Moriarty! - c.1972–75 Japanese FujiGen Flying V | 2387 / Rocket Roll Family | Transparent Cherry

Moriarty arrived through an auction with one significant problem: nobody knew exactly what he was.

There was no headstock logo, no useful identification in the neck pocket and no serial number. More importantly, the truss rod cover, which on many examples from this family carried the retail branding, had been replaced.

Rather than assigning him an identity because one looked plausible, we took the guitar apart and followed the evidence.

Our conclusion

We believe Moriarty is, with very high confidence, an early-to-mid 1970s FujiGen-built Flying V belonging to the model family sold by Ibanez as the 2387, Rocket Roll and Super V.

We cannot responsibly describe him as a definitively authenticated Ibanez 2387 because the original branding has been lost.

Closely related FujiGen instruments also reached the UK carrying names including Antoria. Without the original truss rod cover, we cannot prove which retail badge this particular guitar originally wore.

What we can demonstrate is why the 2387 / Rocket Roll attribution is so strong.

Exhibit A: Construction and specification

The Ibanez 2387 was introduced in 1972 and manufactured in Japan by FujiGen.

Its documented specification included a Flying V body, solid mahogany construction, Transparent Cherry finish, bolt-on mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, pearloid dot markers, Gibson-style scale length, large three-ply white scratchplate, Tune-o-matic style bridge, stop tailpiece, twin humbuckers, two volume controls, one master tone, three-way selector, front-mounted output jack and chrome hardware.

Moriarty corresponds extraordinarily closely to that specification.

At some point, coincidence becomes a less convincing explanation.

Exhibit B: Made in Japan, but no serial number

The neck plate is simply stamped “Made in Japan”.

There is no serial number.

Japanese Ibanez instruments were not consistently serialised until around the middle of the 1970s. Earlier examples frequently carried only a country-of-origin marking.

Because the 2387 was introduced in 1972, Moriarty’s lack of a serial number is entirely compatible with early production.

Combined with the construction and specification, we believe approximately 1972 to 1975 is the most defensible date range.

Exhibit C: The bridge pickup

Moriarty’s bridge pickup has two complete rows of adjustable polepieces together with unusual resin-backed construction.

Period Rocket Roll advertising specifically referred to its original humbuckers as dual-pole pickups.

Documentation for the 2387 identifies the pickups used between 1972 and 1975 as Ibanez Hi-Power humbuckers before the model later moved to Super 70 pickups.

Moriarty’s bridge pickup therefore possesses exactly the unusual visible feature described in contemporary material.

There is no surviving factory code allowing us to prove that this exact pickup has remained in this exact guitar since new. We therefore describe it as strongly consistent with the period Ibanez Hi-Power dual-pole pickup fitted to early 2387 models.

Exhibit D: The Gibson patent-number pickup

Removing the neck pickup revealed a metal baseplate stamped:

PAT. NO. 2,737,842

This is the famous Gibson patent number found on vintage Gibson humbuckers.

The stamped metal baseplate, long mounting legs, braided single-conductor shielded lead and chrome cover are strongly consistent with a genuine vintage Gibson patent-number humbucker.

Stamped patent-number baseplates are particularly associated with the later period of Gibson T-Top production.

We are not advertising the pickup as a confirmed T-Top.

Confirming that identification would require further disassembly to inspect the bobbins, and we chose not to unnecessarily disturb a roughly fifty-year-old pickup simply to obtain a more impressive description.

Our conclusion is therefore deliberately restrained:

Strongly consistent with a genuine vintage Gibson patent-number humbucker, probably from the T-Top family, exact model unconfirmed.

The likely age of the Gibson pickup is also slightly later than Moriarty’s probable manufacture date, suggesting a very plausible history in which the original neck pickup was replaced with a quality American Gibson unit during the guitar’s working life.

Exhibit E: The missing name

The difficulty in proving Moriarty’s original retail branding is precisely why we stopped short of simply calling him an Ibanez.

FujiGen produced instruments for several brands and closely related Flying Vs reached the British market under more than one name.

On examples from this family, identification could appear on the removable truss rod cover.

Moriarty’s cover is not original.

We could have installed an Ibanez-branded replacement and made the guitar appear more certain than the evidence allows.

We didn't.

Our description therefore remains:

Japanese FujiGen 2387 / Rocket Roll-family Flying V, probably sold through the Ibanez/Antoria network, with original retail branding unconfirmed.

Exhibit F: The vintage hard case

Moriarty is accompanied by an enormous shaped black Flying V hard case with golden-yellow plush lining.

The guitar fits extremely closely, with internal supports positioned specifically for this style of instrument.

Surviving original 1970s Ibanez Rocket Roll cases are documented with yellow and golden plush interiors and very similar shaped construction.

For that reason we believe this case is contemporary with the guitar and strongly consistent with documented period Ibanez/Rocket Roll cases.

However, there is no evidence allowing us to prove that this exact guitar and this exact case were originally sold together.

It is therefore described as:

Vintage fitted Flying V hard case, strongly consistent with documented period Ibanez/Rocket Roll cases. Original pairing unconfirmed.

Exhibit G: Vintage Schaller tuners

The guitar carries six genuine Schaller machine heads stamped with the manufacturer’s “S” logo and “Made in W. Germany”.

Additional mounting holes confirm that these are replacements rather than the original Japanese tuners.

Their construction and markings are consistent with vintage West German Schaller M6-family machine heads.

They therefore represent another high-quality period modification made during Moriarty’s working life.

Condition and restoration

After approximately fifty years, Moriarty carries genuine signs of use.

There are scratches, marks and age-related wear throughout, all of which were shown clearly in the photographs.

The Transparent Cherry finish has aged beautifully and still allows the wood grain underneath to remain visible.

Our restoration was deliberately sympathetic.

The frets were gently levelled and polished to remove the worst wear while preserving the characteristic vintage flat-top feel rather than attempting to make a 1970s instrument feel artificially modern.

The rosewood fingerboard was thoroughly cleaned and conditioned, the electronics inspected and serviced, hardware cleaned and the entire guitar professionally set up.

Action and intonation were properly adjusted and both pickups inspected.

Current attribution

• Circa 1972 to 1975 Japanese Flying V
• FujiGen 2387 / Rocket Roll family: very high confidence
• Ibanez-branded when new: probable, but unproven
• Possible Antoria or other FujiGen-associated UK branding cannot be excluded
• Solid mahogany construction consistent with documented 2387 specification
• Bolt-on neck
• Rosewood fingerboard
• 22 frets
• Transparent Cherry finish
• Large three-ply scratchplate
• Tune-o-matic style bridge
• Stop tailpiece
• Made in Japan neck plate
• No serial number, consistent with early Japanese production
• Bridge pickup strongly consistent with period Ibanez Hi-Power dual-pole design
• Neck pickup strongly consistent with vintage Gibson patent-number humbucker
• T-Top family identification probable but deliberately unconfirmed
• Vintage West German Schaller tuners
• Vintage fitted golden-yellow-lined Flying V hard case
• Case strongly consistent with documented period Ibanez Rocket Roll cases
• Original guitar and case pairing possible but unproven
• Frets sensitively levelled and polished while retaining vintage flat-top character
• Fully serviced and professionally set up

Conclusion

Moriarty may never provide the final surviving piece of evidence required to put “Ibanez 2387” across his adoption papers without qualification.

What remains is nevertheless a genuinely fascinating piece of early-1970s Japanese guitar history.

The construction matches. The hardware matches. The dimensions and control layout match. The manufacturing period matches. The lack of serial number matches. The surviving Japanese bridge pickup corresponds with the unusual dual-pole specification described in contemporary Rocket Roll advertising.

The replacement neck pickup appears to be a desirable vintage Gibson patent-number unit. The tuners are vintage West German Schallers. Even the fitted golden-yellow case provides further supporting evidence.

This attribution is not based on somebody looking at the guitar from six feet away and deciding that it looks vaguely like an Ibanez.

We disassembled the instrument, compared its construction, researched the components and production timeline, and deliberately stopped every conclusion at the point where the evidence stopped.

Our finding is that Moriarty is, beyond reasonable guitar-shop doubt, a member of the early-to-mid-1970s Japanese FujiGen 2387 / Rocket Roll family.

Whether his missing truss rod cover originally said Ibanez or something else may remain Professor Moriarty’s final secret.

REHOMED

The Stray Chord
Rescue • Restore • Rehome

Every Stray is thoroughly inspected, professionally set up and honestly described before adoption.

Peer review welcomed. Preferably with citations. 🤣