This is the Ibanez discussion thread. Not the Ibanez praise thread.
Ibanez 2022 discussion.
Metropolis
SS.org Regular
I would say that JBM will be around 2500-3000€$, glad they made it a production model, I really like the looks of it and sleek RGA body shape.
soul_lip_mike
SS.org Regular
I was quoted $2900 for the new jake Bowen and $3150 for the new PIA (USD).
HeHasTheJazzHands
SS.org Regular
You got it confused; MSRP is the "suggested" price, and MAP is the "final" price. So yeah the $3300 price tag appears to be accurate.
soul_lip_mike
SS.org Regular
Minimum ADVERTISED price. Dealers go lower they just can’t post the price on their site.
NoodleFace
Delicious Noodles
Didn't want to make a new thread. There's a 1550m on reverb for a good price but what the hell is up with this maple fretboard?
Is this water/humidity damage? It looks strange
Is this water/humidity damage? It looks strange
Wucan
SS.org Regular
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2020
- Messages
- 327
- Reaction score
- 442
I'm no expert, but unfinished maple will absorb dirt and oil over time. The stains may be residues of whatever cleaning product they used on the fretboard.
Brayden Buckingham
SS.org Regular
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2021
- Messages
- 128
- Reaction score
- 106
Wouldn't risk it
Everyone complains about Rich's pricing, but he'll get you a great deal if you let him.
Someday I might be able to order and get replacements in a few weeks or couple months again. Right now it takes 10 months get replacement inventory. I have 250 guitars on back order so it's not for lack of trying. Dealers can't discount what they can't replace or very soon we'll be dealers with no inventory. And it's not like our costs haven't gone thru the roof. I spent $105 to ship a JS to California last week.
Everyone complains about Rich's pricing, but he'll get you a great deal if you let him.
tian
SS.org Regular
Quests are apparently starting to come in stock for anyone interested.
tian
SS.org Regular
So this just arrived this morning and.... *deep sigh*.
TLDR, shit wiring.
First the good. Love the shape, weight and especially the balance. Very comfy standing and probably one of the most comfortable and well-balanced guitars I've ever tried for classical position while sitting.
As for the slanted frets, they're really interesting and I'd be curious how'd they feel playing long term but honestly, I could take them or leave them. It's different but not really game changing and, imo, for every spot on the fretboard that benefits in feel somewhere else feels to suffer. You can tell the guitar is trying to achieve ~something~ but it also highlights why the neutrality of straight frets is the standard.
But the frets themselves are the end of good impressions. The sides were fine but the top of frets while playing were noticeably rough which was disappointing considering how much the gold evo material was hyped up. I really don't care for the debate between standard frets and stainless frets but these felt like the rough as frets you come across on shop guitars that have sat on the well for months and nothing like even the worst of stainless steel I've touched. You can really tell these probably sat for months waiting to be shipped.
But whatever, I can polish some frets and like I said, the shape and balance was so good I was willing to go with it. So I plug in the guitar and immediately hit with buzzing despite being on the bridge pickup so I figure I'm switched on some kind of single coil mode. I toggle through the settings for a bit and it doesn't go away and I even pull up the Ibanez website to make sure I was doing the right thing at which point I say out loud, "what is wrong with you" and tap the bridge pickup with my finger and am hit with an even louder *bzzzt*.
Okay, time to pop this open and see if there's a loose ground or some other wire and what I find is even worse. Nothing obviously loose but overall an absolute horror show of poor soldering which could have a point of failure anywhere in the complete salad of wires necessary for the fancy wiring setup.
Likely the source of the buzzing. This poor ground wire holding on for dear life and also not trimmed or positioned in a sensible way at all.
But wait, there's more...
And the output jack joining in on the fun
Not going to show every soldering point but even the best of what was going on looked amateur.
I wouldn't even expect this kind of low attention to detail from a guitar half this price. And having just received a Schecter recently that I literally can't find a fault with, this is just embarrassing. Needless to say, it's going right back.
TLDR, shit wiring.
First the good. Love the shape, weight and especially the balance. Very comfy standing and probably one of the most comfortable and well-balanced guitars I've ever tried for classical position while sitting.
As for the slanted frets, they're really interesting and I'd be curious how'd they feel playing long term but honestly, I could take them or leave them. It's different but not really game changing and, imo, for every spot on the fretboard that benefits in feel somewhere else feels to suffer. You can tell the guitar is trying to achieve ~something~ but it also highlights why the neutrality of straight frets is the standard.
But the frets themselves are the end of good impressions. The sides were fine but the top of frets while playing were noticeably rough which was disappointing considering how much the gold evo material was hyped up. I really don't care for the debate between standard frets and stainless frets but these felt like the rough as frets you come across on shop guitars that have sat on the well for months and nothing like even the worst of stainless steel I've touched. You can really tell these probably sat for months waiting to be shipped.
But whatever, I can polish some frets and like I said, the shape and balance was so good I was willing to go with it. So I plug in the guitar and immediately hit with buzzing despite being on the bridge pickup so I figure I'm switched on some kind of single coil mode. I toggle through the settings for a bit and it doesn't go away and I even pull up the Ibanez website to make sure I was doing the right thing at which point I say out loud, "what is wrong with you" and tap the bridge pickup with my finger and am hit with an even louder *bzzzt*.
Okay, time to pop this open and see if there's a loose ground or some other wire and what I find is even worse. Nothing obviously loose but overall an absolute horror show of poor soldering which could have a point of failure anywhere in the complete salad of wires necessary for the fancy wiring setup.
Likely the source of the buzzing. This poor ground wire holding on for dear life and also not trimmed or positioned in a sensible way at all.
But wait, there's more...
And the output jack joining in on the fun
Not going to show every soldering point but even the best of what was going on looked amateur.
I wouldn't even expect this kind of low attention to detail from a guitar half this price. And having just received a Schecter recently that I literally can't find a fault with, this is just embarrassing. Needless to say, it's going right back.
Metaldestroyerdennis
Heavens Football Bat
Not that I disagree with flawed brand-new guitars getting sent back, because I do agree with it, but if the difference is 30 seconds with a soldering iron I'd just whack it with one.
tian
SS.org Regular
With a general basic two hum, two pot, switches and similar setup that's what I would have done but because of the way Ibanez wires these up for a billion tone options it would have been less 30 seconds of work and more an entire afternoon of resoldering a rats nest of proprietary wiring. The photos above don't encompass all the issues, it was just the stuff sitting on top that was easy to photograph. Every solder joint frankly looked like garbage within the depths of the control cavity. I should have gotten an image of how many wires they cram into these things because, if it was executed properly, it's actually impressive how much stuff they get in there.
Neon_Knight_
SS.org Regular
Personally, I'd want to contact their customer services before tampering with it, so that I don't risk voiding the warranty (there could be something else wrong with the electrics that doesn't become apparent until the soldering is addressed). Might even be able to get a small partial refund that way too (after all, time is money).
It looks like Friday afternoon job.
tian
SS.org Regular
When was the AZS2200Q released? I hate the curved control panel of the pickguard model and I guess missed this one being rolled out.
They came out at the same time, but I don't believe they were available to purchase as early as the pickguard model.
They're the "non-Sig" partner to the LB1.
tian
SS.org Regular
That makes sense, thank you.
Hadn't really noticed all these AZs have either a 12" radii or 9-12" compound one. Makes sense to differentiate them from RGs but it'd be nice to have the option of something flatter.
Dayn
SS.org Regular
Just saw these in the new-for-July part on the Ibanez website. Vampire Kiss and Laser Blue. These were originally special North American models, weren't they? So they're going into general production? I've been wanting the purple RG550, but now I'm tempted by these.
Gotta say I liked the blue/green and orange models from before, but I'll never complain about more basic RGs being put out at a good price point!
