Anyone seen this in the Japanese site? - Now this is my kind

keith · #1 09-21-2001, 01:14 PM

CLICK HERE NOW

Saw this last night and would've fallen in love were it not for the middle pickup and slider switch. Leave it with two humbuckers, replace the slider with a 3-way toggle and do a push-pull pot for the coil taps, and you've got a winner [for me at least].

WAY WAY better than the RG2020 in my opinion :biggrin:.

keith · #2 09-21-2001, 01:27 PM

Moderators, could you please move this to Other 6 strings?

I'm sorry but i always confuse these two.

Kevan · #3 09-21-2001, 01:41 PM

7 Dying Trees · #4 09-21-2001, 01:45 PM

That does look very good, and good pickups too...

Very tasty...and yes, definetly better than the 2020!

one less than none · #5 09-21-2001, 02:15 PM

im not to struck on it myself, mind you not being an actual photo it is hard to tell how it will look 'in the flesh' (well in the wood)

Jimi D · #6 09-21-2001, 08:32 PM

If it has ONE stereo jack with the option of running it mono and blending in the Edge piezo, then I prefer it to the other Ibanez piezo equipped models I've seen to date.

BillEarl · #7 09-22-2001, 01:06 PM

I've been trying to find one of those for a couple of weeks now. Ishibashi's web site ( http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/webshop/w...r/ibanez-2.htm ) *used to list those, but I didn't place an order at the time, and now they only show the RG2027X, RG2020X, and S2020X models. Those are all great guitars, but I like the middle pickup.

Maybe they're just out of stock. I've sent an e-mail asking if they can still get them, but haven't heard back yet.

Bill

keith · #8 09-23-2001, 05:10 PM

Hmm...they're rather short of models there.

They dont even have the 'normal' rg's like the rg3120 and the rg520/550. Please e-mail me with their response :biggrin: . I'm interested in purchasing one.

Karmann · #9 09-23-2001, 05:41 PM

The normal guitars you refer aren't available in the orient, they actually have tons of other and newer RGs, PGMs, JEMs....

gkelm · #10 09-23-2001, 06:17 PM

Bill-
Let us know what you find out.

Greg

BillEarl · #11 09-23-2001, 08:50 PM

The link that I posted just goes to one of many pages on their site, but because of their silly navigation scheme you can't get off that page to the rest of the site. *This link goes to the "main" English version of their site. Click the Ibanez banner to get to the Ibanez section.

http://www.ishibashi-music.com/index.html

They have lots of the standard stuff.

Still no reply yet, but I just sent my e-mail on Friday night. Not every web-based company can be as dedicated as Rich. *

Bill

BillEarl · #12 10-01-2001, 02:36 PM

Well it turns out that Ishibashi does have the RG1680X in stock. *It's not listed on their web site, but they carry them, and almost always have some on hand.

The price of course varies from day to day, depending on the exchange rate, and sometimes that can vary a LOT (that's TWO WORDS worth of variance folks!

), but an average might be around $1,700 - $1,800 US, including hard case, shipping, and insurance. *Not too bad, considering all it has to go through to get here. Customs charges could add substantially more to the price, but I don't know what those could range. *Shipping time averages one week to the US.

Their international rep, Noriko, seems to be very helpful. I've swapped several e-mails with him over the past week.

So, that's my update! *I haven't decided yet if I'll get one or not.

Bill

keith · #13 10-18-2001, 04:55 PM

...and on the next episode of "Jemsite - The New Years" we will know BillEarl's decision, how it was taken, and what happened. *KEEP ON WATCHING and we're counting on you bill :biggrin:

BillEarl · #14 10-18-2001, 06:41 PM

Whoops, I forgot to post an update here. *

I mentioned a little about this in a different thread about the Japanese Ibanez guitars.

I did decide to order the RG1680X from Ishibashi Music, and it's fantastic. *The shipping took seven days from Japan to Arizona, and they packed it great, with bubble wrap all over the place, including layers and layers of bubble wrap around the outside of the shipping carton.

It's a beautiful looking instrument, and has the best maple top I've seen. The grain is very well matched from top to bottom.

It's also a beautiful sounding instrument, after a little adjustment. The pickups were initially set as high as they could be, but putting them down to a reasonable level evened out the tone.

The acoustic sound from the double edge bridge is reasonable. It's not perfect, but it's a great compromise, and I'd feel comfortable using it live.

The setup was adequate, but not great. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the intonation was just about perfect, which seems rare with Ibanez guitars right off the rack. The action was a bit higher than I like it, but not too bad. I was able to lower it down to where I prefer it with no buzzes at all. I don't use super low action, but I do sometimes have to do some adjusting to get it to work. Not this time.

I'll post some pictures soon, I promise, but it will probably have to be this weekend. Between work, baseball playoffs, and Arizona Fall League baseball, my spare time is used up.

My only complaint, and this is a minor one, is that it is a tad neck-heavy. When playing while standing up, when you let go of the neck the headstock wants to dip down, rather than staying balanced in a comfortable playing position. It's only a minor problem, and I'm getting used to it.

Bill

YJM · #15 10-19-2001, 01:13 AM

Congrats on getting the RG1680X, Bill! It's heaps better than the RG2020X! Can't wait to see pics.

I'm at the moment having a tough time deciding between an RG1680 (w/o the double edge) and an RG1280.

Can you tell me more about the RG1680X's tone and playability? And how does that thick neck play?

I guess I just need someone to tell me the thick neck isn't really so bad!

-Bill-