Ibanezes with ebony boards?

[Malkav]

Originally Posted by atticmike

From what series has this model arisen?

RGD yo, not too new, not particularly old

I happen to like the Basswood & Rosewood combo, just wish they'd put a maple cap on them and give them a new colour...

I also don't really understand in what ways their rosewood is cheap? It's pretty much up to the same spec as all the other brands with rosewood fretboards in those price ranges What are you expecting? Brazilian rosewood or something?

[Hammy]

Originally Posted by USMarine75

So then, the question is... why does Ibanez mostly use shitty rosewood (and occasionally cheap looking Maple) on their $2k+ axes? (And I have 2 JEMS so I'm def not an Ibby hater)

My Japanese EVH has birdseye maple (and SS frets), my Peavey Wolfgangs all have birdseye maple, and my ESP LTD 35th has ebony...

Does Ibanez really need to cut corners on their $2k+ guitars? Seriously, how many black guitars with Rosewood can you have in your product line?!

Here's a few axes that I think would be epic wins with Ebony boards or some nice birdseye maple... (IMO)







Oh well, rant over... they'll still get my $$$ anyways.

Whut? Cheap rosewood on Ibanez's? The rosewood/palisander that Ibanez puts on their expensive guitars is of muuuuch higher quality then most ebony equipped guitars out there. That and when you're in guitarshops I usually notice the lack of any care for their instruments like totally dried up fretboards. No wonder they look like shite, most of the time they need a dab of oil. The rosewood on my RGD2127 is STUNNING, much nicer then the rosewood on my Fender or the ebony on my LTD. The grain on it is superb and it's got these open nerves that I dig, it's also really good at soaking up tons of oil making it glide.

[USMarine75]

Originally Posted by Hammy

That and when you're in guitarshops I usually notice the lack of any care for their instruments like totally dried up fretboards. No wonder they look like shite, most of the time they need a dab of oil.

True... I've mentioned before that I've played a few EBMM Petruccis at GC and haven't been impressed at all... but then again its because they are set up terrible and are pretty beat up by the time I get my hands on them... Glad you positively mentioned the RGD2127 I've been thinking about getting one... maybe I'll hit Rich at ibanezrules up for one so I can get a properly set up virgin...

But I still wish Ibanez had more options. Maple is my favorite anyways and my favorite Ibanez's I've played so far were these (besides an old JPM)... I bought a JEM over it only because I got a phenomenal deal.

[asmegin_slayer]

Originally Posted by USMarine75

But I still wish Ibanez had more options. Maple is my favorite anyways and my favorite Ibanez's I've played so far were these (besides an old JPM)... I bought a JEM over it only because I got a phenomenal deal.

Honestly I think they have quite a bit of options. Its just we all want specific options in one particular model like the agiles. Ibanez doesn't only do metal guitars, they have a large selection of jazz/basses/acoustics at there arsenal that they have to think about.

Also, the hardwares like the floyds/nuts are all proprietary parts made by ibanez themselves.

[USMarine75]

Only the last year or two... they've really upped the amount of colors and options over previous years. And of course they make their own parts that's very smart from a manufacturing/engineering/cost standpoint... they're not paying markup to Schaller/Floyd/Tone Pros/etc to use their parts...

But, just looked at the 2009 catalog for shits and grins... 3 maple necks (Timmons, cheapy, and a Prestige)... the rest are rosewood... all Dimarzio IBZ or Dimarzio... Edge or gibraltar trems... basswood or mahogany bodies on all non-sig models... standard fret markers on all non-sig... no SS frets... (I'm sure I missed a few)... anyways... they're still my favorite mass produced guitar company... but you could go to a high end luthier and for $2500+ come away with WAY better materials and as good or better build quality. And no I still don't dig the rosewood boards and neither does anyone I know... but thats just IMO... I'm sure I'm wrong and a lot of people love their rosewood and their materials... just not anyone I know. But since they're one of the top manufacturers what do I know... but everyone that sees and plays my EVH and Peaveys think they are "better" than my Ibanezes... (and they think my Gibson V is a POS). Oh well to each his own...

Ibanez JEMs used to come with ebony until they switched to rosewood... I don't think that was done to improve the guitar and I don't think the new rosewood looks better or sounds better (IMO) than the old ebony... but I thinks its all about production cost not preference:

"Many people wonder why large companies try to shave pennies off their costs. Especially when the product sells in the multi thousand dollar range. Most people don't grasp the reasoning behind it. I mean it's obvious that cost cutting saves money but in the grand scheme of things, most people tend to think it incredulous that a company, any company would be concerned over saving $6.83 on a set of tuners for a $4,500.00 list price guitar.
Let Me Explain It:




Lets say for example, a company shaves a meager $6.83 off the cost of building their guitar. If they can do this in a way that doesn't greatly effect the overall quality, Great! But more often than not this is how quality slips slowly down the toilet. e.g.

• ABC company has just reduced their cost per guitar by $6.83
• ABC company builds 141 guitars a day that equals a daily savings $963.00
• ABC company is open for business 275 days a year
• ABC company has saved a whopping $264,833.25

Two hundred sixty four thousand dollars is more than a quarter of a million dollars. That money goes straight to the bottom line. In other words it's pure profit savings! Now, Imagine the difference between a $64.00 tremolo system and an $11.00 stop tailpiece system. If you use the same numbers the saving would be approaching 3 million dollars."

I guess if I'm paying more than $2500 for a guitar I'd want an Oni, Blackmachine, BRJ custom, etc... something handbuilt and mine... not with someone else's name etc all over it...

[Thrashmanzac]

i dont think i have ever heard of someone paying more than $2500 for an ibanez on this forum. no one pays retail prices. if you think you could get an oni or blackmachine custom for close to 2500 then i think you might be dreamin mate. by your logic ibanez would ONLY have guitars with cheap stop tail bridges, because that saves them money. tbh i think ibanez does a pretty good job of catering to what thier customers want, examples that come to mine are produstion 8 strings, 7 strings with maple boards, 7 string premiums.

[USMarine75]

Originally Posted by Thrashmanzac

i dont think i have ever heard of someone paying more than $2500 for an ibanez on this forum. no one pays retail prices.

??? Sorry I've learned you can never have a productive argument with anyone that speaks in universal terminology... "No one pays retail?" OK.

I quickly counted 11 Ibanez guitars for $2500 or more on MF (same on GC and Ibanezrules websites) alone... and 4 more for $2000... that doesn't include any hollowbodies/bases etc since that wasnt our topic. (Also, doesn't include all those tariffs and import taxes that I've heard others outside of the US and Japan have had to pay to get ahold of musical equip.) Unless you're buying used or know a guy that knows a guy...

Originally Posted by Thrashmanzac

by your logic ibanez would ONLY have guitars with cheap stop tail bridges, because that saves them money.

Also, can't ever argue with anyone that uses slippery slope arguments. I used one example of how/why companies cut options and production costs to save money (which was my opinion of why ebony dissapeared from the JEM and why they chose to make their own parts rather than buy marked up aftermarket parts from other manufacturers like Gotoh and Schaller etc...) and you jumped to the extreme, even though that was quite obviously against everything else I said.

Originally Posted by Thrashmanzac

if you think you could get an oni or blackmachine custom for close to 2500 then i think you might be dreamin mate

Misquoted (and sarcastic)... "if I'm paying more than $2500" was my statement. I was simply stating that $2500 was over my threshold for buying a mass produced product vs a custom hand built guitar. However... A Blackmachine B6 was about $2k when I almost pulled the trigger a little while ago. I won't get into Dan's (Oni) pricing, but if you talk to him you'll see that not everything he makes is far beyond $2500 (you don't have to order a carbon fiber model... you should, but you don't have to). Also, you could buy a BRJ custom for under $3k as well.

You could also buy other "semi-custom" (AKA less cookie cutter) guitars such as Guerilla, G&L customs, or Caparison for around $2k. You could buy something in the "mastercrafted" range, such as a Vigier for $3k, too.

Like I said before, I'm still a huge Ibanez fanboy and I own a few JEMs now and will own more Ibanezes in the future... But, what's wrong with me wanting them to be even better? Again... it was all IMO anyways (as I stated)... already a few people posted that they loved the quality of rosewood used. But to me, if there was a small price bump to upgrade to ebony or maple on some of these models, Ibanez would get my money.

But I'll PM you when I want an RG2228 maybe you can get me a new one for $1500... since no one pays retail.

(And if you like rosewood fretboards I hear the Gibsons have some nice exotic ones...)

[USMarine75]

Sorry for derailing the thread...

Anyone play both an ebony and a rosewood and prefer the newer rosewood? I thought my Bad Horsie was ebony, but I found out it was rosewood when I got it lol... and I don't mind it... and my 77VBK is 2010 so rosewood as well. I haven't played an older model in so long (90s) that I forget what it was like. Wondering if its much to do about nothing and I'm better off with the newer model and rosewood anyways... since I've been interested in a white 7V at some point, should I buy a used <2003 to get the ebony? Any other better/worse QC issues I should be aware of? (I'm always nervous of getting a Chibanez from ebay anyways lol...)

[EvilEmuofDoom]

1999 RG-PR1

[Hammy]

Originally Posted by EvilEmuofDoom

1999 RG-PR1

That's a very neat axe

[Konfyouzd]

Originally Posted by USMarine75

So then, the question is... why does Ibanez mostly use shitty rosewood (and occasionally cheap looking Maple) on their $2k+ axes? (And I have 2 JEMS so I'm def not an Ibby hater)

My Japanese EVH has birdseye maple (and SS frets), my Peavey Wolfgangs all have birdseye maple, and my ESP LTD 35th has ebony...

Does Ibanez really need to cut corners on their $2k+ guitars? Seriously, how many black guitars with Rosewood can you have in your product line?!

Here's a few axes that I think would be epic wins with Ebony boards or some nice birdseye maple... (IMO)


Oh well, rant over... they'll still get my $$$ anyways.

Sounds like you're just not a fan of Rosewood or Maple. That by no means makes them crappy. I rather like Rosewood depending on the finish on the rest of the guitar.

[EvilEmuofDoom]

Originally Posted by Hammy

That's a very neat axe

Thanks! I have another limited run Ibanez with ebony board coming tomorrow, a JCRG21A

[EvilEmuofDoom]

Originally Posted by EvilEmuofDoom

Thanks! I have another limited run Ibanez with ebony board coming tomorrow, a JCRG21A

Here it is (more pics are in NGD post):

[Kkoznarek]

Originally Posted by TRENCHLORD

Didn't the very first Mick Thompson model have emgs and ebony board? I might just be dreaming again since I just woke up.

You are 110% correct my friend. I was lookin to buy one of the earlier MTM's on eBay and it did have EMG's and an Ebony Fretboard. But I didn't get the money fast enough and it was soon purchased by another Dude

[Miek]

I don't think it had an ebony board. It did have EMGs at one point.

[Hemi-Powered Drone]

Originally Posted by BucketheadRules

Yeah but...



Ugh.

I see nothing wrong that. That's actually pretty awesome.

[Miek]

Yeah, that guitar ....ing owns, I'd play the shit out of it.

[Konfyouzd]

Originally Posted by dragonblade629

I see nothing wrong that. That's actually pretty awesome.

I thought so too. I wanted one of these really bad back in high school.

[EvilEmuofDoom]

Originally Posted by Konfyouzd

I thought so too. I wanted one of these really bad back in high school.

Same here!

[mark105]

All of the George Benson Guitars have ebony boards. The exception was the GB 10js. JS for jazz standard, they were made in korea w/ rosewood boards, but they were considerably cheaper than the Team J craft Benson Models. A good way to get a Benson model without selling your car. They only made them for a couple of years though.

[Kkoznarek]

Originally Posted by Miek

I don't think it had an ebony board. It did have EMGs at one point.

The one I was looking at did, I could tell from the picks and it was stated in the description that it was ebony

[Miek]

Unfortunately, I think you're wrong, because 1. neither of the MTMs were ever made in Japan, and 2 the Ibanez wiki says they both had rosewood.

[Kkoznarek]

Originally Posted by Miek

Unfortunately, I think you're wrong, because 1. neither of the MTMs were ever made in Japan, and 2 the Ibanez wiki says they both had rosewood.

Maybe the guy had it modified after he bought it because I know my fretboard types by sight and the pics defiantly showed that the fretboard was indeed ebony.