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IBANEZ 2013 (who has the inside scoop)

174K views 990 replies 118 participants last post by  MatiasTolkki 
#1 ·
IBANEZ 2013 (who has the inside scoop)! What will be new,,what to be expected for us ibanez fans who just cant wait. :p anyone know post here :D
 
#624 ·
Talk about djent and Animals as Leaders, that type of sound, even in six strings, will be featured a lot in quite a few guitar companies including Ibanez if they are smart. It's no small trend though many under 30 may be totally alienated from it mistakenly shoving into a guitar shredder realm not known in the general music buying public.

The Facebook Ibanez UK site seems to have quite a few 2013 things as the UK seems to be ahead of the curve and stuff is in stores now.
 
#625 ·
Talk about djent and Animals as Leaders, that type of sound, even in six strings, will be featured a lot in quite a few guitar companies including Ibanez if they are smart. It's no small trend though many under 30 may be totally alienated from it mistakenly shoving into a guitar shredder realm not known in the general music buying public.
I have zero interest in djent and don't really care for it, but my assumption was that it's almost purely music for people under 30? I've always assumed slightly older guys like me would be more into more classic metal and shred and would be alienated by djent.

It will take me my whole life and probably more to even approach the level of playing of someone like a George Lynch, so I have no need to branch out into new music ;)
 
#631 ·
That kid really simplifies it and makes it clear. It's such a great tutorial.

Just watching something by Animals as Leaders, far more complex and the style taken to even a new category, makes it just too hard to put a finger on the whole thing. I think if you wanted to scoop mids, that too would be fine. Animals sometimes use clean settings, and as unforgiving as that is, makes it a ton of fun to try and tackle.

Check this out:

 
#642 ·
Ibanez better crank out those 8s more this year but I do like the low cost, entry level electric eight string. That song is just gorgeous, thanks for the suggestion. The beginning of the song reminds me some of Peppino D'Agostino, acoustic shredder!

http://peppinodagostino.com/

Anyway, Animals as Leaders really have a very melodic and not so percussive (djent) vibe on that song. I can't think of a more exciting time in the last two decades for rock and roll based guitar.
 
#648 ·
Just a quick question, and maybe Im over thinking it. Could people adding "mids" back in vs. scooping these days have to do with these guitars being played in such low registers that boosting the mids kind of just brings it back up to normal guitar tone? Not sure If Im getting what Im thinking across....lol.
 
#663 ·
It's too bad that it is so expensive, because it'd be nice to be able to just go to the store and be able to try the thing out, as opposed to having to special order it in and hope you dig it.

That being said, if I hit the lottery or luck out and find my way into a much higher-paying job, it's the 8 string I'd want, for sure.
 
#667 ·
Exactly how I feel. I wish stores would attempt to keep one of as many high-end models as they can, maintain them, and use them as their trial/display. Even if they don't keep extras in stock, you can order with confidence. It sucks driving an hour+ to a store to try a specific guitar, only to find it has rusty strings all touching the frets and no trem arm. I can understand stores not wanting to allow every Tom, Dick and Harry mess around with their expensive instruments, but I also don't like gambling crazy amounts of money on something I might have to return. I guarantee you I'd be buying more guitars if I didn't have to wonder how they sound and feel.
This is a nice to have but ultimatly impracticle for a business owner. Some of these higher end or Sig models appeal to a very small percent of people. And an even smaller percent who can afford them or choose to pay for them over all the other alternatives.

GC does a great job at keeping a lot of high end EBMM (Mainly JP's) in stock and the 3 near me all have a few J customs. In 4 months only one of the J Customs have moved. Im there every week. I bought my JPXI7 and my 5153 from them and they just dont move like some of the others.

At the end of the day it would be nice but the reality is the business takes a risk of having them on the floor for over a year and then have to be reduced as a floor model, scratch and dent, end of year clearance. There is much more risk on these models than gain.....IMO
 
#666 ·
Most stores would never inventory these guitars. Most Ibanez dealers wouldn't even have a Prestige in stock. My local has never had anything better than an S470 on the wall. Ther business is in student level for their students taking lessons there. That is the predominance of stores in the US.
 
#673 · (Edited)
Where I live, every single store has massive Fender Stratocaster displays, and super high-end PRS **** that they won't even let people touch. I'm an exception since I've given them a good $30,000 in business over the past 5-10 years, but even with how well they know me & how often I buy really nice gear, they still hesitate on ordering in the really pricey stuff. It's the reason I never got a UV777PBK, and why I more than likely will never so much as see the Tosin model in person unless of course I see it in concert.

I'm curious what the actual in-store cost on the Tosin sig will be, because it would draw huge amounts of attention over the poorly setup, completely not maintained RGA8 that has been sitting there on the shelf for well over half a year now.
 
#674 ·
I think this is also a concern for PRS, every bit a business as Ibanez.

PRS has a lot of great budget and moderately priced offerings but stores seem to like to carry only the Custom 24 and stuff like that in three grand range and it cheats the company out of sales they could make in under $1000 dollar range, and under $2,000 dollar range.

I wish more stores carried the higher end Ibanez guitars like the JS1000s, Prestiges, and Jems but outside of bigger places like Guitar Center, I just don't see it that much. Another company that gets stuck in one range from smaller stores, but on the high end, is Parker Fly. I rarely see their great moderately priced stuff but only the ultra light, expensive ones too many only associate with the company.
 
#676 ·
PRS has a lot of great budget and moderately priced offerings but stores seem to like to carry only the Custom 24 and stuff like that in three grand range and it cheats the company out of sales they could make in under $1000 dollar range, and under $2,000 dollar range.
Until recently I didn't even know PRS had any sub-$1,000 guitars. Everything I'd seen at the big chains was the expensive stuff.
 
#678 · (Edited)
Until recently I didn't even know PRS had any sub-$1,000 guitars. Everything I'd seen at the big chains was the expensive stuff.
Street price, or at least in small store near me, have Korean made PRS SE models of 24 and Singlecuts for $600 to $700, SE models going up past $1000, PRS USA stuff with solid finishes and bolt-on maple necks starting at $1500, and premium flamed, set neck stuff which is what most people think of strat-like, vintage non-locking trem, 24 fret PRS starting at over $2500 all the way to double that for custom shop.
 
#675 ·
I was very surprised to go into the Guitar Center in Natick, MA back around Christmas and see an EVO, a J.Custom 6 and a 7 hanging behind the main counter. One the regular racks (albeit hanging from the top row) was a 7VWH.

The Guitar Center near me in Rockville, MD usually has a 7VWH or two and last time I was in there, had the whole Prestige RG line prominently out where you could just grab them and play them, as well as all the anniversary models.
 
#677 ·
With the widespread showrooming that goes on these days I surprised sometimes if I even see higher end inventory at a store. I guess it also depends where your store is located. I'm betting a GC, say, near the DC area, with all the lawyers and lobbyists and such nearby, might be more likely to have higher end stuff than my local GC. That said I usually see a Jem7VWH in stores down here, maybe onePrestige (usually on blow out these days) maybe one or two Premiums and a lot of lower end Indo stuff.
 
#679 ·
I haven't looked in my GC in a couple years but Sam Ash is in the same complex and between the two you could definitely find a JEM and some Prestige, but I won't find one at any of the independents anywhere in my area. The internet has completely changed the way most guitars are now sold. Independents can't get you one to try out becuase that means they just bought an expensive unit that they can't return, and they can't sell either, you're the only one that wanted one.

GC loaded up on JC's and EVO's for their highest grossing stores last year, especially JC's. If I had known they were going to but that many or I might not have ordered quite so many. They're a little tougher to sell when the empire sprinkles a couple hundred of them around the US.
 
#680 ·
And what absolutly kills Ibanez are examples like the JC at the GC near me. Half a pick sized ding down to the wood on the face near the switch and volume. Its been that way for over a month. If GC cared they would at the least send it to someone to touch up but they dont and it only kills perceptions of Ibanez from someone who doesnt know better.

Every guitar I pick up over there, like someone just mentioned, has the worst setups. Truss out of wack, action to crap etc.....Ive been in software sales for years and I NEVER let a trial out before me and my team have a chane to explain and walk a client through the tools we have. I address perceptions and percieved shortcoming immediatly before it gets in the way of its features.

Sometimes I wish (In a perect world:() Ibanez would take one year off from so many new models and advancments and retool the process in which they distribute to dealers. Send a rep to every GC and Sam Ash. Use Rich's model as the standard.....Im ranting sorry.....
 
#681 ·
Our local Ibanez "dealer" (not a national chain) hasn't had a new Ibanez, indo or mij, in over 2 years. Owner says they lost the midwest supplier some time ago and no one from Ibanez has contacted anyone near here. Wether that's true or not, I don't know. Never got any anniversary guitars from last year at all but had catalogs.??? I still complain every time I go in. The amp tech and guitar repair guy are the best in town though. If I want to try something out like pedals or amps, I bring in my JEM or 770FM just to show 'em what what a real guitar is. Not a wall of Schecters.
 
#682 ·
Our local Ibanez "dealer" (not a national chain) hasn't had a new Ibanez, indo or mij, in over 2 years. Owner says they lost the midwest supplier some time ago and no one from Ibanez has contacted anyone near here. Wether that's true or not, I don't know. Never got any anniversary guitars from last year at all but had catalogs.??? I still complain every time I go in. The amp tech and guitar repair guy are the best in town though. If I want to try something out like pedals or amps, I bring in my JEM or 770FM just to show 'em what what a real guitar is. Not a wall of Schecters.
A lot of schecter's stuff isn't terrible, I'd take a low end Schecter over a low end ibby any day.

:)
 
#683 ·
Our local Craigslist has a better variety of guitar, brands, range,and quality than our GC and Same Ash. I can't remember the last guitar I got from a brick store.

I did get an amp but only because I wanted to try it out. Even then the best Prestige they had was a 1820X which had the most light and dry RW board I have ever seen. So out of tune buzzing all over the neck, and chips along the back edges.
 
#688 ·
My very first Ibanez came from a GC in July 1997. I was going to upgrade from my starter guitar that I'd had for six years and they were selling brand new silver sparkle '96 RG517's for $330. They had a USRG30BT sitting on the rack for over a year. The guitar was so badly set up that it was virtually unplayable.

I was literally standing at the counter trying to pay for the RG517 when I overheard the salesman talking about trying to get someone to take the USRG for $500. That was back in the day when they could actually haggle on price. Apparently someone paid the deposit then bailed. Needless to say I walked out of there with the USRG.

The fact that the guitar wasn't all that great in the end is a whole 'nother story.
 
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