# Nita Strauss Signature Ibanez



## auxioluck (Jan 28, 2018)

Outside of being super stoked to see a female on the sig roster, the specs are solid on this guitar. May end up forgoing my KM purchase for this.

http://loudwire.com/nita-strauss-signature-ibanez-guitar/

https://www.gearnews.com/namm-2018-nita-strauss-first-female-ibanez-signature-artist/

Some pics are embedded in those articles. For those who have FB, more pics are here on her page.

https://www.facebook.com/NitaStrauss/


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## diagrammatiks (Jan 28, 2018)

is this stainless steel frets?


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## OmegaSlayer (Jan 28, 2018)

First of all, congrats to Nita.
After that, I would have preferred the Violet finish.
Other than that...the specs are solid


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## auxioluck (Jan 28, 2018)

diagrammatiks said:


> is this stainless steel frets?



I'm not 100% sure. I've been trying to keep up with what she's been posting specs-wise, but she hasn't mentioned what the frets are made out of yet that I've seen. Hopefully we'll know before Ibanez puts it up on their website.


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## Viginez (Jan 28, 2018)

http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/JIVA10


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## possumkiller (Jan 28, 2018)

Super cool but they lost me at Indonesia and EZ2.


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## blacai (Jan 28, 2018)

I find it kind of sad they gave her a signature model made in Indonesia...
She deserves a Japanese one,just to be on pair with other artists. She is the guitarrist of Alice cooper and has a good amount of followers in social media...


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## auxioluck (Jan 28, 2018)

Yeah I'm not thrilled about it being an Indo model, especially after the shit show of my Iron Label 8 that was made in Indonesia. But at least that experience has made me aware that I need to be more nit-picky with Indo models. I agree she deserves a MIJ sig.


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## cardinal (Jan 28, 2018)

Lame that it’s Indo only. I could see doing both to get an affordable option, but she seems like a bigger name than some of the guys they gave Japanese AZ sigs too...


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## OmegaSlayer (Jan 28, 2018)

Next year, eventually, if the Indo sells well
(I lost the hope that Ibanez will make good decisions, otherwise we could buy a Stephan Fortè signature based on his LACS)


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## BMO (Jan 28, 2018)

Never thought I'd ever have GAS for an S series Ibanez........she's designed an amazing guitar and I love the way the pickups look too! It's almost as if the coils were put into a cage!


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## couverdure (Jan 29, 2018)

I still don't understand the dislike for Indonesian-made Ibanez guitars here, especially since nearly all of them I've tried felt great to play for the price. I guess I'm the only fanboy/defender here then.

That said, it's finally time that she's getting a production signature model (a first for Ibanez to have female artist sig) since she's been devoted to the company for years and has had some LACS customs before, like this triple-humbucker RG.






She also mentioned that the DiMarzio JIVA pickups are a cross between the D-Activator and Evolution, so I'm curious to hear what it sounds like.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 29, 2018)

I'm curious if the bridge comes with the ZPS, as Nita tends to favor her guitars with them.


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## blacai (Jan 29, 2018)

It's not about the quality but status pairing with other artists.


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## possumkiller (Jan 29, 2018)

For me it most definitely is about the quality. The only Indo Ibanez guitars I've ever played that played decent enough "for the price " were the ones under $500. This guitar has a street price of $1500. I've played Indo Ibanez guitars priced at $1100 and they were the exact same build quality as the $500 ones. I'd rather give them $2200 for a Japanese version.


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## Pikka Bird (Jan 29, 2018)

Who decides if an Ibanez artist gets to name their signature model, or if they just get the intials followed by an M?


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## TheUnvanquished (Jan 29, 2018)

Pikka Bird said:


> Who decides if an Ibanez artist gets to name their signature model, or if they just get the intials followed by an M?



Totally this. I would like to know as well.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 29, 2018)

Pikka Bird said:


> Who decides if an Ibanez artist gets to name their signature model, or if they just get the intials followed by an M?



The artist chooses the name. The default is "first initial+second initial+model" followed by a number convention based on the series with input from the artist.

Plenty of artists get non-Japanese sig models. She's visible, but how many people who are into high end guitars talk about her. Before now she wasn't even mentioned on here. A quick search online shows very little, minus the super cringy stuff.


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## cardinal (Jan 30, 2018)

I dunno. I’ve known who she is since her Alice Cooper gig, I think. There are a number of Ibanez artists with Japanese sigs that I have no idea who they are.

I could Google them, of course, but just looking at the site right now, I don’t know anything about these guys other than that they have an Ibanez sig: Martin Miller, Tom Quayle, and Coy Bowles.

Granted, apparently I know who Alice Cooper’s guitarist is, so I’m obviously old as hell and not up to current music trends, so I definitely could be the odd-man-out here.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 30, 2018)

cardinal said:


> I dunno. I’ve known who she is since her Alice Cooper gig, I think. There are a number of Ibanez artists with Japanese sigs that I have no idea who they are.
> 
> I could Google them, of course, but just looking at the site right now, I don’t know anything about these guys other than that they have an Ibanez sig: Martin Miller, Tom Quayle, and Coy Bowles.
> 
> Granted, apparently I know who Alice Cooper’s guitarist is, so I’m obviously old as hell and not up to current music trends, so I definitely could be the odd-man-out here.



Martin Miller is new to me, but a lot of folks in Europe seem to know him. He's played with a lot of artists. Tom Quayle I've heard about for years. He's another European. 

I know Ibanez has not done so well in the European market for years so that's probably a factor. 

As for Coy Bowles, he plays for the Zac Brown Band, which brought in $32 million dollars in 2015. They're HUGE on the modern country scene. Doesn't hurt he's been playing a vintage Ibanez for decades. 

Nita is very talented and she deserves everything she gets and more, but she's only had the Alice Cooper gig since 2014. Before that she was basically in cover bands.


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## cardinal (Jan 30, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Martin Miller is new to me, but a lot of folks in Europe seem to know him. He's played with a lot of artists. Tom Quayle I've heard about for years. He's another European.
> 
> I know Ibanez has not done so well in the European market for years so that's probably a factor.
> 
> ...



Ok, so I am just totally out of it. I know my wife likes the Zac Brown band. I can listen to the song he did with Chris Cornell because I love him so.


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## cardinal (Jan 30, 2018)

Double


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## jephjacques (Jan 30, 2018)

more women getting sig guitars plz


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## Albake21 (Jan 30, 2018)

Well that's going to be rough for her going from an Ibanez LA custom shop to an Indo. Good luck with that. Looks pretty cool though, and I wonder what the neck profile is on it considering the wiki says it's her own neck.


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## R34CH (Jan 30, 2018)

Do we know for sure she didn't want her sig to be an Indo? I'm just asking because I saw a NAMM interview where she said she's glad it's available at a price people could afford.

Obviously, she could just be saying that because she's making the best of the fact that Ibanez gave her an Indo but still...


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## Albake21 (Jan 30, 2018)

R34CH said:


> Do we know for sure she didn't want her sig to be an Indo? I'm just asking because I saw a NAMM interview where she said she's glad it's available at a price people could afford.
> 
> Obviously, she could just be saying that because she's making the best of the fact that Ibanez gave her an Indo but still...


I'm sure she's just looking at the bright side. I mean I don't know why any artist wouldn't want their signature to be the highest quality it could be. She's definitely not wrong though.


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## diagrammatiks (Jan 30, 2018)

Usually artists get to decide what level they sell at.

Is it really that confusing why every artist wouldn't want their guitar to be as expensive as possible.

although, I think the real reason is that this is an S and Ibanez has no desire to expand their S production options at all anymore.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 30, 2018)

It's purely a business decision. Do you want sales to be quality based or quantity based. Which best suits your audience?


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## diagrammatiks (Jan 30, 2018)

It's not like this is the only sig she'll ever get either. They'll see how this sells and decide where to go from there.

I really doubt they give her a Japanese S though.


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## Señor Voorhees (Jan 30, 2018)

I kinda dig this guitar. I'm going to make some efforts to fund one and hope the quality is good. I've been sort of infatuated with Ibanez S series for a little while now, but never pulled the trigger on one. This one looks pretty cool and worth at least the effort to try and snag a quality one.

I haven't had the best Indo Ibanez luck, but considering I'll be buying from a place with a good return policy, so there should be little to no risk on my part.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 30, 2018)

Señor Voorhees said:


> I kinda dig this guitar. I'm going to make some efforts to fund one and hope the quality is good. I've been sort of infatuated with Ibanez S series for a little while now, but never pulled the trigger on one. This one looks pretty cool and worth at least the effort to try and snag a quality one.
> 
> I haven't had the best Indo Ibanez luck, but considering I'll be buying from a place with a good return policy, so there should be little to no risk on my part.



He doesn't list them on his site, and doesn't regularly stock them, but Rich from Ibanez Rules should be able to get you one, and more specifically, a really good one.


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## kevdes93 (Jan 30, 2018)

Someone on a facebook group mentioned fhey talked to someone from ibanez and said these MSRP at 2000$, so MAP will probably be around 1500$.

Which IMO is bonkers for an indo build but not quite as bad as fredriks stoneman i guess which MAPs at 2000$


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## Trashgreen (Jan 30, 2018)

I promised you guys specs on my new signature guitar yesterday and the day got so crazy I completely forgot!! So for all my guitar players and gearheads out there - this post is for you!





The Ibanez JIVA is a mahogany S series with a quilted maple black to blonde burst top, Edge Zero-II bridge, and ebony fretboard. The neck profile is shaped like all my touring guitars.. as close as they can get it to the 1991 Super Wizard neck, so it’s super flat and fast!

The neck and bridge pickups are my brand new DiMarzio signature pickups which will come standard on this guitar and also be available from DiMarzio on their own!! I spent a full year designing the sound of these pickups with the amazing folks at DiMarzio and I couldn’t be happier with the end result. Super hot, screaming bridge and equally hot but warm and round neck... the pickups both just SING, and both impeccably not noisy for how high gain they are. The middle single coil is a True Velvet, my all time favorite single coil ever.

Another cool feature about these pickups- the covers make it impossible for the string to get caught under the pickup edge, so it eliminates the need for those little strips of gaff on the side of the pickups that so many of you have asked me about.

The inlay is the “heartbeat” of the guitar just like on my custom... you’ll notice that the EKG spikes correspond to where the fretboard dots would be. I like how the heartbeat naturally gets faster up toward the top frets... after all, that’s where the magic happens



 The side fret markers are Luminlays, which means you can charge them up with an LED flashlight like the one on your phone and they glow in the dark. This is a LIFESAVER for me on dark stages and I hope it will be for you guys too!


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## sakeido (Jan 30, 2018)

possumkiller said:


> For me it most definitely is about the quality. The only Indo Ibanez guitars I've ever played that played decent enough "for the price " were the ones under $500. This guitar has a street price of $1500. I've played Indo Ibanez guitars priced at $1100 and they were the exact same build quality as the $500 ones. I'd rather give them $2200 for a Japanese version.



just this past weekend I played an Ibanez RG1070PBZ Premium, made in Indonesia, and it was way better than the RG655M Prestige made in Japan that was right next to it.

pro-tip: don't buy guitars without playing them first or don't buy guitars from a place that doesn't take returns. good guitars can come from anywhere, at any price. bad guitars can come from anywhere, at any price.

Nita's sig is awesome and I hope to try one out when it hits stores ... although did the Edge Zero II ever get better? people didn't like them at first. it's a very comfortable bridge but it's no edge lo pro


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## diagrammatiks (Jan 30, 2018)

This one is a few hundred more then s1070 but it's a nice to have another option for specs.

S with an ebony fretboard yes please.

Also 
"Another cool feature about these pickups- the covers make it impossible for the string to get caught under the pickup edge, so it eliminates the need for those little strips of gaff on the side of the pickups that so many of you have asked me about."

Is that a thing that happens? how does that even happen.


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## Surveyor 777 (Jan 30, 2018)

Like Senor Voorhees, I've also been thinking about an Ibanez S-series for a while. I think this will be the year I get one, but right now I have my eyes on a Prestige.

This is a nice looking guitar. I do like the heartbeat inlay - it's different and with the spikes corresponding with the normal fretboard markers, it wouldn't goof up my positioning. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the burst. Maybe it's because I'm older but I'm more of a fan of the traditional cherry burst or the bursts I see on Strats. It seems that in the past couple of years there are so many different colors thrown together. If you like it - that's great, but I'm just not a fan.

I do wish Nita the best of luck with this guitar and her career.


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## Surveyor 777 (Jan 30, 2018)

diagrammatiks said:


> This one is a few hundred more then s1070 but it's a nice to have another option for specs.
> 
> S with an ebony fretboard yes please.
> 
> ...



Hasn't ever happened to me but I'm pretty mild with my playing. I know that's why Vai has tape on his pickups. I think Dimebag had that problem, too.


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## SDMFVan (Jan 30, 2018)

That reminds me of this story from Kirk Hammett about recording the Master Of Puppets solo: 

_"When you listen to the solo, there’s this weird sound right after the mellow part where it sounds like I’m hitting a superhigh note in the midst of my phrasing, like I’m fretting the string against the pickup. Well, what happened was, I had accidentally pulled the string off the fretboard! You know how you take an E string, you pull it down toward the floor away from the neck? I accidentally pulled down on the string, and it fretted out on the side of the fretboard. We heard it back, and I was like, ‘That’s brilliant! We’ve gotta keep that!’ Of course, I’ve never been able to reproduce that since; it was like a magic moment that was captured on tape."_


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## Señor Voorhees (Jan 30, 2018)

sakeido said:


> just this past weekend I played an Ibanez RG1070PBZ Premium, made in Indonesia, and it was way better than the RG655M Prestige made in Japan that was right next to it.
> 
> pro-tip: don't buy guitars without playing them first or don't buy guitars from a place that doesn't take returns. good guitars can come from anywhere, at any price. bad guitars can come from anywhere, at any price.
> 
> Nita's sig is awesome and I hope to try one out when it hits stores ... although did the Edge Zero II ever get better? people didn't like them at first. it's a very comfortable bridge but it's no edge lo pro



That's the thing with cheap foreign guitars, right? You sacrifice quality control a bit for the sake of pumping out a bunch at a cheaper price point. The fun thing is that a lot of the guitars that come through these factories end up being REALLY fucking good. You'll also have a smattering of not-so-good guitars too, which is where it really pays to play guitars first. You can say "this or that guitar sucks" all day long, but another person might say (based on their experience) that those same guitars are perfect. The best way to bypass this gamble is to play the exact guitar you intend to buy. If that's not an option, then order from a place that'll take back a lemon if you get one.

You can get some insane guitars if you legit try everything there is that you can. You never know when you'll find that $70 chinese squier that plays like a million bucks.


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## HeadofaHessian (Jan 30, 2018)

diagrammatiks said:


> This one is a few hundred more then s1070 but it's a nice to have another option for specs.
> 
> S with an ebony fretboard yes please.
> 
> ...



I think I read in an interview with dimebags old guitar tech that they do it because the string can become so slack when dive bombing that it can get caught underneath the pickup bobbin.


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## cip 123 (Jan 30, 2018)

The string getting caught thing happens to me on Dimarzios, haven't had the problem with any other pickups


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## Mathemagician (Jan 30, 2018)

And both Nita and Dimebag are known habitual trem abusers so that makes sense.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 30, 2018)

Albake21 said:


> Well that's going to be rough for her going from an Ibanez LA custom shop to an Indo. Good luck with that. Looks pretty cool though, and I wonder what the neck profile is on it considering the wiki says it's her own neck.



It's worth mentioning that the guitars that go to artists get a complete rebuild at LACS. So while it will be an Indo built Premium, it will be brought up to a higher standard of playability.

Or, they could go the Vai route and let her choose the best from the production batches.


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## Pablo (Jan 31, 2018)

I saw Nita with Alice Cooper a couple of years ago at Copenhell - great show! 

Ibanez thinks Nita's new signature fiddle will help them sell more guitars and I wish them the best of luck.
With that said, I loved the old 22-fret S-Series, but the new 24 fretters sadly don't quite work for me. To me, Nita's signature is just a more expensive Premium with a garish inlay... but I'm a bit of a boring bastard, so what do I know.


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## Hollowway (Jan 31, 2018)

I’m a huge fan of a couple of female players - Nita and Jen Majura (with Evanescance now). So I’m pumped to see Nita get a sig. I haven’t bought an electric sixxer in over a decade, but this made my short list. The ebony FB and EKG inlays sealed the deal. One of my frequent criticisms of Ibanez is the rosewood FBs and the dot inlays. This does away with both.

And I know I’m going to come off as a pimple-faced ‘80s kid, but is this not the most kickass photo ever?


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## r33per (Jan 31, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> And I know I’m going to come off as a pimple-faced ‘80s kid, but is this not the most kickass photo ever?


From one who was pimple-faced in the 90s...

Yes. Yes, it is.


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## MatiasTolkki (Jan 31, 2018)

I really wanna hear her Dimarzio pups. I am looking at getting some pups for my RGR580, now named "Mara" after Mara Jade Skywalker. Purple JIVA pups would look SICK in that.


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## prlgmnr (Jan 31, 2018)

SDMFVan said:


> That reminds me of this story from Kirk Hammett about recording the Master Of Puppets solo:
> 
> _"...Of course, I’ve never been able to reproduce that since...."_



I like that this could be about literally any part of any one of his 80s solos.


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## Dcm81 (Jan 31, 2018)

Albake21 said:


> I'm sure she's just looking at the bright side. I mean I don't know why any artist wouldn't want their signature to be the highest quality it could be. She's definitely not wrong though.



You would think so but what about the Matt Heafy sig? AFAIK it's only available as an Epiphone - that's also the one he plays live. Although for all I know he might get the same kind of "upgrade" to his through the custom shop similar to the LACS routine........


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## boozeislove (Jan 31, 2018)

couverdure said:


> I still don't understand the dislike for Indonesian-made Ibanez guitars here, especially since nearly all of them I've tried felt great to play for the price. I guess I'm the only fanboy/defender here then.
> 
> That said, it's finally time that she's getting a production signature model (a first for Ibanez to have female artist sig) since she's been devoted to the company for years and has had some LACS customs before, like this triple-humbucker RG.
> 
> ...


This should have been her signature for sure!


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## cardinal (Jan 31, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> I’m a huge fan of a couple of female players - Nita and Jen Majura (with Evanescance now). So I’m pumped to see Nita get a sig. I haven’t bought an electric sixxer in over a decade, but this made my short list. The ebony FB and EKG inlays sealed the deal. One of my frequent criticisms of Ibanez is the rosewood FBs and the dot inlays. This does away with both.
> 
> And I know I’m going to come off as a pimple-faced ‘80s kid, but is this not the most kickass photo ever?



Pic reminds me of a comment by Rich Harris when folks were complaining about the Ibanez trem bars; something like “if you haven’t broken an Edge trem arm yet, you might as well just get a hardtail.”


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## crg123 (Jan 31, 2018)

RE: Indo comments.

Maybe its the luck of the draw but the Indo Jem 70V SMG Premium I got is actually really really nice. I wasn't expecting it when I got it, just got a good deal on it and always wanted a Jem. It's in regular rotation with my RAN and Skervesen.

I also got mine second hand (but mint condition with the plastic on) for like 1/2 the price so maybe that makes me a little less critical of it. It's not a perfect guitar but I haven't noticed any QC issues with it.

Same goes for my BTB 1406e Premium. Might just be a matter of playing them prior to purchase.


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## eightsixboy (Jan 31, 2018)

couverdure said:


> I still don't understand the dislike for Indonesian-made Ibanez guitars here, especially since nearly all of them I've tried felt great to play for the price. I guess I'm the only fanboy/defender here then.
> 
> That said, it's finally time that she's getting a production signature model (a first for Ibanez to have female artist sig) since she's been devoted to the company for years and has had some LACS customs before, like this triple-humbucker RG.
> 
> ...



Because generally they are overpriced, like the indo sig models, or the premiums that have fretwork/paint issues or poor hardware/wood quality. I've had tons of Indo Ibanez of the years and they all had some annoying issue. Just got rid of my RG421AHM because the wood quality was terrible, temp change and the neck would move way to much, in comparison my prestige's don't budge at all in the same conditions. 

I'm sure she is stoked with it but its a bit of a let down getting a indo sig when she was getting LAC's guitars for years imo. It's kind of like Ibanez only wanted to invest as little as possible on a sig to test the water. Business wise a good choice, but a slap in the face to the artist. Hopefully she gets a MIJ sig next year with a real maple top.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 31, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> I'm sure she is stoked with it but its a bit of a let down getting a indo sig when she was getting LAC's guitars for years imo. It's kind of like Ibanez only wanted to invest as little as possible on a sig to test the water. Business wise a good choice, but a slap in the face to the artist. Hopefully she gets a MIJ sig next year with a real maple top.



Tons of artists get non-Japanese signature models, and guess what, the artist is involved in that decision. 

It doesn't mean that they're being valued less as a person, just that it might be more prudent to provide a guitar more likely to be a success. 

If they made an exact copy of one of her LACS and priced it at $3500, who would buy it? Definitely not Saber fans as the series is faltering. Nita fans? Search here, HC, TGP and UG. There's very little buzz about her in the community until VERY recently and half of it is not about her playing unfortunately. 

There wasn't this manufactured outrage over Marco Sofogli getting an Indo sig, when he too was a LACS level artist. For years Andy Timmons had a non-Japanese signature. Noodles has been an Ibanez artist longer than most and has chosen to stick with affordable signature models because he knows his audience. 

It's a Premium, while there is debate about just how premium they are, folks are acting like it's a GIO and more confusingly acting like it was forced upon her. She certainly seems stoked, not sure why folks can't be also.


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## eightsixboy (Jan 31, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Tons of artists get non-Japanese signature models, and guess what, the artist is involved in that decision.
> 
> It doesn't mean that they're being valued less as a person, just that it might be more prudent to provide a guitar more likely to be a success.
> 
> ...



Well Marco is unknown compared to Nita, so would make sense that he got an indo sig, they probably didn't plan to sell many. In the same vein though look at Tom Quayle, about as unknown or maybe a little more known then Marco depending on your region but he got a MIJ sig straight away that'll be $3000 easily, that is a limited run and he has only just become an endorser of Ibanez.

I just would have thought they maybe did both, a MIJ and Indo, even just do a LACS version of the Jiva for Nita, much the same as Vai with his LAC's woody.

Personally I wouldn't buy it anyway being an S series, I'd rather buy the Kiko200 they just released. For me its not that its an indo but the fact if your a long time Ibanez endorser/artist playing for such a huge name like Alice Cooper I think most people would think a MIJ sig is appropriate, I think she deserves it really.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 1, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> Well Marco is unknown compared to Nita, so would make sense that he got an indo sig, they probably didn't plan to sell many. In the same vein though look at Tom Quayle, about as unknown or maybe a little more known then Marco depending on your region but he got a MIJ sig straight away that'll be $3000 easily, that is a limited run and he has only just become an endorser of Ibanez.
> 
> I just would have thought they maybe did both, a MIJ and Indo, even just do a LACS version of the Jiva for Nita, much the same as Vai with his LAC's woody.
> 
> Personally I wouldn't buy it anyway being an S series, I'd rather buy the Kiko200 they just released. For me its not that its an indo but the fact if your a long time Ibanez endorser/artist playing for such a huge name like Alice Cooper I think most people would think a MIJ sig is appropriate, I think she deserves it really.



Have you considered that maybe she's a savy business woman? 

The idea behind a signature guitar isn't just the "prestige" or bragging rights. It's meant to bring notoriety to the artist and sales to the manufacturer. 

She was very wise to make the guitar fairly neutral, to give it a name (JIVA) and make it affordable. 

I think the idea that she was some helpless pawn who couldn't stand up to Ibanez is extremely condescending, opposed to someone who knows how the industry and market work and is using that to thier advantage.


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## Rawkmann (Feb 1, 2018)

I think it’s awesome she made a sig guitar that doesn’t cost $3K or more. That’s exactly my problem with the Herman Li Signature. The MIJ One is too rich for my blood and the cheaper one cut too many corners for me to still want it. Nita’s is that happy median that I’d be glad to spend the money on.


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## Hollowway (Feb 1, 2018)

Yeah, as long as she was involved in the decision making process, I'm totally down with it being MII. I think of myself as more of a Starbury than a Jordan guy anyway. Not everyone should be spending oodles of cash to be like their idol, and definitely not when the majority of said cash goes to Wall St. execs, rather than the actual star.


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## MickD7 (Feb 1, 2018)

Once again, I’m going to voice my excitement for Nita on this one. I’ve followed her and Nilli Brosh for a few years now and they are both ripping players that deserve a lot of credit beyond the whole “omfg it’s a lady that can shred” “how hot is she..” ect things that surround her. 

Nita always seems genuinely stoked about meeting and working with musicians in what I see from her on social media. A mate of mine met her on Alice Coopers most recent tour and remarked on how humble Nita was. 

I own an Indo built Ibo (M80M) and the place I previously worked at had a really great working relationship with Ibanez and the importer here in Australia. I was responsible for everything Ibanez related and getting in the products that we did. I can count on one hand how many Ibanez guitars got sent back against the other big brands like Gretsch,Fender,Gibson and ESP 

Whilst I understand it sucks to part with money for something that should be in superior quality I’m talking about US and Jap built guitars that have been turds with strings on them I’ve seen some absolute dog instruments that have made all these comments on Ibanez QC look like nothing in comparison.

Hell I’ve been stung by it a couple of times and that’s why I no longer consider some brands as an option and I don’t consider parting ways with my money on those brands anymore. 

If she’s gone for the indo built model to cater towards keeping the consumer in the loop and open to more being able to get the guitar and the QC has improved it’s a solid decision. 

Two things I’m super excited about from NAMM are the JIVA and Abasi Guitars. It’s a shame that two very exciting and hard working players both who have extensive touring under their belts and Records have been criticised so heavily on the threads about their instruments. 

I’d purchase an instrument with their ideas in mind over a “YouTube celebrity” any day. That’s why I chose an M80M and that’s while I’ll probably get a JIVA


----------



## Mathemagician (Feb 1, 2018)

Expected sales #’s matter more to everyone involved than which “tier” their sig is. 

The guitarist from Periphery or Dream Theater does not have the exact overlap with the audience for Alice Cooper or The Offspring or Trivium or Slipknot. 

You price based on where you think you’ll maximize sales. The people framing this as some perceived “slight” are missing the point - that they feel there’s an audience out there for this artist. If sales turn out to support expansion then great. 

I wouldn’t be pricing a guitar with EKG inlays north of 3k unless I had a full line of price points IE Kirk Hammet sig line. Too much risk that nothing moves. 

Even Mustaine knows their $350 deans move units.


----------



## MatiasTolkki (Feb 1, 2018)

i'd totally rock her sig, it's a really nice looking guitar. Prefer to use her pickups on one of my ibbies though


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## eightsixboy (Feb 1, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Have you considered that maybe she's a savy business woman?
> 
> The idea behind a signature guitar isn't just the "prestige" or bragging rights. It's meant to bring notoriety to the artist and sales to the manufacturer.
> 
> ...



Ahh why are you making this into a gender thing? I wasn't implying that she is some dimwit blonde who knows nothing about business or some helpless "pawn", as you put it, straw man argument much. I just said it was a good business decision to only have MII versions, didn't say she had nothing to do with that input.

My whole point was that Ibanez could have very easily made a MIJ version as well, even if just small numbers, but they didn't, some people like myself are a little bummed over that. Who knows what the actual reason for that was, we are just speculating.

Imagine if Ibanez just stopped making MIJ JS or Jem's for cost reasons alone, I'm sure most people would see this as a downgrade of the artists importance to Ibanez to some degree.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 1, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> Ahh why are you making this into a gender thing? I wasn't implying that she is some dimwit blonde who knows nothing about business or some helpless "pawn", as you put it, straw man argument much. I just said it was a good business decision to only have MII versions, didn't say she had nothing to do with that input.
> 
> My whole point was that Ibanez could have very easily made a MIJ version as well, even if just small numbers, but they didn't, some people like myself are a little bummed over that. Who knows what the actual reason for that was, we are just speculating.
> 
> Imagine if Ibanez just stopped making MIJ JS or Jem's for cost reasons alone, I'm sure most people would see this as a downgrade of the artists importance to Ibanez to some degree.



How is referring to a women as "she" making this about gender? If I talk about Steve Vai and say "he's a great player" does that mean I'm making it about gender? Projecting? 

They (better now?) are a new artist and are receiving a signature guitar with a brand known to be very difficult to get signature gear from. I don't know why folks are upset they didn't release a guitar that they themselves probably wouldn't buy. 

This is a great thing. Why turn it into a negative?

Yes, if two long standing artists had thier entire lines cut down it would probably be an indicator of something going on, but that's not at all the case here and you know that. 

Folks get Indonesian, Chinese and Korean sigs all the time and I don't see folks complain like in this thread. It just feels like folks are piling on and making it seem like less of an achievement.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 1, 2018)

Rawkmann said:


> I think it’s awesome she made a sig guitar that doesn’t cost $3K or more. That’s exactly my problem with the Herman Li Signature. The MIJ One is too rich for my blood and the cheaper one cut too many corners for me to still want it. Nita’s is that happy median that I’d be glad to spend the money on.



Depends on where the Nita sig sits in terms of quality though, we are all just assuming its above standard indo quality, its priced pretty low so I wouldn't expect much. Isn't the retail like 1299?

I know what your saying though, its the same with the Kiko models, or Andy Timmons etc. The Indo versions are not quite there with quality but the MIJ versions are a bit rich for most people.

But I guess the point there is that you do have both options at least.




Mathemagician said:


> Expected sales #’s matter more to everyone involved than which “tier” their sig is.
> 
> The guitarist from Periphery or Dream Theater does not have the exact overlap with the audience for Alice Cooper or The Offspring or Trivium or Slipknot.
> 
> ...



No one is arguing that being a MII at a cheaper cost will move more units, it would have just been nice to see a MIJ version available as well for people who would spend the extra.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 1, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> Depends on where the Nita sig sits in terms of quality though, we are all just assuming its above standard indo quality, its priced pretty low so I wouldn't expect much. Isn't the retail like 1299?



It's Premium tier with a retail price of $1999 and a street price of $1499.

So the same level as the JEM70V, KIKO10, and MSM1.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 1, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> How is referring to a women as "she" making this about gender? If I talk about Steve Vai and say "he's a great player" does that mean I'm making it about gender? Projecting?
> 
> They (better now?) are a new artist and are receiving a signature guitar with a brand known to be very difficult to get signature gear from. I don't know why folks are upset they didn't release a guitar that they themselves probably wouldn't buy.
> 
> ...



Because you said "Have you considered that maybe she's a savy business woman" and "I think the idea that she was some helpless pawn", both imply that my argument is based on her being a women and not knowing what she is doing, or something along those lines, which is not the case at all.

People like myself want/prefer to buy MIJ or even Korean guitars/sigs, don't see what the issue is with that. I even said "It's kind of like Ibanez only wanted to invest as little as possible on a sig to test the water" which is exactly the right thing to do from a business perspective, I'm sure she was involved in that process. But it just means people like myself won't be buying the MII version of that guitar, I'm sure Ibanez don't really give a rats about those lost sales anyway.

Take the Kiko for example, I'm very keen to get the Kiko200 because its a MIJ with awesome specs, if it were just another indo or chinese Kiko I wouldn't even consider it. I would be saying the exact same thing about that if there was a Kiko model thread as well, exact same reason I didn't bother with the MSM1 after hearing the usual premium issues were present on that model.

By Korean sigs I guess your talking about Schecters, which are IMO are much better quality then the Ibanez indo stuff, that's why people will complain about indo Ibanez sigs, price/quality is much much better on the Korean stuff. I'm not sure who's getting Chinese sigs unless our talking about the mikro PGM or the Cheaper Kiko's, both are a certain target market, there not meant to be anything great so people don't bother to complain about them, you buy a Chinese guitar for a reason.

Really what's being implied is that its seems very much less about the guitar itself and more about the achievement, the fact she got a signature deal and is the first women Ibanez have done this for, really the guitar quality/price is irrelevant it seems, any negative comments about the guitar itself don't take away from her achievements IMO.


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## Hollowway (Feb 1, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> Because you said "Have you considered that maybe she's a savy business woman" and "I think the idea that she was some helpless pawn", both imply that my argument is based on her being a women and not knowing what she is doing, or something along those lines, which is not the case at all.
> 
> People like myself want/prefer to buy MIJ or even Korean guitars/sigs, don't see what the issue is with that. I even said "It's kind of like Ibanez only wanted to invest as little as possible on a sig to test the water" which is exactly the right thing to do from a business perspective, I'm sure she was involved in that process. But it just means people like myself won't be buying the MII version of that guitar, I'm sure Ibanez don't really give a rats about those lost sales anyway.
> 
> ...



Dude, I think you’re waaaay reading gender into this. “Helpless pawn” is a male slanted term, if anything, because I’ve never heard a woman referred to as a “pawn.” You seem to just be looking for a fight. If not, reword those sentences with a gender neutral pronoun. Oh, you can’t, because there IS no gender neutral pronoun in the English language? Exactly. You are literally the only one making this a sexist issue. If you’re not actively trying, than reevaluate why you’re triggered whenever someone uses the terms “woman” and “pawn.”


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 1, 2018)

.


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## Hollowway (Feb 1, 2018)

MatiasTolkki said:


> Dude, take your social justice bullshit and get the FUCK outta here. Intersectionalism has NO PLACE in this conversation.



Joking right?


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 1, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> Joking right?



The way I read it made it sound like you were promoting intersectionalism.


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## Hollowway (Feb 1, 2018)

MatiasTolkki said:


> The way I read it made it sound like you were promoting intersectionalism.



I don’t think I am. I just read the definition online, though.  

All I was saying is that I don’t think Max was implying that eightsixboy was putting her down as a woman. I read what max stated as we shouldn’t assume that she was getting pushed around as a junior artist, and not given an MIJ model, because she may well have been active in the decision making. But eightsix keeps coming back saying that Max chose words to imply that this was because she was a female. I mean, Max said he didn’t mean to imply that, and eightsix still made a second long post saying that he did, because he used the terms woman and helpless pawn. Idk, I just took Max at his word. I probably should not have gotten so salty, but I’m on the same page as you - I just want to talk about the guitar, and not argue about gender issues here, post after post. (Yet, here I am propagating it, lol.)


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## beerandbeards (Feb 1, 2018)

Pizza is my favorite food


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## Hollowway (Feb 1, 2018)

beerandbeards said:


> Pizza is my favorite food



Get the fuck out of here with your pizza, you! 






 


Srsly, back to Nita. And let’s all celebrate that it’s an EBONY fretboard!!! CITES is keeping those poo Brown FBs from premiums, and I am thrilled!


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 1, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> I don’t think I am. I just read the definition online, though.
> 
> All I was saying is that I don’t think Max was implying that eightsixboy was putting her down as a woman. I read what max stated as we shouldn’t assume that she was getting pushed around as a junior artist, and not given an MIJ model, because she may well have been active in the decision making. But eightsix keeps coming back saying that Max chose words to imply that this was because she was a female. I mean, Max said he didn’t mean to imply that, and eightsix still made a second long post saying that he did, because he used the terms woman and helpless pawn. Idk, I just took Max at his word. I probably should not have gotten so salty, but I’m on the same page as you - I just want to talk about the guitar, and not argue about gender issues here, post after post. (Yet, here I am propagating it, lol.)



Okay, my bad. I misread what you said 

I'll put in my 2 cents for what it's worth:

Ibanez always gives their new endorsers lower tier sigs. they want to push the heck out of the AZ line so they did something different for those sigs, but Nita wanted an S, S isn't selling well (Ibanez's own fault btw) so they either made her take an indo, or she chose it because she doesn't think the EZII is a horrible bridge. She's been with Ibanez for 10 years, I think she can judge for herself what is a good idea. She's just happy to FINALLY have an Ibanez signature, a long time coming. I'm super happy for her, indonesian-made or not.


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## Hollowway (Feb 1, 2018)

@eightsixboy, apologies for being so salty there. I just kind of got worked into a lather reading your posts about the subject, and I really just wanted to talk about the guitar.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 1, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> Dude, I think you’re waaaay reading gender into this. “Helpless pawn” is a male slanted term, if anything, because I’ve never heard a woman referred to as a “pawn.” You seem to just be looking for a fight. If not, reword those sentences with a gender neutral pronoun. Oh, you can’t, because there IS no gender neutral pronoun in the English language? Exactly. You are literally the only one making this a sexist issue. If you’re not actively trying, than reevaluate why you’re triggered whenever someone uses the terms “woman” and “pawn.”



Haha I hope your joking.

I was asking Max if he was thinking I had made it into a male/female thing, which I hadn't. I just found it extremely odd that he made it a point to say "have you considered she is a savy business women" like if someone is thinking getting a indo sig means she has no say in the matter or doesn't know what is going on or something.

It was also very odd that he said "I think the idea that she was some helpless pawn". No one said that or even implied that at all.

If it was a guy who had a sig that was indo and people were bashing it or saying similar things no one would use the same terminology, if anything I'm backing Nita up because the thought never even crossed my mind that her being a women had anything to do with her "only getting a indo sig", I just thought she deserved more if anything, considering how big a name she is compared to someone like Tom Quayle, who did get a MIJ sig straight away, which to me anyway shows its not a money thing and they must have different signature tiers, I mean I can't see the Tom Qualyle sigs selling by the boat load, 99% sure Martin's influence is why he got such a kick ass sig straight of the bat.



MatiasTolkki said:


> The way I read it made it sound like you were promoting intersectionalism.



That's the way it reads yes, which is pretty sad really.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 1, 2018)

MatiasTolkki said:


> Okay, my bad. I misread what you said
> 
> I'll put in my 2 cents for what it's worth:
> 
> Ibanez always gives their new endorsers lower tier sigs. they want to push the heck out of the AZ line so they did something different for those sigs, but Nita wanted an S, S isn't selling well (Ibanez's own fault btw) so they either made her take an indo, or she chose it because she doesn't think the EZII is a horrible bridge. She's been with Ibanez for 10 years, I think she can judge for herself what is a good idea. She's just happy to FINALLY have an Ibanez signature, a long time coming. I'm super happy for her, indonesian-made or not.



That's why I mentioned the Tom Quayle thing. As new as it gets to coming across to Ibanez, maybe played them in the past, but wasn't even on any endorsement by Ibanez and gets basically as good a sig model as anyone could dream off, retails for over 3k. Maybe I'm reading to much into it, I thought the same about Marco, I also wished his sig was MIJ considering he had quite a few custom Ibanez and LACS.



Hollowway said:


> @eightsixboy, apologies for being so salty there. I just kind of got worked into a lather reading your posts about the subject, and I really just wanted to talk about the guitar.



It was just the way I read some of the comments. I never said anything sexist. Problem with forums is context gets lost.

I really don't think anyone thinks she had no involvement or say in what price point or factory it was made in. If it was her choice completely to only have an indo sig that's fine, there will still be people out there like myself holding out for a MIJ version, if they make one.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 1, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> Because you said "Have you considered that maybe she's a savy business woman" and "I think the idea that she was some helpless pawn", both imply that my argument is based on her being a women and not knowing what she is doing, or something along those lines, which is not the case at all.



Again, I didn't mean to add emphasis to her gender. If we were talking about a male artist I would have used the appropriate pronouns and said the same thing.



> People like myself want/prefer to buy MIJ or even Korean guitars/sigs, don't see what the issue is with that. I even said "It's kind of like Ibanez only wanted to invest as little as possible on a sig to test the water" which is exactly the right thing to do from a business perspective, I'm sure she was involved in that process. But it just means people like myself won't be buying the MII version of that guitar, I'm sure Ibanez don't really give a rats about those lost sales anyway.



The minimum would have been to release a non-Premium, limited release limited market model like they did with that blue Saber with red knob. I honestly forgot who that was for and didn't feel typing "blue red knob" into Google.



> By Korean sigs I guess your talking about Schecters, which are IMO are much better quality then the Ibanez indo stuff, that's why people will complain about indo Ibanez sigs, price/quality is much much better on the Korean stuff. I'm not sure who's getting Chinese sigs unless our talking about the mikro PGM or the Cheaper Kiko's, both are a certain target market, there not meant to be anything great so people don't bother to complain about them, you buy a Chinese guitar for a reason.



I was referring to Schecter and LTD, which believe it or not can throw out a lemon quite frequently, especially since some production issues at WMI more recently.

As for Chinese I was referring more specifically to Pat Metheny who didn't have a MIJ sig while his was being redesigned and Per Nilsson and his MIC Singularity models.


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 2, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> How is referring to a women as "she" making this about gender? If I talk about Steve Vai and say "he's a great player" does that mean I'm making it about gender? Projecting?
> 
> They (better now?) are a new artist and are receiving a signature guitar with a brand known to be very difficult to get signature gear from. I don't know why folks are upset they didn't release a guitar that they themselves probably wouldn't buy.
> 
> ...



seems like everyone only complains about that stuff here.
People always say they want a japanese version of something and then when it's released no one buys it...
Meanwhile the indos are selling pretty well.

I haven't seen a single ngd anywhere for those 3k Rga's they released. They aren't that hard to import.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 2, 2018)

diagrammatiks said:


> seems like everyone only complains about that stuff here.
> People always say they want a japanese version of something and then when it's released no one buys it...
> Meanwhile the indos are selling pretty well.
> 
> I haven't seen a single ngd anywhere for those 3k Rga's they released. They aren't that hard to import.



That's the thing, 90% of what folks want has been available at the big Japanese retailers for years, but no one pulls the trigger.

They act like a phone call and email, and a little extra shipping is all that's stopping them from buying the $4k guitar of thier dreams.


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 2, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> That's the thing, 90% of what folks want has been available at the big Japanese retailers for years, but no one pulls the trigger.
> 
> They act like a phone call and email, and a little extra shipping is all that's stopping them from buying the $4k guitar of thier dreams.



or that if these were all available in prestige editions..this would be the year that they would buy 6 3k+ guitars all at once.


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## Hollowway (Feb 2, 2018)

How much of a sig sale goes to the artist? I’m assuming the amount is >0.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 2, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> How much of a sig sale goes to the artist? I’m assuming the amount is >0.



That's a contract thing. So it's going to be different per artist.


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## Hollowway (Feb 2, 2018)

Ah. Well, assuming a portion of this goes to her, I’m ok paying a little more for a MII premium. I could always buy it from Rich, and get the Platinum plan, or something, if I want to make sure it plays well. 

In reality, it’s an academic argument, because I don’t play guitar. I just look online at guitars for sale, and post in forums. Ain’t no time in the day for playing, anymore.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 2, 2018)

They do get monetary compensation, but how it's assessed can vary. 

Worth mentioning is that actual point of sale isn't usually what's measured, but distributor orders. 

For instance, say an artist gets $10 per guitar sold. They don't get $10 everytime Hollowway buys one, they get $100 from a distributor ordering 10 of them. 

Obviously the more that sell at retail the more ordered by the store from the distributor and thus the distributor from Ibanez so sales matter, but it's not like they're waiting on every individual guitar to be purchased by the consumer.


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## Zeppelinskies (Feb 2, 2018)

I think outside of these boards the majority of buyers won't really care whether its Indo or Japanese - I certainly don't; I just see a really nice looking S with excellent specs at a not unfair price.


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 2, 2018)

Zeppelinskies said:


> I think outside of these boards the majority of buyers won't really care whether its Indo or Japanese - I certainly don't; I just see a really nice looking S with excellent specs at a not unfair price.



same here. I have all the guitars I really need. I'm at the point where I just have gas to collect a lot of things I like, like the S series.


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## Sogradde (Feb 2, 2018)

Off Topic: I hate SJW shenanigans as much as the next guy but it's kinda sad to see that a signature thread gets derailed into a gender debate. Not blaming anyone here as it was obviously a misunderstanding but it's kinda meh. Also all those thristy dudes on social media who mention how "sexy" and "hot" she is in the comments are maximum over-cringe. But that goes for most female (metal) artists I suppose.

On Topic: The sig doesn't do much for me even though I usually like the S series alot. But honestly, is the HSH loadout THAT popular in real life? Maybe I'm biased because this is my main gear forum but do people actually like HSH at all? I hate the middle pickup so fucking much, aesthetically as well as from a playability point of view.


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 2, 2018)

Well, if a chick is hot, a chick is hot. Can't fault her DNA dude. Guys slobbering over her all the time is sick, but commenting that she's beautiful and that we'd rail her if we could; I dont see how that is somehow cringe.


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## Sogradde (Feb 2, 2018)

Not everything you think is ought to be said. It's called "manners".


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 2, 2018)

Sogradde said:


> Not everything you think is ought to be said. It's called "manners".



except manners would include saying it to her face. Guys talking to guys it doesnt matter.


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## iamaom (Feb 2, 2018)

Sogradde said:


> Also all those thristy dudes on social media who mention how "sexy" and "hot" she is in the comments are maximum over-cringe. But that goes for most female (metal) artists I suppose.


I don't see it as that much of a problem, it's not like women don't do the same thing (Elvis, the Beatles, Boy Bands, Screamo, Twilight fandom, etc.)


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## Sogradde (Feb 2, 2018)

I don't want to derail this thread any further but have some comments I found within 5 minutes of checking her Facebook page:



> Nita you are a beautiful blond so gorgeous & smoking hot!





> You rock! And you are so beautiful!





> I love u





> I LOVE YOU





> Hi sexy baby.





> I WISH I was Nitas guitar !!!





> Mmmm..mmmm my future ex wife



If you don't think these are cringy or even borderline creepy, I have bad news for you brosky.


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 2, 2018)

Dude, did you even read what I said? I said that saying it directly to her face would be improper and showing lack of manners, which I agreed with you on. My condition was if it was just us guys here chillin and saying "yeah she's hot, I'd rail her." That's what guys do in the privacy of their conversations, and I dont see how THAT is cringy. I think you need to read my comment more carefully next time.


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## Sogradde (Feb 2, 2018)

I don't know how you went from "guys on social media", which is exactly what I said, to whatever the hell you are talking about. Projecting much?


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 2, 2018)

This is why we can't have nice things.


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 2, 2018)

the privacy of an internet forum.


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 2, 2018)

Sogradde said:


> I don't know how you went from "guys on social media", which is exactly what I said, to whatever the hell you are talking about. Projecting much?



Read my original comment again.

"Well, if a chick is hot, a chick is hot. Can't fault her DNA dude. Guys slobbering over her all the time is sick, but commenting that she's beautiful and that we'd rail her if we could; I dont see how that is somehow cringe."

"I said that saying it directly to her face would be improper and showing lack of manners, which I agreed with you on. My condition was if it was just us guys here chillin and saying "yeah she's hot, I'd rail her." That's what guys do in the privacy of their conversations, and I dont see how THAT is cringy."

How am I projecting? I am being quite consistent. Guys BSing that they'd wanna rail a hot chick to each other, sure ALL guys do that, and if you don't, you're a beta cucked idiot. I am saying that if you say those things you quoted to her face, I'd consider those cringy and impolite. 

Also I never actually stated my opinion of her looks btw. I am taking a rational look, from a regular guy's perspective on the issue. My opinion of how she looks is irrelevant to the conversation.


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## Albake21 (Feb 2, 2018)

Okay I'm unwatching this thread. No one is even talking about the guitar anymore.


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## Sogradde (Feb 2, 2018)

MatiasTolkki said:


> and if you don't, you're a beta cucked idiot.


Spoken like a true edgelord.

Jesus, why are you so angry? If you feel like filling this thread with sex fantasies about you and Nita, more power to you. You just gotta deal with the fact that I find you cringy as fuck.


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## R34CH (Feb 2, 2018)

So...uh...back on topic (sorta). Can we all agree that the real reason the S doesn't sell well is the ugly pickup selector switch covers?

I totally get that they are necessary due to the thickness of the body, but still.  If not for that I would probably have 5 S's including Nita's.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 2, 2018)

R34CH said:


> So...uh...back on topic (sorta). Can we all agree that the real reason the S doesn't sell well is the ugly pickup selector switch covers?
> 
> I totally get that they are necessary due to the thickness of the body, but still.  If not for that I would probably have 5 S's including Nita's.



I never understood the hatred for these. I mean, they're not objectively "pretty", but I hardly notice them. 

I do think that they need to address it though. Maybe make them out of metal or wood and try to match the anesthetic of the particular guitar better.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Saber is floundering because they keep trying to sell it as a higher end alternative to the RG. They need to bring it in line with the RG series.


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## R34CH (Feb 2, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Maybe make them out of metal or wood and try to match the anesthetic of the particular guitar better.



This I could get behind. Ibanez hire this man!


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## prlgmnr (Feb 2, 2018)

MatiasTolkki said:


> My opinion of how she looks is irrelevant to the conversation.


As far as I can see, almost every single opinion you have is irrelevant to this conversation.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 2, 2018)

prlgmnr said:


> As far as I can see, almost every single opinion you have is irrelevant to this conversation.



Come on, let's steer this back. 

What's everyone's thoughts on the inlay? I'm undecided. I typically like minimalist, but it is a breath of fresh air to the sea of dots in the current lineup.


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 2, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Come on, let's steer this back.
> 
> What's everyone's thoughts on the inlay? I'm undecided. I typically like minimalist, but it is a breath of fresh air to the sea of dots in the current lineup.



I like them. They are different than anything else out there, and Ibanez won't give us sharkies on anything except standard indos or gios anymore.


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## Sogradde (Feb 2, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> What's everyone's thoughts on the inlay? I'm undecided. I typically like minimalist, but it is a breath of fresh air to the sea of dots in the current lineup.


I prefer offset dots tbh. The heartbeat has the same effect on me as do the cross inlays on the Loomis models.

However, I'm still wondering:


Sogradde said:


> On Topic: The sig doesn't do much for me even though I usually like the S series alot. But honestly, is the HSH loadout THAT popular in real life? Maybe I'm biased because this is my main gear forum but do people actually like HSH at all? I hate the middle pickup so fucking much, aesthetically as well as from a playability point of view.


What's the general opinion about HSH outside of SSO?


----------



## Mathemagician (Feb 2, 2018)

From my Strat when I started I used to hit the middle pickup all the time. I personally am not a fan due to their positioning. It makes my picking hand feel cramped.


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## cardinal (Feb 2, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> What's everyone's thoughts on the inlay? I'm undecided. I typically like minimalist, but it is a breath of fresh air to the sea of dots in the current lineup.



I kinda like it. Vai’s guitars obviously have their inlay. Munky does his thing on the Apex200. I wouldn’t specifically choose it for myself, but it’s a sig guitar and that inlay seems unique. 

It is fun how the heart rate speeds up as you go higher on the neck.


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 2, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I never understood the hatred for these. I mean, they're not objectively "pretty", but I hardly notice them.
> 
> I do think that they need to address it though. Maybe make them out of metal or wood and try to match the anesthetic of the particular guitar better.
> 
> I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Saber is floundering because they keep trying to sell it as a higher end alternative to the RG. They need to bring it in line with the RG series.



Rant mode on:

My S1220WNF is a 3 piece mahogany body, rosewood fretboard simple as hell guitar that was prestige level and retailed for 999 when it came out.

The only prestige level S now is a maple topped burst finished fancy thing for 2k or the wagoner which is a simple ash body for 600 dollar more.

what.

I just want an updated 1220 that's 24 fret and hsh. Even if it's 10 years later they could sell that guitar for 1500.

sigh...

That being said I've played all sorts of indonesian and korean S's over the years in stores and they haven't been bad. I just need to get over this last hurdle of non-japanese asian guitars and just buy a bunch of these things. I'll pay 2k for a strandberg so I might as well.

I think the issue is that if they put out a 1500 simple 24 fret japanese S it would instantly go to the top of my purchasing list...but as it stands a 1500 Indonesian is like way down the list. 


Sogradde said:


> I prefer offset dots tbh. The heartbeat has the same effect on me as do the cross inlays on the Loomis models.
> 
> However, I'm still wondering:
> 
> What's the general opinion about HSH outside of SSO?



I don't think people really like them. That's why a lot of the RG's now are HH.

Personally, I'm fine with it. I usually run a super hot middle true single and just lower it all the way into the pick guard or the body. I run a p/p add bridge and a p/p reverse phase for the middle pickup. That gets me all the tones I ever need out of one guitar.


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## AkiraSpectrum (Feb 2, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Come on, let's steer this back.
> 
> What's everyone's thoughts on the inlay? I'm undecided. I typically like minimalist, but it is a breath of fresh air to the sea of dots in the current lineup.



I really like the inlay. I think its something different and unique, all while being relatively tasteful.


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## Mathemagician (Feb 2, 2018)

Yeah honestly surprised it hadn’t been thought of before. Seems like such a no brained after the fact.


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## Rosal76 (Feb 2, 2018)

It is a nice guitar and congrats to Nita on her new signature. A little off topic and if you Ibanez experts can help. Below is Nita's guitar rack.







When did Ibanez release a orange Herman Li signature???


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 2, 2018)

Rosal76 said:


> When did Ibanez release a orange Herman Li signature???



It's been available in "Dragon's Blood" an orange toned red since summer 2016.


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 2, 2018)

Rosal76 said:


> It is a nice guitar and congrats to Nita on her new signature. A little off topic and if you Ibanez experts can help. Below is Nita's guitar rack.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



two years ago iirc


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## DeepSixed (Feb 2, 2018)

R34CH said:


> So...uh...back on topic (sorta). Can we all agree that the real reason the S doesn't sell well is the ugly pickup selector switch covers?



While I know it's not quite as "on the fly" I prefer the look of the 1987/88 mini toggles.


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## beerandbeards (Feb 2, 2018)

I like the inlay but it kind of makes it look like the fretboard to split down the middle.

What if pickup rings were clear? Keep their function while somewhat letting the overall aesthetic continue. I just think they take a little away from the finish


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## Hollowway (Feb 2, 2018)

100% prefer the inlay to dots. It looks way more “custom” than dots do. To me, getting a custom and choosing what production already has is kind of weird. It would be like building a custom home and making it look exactly like a tract home. No other production guitar has this inlay, so I’m into it. And on an ebony FB? Yes, please.

I love the single coil in the middle, and I love the direct mount pups. The only things I’m not happy about (and this is an S series thing) is I don’t like front input jacks, and I’m not a fan of the pickup switch cover, either. But, in this case, it matches the other colors of the guitar, so I’m ok with it.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Feb 2, 2018)

The inlays are a nice unique touch. 

I'm one of the strong advocates of the HSH config largely due to versatility. I can see why it's not liked by many though. For me, it used to get in the way but I ended up adjusting my picking technique accordingly. When it comes to HSH, I also tend not to have humbuckers that are too hot anyway (that's what my 2H guitars are for) so I don't have a massive volume drop when switching. 

I think Herman Li tried to address this on his sigs where he'd have his middle single coil sunken low avoiding his picking but wounded at a hot output. The problem is that I never found high output single coils to sound great (sans the Injectors), but then again, it's not often most people will use that middle coil on it's own anyway. I'll admit I certainly don't.


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## auxioluck (Feb 3, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Come on, let's steer this back.
> 
> What's everyone's thoughts on the inlay? I'm undecided. I typically like minimalist, but it is a breath of fresh air to the sea of dots in the current lineup.



I was honestly on the fence about them at first, but they've grown on me. I typically like no inlays (even though I'm a sucker for the Tree of Life inlay), but hell, I'm just happy to have production options other than dots.


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## Hollowway (Feb 3, 2018)

I'm surprised how many people dislike the HSH. Do people also dislike the SSH? I prefer HSH and SSH over all other combos. I just figure if you have an option for more tonal variety, why not? I will agree that the shape of the route of the average single coil can be wonky, and not match humbucker routes. 

I should start a poll, but what do people prefer as their go to PUP combo? HH? Or just a single humbucker in the bridge? It seems like damn near every metal guitar out there these days is HH (especially 7 and 8 strings), and I'm craving some variety


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## Spicypickles (Feb 3, 2018)

Mainly people bitching about their own technique, hitting the middle pickup with the pick.


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## Hollowway (Feb 3, 2018)

Spicypickles said:


> Mainly people bitching about their own technique, hitting the middle pickup with the pick.



Really? Like, the edge of it? I pick VERY shallow, because if I don't it totally slows me down. But, I'm also talking about when I'm sitting down at home. I guess live I might bang into it as I'm moving around and stuff. But I only had one guitar up until a few years ago (thanks for the GAS, sso!) and it has a SSH, so I guess I just adapted to playing on it. (And it has a floyd, so I've never had a problem with those.)


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## Spicypickles (Feb 3, 2018)

I don't have any problems either, I use jazz 3's or similar and pick fairly shallow. 

That just seems to be the common gripe with middle pickups, and I've seen people crank them way down from keep em low profile.


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## mpexus (Feb 3, 2018)

I also lower mine the lowest I can 

And yes lots of people bump into them:
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/new...rucci_why_i_dont_use_single-coil_pickups.html


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## Chokey Chicken (Feb 3, 2018)

I fairly regularly bump the pickup with my pick. Even so, my playing is uneffected, so I'm fine with one there. It feels different, but not in a way that should effect playing .


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## Musiscience (Feb 4, 2018)

Is this a neck though S or is it only her LACS that has the feature? Not currently on the market for a new guitar, but I don't recall seeing a neck though S before.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 4, 2018)

Musiscience said:


> Is this a neck though S or is it only her LACS that has the feature? Not currently on the market for a new guitar, but I don't recall seeing a neck though S before.



It's bolt-on.

Though they have made neck-through Sabers in the past. Mostly high end limited editions and Korean Prestige models. The S4170, S20065, JCS12 and I think one more I can't remember the name of.


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## iamaom (Feb 4, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> Really? Like, the edge of it? I pick VERY shallow, because if I don't it totally slows me down. But, I'm also talking about when I'm sitting down at home. I guess live I might bang into it as I'm moving around and stuff. But I only had one guitar up until a few years ago (thanks for the GAS, sso!) and it has a SSH, so I guess I just adapted to playing on it. (And it has a floyd, so I've never had a problem with those.)


I have a guitar with SD Quarter Pounders with staggered poles. The G string pole sticks out so far I do find myself hitting them with my pick and it annoys the hell out of me. Never had a problem with flat poles in my RG though.


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## Jedi_Ekim (Feb 4, 2018)

jephjacques said:


> more women getting sig guitars plz



Just curious: Like WHO?


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## Hollowway (Feb 4, 2018)

Jedi_Ekim said:


> Just curious: Like WHO?



I personally would like to see Jen Majura get something. Only because I follow her online, she plays for Evanescence, and has the respect of a lot of the industry. So I think she could move sales. She plays the new blue floral pattern Ibby, so Idk what her sig would be, but I think it would be cool for her to have something.


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## diagrammatiks (Feb 4, 2018)

Melissa auf der Maur signature bass?


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## auxioluck (Feb 4, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> I'm surprised how many people dislike the HSH. Do people also dislike the SSH? I prefer HSH and SSH over all other combos. I just figure if you have an option for more tonal variety, why not? I will agree that the shape of the route of the average single coil can be wonky, and not match humbucker routes.
> 
> I should start a poll, but what do people prefer as their go to PUP combo? HH? Or just a single humbucker in the bridge? It seems like damn near every metal guitar out there these days is HH (especially 7 and 8 strings), and I'm craving some variety



I typically prefer HH, but I really like the variety of tones I can get with HSH. Admittedly, I was one of those people that complained about them because my technique used to be horrible, and I would pick the middle PU constantly. Now I like the setup. I just haven't really fallen in love with a HSH guitar for the last 10 years or so until now. 

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but the configuration I can't stand is HS (a la Caparison).


----------



## eightsixboy (Feb 4, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> That's the thing, 90% of what folks want has been available at the big Japanese retailers for years, but no one pulls the trigger.
> 
> They act like a phone call and email, and a little extra shipping is all that's stopping them from buying the $4k guitar of thier dreams.



Customs and CITES have put a stop to almost any reason to buy from Japan now. Depends on the country you live in but buying a 4k guitar + shipping and then fee's on top always makes it not worth it.

I was so damn close to pulling the trigger on a J Custom from Ikebe last month, but even at over 40% off RRP, by time you add shipping and customs fee's I would have been paying only 10-15% of the retail price anyway. It's still "worth it" from the perspective of buying something unique if you know you can't buy them locally but when buying from Japan is so good/cheap for second hand stuff, you'd have to REALLY want said guitar to choose that over second hand or local stuff.



Sogradde said:


> Off Topic: I hate SJW shenanigans as much as the next guy but it's kinda sad to see that a signature thread gets derailed into a gender debate. Not blaming anyone here as it was obviously a misunderstanding but it's kinda meh. Also all those thristy dudes on social media who mention how "sexy" and "hot" she is in the comments are maximum over-cringe. But that goes for most female (metal) artists I suppose.
> 
> On Topic: The sig doesn't do much for me even though I usually like the S series alot. But honestly, is the HSH loadout THAT popular in real life? Maybe I'm biased because this is my main gear forum but do people actually like HSH at all? I hate the middle pickup so fucking much, aesthetically as well as from a playability point of view.



I don't see an issue in people saying it like it is ie: she is attractive. I mean image is everything these days, its part of the whole package and who she is. Just look at why young girls like the bands they do etc, as someone already said, its not like guys go up to her and be drooling and saying "your hot" or something extremely cringe worthy lol.

And yes the HSH is a major turn off on any guitar imo. The people that say "it shouldn't get in the way with good technique" have obviously never heard players like PG, Morse, JP and others says that it also gets in the way. I have never used the single coil on any Ibanez that has had a HSH, the split positions between a HH combo work just as well and it looks a million times better.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 4, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I never understood the hatred for these. I mean, they're not objectively "pretty", but I hardly notice them.
> 
> I do think that they need to address it though. Maybe make them out of metal or wood and try to match the anesthetic of the particular guitar better.
> 
> I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Saber is floundering because they keep trying to sell it as a higher end alternative to the RG. They need to bring it in line with the RG series.



Surely they could do better then those covers though? Or just put a metal reinforcement plate under the switch if the wood is to thin?

Same with the back covers. They look terrible on the s series. In one of the vids for the Jiva when they turned the guitar over the electronics cover is all distorted from the screw tension, they need to recess it or start using a higher quality plastic, looks so cheap.


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## possumkiller (Feb 4, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> I don't see an issue in people saying it like it is ie: she is attractive. I mean image is everything these days, its part of the whole package and who she is. Just look at why young girls like the bands they do etc, as someone already said, its not like guys go up to her and be drooling and saying "your hot" or something extremely cringe worthy lol.



I'm pretty sure she does get some really nasty comments but the examples given earlier are quite tame considering the internet. I mean this is the same chick posing for a Guitar World special issue wearing just a guitar and some lingerie right? I'm sure she knows what she is doing. She is talented, smart, hot and she uses it all to her benefit. Good for her.


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## Hollowway (Feb 4, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> And yes the HSH is a major turn off on any guitar imo. The people that say "it shouldn't get in the way with good technique" have obviously never heard players like PG, Morse, JP and others says that it also gets in the way. I have never used the single coil on any Ibanez that has had a HSH, the split positions between a HH combo work just as well and it looks a million times better.



Not looking to get into an argument, but Paul Gilbert and Steve Morse said middle pickups get in the way when they pick? All of Paul Gilbert's guitars come with a middle pickup. And Steve Morse's signature guitar has TWO middle pickups. And one of them is diagonal. There's literally no place to pick without being over a pickup. Or are you talking about a different PG and Morse?


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## eightsixboy (Feb 4, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> Not looking to get into an argument, but Paul Gilbert and Steve Morse said middle pickups get in the way when they pick? All of Paul Gilbert's guitars come with a middle pickup. And Steve Morse's signature guitar has TWO middle pickups. And one of them is diagonal. There's literally no place to pick without being over a pickup. Or are you talking about a different PG and Morse?



But they wind them way down. Morse even said he has his lowered all the way down and only uses it in the studio.

PG also has his middle pups wound all the way down as well.


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## Hollowway (Feb 5, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> But they wind them way down. Morse even said he has his lowered all the way down and only uses it in the studio.
> 
> PG also has his middle pups wound all the way down as well.



Well, I'll be. Dang, seems kind of weird that these guys would put it on their sig if they don't use it. At any rate, today I learned that Steve Morse has FOUR pickups on his sig. That seems ridiculous. And I like ridiculous! I'll have to start thinking about that in the future.

On the subject, does Nita wind her middle pup all the way down? Now I'm going to wonder if that's a standard live thing to do (as opposed to studio).


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 5, 2018)

Just to jump in a bit:

I like HSH, it's super versatile. Having that single coil does SO MUCH for the tonal variety of a guitar. However, I almost never used my middle single coil. I am not big on single coil sounds, but that doesn't mean I don't like it split with a humbucker to give a little extra punch as to the single coil alone. I usually only use Humbuckers, even on my Ibbies, but from time to time, I DO switch over to the single coil when I play Timo Tolkki's short version of guitar concerto, just to see how it sounds with a single coil (the song is originally played on a classical guitar so it sounds WAY different when I'm playing along with my Ibbies or Carvins).


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## MatthewK (Feb 5, 2018)

I like HSH to get the quacky strat "in between" tones. Never gets in my way either... and I'm not even a famous professional. Kind of weird then that the Strat with its middle pickup is like the best selling guitar of all time for all of eternity.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 5, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> Well, I'll be. Dang, seems kind of weird that these guys would put it on their sig if they don't use it. At any rate, today I learned that Steve Morse has FOUR pickups on his sig. That seems ridiculous. And I like ridiculous! I'll have to start thinking about that in the future.
> 
> On the subject, does Nita wind her middle pup all the way down? Now I'm going to wonder if that's a standard live thing to do (as opposed to studio).



Looks like she does as well.







MatiasTolkki said:


> Just to jump in a bit:
> 
> I like HSH, it's super versatile. Having that single coil does SO MUCH for the tonal variety of a guitar. However, I almost never used my middle single coil. I am not big on single coil sounds, but that doesn't mean I don't like it split with a humbucker to give a little extra punch as to the single coil alone. I usually only use Humbuckers, even on my Ibbies, but from time to time, I DO switch over to the single coil when I play Timo Tolkki's short version of guitar concerto, just to see how it sounds with a single coil (the song is originally played on a classical guitar so it sounds WAY different when I'm playing along with my Ibbies or Carvins).



I get why they have it there but at the same time it kind of ruins some guitars aesthetically, having HH direct mount looks so awesome IMO. Conversely a guitar with a pickguard I find its the opposite, they look weird without the middle pup, I couldn't imagine a Jem or strat without the middle pup.


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## Hollowway (Feb 6, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> Looks like she does as well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Holy crap, dude, I feel like I’m being woken up. I had no idea all these players were dropping their middle pickup height. An yet they all have them on their sig guitars. So weird. 

I’m tempted to go check out triple humbucker players, like Ace Frehley, to see if they wind them down as well.


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## Hollowway (Feb 6, 2018)

Holy hell, he’s got that pup lowered!


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## Hollowway (Feb 6, 2018)

Here’s a question: in finger style bass playing, a ramp is often used to prevent one from digging in too deep on the strings. Why can’t we use a similar thing on guitar? Just have it fit in there been the neck and middle pups, and also between the middle and bridge pups.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Feb 6, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> Here’s a question: in finger style bass playing, a ramp is often used to prevent one from digging in too deep on the strings. Why can’t we use a similar thing on guitar? Just have it fit in there been the neck and middle pups, and also between the middle and bridge pups.



I always used ramps as a solid anchor for my finger. Had nothing to do with digging in. 

How would a big block prevent you from digging in?


----------



## Grand Moff Tim (Feb 6, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I always used ramps as a solid anchor for my finger. Had nothing to do with digging in.
> 
> How would a big block prevent you from digging in?



Ideally the ramp is set very near the bottom of the strings, forcing you to use a light touch. If there isn't much room for your fingers to go past the strings, then... well, they won't be going very far past the strings. IE: You won't be able to dig in.

That's what Gary Willis intended his to be for, and depending who you ask, he's the guy who popularized (if not invented) them in the first place.

Here his is demonstrating the difference for PremierGuitar:






If all you want is more space to use as an anchor, a rail might suit you better than a ramp would.


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Feb 6, 2018)

The middle pickup being lowered doesn't negate it's effects. My HSH/SSH guitars all benefit from it even if they do get lowered a tad. The only reason I even have it on guitars I ordered is to keep split positions closer in volume when I use positions 2/4 on the 5 way switch. It's not nearly a problem for me, and I dig in a lot when I pick especially during rhythms.


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 6, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> I get why they have it there but at the same time it kind of ruins some guitars aesthetically, having HH direct mount looks so awesome IMO. Conversely a guitar with a pickguard I find its the opposite, they look weird without the middle pup, I couldn't imagine a Jem or strat without the middle pup.



For me, it's about tones. I have direct mount guitars (Kiesel V220, RGR580DW) and pickguard guitars (750VP, 5000RR, 550RF) and one with bezels (Carvin JB200). I found the best tonally had a lot more to do with the pickups themselves, rather than how the pups are mounted.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 6, 2018)

MatiasTolkki said:


> For me, it's about tones. I have direct mount guitars (Kiesel V220, RGR580DW) and pickguard guitars (750VP, 5000RR, 550RF) and one with bezels (Carvin JB200). I found the best tonally had a lot more to do with the pickups themselves, rather than how the pups are mounted.



Sssshhhhh don't say that too loud, you might start a tonewood argument lol.


I think most people agree direct mount looks the best ala JPM style, I never get why Ibanez would use pickup rings when they didn't have to, surely it would be a lot cheaper to direct mount them then using the metal rings etc.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Feb 6, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> Sssshhhhh don't say that too loud, you might start a tonewood argument lol.
> 
> 
> I think most people agree direct mount looks the best ala JPM style, I never get why Ibanez would use pickup rings when they didn't have to, surely it would be a lot cheaper to direct mount them then using the metal rings etc.



I wouldn't say direct mounting is cheaper inherently.

Taking more time to get the routes and associated paint along them perfect vs. just slapping a piece of plastic over it.


----------



## cardinal (Feb 6, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> Here’s a question: in finger style bass playing, a ramp is often used to prevent one from digging in too deep on the strings. Why can’t we use a similar thing on guitar? Just have it fit in there been the neck and middle pups, and also between the middle and bridge pups.



That’s an interesting idea. I also like middle pickups and to get the quack I want, they have to be where they have to be. I can’t simply lower it down, and I do sometimes hit it with a pick. 

What might work is a pickguard that’s super thick. The edge could be beveled to make that thickness somewhat less obvious. But that way, the pickups could be closer to the strings but still not extend beyond the lip of the pickguard. That way, there’s nothing for the pick to catch.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 7, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I wouldn't say direct mounting is cheaper inherently.
> 
> Taking more time to get the routes and associated paint along them perfect vs. just slapping a piece of plastic over it.



I meant more the prestige's with the metal rings not the plastic ones. Routing should be the same really, I pulled the pickguard of my 655 last night to ad a on/off switch and it was as neatly painted and routed as my 657, didn't notice any difference in quality.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 7, 2018)

eightsixboy said:


> I meant more the prestige's with the metal rings not the plastic ones. Routing should be the same really, I pulled the pickguard of my 655 last night to ad a on/off switch and it was as neatly painted and routed as my 657, didn't notice any difference in quality.



Rings are cheap, even metal ones. Especially in the quantity ordered for production instruments.

You got lucky, as the fine touches around the routes on both pickup-ringed guitars and those with pickguards can be sketchy. Especially lately for whatever reason. There was a time maybe 10 years ago where the routes were damn good.


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## odibrom (Feb 7, 2018)

I'm late to the thread here, though read it entirely to see if this has already been addressed, so I'll be quick.

1st, excellent for Nita for getting a sig. I'd love to get one one day, but I doubt it'll ever happen.
2nd, I love S models, but only have one, which happened to be the one to put the Ibanez brand on my hands ever since (back in 1995). All my other guitars are RGs because of specs, mainly, availability at purchase date and available money to buy one or not. I'd love to get an S5547, but it's out of my reach. So, another S sig (I count 3, Kiko moved to RGAs I think) is good business in my book.
3rd, specs wise, I'm not into 6s anymore, though my only 6 stringer is this S540 from 1993. I'm sorry Nita, I won't get your sig.
4th, and most important, WHY ISN'T HER ON THE ARTIST SIG ROSTER YET? On any of the Ibby sites? How can one get to READ her sig's specs at Ibanez? Ok, marketing is pushing the AZ line, but... I feel that to be really awkward and lame from Ibanez.


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 8, 2018)

odibrom said:


> I'm late to the thread here, though read it entirely to see if this has already been addressed, so I'll be quick.
> 
> 1st, excellent for Nita for getting a sig. I'd love to get one one day, but I doubt it'll ever happen.
> 2nd, I love S models, but only have one, which happened to be the one to put the Ibanez brand on my hands ever since (back in 1995). All my other guitars are RGs because of specs, mainly, availability at purchase date and available money to buy one or not. I'd love to get an S5547, but it's out of my reach. So, another S sig (I count 3, Kiko moved to RGAs I think) is good business in my book.
> ...



She's not there because ibanez is slow to update their website. It'll be updated soon enough.


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## odibrom (Feb 8, 2018)

... Cross your fingers... It's been more than a week since NAMM is over and you find Martin's and Tom's models there already... On the other hand, it took them more than a month to remove Tosin from their webs...


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## couverdure (Feb 8, 2018)

odibrom said:


> 1st, excellent for Nita for getting a sig. I'd love to get one one day, but I doubt it'll ever happen.





odibrom said:


> 3rd, specs wise, I'm not into 6s anymore, though my only 6 stringer is this S540 from 1993. I'm sorry Nita, I won't get your sig.


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## prlgmnr (Feb 8, 2018)

couverdure said:


>


Maybe they meant "good for Nita getting a sig, I'd love _for Ibanez to produce a signature guitar for me_ one day"


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## possumkiller (Feb 8, 2018)

Yes I would definitely like Ibanez to make a sig for me one day. From the Sugi shop like the M8M. To keep costs down they could just do a limited run of two and send them to me and then discontinue it...


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 8, 2018)

possumkiller said:


> Yes I would definitely like Ibanez to make a sig for me one day. From the Sugi shop like the M8M. To keep costs down they could just do a limited run of two and send them to me and then discontinue it...



The M8M isn't sugi dude. It's fujigen.


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## possumkiller (Feb 8, 2018)

MatiasTolkki said:


> The M8M isn't sugi dude. It's fujigen.


http://www.ibanezrules.com/new/m8m.htm


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## couverdure (Feb 8, 2018)

possumkiller said:


> Yes I would definitely like Ibanez to make a sig for me one day. From the Sugi shop like the M8M. To keep costs down they could just do a limited run of two and send them to me and then discontinue it...


Just ink an endorsement deal and play tons of shows, that way it might be possible for you to have access to the LACS so you can have your own custom Ibby. B̶u̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶o̶u̶b̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶s̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶i̶t̶i̶c̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶.̶


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## possumkiller (Feb 8, 2018)

From what I heard in Meshuggah interviews the M8M slays their LACS guitars as far as build quality and playability is concerned so I'd rather have Sugi build mine.


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## possumkiller (Feb 8, 2018)

couverdure said:


> B̶u̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶o̶u̶b̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶s̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶i̶t̶i̶c̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶.̶


Yes I know some brand endorsers pretend that the brand they endorse is perfect until they quietly move along somewhere else and let their fans waste money on shady products. 

I'm still quite free to say the Iron Label series is overpriced garbage aimed at the people who put a $350 set of pickups in an RG7321 so they wouldn't know it's a ripoff anyways...

I wouldn't want an endorsement deal. Just a two-piece limited edition Sugi-made sig model. Is that so much to ask?


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## couverdure (Feb 8, 2018)

possumkiller said:


> Yes I know some brand endorsers pretend that the brand they endorse is perfect until they quietly move along somewhere else and let their fans waste money on shady products.
> 
> I'm still quite free to say the Iron Label series is overpriced garbage aimed at the people who put a $350 set of pickups in an RG7321 so they wouldn't know it's a ripoff anyways...
> 
> I wouldn't want an endorsement deal. Just a two-piece limited edition Sugi-made sig model. Is that so much to ask?


You're just asking for a custom guitar, it isn't that hard to do if you could find a good builder. I know Sugi makes the highest quality Ibanez but at this point you only want one so you can have their logo on the headstock for bragging rights.

Everyone here will lynch me for this, but I still think Iron Labels are the best metal guitars to own under the $1,200 range.


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## MatiasTolkki (Feb 8, 2018)

couverdure said:


> You're just asking for a custom guitar, it isn't that hard to do if you could find a good builder. I know Sugi makes the highest quality Ibanez but at this point you only want one so you can have their logo on the headstock for bragging rights.
> 
> Everyone here will lynch me for this, but I still think Iron Labels are the best metal guitars to own under the $1,200 range.



RG550 reissues would like to have a word with you.


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## possumkiller (Feb 8, 2018)

couverdure said:


> You're just asking for a custom guitar, it isn't that hard to do if you could find a good builder. I know Sugi makes the highest quality Ibanez but at this point you only want one so you can have their logo on the headstock for bragging rights.
> 
> Everyone here will lynch me for this, but I still think Iron Labels are the best metal guitars to own under the $1,200 range.


But Ibanez only do custom stuff from LACS so it would have to be an extremely limited edition sig model for some unknown hobbyist. Doesn't even have to be Sugi. I'd be happy with a Fujigen J Custom sig. They could just solve the whole thing by doing Sugi or J Custom special order custom guitars for the public like ESP, Jackson, BC Rich, Fender, Gibson, PRS etc.

Anyway back OT. While I wouldn't buy a $1500 Indo Ibanez, Nita's sig definitely looks as hot as she does. A hot blonde decked out in black. The heartbeat racing up the fretboard is pretty cool too.


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## odibrom (Feb 8, 2018)

couverdure said:


>


I meant that I'd love to have MY OWN SIG one day, guess it's the obvious conclusion... sorry if it looked awkward. Peace.


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## eightsixboy (Feb 8, 2018)

couverdure said:


> Just ink an endorsement deal and play tons of shows, that way it might be possible for you to have access to the LACS so you can have your own custom Ibby. B̶u̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶o̶u̶b̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶s̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶i̶t̶i̶c̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶.̶



Don't think Ibanez cares about what people say on a forum about their prices/quality, nor would it affect a endorsement unless you used your real name or something stupid lol.


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## auxioluck (Feb 9, 2018)

Coming from someone who gigged for years with an RG7321 with $300 pickups....it's not as bad you make it sound.


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## possumkiller (Feb 10, 2018)

auxioluck said:


> Coming from someone who gigged for years with an RG7321 with $300 pickups....it's not as bad you make it sound.


And more powder to you. That's exactly the crowd Iron Labels are made for. 
I had an RG7321 and apart from a rough cut nut it was great for the 399 I paid for it.


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## auxioluck (Feb 11, 2018)

possumkiller said:


> And more powder to you. That's exactly the crowd Iron Labels are made for.
> I had an RG7321 and apart from a rough cut nut it was great for the 399 I paid for it.



Before we get stuck on "crowds", bear in mind I kept my fully loaded JP7 with me when I gigged as well. The difference is that I wasn't afraid of banging up my 7321. I know you aren't referring to ME specifically, but wanted to make sure to point out that just because someone prefers something for a particular situation doesn't mean jack shit about what "crowd" they are part of.

To me, any discussion about where guitars are made is not so complicated as "what type of player/consumer are you?" For me, it really comes down to two things:

1. Is the build quality good?
2. Is it fun to play?
3. Even if the build quality isn't perfect, do I still enjoy playing it?

Even though my experiences with the Iron Label line (and Indo models in general) hasn't been anything to write home about, I'll probably still end up with a JIVA, because the specs just look/sound fun as hell to play.


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## SonicBlur (Mar 15, 2018)

I may have missed it but have they posted a release date for this?


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## MatiasTolkki (Mar 15, 2018)

Japan is getting them in summer sometime.

I'm still waiting for Dimarzio to release the pandemonium pups


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