“If you got the Ibanez catalog that year, it was Reb Beach, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani on the first three pages. They said, ‘Whatever shape you want’”: Reb Beach on the story of his ’90s Ibanez signature guitar – and the mystery behind its sequel

This month's Cover Star features a signature guitar so cool you might wonder why it is still not in production. It is Reb Beach's WRB-3 Ibanez. And it was the hottest thing around in 1990. And, sure, he plays Suhr now – but wouldn't it be neat if Ibanez brought it back?

What’s the story behind this electric guitar, which seems to be the sequel to the Ibanez WRB-1?

This is the red one, so it was the second one. This first one was called the WRB-1, and it had a really cool Winger graphic on it. This one – the second one – came out around 1990. Ibanez tried to do a lower-cost model with just a straight color. Candy Apple Red is still my favorite color, but it would’ve been so much cooler in black. I wish they did one like that.

Was there a WRB-2?

It’s a mystery. Nobody knows why the WRB-1 came out, and then the next guitar to come out was the WRB-3. There’s no WRB-2, and nobody knows why, not even Ibanez. I called them, they don’t even have a record of that guitar – it was so long ago that no records or specs even exist on it.

Do you recall any of the specs you went for that made this guitar personal to you?

The volume knob was right next to the bridge, which drove a lot of people crazy. [Laughs] I liked it at the time because my pinky is always there. I don’t know if I would like it now, but it was unique.

Another thing that was unique to you was the shape.

That’s the whole thing about it; it’s like no other guitar, no other design. A longtime friend of Winger, Dan Hubp, who has been our art director, designed the cover for the first album and did all our videos. He did this guitar. He actually did the [Sir-Mix-A-Lot] Baby Got Back video with all those giant butts. [Laughs]

I had the opportunity to have another shape with Ibanez. If you got the Ibanez catalog that year, it was Reb Beach, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani on the first three pages. They said, “Whatever shape you want.” I said, “I want a cool-looking Explorer shape. I want it to be different from an Explorer but with that feel.” It was amazing, and it was all Dan Hubp’s design.

There were only 100 of the WRB-1s with the graphic made in Japan only. I don’t think they were made for sale here. And with the WRB-3, the number made is not verified, but it’s speculated that only 100 of the red ones were made.

Winger - Can't Get Enough (Official Music Video) - YouTube

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Why did you choose this guitar for your Guitar World shoot?

I don’t really recall, but usually, with stuff like that, it was just whatever the easiest guitar was, or if I’d just gotten it, and thought it was cool. [Laughs] That’s probably the reason.

Do you still have this guitar? If not, what became of it?

When Winger disbanded [in 1994], I sold my house in Florida, which was a house with a pool on the lake. I moved back to Pittsburgh. After that, I lived for a year by selling my guitars, and yeah, that guitar was one of the first to go. But it was a really cool design, and again, it was unique because there weren’t a lot of artists who had their own shape for a guitar.

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