Ibanez JEM Forum banner

Does the Vine Inlay spoil contemporary J-Customs for you?

14K views 85 replies 43 participants last post by  shadowvault 
#1 ·
It does for me absolutely. Haven't cared for them for years because of this awful Vine Inlay in all of them. It may be good looking (debatable), if you intend to hang it on a wall, but if you want to play, it's grossly out of place, misleading and overall crap.

And Ibanez doesn't even bother to give us a choice. Shame on them.
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/jcustom.html
 
#3 ·
Remember, everyone has their preferences. Every time I open the case for one of my J Customs to show a friend it's like "Wow....that is a piece of artwork!"

To each his/her own....personally, I love the vines and the way they look. Then again, 4 of my 5 guitars have it (2 J Customs/2 Jem). Strangely enough, the 7 string without the vine is the one that looks out of place.

But yes....a choice would be good for anyone because not everyone likes the same thing and that is what makes us all different, thankfully.
 
#4 ·
It does for me absolutely. if you want to play, it's grossly out of place, misleading and overall crap.

And Ibanez doesn't even bother to give us a choice. Shame on them.
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/jcustom.html
If you're still at the stage where you find a vine inlay is "misleading", you might prefer the "Premium series"... ;)

I do think it can be a bit much, seeing as it's on pretty much every J-Custom I can rememeber in recent times, but it's a bit over the top to say it's "overall crap"...
 
#5 ·
I like the vine design on my Jems a lot better, and although I don't own a J Custom, my two cent opinion is that it might come off to some people as trying to copy the Jem rather than being something totally unique.
That's not to say that I don't find the J customs absolutely stunning, and I sure wouldn't turn one down.
 
#6 ·
Yes, choice is the key. And Ibanez don't want to see it point-blank.

2 jono I don't think it has anything to do with "stages" as it has with personal perception and preferences.

By the way, can you imagine having one of those vines all over a violin fingerboard? All over the keys on a grand piano? Wouldn't it be disgusting?

And yes, they copied it from Vai it seems, although his is quite different and less obtrusive. Why wouldn't they put his "hand grip" on all J-customs as well then, it's oh-so-classy. They could even make it a couple of times larger to give it even more "class". Having said that, I'm grateful to Vai for inventing and popularising 7-strings.

PS: there's a thread in "Comments to Ibanez":
http://www.jemsite.com/forums/f22/p...i-custom-shop-based-upon-j-custom-117833.html

Chances are Ibanez staff are perusing this site from time to time, so let's hope we'll get a choice at some point.
 
#8 ·
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=46&now=2

Check the artwood twin ro the right. They didn't take it from Vai it was around even before Vai... it's from the 78 Catalogue.

I think it quite simply the way have med with their series right now (regarding the RG)

the standard RGs have sharkfins or dots

Premiums have offset dots

15xx have small dots

25xx Have ghost sharks

35xx small dots or sharks and ofcourse there is some specials

and of course the j custom which have the tree of life

Choose after that and then you will see that you have many choiches :smile:
 
#15 ·
Vine inlays have been around long before the JEM. Many makers, big and small, have used them. Vai liked the look and it became a prominent feature on the JEM. I like the look and think the mother-of-pearl inlay is just pure class and screams top end like the MOP sharkfins on the high end Jacksons.
 
#18 ·
It does for me absolutely. Haven't cared for them for years because of this awful Vine Inlay in all of them. It may be good looking (debatable), if you intend to hang it on a wall, but if you want to play, it's grossly out of place, misleading and overall crap.

And Ibanez doesn't even bother to give us a choice. Shame on them.
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/jcustom.html
I think it's really simple, if you don't want/like J-Customs with vine inlays, don't buy one. No one is forcing you to buy the inlays, it's a free market and if you don't like it, don't buy it.

If you're really that picky about an inlay why not just spend 4500 and have a custom one off built for you? Take a prestige base that you like, and bring it up to the standards of the J-Custom without the "overall crap" inlay, or buy a used J-Custom with offset dots. Either way, Ibanez isn't going to change an entire guitar lineup for 1-2 potential customers.
 
#33 ·
I agree with the guy starting the tread, I wish they didn't make them with those (any guitar).
They don't confuse me, and looks nice as bit of art, but are pretty "to much" for a guitar neck.

Basically, everything except small dots or no inlay at all should be illegal on guitar necks, and with a severe rod punishment for violating it. Hell yeah, it is a new law i like! :)

And while we are at it, all but maple fret boards should be illegal too.
Zebra or stupid color pickups too.
Handles in guitar bodies too.
Soft picks.

Anyone who want to join my facebook group "we who hate, a lot".


/Magnus
 
#34 ·
I agree with the guy starting the tread, I wish they didn't make them with those (any guitar).
They don't confuse me, and looks nice as bit of art, but are pretty "to much" for a guitar neck.

Basically, everything except small dots or no inlay at all should be illegal on guitar necks, and with a severe rod punishment for violating it. Hell yeah, it is a new law i like! :)

And while we are at it, all but maple fret boards should be illegal too.
Zebra or stupid color pickups too.
Handles in guitar bodies too.
Soft picks.

Anyone who want to join my facebook group "we who hate, a lot".

/Magnus
Magnus,,,just wanted to say that your guitar playing skills still blow me away.
 
#47 · (Edited)
I used to own an offset dot RG8520



and now own an ebony board, vine inlay RG8670.



The 8670 is just more of a "wow" guitar. The vine inlay is quite stunning in person. The "stem" is maple, which looks amazing set against the ebony board and the leaves are a mix of silver, mirror and abalone. And the abalone is top notch, not the cheap stuff Ibanez puts on the rest of their guitars. Here's a closeup:



I do love offset dots and wish I still had a guitar with them. My first Ibanez was a USRG30BT.

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top