Ibanez Custom Shop - Ever Again?

[kirk]

This topic has been discussed several hundred times before, but it has never been brought up in the new forum.

Wouldn't it be nice if the "Custom Shop" was opened again? *A catalog similar to that which was popular in the early nineties would be very nice.

[ryan]

I'm not sure how it worked before, (and I'm sure it wasn't like this...) but I think it would be fantastic if you could fill out a form or something, as many other guitar brands allow you to do, and get EXACTLY what you wanted.

I, for one, would be willing to pay the extra cost for such a service, and would be more than willing to wait a several months (or longer) for delivery.

If it's at all possible, I would love to be able to select any, all, or none (in the case of inlay, headstock reverse, lion's claw...) from a list of the following options:

neck shape
headstock reverse
inlay (maybe even offer an "IBANEZ" 12th fret inlay...)
fretwire
pickups
knob & switch configuration
jack position and type
strap locks
binding
finish
body wood
figured top
pickguard
lion's claw
monkey grip
specify 6 or 7 string guitar
double-ege trem
lo-pro edge trem
fixed bridge
extra charge to match headstock finish to body


Of course, all that's based on the standard RG/JEM body shape, but that doesn't have to be written in stone...

(Edited by ryan at 3:31 pm on Jan. 12, 2001)


(Edited by ryan at 3:40 pm on Jan. 12, 2001)

[jemsite]

I, for one, would be willing to pay the extra cost for such a service, and would be more than willing to wait a few months for delivery.

* FYI guitars such as the American Masters had a one year backorder in 1990.

It would be nice, but very unrealistic in my opinion.

Barring problems, there will be a nice feature on the "USA Custom Shop" added to jemsite this weekend. Check the homepage later on... glen

[ryan]

I edited my post...

I'm willing to wait if they're willing to build what I want.

[kirk]

See I don't want to get greedy and have a "Custom Custom." *The USA Customs had a limited number of options, but just enough options that would build a perfect guitar for me.

It's nice to see that now, ten years later, there are a few USA Customs for sale that come close to what it is I am looking for. *But - it would be nicer if I could have one mde for me instead of buying second hand.

[jemsite]

I'd be personally willing to wait 12-18 months no questions asked... glen

[jay ratkowski]

FYI - Guitar Center on Halsted in Chicago STILL thinks that *I* could order a custom guitar through Ibanez. *Sheez.

Anyways, having something at least similar to Warmoth would be nice. *Where they allow you to select from all available Ibanez bodies, parts, necks, etc. *Having people send in exact neck specs would take forever... but if they just stocked more of their standard "parts" and assembled them per order. *Some necks would probably have to be cut different to work with different bodies/neck joints... but it'd be a fun time.

[Vaibanez]

Here's the real question...

What would we be willing to pay for such a wide variety of options?

$2000?
$4000?
$10,000?

J>

[Rich]

Heard a story from an Asian source where they got a price from the J Custom shop for a client that wanted an RG with a Dragon inlay down the fretboard. The quote was $7000. I *don't* think he had it built.

[littlegreenman]

Still not bad when you consider what you pay for a PRS Dragon series. *There is a PRS Dragon 2000 on e-bay right now, last I checked there were 21 bids, high bid at $10099 and reserve still hadn't been met.
All that and personally I don't even like the PRS guitars!
Jeremy
hey that should give me my 3rd dot, yippie!!!!

[mecca777]

I'm torn on this. On the one hand, like everybody else, I'd love to see Ibanez open up a Jackson- or ESP-style custom shop where you can just call them up and list what you want ("Powder Cosmo Lo-Pro, JPM electronics, through-neck, ebony fretboard, Hello Kitty inlays" ), but that seems about as likely as a 2001 mecca777 signature model. This is, after all, Ibanez we're talking about.

At the same time, I'm not sure that I'd use that service, because I would mainly be paying to have "Ibanez" on the notched-pointy headstock. Personally speaking, if I was thinking of spending several thousand pounds on a new guitar, built exactly the way I wanted it, I think that I'd probably just call up a UK custom builder, and spend 100% of the money on the guitar, instead of shipping, import duty, VAT, Ibanez logo and the rest.

Still, I'd love to see a return to the limited-option days of the early 90s, with some high-quality J-Custom or Prestige models that could be lightly customised from a range of different options, priced in the same range as the current high-end Ibanez instruments.

[Christopher Chen]

I heard from another *Asian* source that you can't have trademark features..ie, lion's claw, monkey grip...yadayadayada...I heard from that certain *asian* source that these are all trademarks of the respective endorsees of the guitars. Tough luck...well there's always CGW

[Vaibanez]

Quote: from Christopher Chen on 10:49 am on Jan. 13, 2001
...well there's always CGW

Who

J>

[Christopher Chen]

Sorry about that Custom Guitar Wares

[megawzrd]

I think Ibanez should do something just like carvin for a custom shop. It would give players more options and keep the turn around time and costs down in effect. It shouldn't be a full scale custom shop, it would just collapse in about 5 years or so.