www.ibanez.com - how it could be better

[darren wilson]

Did anybody notice that in the last couple of weeks, Ibanez has updated their site? Yes! It's true! After you skip the Flash intro, the main index page now has "Ibanez 2001" as its title, and the top graphic on the page now says "Ibanez 2001".

Wow. I can't believe how much of a difference it made!

</smartass>

In all seriousness, Hoshino, you really need to understand how important a good web site is.

It's about more than just putting up an online brochure. (Spare me the Flash, please.) It's about serving your customers (new ones, old ones and potential ones) and being the single most authoritative source of information about your own products.

It also gives tremendous opportunities to get direct feedback from the people who buy and play your instruments, and can build a community of interest around your company and your products.

Look at the tremendous community that's built up around Jemsite.com... There's a great deal of information here and a lot of passion about those guitars, and a lot of very, very knowledgeable people willing to share their wisdom. Imagine the same community built around the entire product line!

The Ibanez.com site really needs to have the best, most timely information about all of Ibanez's products. There's no reason why the whole 2001 product lineup should not have been up on the Web the day the catalogs were released at NAMM. There isn't so much as a press release on your site. Why should we have to get our information through our dealers (who are often wrong or mis-informed) or Harmony Central (who are almost always wrong or mis-informed)?

Fender, Ernie Ball/Music Man, Yamaha and others all had fresh information on new products the very day they were announced. By not maintaining a strong public Web presence, Ibanez makes itself look like a second-rate operation.

Snap out of it, Hoshino! This is 2001!

[kirk]

I like Jackson's site (although the page backgounrd is very cheesy.)

No wiring diagrams on Jackson, but - they have a great idea there - monthly giveaways, nice clear pictures of instruments in all color options, even some history (however biased towards Rhoads) and info on dating or identifying your guitar, and email to the service/sales/tech depts.

I agree though, less flash and more info. *Ibanez needs more customer support through the website too.

[pandaboy]

Funny, this is all stuff I was telling them from the first day they put up a website. *But they wouldn't listen to me, oh no.

No sour grapes or anything; I just wish they'd have listened.

[lwi]

The '99 used to be damn good, no gimmicks, no eye candy (except guitars), FULL SPEC SHEETS with everything most companies usualy don't publish. *Thank god it's still accessible... but for how long??

Yes, the jackson site rules... ugly container, but killer content!

[megawzrd]

Yeah, the 2000 site took forever to come up and it bit the dust hard. Too much media bull. Ibanez needs to understand that a musician doesn't care about all that computer pizzaz. Besides all the people on dial ups probably can view the 2000 site becuase they dont want to wait 10minutes for a section to load. The 99 site was great. Maybe just change the color scheme and update the production details and it would have been great.

[Noodles]

They should just go back to the '99 site and update it. 2 years later and I still use that site more than their current site.

[jemsite]

Good stuff here. Just think, most companies PAY a focus group for information like this.

It's amazing they have a 575kb file that must load just to view the homepage. Very disappointing stuff and frustrating to 'customers' or potential ones... glen

[jay ratkowski]

All of the flash stuff is great if I want to go to GAP.com and view the latest version of hot pants...

but...

Even on a cable modem, I have to go through about 3 different flash menus (big load time) just to find out that an RG5xx has jumbo fret wire.

I think information is the key... the specs on Ibanez.com are laughable. *Was it the '99 or the '98 site that had the big table with about 20 different specs on each guitar? *That was a great thing, and I think it'd be a wise move to go back to that.

[mecca777]

I agree that the main problem is the heavy Flash. I can't think, off-hand, of any other guitar or music site that takes longer to navigate. Does it improve the site? Hardly.

Since I'm on a dial-up connection, I don't relish the idea of sitting around for ten minutes reading a three-question "interview" with the guitarist from Static X just to look at some tiny pictures and minimal specs (pickups, trem, colour). The Ibanez Japan site is far superior for ease of use.

[jem7vwh]

If they're going to do all this stuff in flash and make my poor 28.8k modem cry, they should at least have a text only, or html only option.

Additionally, I think it would be a killer idea to have a sound byte of each guitar played. *Put them all through a Fender Twin clean, and a Mesa Dual Rectifier distorted and let us hear each one. *The stores around me never stock a George Benson model, but if I fell in love with they way they sound, I might convince GC to order one

[Scott 74]

I don't know if I missed it but a downloadable price list on guitars and accessories would be a good idea also.

[jem7vwh]

As far as I know, they don't issue price lists. If you're curious about list price, you can check any guitar buyers guide. *Like most companies, Ibanez does not release their actual dealer price list, but if you're wondering what's a good deal ask one of us forum lurkers. *Rich and Glen can be especially helpful in this area. *

[Scott 74]

The only reason I suggested it is because Fender does that on there website. It lists only retail price but it helps you get a general idea of about how much you probably will pay through a dealer.