Spotted! RG-PAINT3 and 4 in Hong Kong!

[David Ho]

As usual, I make a quick trip to the local music store whenever I travel to Asia... Wow, blow me down - just spotted a pair of RG-PAINT!
I'll attempt to take a picture later (when the store guy is not looking) but here's the description:

RG-PAINT3 - Nice satin finish over "oil on canvas" abstract painting. Colours include green, brown and light yellow. Unlike the other bright colour RG-PAINTs, this one has more natural tone in appearance. Reminds me a painting of a forest in autumn.

RG-PAINT4 - Similar finish - colours are reddish brown, orange and yellow. Imagine the colours of dusk or a red hot volcano.

The basic pattern of the "painting" is the same, but I imagine everyone of them is hand painted. There is no lacquer overcoat, but instead they have a matt or satin-like overall finish (kind of like the JPM P4) - Very unique indeed.

Sorry for the sad attempt to describe but at least I tried.

Hands-on test drive: Plugged into a JCM2000 these babies sounded a bit rough-edged in OD. I like them clean because Marshall amps just doesn't click with the Dimarzios on these J-customs in the store. No idea on the wood or exact models of the Dimarzios. Both guitars have dual humbucker (maximize the paint area I suppose) with 5 switch toggle. Matt gold hardware, Lo-pro. 5 Piece neck with bubinga stripe, rosewood fingerboard, double dot abalone at 12th. Painted spring / jack covers on the back, AANJ of course.

Both of these have numbers & artist signature on the back. It says 9/27 on the PAINT3 and 21/24 on the PAINT4. So I guess they only made 27 and 24 respectively. Both serial numbers starts with F99.

Here comes the best part - HKD 9200 including Hard case - that's about US$1250 at the current rate. The store guy told me these came in 2 weeks ago. If you are in the area, grab them quick!

Boy, why do I feel G.A.S. in my stomach?!?

Dang, hard choice to pick between these two PAINTs! Why not get them both? - NOT! Go away you devil... I just got rid of all my JEMs last month... sucker ... ARRRRGH!

[Kevan]

You...you...you....you know what you are. Yngwie would call you a TEASER! :-)

I think I *need* some pics. Heh heh....My Jemfest email isn't back up yet; send them to:
kevan5150@aol.com
....or hit me up on IM and we'll do a transfer. I'll be on most of the weekend.

You rock David!!!

[cerealk]

Can I get some pics too? Please

[David Ho]

Pics sent to Kevan! I'm sure he'll put'em up or share with anyone who wants them. When I get home next week I put them on my web space and post a link.

Unfortunately, all I have with me is a Videocam, so these stills did not turn out that great. The colors are dull compare to the real thing.

[jemsite]

pics please ...glen

[David Ho]

Glen, I uploaded 2 pictures but I can't find them when I view the index. I guess the pics had to be reviewed first.
They are named paint1.jpg and paint2.jpg

[Kevan]

I haven't uploaded the pics yet, but I will soon (I'm on dialup here for the next week). If anyone would like them, feel free to email me and I'll send them on down:
kevan5150@aol.com
NOTE: That email is totally temporary.

When I get broadband back and re-configure my FTP for the new server, I'll toss them up online.

[jemsite]

Originally Posted by David Ho

Glen, I uploaded 2 pictures but I can't find them when I view the index. I guess the pics had to be reviewed first.
They are named paint1.jpg and paint2.jpg

the files are there... no reviewing needed
http://www.jemsiteforum.com/sharefil...ges/paint1.jpg
http://www.jemsiteforum.com/sharefil...ges/paint2.jpg
...glen

[kennydoe]

are the store owners really so nuts that they won't let you get decent pics? what's the motivation behind that?

~K

[David Ho]

There's a "no food, no drink, no pictures" sign at the store. I can understand the food and drink part but why not pictures. I used to know someone in the store but he no longer works there. Wish he was because I would have no problem taking better pictures.

This is the largest musical instrument dealer in Hong Kong. They pretty much dominated the market now (not just guitars but everything else from classical to pro audio stuff). Many years ago there was another store that carried Ibanez, and I have seen an RG-ART there and heard RG-ARCH and RG-GEAR were found there as well. When the JEMs came out they carried almost every model, including PMCs and UV7MC. That store lost their distributor rights and only sells pianos and violins now.

I am not suprized to find J-customs in HK because that's where I found my RG-GOLD. They don't exactly "carry" J-customs because like Glenn said, J-customs are really for the Japanese market. Ibanez ships an unknown amount of J-customs to Asia and Europe with out any notice. The number, model and when to "release" these limited guitars are entirely at Ibanez's discretion. You can ask the dealer to request a J-custom but good luck if the store bother to put in the request for you. It's hard enough to order anything from the normal product line, so you can forget about those limited runs J-customs. Most salesperson there don't even know they are J-customs unless it says so on the headstock. So these guitars quietly come in; could sit on the shelf for a year before anyone noticing, or they can be gone within days. Therefore the only thing for us "J-custom hunters" to do is to constantly check with the store. I do that whenever I go to HK, Singapore and Bangkok. It's different in Tokyo because stores advertise which and how many J-customs they have.

Besides the pairt of PAINT I also spotted the JC-S (Japanese fabric on S body, I forgot the exact model#) in a locked glass case.

[kennydoe]

Originally Posted by David Ho

There's a written sign says no food, no drink, no pictures in the store. I can understand the food and drink part but why not pictures. I used to know someone in the store but he no longer works there. Wish he was because I would have no problem taking better pictures.

There are signs all over the highway that say "SPEED LIMIT 55"
Does everybody obey them? No. Does everyone get in trouble when they disobey? No.

I'm sure the guy who works there making $7 an hour doesn't give a rat's ass if you take a pic of the guitars...anyway, What's the worst they can do? make you delete the pics off your camera? They're not going to arrest you....and if you're a regular customer who spends money there from time to time, it's unlikely that they'd even throw you out (not permanently, anyway )

Maybe go in at a busy time where nobody who works there can really pay attention to you or what you're doing.

If you do get caught and they give you a hard time, tell them you have a friend who is a serious colector and is interested in buying the guitar, but lives 100 miles away and wants to see the guitars before he drives all that way to buy them. Make sure you ask for the business card of the salesman so you can make sure he gets sale when your "friend" buys the guitar.

~K

[vaijem777]

Must be MAE Guitars. They e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago asking if I wanted the PAINTs. Normally, I may be interested, but...been buying a few too many "toys" lately I did get my ARCH & GEAR from them...they were easy to deal with and seemed to be very accomodating (even if their prices might be a bit high)

[Rich]

MAE are not authorized dealers. Has to be Tom Lee is the HK distributor, and as I understand it will not ship overseas.

[Mikael Jurman]

So THAT'S an RG paint. We've got one of those in Malmö at Musikbörsen. I never thought much of it. To me it's just an ugly Ibanez...



Mikael

[vaijem777]

Well...the e-mail that I got from MAE simply said that they now have access to both an NOS RG-PAINT3 & PAINT4. Perhaps they're saying that they can get them from the distributor?