Hi, I was wondering what your expriences were with customs. Just how close do they come to the actual guitar say If you were looking to make a custom JEM, how close does it play to the Ibanez. Thanks.

Umm, it depends. *But for what it's worth I have seen/played several custom projects built from scratch going for a specific Ibanez-model guitar. *Almost all of them were very good, and the craftsmanship can be as good as the builder wants it to be. *My best piece of advice is to research exactly what kind of basswood/alder is used by Ibanez and roughly how their construction process takes place, then try to emulate the guitar piece by piece / step by step. *If you are not very knowledgable about building Superstrats from scratch, I suggest you hire a profession to make/help with the construction. * Sorry for the vague answer.

Thanks for the info. I was refering more to having someone like Harpers Guitars and some of the other builders that used to be in the vendors section. How close do these guys get to the real thing? Thanks.

In the past i have widely discussed Custom work and vendors having done a full-blown custom JEM.

That said i personally will no longer be discussing services NOT featured the "Vendor List". I know you want a blow-by-blow account but I do not feel compelled to freely advertise for these services any longer. Sorry about that but check the forum archives. Maybe others will share their experiences. Good luck... glen

Glen, that is fine I do unserstand where you are coming from. However, If others would still wish to share their experiences with customs I would be intrested to hear. Thanks.

First...be prepared to wait a long time for work to be completed.

J>

From my experience there are goods and bads. *I'd say overall I've been impressed with the people I've worked with for custom work. *The neck I got done was by far the best playing/feeling guitar neck I've ever played. *It's based on the Jem10 neck. *However, this did not 'feel' like a Jem10 neck. *For obvious reasons such as a rosewood fingerboard but more in the playablity of the neck. *I feel the craftsmanship is by far higher quality than what I've played from an Ibanez guitar. *Now don't get me wrong - I certainly love the factory necks, but there's just something about the custom that's better. *Perhaps it's that ONE person built and spent lots of time on it rather than going down an assembly line where there's lots of people working on it.

On of the bads, as mentioned, is the time it takes to get a custom made. *Perpare to wait up to 6 months or more.

Bottom line is I'll never stop playing factory Ibanez guitars because I love them so, but I will turn to my custom when needed.

If you want more details on who I've dealt with feel free to e-mail me.

Gabe