboards there were trees of life and on some bodies there were leaves, inflorescences and various ornaments, as well as on the richly adorned headstocks.
With the MC 5000 we are probably in front of the highest peaks of Japanese art: a palette literally covered with mother-of-pearl leaves, a triple nut in wood/bone/brass and a very special tree of life that runs along a mahogany board set in the center of the ebony fretboard. Inside the strip are placed the dot markers and in the 21st key was placed a further inlay, a plate with the inscription “Limited Edition” in italics. The bodies are made of sublime woods, among them Koa and Zebra Wood and the vertiginous neck-thru is the quintessence of perfection.
The story goes that the MC 5000 was designed specifically for Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead but that he did not like it because it was too heavy to be played live. At the time Bob Weir, the other guitarist of the band, owned an autograph instrument of Ibanez production and Hoshino Gakki, in collaboration with Weir himself and Jeff Hasselberger, decided to create a particular model of Musician with a special electronic part to give to Garcia.
Bob Weir with the Ibanez model that bears his name
The famous three guitars were made, which were presented at the NAMM in Atlanta in 1978 and following the refusal of Garcia the three took different paths: one it’s in the private Ibanez collection, another is in possession of the collector Orval Engling (known also like Mr. Ibanez) and the other should be part of a not-well-known American collection. But this is only the “Myth”, in truth it is not known the exact number of copies been made.
In May 2012 a copy, visible in the images below and certified by Bob Weir as the one that belonged to Garcia, was auctioned in San Francisco. However, it is not known for certain whether it really belonged to Garcia or not.
Update
From a recent comments share between Orval Engling and Jeff Hasselberger on a Facebook group, we learned that the MC 5000 were manufactured in two runs, 1977 and 1980 (apparently recognizable by the cloud-shaped tailpiece which, in the first run is recessed in the body and in the second it is placed on top).
In addition to this, Hasselberger provided some interesting details on the instrument made for Garcia:
“We made a guitar for Jerry. He played it in a couple of gigs. He liked it, but not enough. The key test to recognize a genuine Ibanez Garcia would be the presence of a” Garcia Effects Loop. “Jerry had noticed (correctly) that the pedals responded differently to different input levels.Jerry was in his auto-wah period at the time and it was a very noticeable trait of that particular setup.
His solution was to have an “effects loop” built into his guitars. The signal went directly from the pickup switch to his pedals and then back into the guitar via a stereo cable. Upon its return, the signal then went to the volume, tone, and other onboard circuitry, then came out via a standard cable.
I’m sure we made a guitar. I’m not quite sure we’ve done two. What I remember is that it was basically a standard custom Musician MC 5000 with the effects circuit. Bottom line, if it doesn’t have the loop, it’s not a Jerry Special. ”
We also discover a 1980 MC 5000 that is in the collection of Joe Deferm, who, very kindly, gave us a nice photo gallery of his rare and precious instrument and briefly told us the story of his MC 5000:
“As I was told by the guy I bought the guitar from, it was exhibited at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt in the late 1970s. A Belgian guitar shop called JnR took it to Belgium where it was sold to the guitarist of a band called The Sunrock. 15 years later I started playing with this band and bought the guitar.
It must have been around 1999 and I’ve had it ever since. But only years later I discovered the whole story of Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia and it took me years to solve all the puzzles of the story but I still haven’t been able to find a picture of Jerry playing one of the 3/4 known examples. .. ”
How many more MC 5000s will there be? The mystery deepens …
How many others will exist? The mystery thickens …
Joe’s MC 5000
We also discover a 1980 MC 5000 that is in the collection of Joe Deferm, who, very kindly, gave us a nice photo gallery of his rare and precious instrument and briefly told us the story of his MC 5000:
“As I was told by the guy I bought the guitar from, it was exhibited at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt in the late 1970s. A Belgian guitar shop called JnR took it to Belgium where it was sold to the guitarist of a band called The Sunrock. 15 years later I started playing with this band and bought the guitar.
It must have been around 1999 and I’ve had it ever since. But only years later I discovered the whole story of Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia and it took me years to solve all the puzzles of the story but I still haven’t been able to find a picture of Jerry playing one of the 3/4 known examples. .. ”
How many more MC 5000s will there be? The mystery deepens …
Joe’s splendid Mc5000
