Rip Off Carvin's Custom Shop deal

dwswift · #1 10-28-2001, 05:36 PM

This doesn't seem to me like it would be too huge of an economical stretch. *I'm not in the guitar business but...

Why can't you have an online site that has a (fake) custom shop where you can choose your options but not have a complete custom guitar built for you. *It would be more of an assembly line than anything.

body types (RG, S, AX, hollow body, each with an option for 7 strings and Piezos). *

Trem selection (Lo-Pro, Edge, Fixed, Wilkenson!)

Pick-up configuration (with an upgrade option for your choice of DiMarzios)

Neck Type (Wizard, Wizard II, Jem, Prestige, Maple, Ebony, or Rosewood boards)

Inlay option (dots, off set dots, *no inlays, pyramids, vines)

Finishes (10-15 colors, options for quilts and flame tops. Dare I say swirls or a few select graphics?)

It sounds like a dream world to most of us here, but Carvin already does this exact thing. *Ibanez would sell TONS of guitars this way without a doubt. *What in the world prevents it other than some organization?

jem7vwh · #2 10-28-2001, 05:59 PM

a few problems with this.

1. *The idea of letting people choose their neck profile is likely not to pass like that. *The reason being: if you can buy a JEM neck and an RG body, what's the incentive for buying a JEM? *So you'd have better luck if you just offered a few Custom Shop Necks
- Wide Fat - ie.. Wizard/ JEM
- Wide Narrow - ie. *JPM, Ultra
- Thin Fat - ie.. JS
- Thin Narrow - Fender

as go the neck profiles, so go the inlays. *it's not a bright idea to offer special options like Pyramids. * They'd be better off offering something really "custom"

- stars
- flames
- skulls
- roses
- eyes

also, just the general lack of demand for it is an issue.

yurich · #3 10-28-2001, 11:50 PM

ibanez is a HUGE company, I don't think they'd have problems with demand. Besides, the last time i checked the "what should ibanez do next?" poll, the custom shop idea was leading with over 50%. IMO, if anything, this would only do Ibanez good (they don't stand best in customer service)

Carvin's custom shop kicks a$$, and although i'm sure they don't have even half as much demand as Ibanez, they still do keep it up.

I think they should leave the signature models and stuff they come with (ie. monkey grip, inlays, etc.) out of the custom shop and have the non-signature lines come with options. It just wouldn't make sense, from Ibanez' point of view, for someone to buy an RG with JEM goodies on it for cheaper than an actual JEM.

jem7vwh · #4 10-29-2001, 12:37 AM

The fact that a poll conducted on a website FOR Ibanez enthusiasts cannot be in anyway construed as a good sampling of real public demand for such a product. *There are a few thousand folks here who are very big fans and repeat customers. *They do not represent the majority of guitar buyers. *Believe me, if it was a profitable idea, Ibanez wouldn't have closed the old custom shop.

dwswift · #5 10-29-2001, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Quote: from jem7vwh on 11:37 pm on Oct. 28, 2001
They do not represent the majority of guitar buyers. *Believe me, if it was a profitable idea, Ibanez wouldn't have closed the old custom shop.

It is a totally different world than it was in the early nineties. *Grunge is gone. *With the advent of the web, customers almost demand to be able to order exactly what they want, and it causes a lot of frustration when they can't. *That is why there are a few home businesses that exist soley to make your Ibanez what you wish it was.

Believe me, there are TONS of hardcord Ibanez players that don't have a clue about this website. *Besides that, the custom shop would draw in new customers, without a doubt.

As for not putting "signature" traits on other guitars, well Ibanez does it themselves. *They already make RGs with Vines. *I don't see why Pyramids would be any different. *The extra inlay charge would probably bring the price up to the cost of a Jem anyway. *I mean that is why the jem is more expensive than the standard RG right? *Because it has all the little cosmetic nuances that make it so. *Or are we admitting that it's just the Steve Vai name we're paying for? *If it's the name people pay for with signature models then the custom shop certainly wouldn't detract from the Signature line's sales. *Carvin manges to do both. *They sell custom shop models and Holdsworth guitars... amazing isn't it?

Further more, when was the last time you heard about anyone getting a mid-range (5xx) Ibanez and not doing some sort of customization? *No matter the size, be it a pick-up swap or a complete refinish, Ibanez could make a buck off of it.

I know it won't happen, but I don't see a good reason that it won't.

darren wilson · #6 10-29-2001, 10:13 AM

We've had this discussion here at least once before.

Ibanez would have a hard time grafting a build-to-order custom shop onto their existing business model. They could do it, but it'd be quite a stretch, and they'd risk alienating their distributors and dealers in the process. The only way they could justify it would be to charge a significant premium over what a stock model costs. (Like Schecter or ESP.)

Carvin was built from the beginning for direct sales, originally via mail order, and now via the Web. The kind of integration that's required between ordering, billing, manufacturing and delivery in an operation like Carvin's is truly impressive... but their company is centralized in one facility, which makes it a lot more realistic. Consider the fact that Carvin guitars sell way below list price, and they're still around after many, many years. They have a really unique business model that the company was built on, and it's working for them.

I agree with dwswift that the Web has definitely changed customer expectations for being able to order exactly what we want and have it delivered directly to our homes. It would be really nice to have an Ibanez BTO Custom Shop available via the Web, but i honestly don't see it happening. Ibanez can barely get their product catalog online (six months into the year, no less.)

BTW... don't forget that vines are not exclusively a JEM feature. They were on various Ibanez Artist guitars back in the mid-70s. Check out this beauty. In fact, Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead had a singature Artist model that had the same "vine of life" inlay as was adopted by Vai for the JEM.