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97K views 132 replies 83 participants last post by  billq 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well, after an early rumor of the change and much confusion due to the ibanez.com website specs on the VWH I can now confirm, the 04' VWH now has a ROSEWOOD fretboard. The one shown at NAMM was ebony so I never gave it a second though afterwards. It is a nice dark select rosewood but it is rosewood nonetheless.

Just an FYI ;)
 
#5 ·
Jeez, what a dumbsh!t. I posted this in the Classifieds, I know better but looking at a monitor from 6 feet isn't the most readable [in case you wonder why I typo so much!]

Somebody move this into Jem/UV and edit this post out so I don't look as stupid as I feel ;)

EDIT: Thanks for editing out this post!!! :lol:
 
#8 ·
Darren said it best ;)

darren wilson said:
For what it's worth, Steve has been using rosewood fretboards on his VWH models for quite some time now, though the factory models still had ebony. Personally, i like the look and feel of ebony, but rosewood is also really nice.

Here's a whole bunch of GREAT pics of a VWH with a rosewood board:

http://vai.com/Machines/guitarpages/EVO/EVO_index.html

;)
 
#13 ·
I find it bizarre that it was a rumor, but then the NAMM model was normal spec which confirmed the rumor was just that, right? Surely nobody said anything about there being a change, and I was amped on stopanoseadrine, but I could swear I was talking to one of the reps and said "at least they didn't change the VWH to rosewood, I'm not sure that would have been wise" [or something to that effect] Then the .com site points the spec as rosewood which is assumed [yea, ass out of y..] it's just wrong like it's been 100 times before [because there was no announcement and the show model was ebony, right?], except guitars actually start coming in and shazamm they're rosewood. Called Hosh to say WTF?? and of course that was the first the support guys heard of it :lol: They're going to put up "New Spec Change" beside rosewood on the company VWH page so there's no doubt if the spec is right or not [and in my opinion there should have been a MUCH more visible announcement somewhere on the VWH page that it was getting a fretboard change, because that is a big change]. ;)

Just to kick the bizarre up a notch the VWH page on my site had mistakenly said rosewood since NAMM of LAST year and nobody noticed it until last month [I had copied the VSBL page over and spazzed on getting it right, and nobody noticed for a year]. I changed it to ebony a month ago when a customer was ordering a VWH [one of THESE VWH's] pointed it out to me and I told him it was a mistake. I changed it back to rosewood tonight with an announcment. ;)
 
#15 ·
Have your dealer call the distributor, if it's not in stock it will be an 04'.

Hopefully everybody will stop and read bold.

Ebony, rosewood, maple, or whatever wood the fretboard is, none are BETTER than the other. They're just *different* from each other.

Ebony is more expensive but maple is cheap and many many prefer a maple board over any other. It's all ice cream, and the flavor this year is rosewood.
 
#19 ·
It is indeed a significant change! For the better?... Better profit margin for Hoshino! Ebony boards were one of the features of this unique guitar that made it stand out. And even well informed guys like Rich don't even know for sure before production of this change is not a very good business practice on Hoshino's part! Just like Rich's explaination on his site of the pennies saved per unit by not using locking studs, this change is all about manufacturing savings as well. Great job Hoshino! Keep it up and your 7VWH will be a pretty piece of firewood! :?



This flavor ice cream kinda leaves a bad after taste!
 
#20 ·
the reason for this is kinda debateable, i dont know how much more expensive ebony is to get than rosewood anyhow. ? ?

personaly im fine with this (i wont be buying a 7vsh anyhow lol) but i think the ebony that was used on most vwhs that ive seen is rather substandard when you compare it to alot of decent slices (just imho).

so i would say rosewood will be fine.
 
#24 ·
jelyfinger said:
It is indeed a significant change! For the better?... Better profit margin for Hoshino! Ebony boards were one of the features of this unique guitar that made it stand out. And even well informed guys like Rich don't even know for sure before production of this change is not a very good business practice on Hoshino's part! Just like Rich's explaination on his site of the pennies saved per unit by not using locking studs, this change is all about manufacturing savings as well. Great job Hoshino! Keep it up and your 7VWH will be a pretty piece of firewood! :?

This flavor ice cream kinda leaves a bad after taste!
They're not doing it to save money, they're doing it because it's what Steve Vai uses on his own guitars, and since he designs the JEM line, that's what's on the production guitars (it just took way too long for Ibanez to clue in and switch it). Rosewood is not a cheaper/worse wood than ebony.
 
#25 ·
There's never been anything substandard about the ebony they used.

Stevie would have had to approve the change, he's still in control of all bottom line decisions on all Jems.

People have complained for years the VWH isn't the same as what Steve plays. Now it is, end of story.

Now everybody will complain they downgraded from ebony to rosewood.

My only complaint is the way it WASN'T announced.
 
#26 ·
bpd111 said:
My two cents: the ebony fretboards on the VWH is one of the things that turned me off to that model. Someone here said Ibanez's ebony is a lower grade or quality. I would agree with that. The only ebony board I really liked was on a Jackson.
So, can I say that their rosewood perhaps a lower grade also? :wink: I don't know it is lower grade or not, but I like the feel of ebony. :D
 
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