JS1000 body shape comparison please

[ashbass]

I'm looking into picking up a JS1000 but don't have any around locally to play first. I do have several 540R guitars however and wonder how the JS body compares.

The early 540Rs (88 through 90-ish) where more sleek than those produced in later 90 and on. Which era of body styling does the JS more closely match?

Also, does the JS prestige neck have a 12" radius fretboard or is it a standard Ibanez radius with just the trem shimmed to give J the 12" he likes?

[Rich]

The early R's are beefier, Joe thinned the contours down and opened the bottom cutaway a bit making them sleeker and slimmer overall. The R starting using the JS body in either 90' or 91'.

[horstausmforst]

Interesting. Didn't know they changed the R-bodies to JS-specs.

So that could be the reason I've never seen/felt any differences. Apart from one 'edge' on the back side of the lower cutaway that's a bit more curvy on the js.

So, is that one of the 'old' or 'new' bodies? Would there be drastic differences between a JS and, say, a '87 R, like different arm contours/ body thickness/whatever?

[JESTER700]

Originally Posted by horstausmforst

Interesting. Didn't know they changed the R-bodies to JS-specs.

So that could be the reason I've never seen/felt any differences. Apart from one 'edge' on the back side of the lower cutaway that's a bit more curvy on the js.

So, is that one of the 'old' or 'new' bodies? Would there be drastic differences between a JS and, say, a '87 R, like different arm contours/ body thickness/whatever?

The differences aren't huge, but they're there. In fact, I had the cutaway on my '87 deepened to match that of my '91 when I had it refinned.

[frankfalbo]

I definitely have some favorite Radius shapes, and they are all from around '88-'89. The first ones with three mini-toggles had stumpier horns/less cutaway. Then they deepened the cutaways and did a little more carving/shaping. Then they went more JS at the end, like Rich pointed out.

It doesn't mean that you won't find differences between a '92 Radius and a JS, though. There's so much hand sanding involved that all my Radii are different, even ones with close serial numbers. There's a definite character to all of them. Some have the CNC contours more pronounced, while others smoothed them over into the flat section much better. That's true on all guitars. On some old Roadstars you can feel where the roundover bit did it's cutting all around the top and back. On others it's blended because whoever sanded it did a better job. Sabers vary like that too, its just harder to see because they have a more uniform contour.

[Rich]

My 91' R is not JS, much beefier, shorter contours on the top edge and all edges are thicker, but it's a mile closer than my son's 89'

[ashbass]

Here are the body shapes that I have. The 87 has stumpier horns as Frank noted. The 88 and 90 appear the same. The 91 was thicker all over with its contours ending way before the contours on the other bodies. The JS I haven't received yet to comment on its feel.

[horstausmforst]

Ok, I checked again closely. The lower contours on my '89 (which has the same finish as your '87... drool) are somewhere between the ones of your '90 and '91. While the one of my '93 seems to be exactly like the one on your '90.

Also, when looking down from the headstock, the lower horn on my 89 seems to be the 'roundest', while the js has a pretty tri-angular horn, and the '93 is somewhere inbetween. I'll check again tomorrow in daylight.

Seems like it's indeed hit-and-miss due to the final hand sanding stages, as frank pointed out. Damn, this just wants me to go out and buy all of them to get the full experience, lol.

BTW, my JS is one of the '92-'93 HSH models, so it could again be different to 'normal' models.

But, feeling is similar on all of them (not considering different necks and string gauges here).. But, yeah, none of them is as 'extreme' as your '91.

Edit: Hey ashbass, do you have bigger pictures of those guitars floating around?? Those pics are like.. porn, lol.

[ashbass]

horstausmforst,
Email me and I'll send you a zip of them

[JESTER700]

The only "rules" I came up with based on the 8 or 9 radii I've had is that
a) The 87 had shallower cutaways, a shallower Edge rout, and thicker horns. I figured they changed the shape in 88 and the other differences were individual.
b) The bursts were generally more squared than the solids. I assumed this made the bursts come out better.

But you guys have a better data set to work with...