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interview with: Rich Lasner

by: nuno

Rich Lasner is the mind behind some of the most beautiful, revolutionary and popular Ibanez guitar models 20 years now, the ones which this website is dedicated to. Rich has been chief of Ibanez USA Custom Shop R&D, in the late '80s. after the Ibanez days, Rich switched to Japanese competitor Yamaha, to create the famous RGX Pacifica model, Billy Sheehan's signature Attitude bass and other models. in 1994, after a short period at Peavey, Rich founded the famous graphite-neck bass guitars brand, Modulus. in 2002 Rich leaves Modulus to work as a freelance. his latest creations were carbon-fiber acoustic guitars for C.A.Guitars, and Line-6's Variax, to name a few.

this interview has been released thanks to a very lucky event: Rich was searching for some of his creations on sell on the internet, he didn't own them at the time. he visited Jerry's IbanezRegister.com and saw my own Massax MX-3 page (see here), where i was asking myself how could Ibanez made hollow chambers in such a tapered and winding body shape. he decided to answer my question and wrote me an email. then, after some time we chatted, i asked him for an interview, and he accepted enthusiastly. enjoy...

note
some parts of the following interview are shared with Lasner interview on the IbanezRegister.com. that's due to the fact that either Jerry and me were contacted by Lasner the same days. needless to say that both of us had the same idea. of course we havn't stolen anything each other, you can see it where parts of my interview don't appear on Jerry's, and viceversa. the two interviews just complement each other.

HOSHINO GAKKI Co.Ltd.

hi Rich, thanks for being here at ibanez87!

thank you Nuno, it's a pleasure.

how and when did you become part of the American Design Team of Ibanez? what were you doing before?

I started at Ibanez on Dec. 4, 1984. before that I was a professional musician with a band called Innersections. we had 2 records out and toured as the opening act for Weather Report (after Jaco died). I was featured in Guitar Player Magazine’s Spotlight Column sometime in 1981 too. I taught guitar when I was home from touring at a music store in Philadelphia called 8th Street Music. my Ibanez sales rep told me Ibanez needed a good player who could talk about Ibanez guitar to dealers. I interviewed and got the job. the design part didn’t happen for another year when sales were down and I began giving input. Bill Reim and I always talked about what we thought would be cool ideas to make Ibanez guitars better. they eventually let us try some things.

who were your co-workers, and what tasks did they have in the A.D.T.?

when the team started, it was me, Bill Reim, who was the Advertising and Marketing director, Mace Bailey, who built the prototypes (after some hard times convincing management to let him grow past running the repair shop) and Leon Reddell, the painter. a year later, I hired Bill Cummiskey to help me with marketing and Artist Relations. he also gave input to guitar ideas. in Japan, Fritz Katoh was the design person. we worked very closely with him to develop guitars for production.

left to right: Bill Reim, Bill Cummiskey and Rich Lasner.
on the table: the very first 540Pro Saber prototype.

Mace Bailey, the man who built the very first JEM prototypes.

Leon Reddell, the painter.

what became of your ex co-workers nowadays? are they still working on instruments building? do you still meet with them?

Bill Reim is the President of Hoshino USA as of January 2003. he is the first American to hold this position. we see each other at NAMM shows, but only to say hi. Bill Cummiskey is head of promotions at Fender USA in Arizona. we still are friends and keep in touch. Fritz is still a good friend and we try to work on projects whenever we can. Mace and I were in touch while he worked at Carruther’s Guitars in Santa Monica, CA, but he left a couple years back (to fix airplane motors, I heard) and I can’t find him. Leon and I lost touch in the 90s, and I don’t know where he is now.

can you describe the 'hierarchy' at Hoshino at the time? (President, Chairman, Vice etc)

I worked with three presidents at Hoshino USA- Ken Hoshino, Mike Shimada and Tom Tanaka. Mike was a huge inspiration to me. he is fluent in many languages and knows European culture very well, having lived in France for many years. we would go to fine restaurants and hear the Philadelphia Symphony together. a very intellectual man, open to creative ideas. I have to say my best work was definitely under his guidance. Roy Miyahara was the General Manager back then. he recently resigned Hoshino in America and started his own holistic medicine business. Roy was very tough for me at first, but we grew close as we worked together and I discovered his great love for the great guitarists. he grew up with Fritz Katoh and Hoshino was their first real job.

how and why was the Ibanez Custom Shop born?

we had to depend on Japan to make us prototypes and custom guitars when I started working at Ibanez. Kramer, Jackson and others had shops in the States where they could quickly build a guitar for an artist or new model. we were falling behind. Mace Bailey and Leon Reddell worked in the repair shop in Bensalem, PA. I could see that they were capable and eager to learn about building guitars. I quietly started to talk with them about making guitars. we started to build things after hours so that management wouldn’t object. once we were “caught” building the Maxxas for Vai by Roy Miyahara. he brought us both into his office and told us we could be fired if we did this again as the insurance didn’t cover working after shop hours! once we had success with Vai, management stopped bothering us and began to support our building of guitars. we could tell they didn’t really agree, but the success they saw was enough for them to give us a chance.

which models did you design for them, and when (year)?

there are so many that I’m sure I don’t remember them all. all of the work was done as a team, but I was the lead designer on Maxxas, JEM, RG (which were just less-expensive JEM models really), Saber (with Bill Reim wanting the razor-edge look), Power, Power II, RD Bass, GB30, 7-string, etc.

who designed the super sleek and fast Wizard neck? was it designed to fulfil players needs at the time?

we decided we wanted a special neck that could compete with the thin/wide Jackson-style necks. it was part of a project where there were three neck shapes you could choose to go on a Proline body. when we got the first Wizard necks, we were sure they could never last as 17mm thick at the nut seemed crazy. players loved them and they survived OK (mostly), so they became an Ibanez trademark design.

who designed the modern 'goose-beak' -shaped headstock?

my pal Fritz Katoh did that.

which model, among the ones you designed, do you prefer, and why?

I always loved the semi-hollow Maxxas guitar. to me, it was a successful concept to make a guitar that was lightweight, had a huge amplified sound at medium volume and didn’t look like anything else.

is there any precise reason behind the guitar-names switching from Radius/Power/Saber into 540R/540P/540S?

as far as I remember, the “540” was just an internal project number. we had trouble from Music Man, who had come back under Ernie Ball as they had a Sabre Bass and wanted us to stop using the similar name on our guitars.

what does 540 stand for?

I’m pretty sure it was just an internal project number with no further meaning.

when and how did the RG design come up?

after the huge success of the JEM guitar, we were faced with lots of pressure from dealers and the head office to make a less expensive version that more people could afford.

what do you think about the fact that, still today, the RG shape stands still among the most beautiful and modern guitar designs?

I think we were very lucky. the basic design of the guitar has aged well, and doesn’t look dated. the main elements of the guitar are still contemporary and have become somewhat of a classic design.

was the first RG prototype much different from the production model?

no. since we were really just taking the JEM idea down a couple of price levels, we had the JEM design to guide us. except for some trim differences, the RG proto was much like the finished version.

why did you design either two versions of the same model, one with and another with no pickguard? which one came up first?

we felt competition from Jackson and Kramer, who had successful models that had no pickguard. in order to compete, we wanted to offer versions like this. it also allowed us to eventually have RG guitars with graphics, which the pickguard would have prevented. I also always felt that the sound of a guitar with pickups floating in a pickguard was different than if the pickups were secured in pickup rings. I felt that the guitars without pickguards would have a sound that metal players would like better. the pickguard versions came first as they were almost the same as a JEM.

what does "RG" stand for?

We had the Roadster Guitar and Roadstar Guitar series before, so we contracted those to "RG". we wanted something like Gibson had with SG.

Saber / 540S

when and how did the Saber design come up?

Bill Reim had learned clay modelling in art school. we started a clay studio at Ibanez and began working bodies up. in the 1988 catalog photo with Reim, Cummiskey and me at a table, you can see the Saber clay model and the original prototype on the table with us. Reim’s original idea was to make a guitar with a razor-sharp edge. we made the clay with an edge similar to the final Saber idea, but there is a maroon-painted guitar with a Saber body that comes to a very sharp edge.

who came up with the tilt-jack idea? and how did you menage to realize it?

we wanted to have some unique hardware and we realized a standard jack wouldn’t fit in the thin Saber body. we flipped a standard Strat jack cup over, painted it to match the body color and used that. Fritz Katoh came up with the cool recessed jack cup later.

Radius / 540R

when and how did the Radius design come up?

Hoshino Japan decided to promote a design competition between Hoshino USA and Chesbro (their West Coast distributor). there was the feeling that the East Coast and West Coast players had a different idea of what a cool guitar design should be. Mark Wittenberg (later Artist Relations head for Fender, and unfortunately deceased) came up with the Radius idea. at Hoshino USA, we thought it looked fat and unattractive. Fritz Katoh liked the Radius and our entry (the Saber) so he developed both for production.

was the first Radius prototype much different from the production model?

it was a bit fatter and thicker-looking.

what differences (pickups & electronics apart) between the Radius and the JS models?

Joe wanted to change the shape of the lower horn a little to keep his hand from hitting the inside of the cutaway. I think the overall shape was slightly modified to suit the changed cutaway. the fingerboard radius and neck taper were also not exactly like the standard Radius neck. Joe’s pickups were always custom DiMarzios, so the JS has a version of what he used. the regular Radius guitars had standard IBZ USA (DiMarzio) humbuckings.

Power / 540P

when and how did the Power design come up?

Japan wanted three new models in the 540 range. we had the Saber and Radius and were trying for another idea. we felt we didn’t have a metal guitar in the series, so I thought of the idea of taking a slightly smaller body and angling the sharp edges for a new look. it was and is my least favorite Ibanez design idea.

was the first Power prototype much different from the production model?

no. almost identical.

how long has the Power been produced? and why did Hoshino halt the production?

I think it lasted only a year or so. sales were very slow.

Power II / 540P-II / 540P-SH

when and how did the Power II design come up?

when the Power model didn’t sell, I was asked to think of a new model. I liked what Jackson was doing with the upside-down headstocks and decided to push it beyond that. Alex Skolnick also wanted a kind of upside-down guitar, so we tested it out on him.

why did Ibanez replace the Power model with such a different model in design and concept?

the original Power had failed to sell and we felt that a radical change was needed.

why was the nut 45mm.-wide?

popular Jackson guitars were very wide and we needed a model to compete.

why was the Power II body reduced in size?

I figured for metal players, it would be cool to have a guitar that was easy to handle.

how did you menage to have Hoshino building a guitar with no tone controls and with a wider locking-nut made just for one model?

I was very surprised that Gotoh (the hardware maker) would make us this nut in very small quantities. remember also that the Van Halen influence of only one control was strong at the time the Power II appeared.

were there any other guitarists, Alex Skolnick apart, who were interested in this model?

no!

how long has the Power II been produced? and why did Hoshino halt the production?

it lasted maybe 1 ½-2 years. sales were bad and we were gaining success with other models. since Hoshino didn’t make its guitars, we were in a constant push to get the factories to give us more production capacity. by eliminating a slow-selling model, we freed-up the capacity for a better-selling one.

MAXXAS

when and how did the Maxxas design come up?

I am bad with dates, so please excuse that I’m not precisely sure when I did many of these guitars. the Maxxas was one of my very first original designs at Ibanez though.
I noticed that all the US guitar makers were trying very hard to copy Jackson and Charvel ideas- pointy headstocks, square-edged bodies. I thought of developing a guitar with a completely different design direction of rounded shapes. the other important features were carefully hollowed out internal cavities to give it a huge tone at medium volume, All Access Neck Joint (which I designed by taking a 24 fret neck and cutting off the fingerboard past the 22nd fret) and locking tuners which were rare then.

why wasn't it an Ibanez-branded model?

the truth is that Ibanez was so afraid of this model that they told us it had to say something else on the headstock or they wouldn’t build it! it never had anything to do with it being a higher brand at all. they simply thought the guitar was so different, it might damage the Ibanez name. its original name was to be the Ibanez Cirrus. I named it this because the prototype was a sky blue color and the guitar was as light as a cloud. I eventually go to use the Cirrus name on a Peavey bass!

how you designed it, what inspirated you?

I loved the sound of the Gibson ES 335 and the lightweight of the Gibson SG. I wanted a guitar that had characteristics of both. I liked the clamshell ideas in the bodywork I had seen on Italian cars designed for Alfa by Pininfarina (when they were Pinin Farina) in the 1930s.

how did you get resonance chambers into such a winding and tapered body shape? and did you purposely calculated chambers dimensions to obtain certain frequency responses?

we had a lot of trouble mass-producing the hollowed out version, which is why there is the first solidbody one. you have to make the body in an upper and lower “clamshell” half, hollow it out on the CNC mill, then glue the halves together and continue to cut out the shape and contours. to figure out how much wood I could leave out, I simply had a flat drawing of the body outline and drew chambers that left wood for the neck pocket, pickups and bridge to mount into.

why did the Maxxas's following models have no AANJ (RG, Jem, Radius etc)? was it too expensive/hard to build?

to make the AANJ for the Maxxas, a standard-length 24 fret neck blank was used with a 22 fret fingerboard. this left the “tongue” sticking out beyond the 22nd fret to attach the mounting inserts to. Hoshino and Fuji Gen didn’t want to invest in getting unusual-length neck blanks for the project, so I designed it that way using existing 24 blanks on a 22 fret neck. Hoshino felt that maybe the AANJ was too unusual at first, as the wisdom at the time was that you had to have a neck pocket to match a Strat neck, in case the player wanted to replace your neck with a Fender or Mighty Mite neck. it sounds strange today, but back then Japanese guitar companies had an inferiority complex that their guitars weren’t really that good.

was the first Maxxas prototype much different from the production model?

it has a standard Strat tremolo painted the same blue as the body, three pushbuttons with blue caps for pickup selection, blue Sperzel locking tuners and maybe even the pickups and rings sprayed blue. we wanted to see if a monochromatic color scheme as was popular on cars then would work on guitars. the effect looked good, but would have been expensive as the colored parts would need to be custom made.

how long has the Maxxas been produced? and why did Hoshino halt the production?

the guitar lasted only about three years in both solid and semi-hollow versions. there may even be a few strange prototypes of a Maxxas with an extended range neck and one pickup out there somewhere. other models grew quickly in popularity, so the slow-selling Maxxas was dropped.

thank you Rich, for all what you've done and for this interview.

thank you, it's good to know someone who appreciates what i've done. see you soon!

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