Legacy One JEM Body review

[Major Tom]

There has been alot of talk recently about John coming on the scene and the quality of his work. Although I really was anxious to get a body I waited around to make sure that he wasn't a fly by night type vendor due to his previous past on this site. Well needless to say I finally decided to give him a chance based on his enthusiasm, confidence & understanding of the inability to get parts anywhere else.

Before I begin with my review let me say that I do give John props for actually getting into this and recognizing that there is a huge demand for Ibanez bodies and necks. He did deliver when everyone else wouldn't even talk to me. So here goes...

The CNC routes for the pick-ups & trem cavity are very, very nice as is the overall shape of the body. The monkey grip is also very well done. When I compared these features to my Jems (all preAANJ) and newer RG's (AANJ)they all seem to be spot on.

The neck pocket is also undersized which is great beacuse you want to have a nice tight fit at the neck joint.

Now the other stuff...

My first gripe is that there is a pretty substantial amount of filler on one spot that is also on an edge. This spot is about the size of two US 25 cent pieces.
There is also some slight waviness to the underside of the lower horn which will require filler to even out. Again nothing catastrophic but they appear to have been caused by denting, not pulling from the router bits.

My next one is that the volume and tone holes are just slightly out of place enough to be aggravating when using a clear guard. I will fix this myself as I plan to use one.

My biggest gripe is the input jack route. My blind next door neighbor could have done a better job while while taking a break inbetween crystal meth hits. It is out of alignment and the hole is wallerd (SP?) out bad. Either you have the shakes or the machine you put your forsner bit in has worn bearings causing some play. I have already plugged this and plan on redoing it myself this weekend.

The final thing is the two rear neck holes are to deep. No big deal. I can repair this no problem with wood plugs.

I have not checked the trem post routes yet, but I will advise when the inserts arive.

Other services

On the customer service I recieved, I'd have to give the communication very poor marks. I expect that John recieves tons of messages everyday from window shoppers, however, after I have paid, I expect answers to my questions, bottom line. I had to really get on him to answer them.

Shipping was advertised as free. I was charged $3.00. I could care less about the money, it just wasn't as advertised.

I just want to give everyone an honest review of the whole process.
Would I buy again? I'd have to see improvements in the aformentioned areas. It's like buying a Vette with a flat tire and a crooked pin stripe at this point, nothing that can't be fixed, I just don't feel like I should have to do anything for the price except sand it and seal it and send it to the paint shop, which I still have to do.

Again I do give John props for jumping in to this business and I am grateful to get a body. Just know that you will have to do some work yourself before your done.
MT

[Dee]

I am sorry, that sounds awful. Thanks for the review, I was considering buying some parts.

[fettouhi]

Thanks for the review.

Regards

André

[Distantshore]

Very well written review. Nice that you were so honest about the Positives as well as the negatives!

[Davey]

Originally Posted by Major Tom

My biggest gripe is the input jack route. My blind next door neighbor could have done a better job while while taking a break inbetween crystal meth hits.

Fair review though allround it seems.

[quik]

I thought it was pretty objective, too. Thanks.

[Ibateur]

Major,

JOhn's policy is to satisfy. You don't sound satisfied.

He needs to fix EVERYTHING that isn't right.

Cheers,

[lcsdds]

JJemmer777,
I thought you liked your IbanEd. Is it just the customer service you aren't thrilled with or is it the guitar itself?

[Batchimp RG]

Jim, can I just say thanks for coughing up the 1000 bones, that took balls.

Your reviews, Bob's and Tom's too, are really helping people make up their minds.

I was going to place an order for the IbanEd but then I heard that jjemmer was going to review his. No doubt you're happy with it jjemer, I'm sure it plays great, despite the mild headaches that came with it.

I feel like I'm taking a risk in dealing with John, he does not fill me with confidence at all, and for now I will look into doing one myself.

[GilkyBear]

First, I'll say that I think **for the price** it is still a good guitar (if it hasn't gone up?). Maybe Legacy is just getting overwhelmed a bit with 1000 pm's a day and still trying to juggle a normal job at the same time too. That's totally understandable. It must be hard to try try to give a full time performance when you don't have full time to devote to it. The finish imperfections and such are to be somewhat expected at the price he is selling them at I would think. My concern is that it appears that after he has your money you stop getting replies. Service after the sale is big in my book. But like I said, he is trying to give a full time performance on a part time clock.

[JJEMMER777]

Sorry...I posted a little harshly there!

Over all I am pretty happy with it. But not really happy with it. You shouldn't have to repair something you buy NEW should you??

Customer service speaks for itself

The guitar plays and sounds fine. (and that's the most important thing right??)

I have nothing more to say on the issue

[Demiurge]

I see stuff like this and I have concerns for the vendor's situation- it seems like there are many people who come up, offering awesome products and services, obviously have well-honed talents, but the inability to say "no" or to pace themselves in how they take orders. Once people establish a name for themselves, it's easy to become a victim of one's own successes when the volume of orders overwhelm them and prohibit them from doing their best work.

There should be no shame in creating a waiting list or something similar to give one ample time to follow through their current workload. Legacy's products look awesome and he deserves props for his pricing, but it will be no good to anybody if he burns himself out.

[jemsite]

when you guys buy "blank" bodies, you need to have accurate expectations for what you are buying and what it will be like when it is delivered. i haven't seen any of these "blank bodies" work first hand as even when ed wood did my GC Custom the body was shipped directly to herc.

i would expect ANY blank body (unless it's an exotic wood and you SPECIFY you're going to clear/oil/stain it) will require FILLER and PREFINISH work. even if you CNC and entire body it needs hand prep

if anyone comes in here and starts huffing and puffing and debating this with me i'm telling you in advance if it's out of line i'm going to give you a vactation from posting for a few weeks

now, that does not excuse sloppy, rushed work or other customer service issues which people might be concerned about... glen

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by jemsite

when you guys buy "blank" bodies, you need to have accurate expectations for what you are buying and what it will be like when it is delivered. i haven't seen any of these "blank bodies" work first hand as even when ed wood did my GC Custom the body was shipped directly to herc.

i would expect ANY blank body (unless it's an exotic wood and you SPECIFY you're going to clear/oil/stain it) will require FILLER and PREFINISH work. even if you CNC and entire body it needs hand prep

if anyone comes in here and starts huffing and puffing and debating this with me i'm telling you in advance if it's out of line i'm going to give you a vactation from posting for a few weeks

now, that does not excuse sloppy, rushed work or other customer service issues which people might be concerned about... glen

+1 on that !

a body which is expected to be painted will be subject to an awful lot of prep...
this prep will involve filling, sanding, filling, sanding, sealing, priming, sanding, priming, sanding, priming..... etc.

when you have a glass like finish (like 1000 hours later )
compare it to the best finish that CNC can offer... then compare the price... of the body blank and the prepped body - ready for paint.

although in that respect we are talking about paint prep etc, I think that the original thread mentioned purely good and bad workmanship... at a basic level - holes in the right place etc...

some of which can be remedied by the paint prep

[Eggy]

Originally Posted by jemsite

when you guys buy "blank" bodies, you need to have accurate expectations for what you are buying and what it will be like when it is delivered. i haven't seen any of these "blank bodies" work first hand as even when ed wood did my GC Custom the body was shipped directly to herc.

i would expect ANY blank body (unless it's an exotic wood and you SPECIFY you're going to clear/oil/stain it) will require FILLER and PREFINISH work. even if you CNC and entire body it needs hand prep

if anyone comes in here and starts huffing and puffing and debating this with me i'm telling you in advance if it's out of line i'm going to give you a vactation from posting for a few weeks

now, that does not excuse sloppy, rushed work or other customer service issues which people might be concerned about... glen

Anyone who's done a refinish on an Ibanez body in the past will tell you that when you get it stripped of paint that 9/10 have at least some filler on them if not a lot of filler. This includes made in Japan bodies that I've done. As Glen says the other parts are a different issue but understand that there is more than likely some filler in the body of your Jem you're holding.

Sad but true.

Ben