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Ibanez JS1CR - Did Ibanez get it right ??

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10K views 22 replies 7 participants last post by  algorithmsjoe 
#1 ·
I'm interested to know people's thoughts on the chrome boy reissue ....

Did Ibanez get it right? I mean, how can this be a 30th anniversary reissue model if it's just a chrome version of the current JS24 :confused:

Now that Ibanez finally got the chrome coating correct and stable over an alder body, it should have been reissued as the classic and iconic 22 fret chrome boy !!

Personally I think it's a complete disappointment :sad2:
 
#2 ·
Since Satriani made the switch to 24 fret guitars and seems to play them live almost exclusively, to me the 30th anniversary guitar makes 100% sense. It's his current guitar in his all time classic finish.

I still massively prefer the 22 fret guitar in terms of looks, and I'm not a sustainer guy, and that, coupled with the high price has cost them my sale. But yeah, in my mind, the 30th guitar is what I would have gone for as an anniversary model and what I would have expected Ibanez to go for.
 
#3 ·
Even though I fully prefer 22 fret JS guitars I agree, they finally have a new chroming process and they made his new live guitar in chrome. This is the only Alder JS with Sustainer so it is actually fully new to production JS guitars and the plan was always to transition from the JS1CR30 to the production JS1CR so I believe it makes sense.
 
#4 ·
The simple answer, 22 or 24 fret aside, no, they don't have it right. They're finally doing it the way I've been pleading for many years, but whoever they contracted with was probably just the low bid. There are too many issues with the paint process, too many hazy spots, etc.

You can simul-chrome a whole car and have it come out perfect but they can't get a small body right. Just as with all the chrome attempts before.

3 in house operations to get the JS2 into feasible production, all failed.

3 different chromers were used to do the JS10ths because of quality issues.

2 different companies for the JS2PRM, and the last Mizumo did a wonderful job, but using a fragile process that can't stand up to play wear.

To the current 30th/1CR, I imagine if they're paying close enough attention, I would have already changed to another paint company to do the simul-chrome process and get rid of all the haze issues. And you have some delamination issues between the paint and the self healing protective clear layer. There will always be pimples or sink lines or many of the other issues, but the company they're using just isn't cutting it. And/or the treatment after the fact back at the factory is not careful enough to not create more problems. The best thing about them is they won't show scratching like any previous version because you can hear the PPF layer.
 
#6 ·
The simple answer, 22 or 24 fret aside, no, they don't have it right. They're finally doing it the way I've been pleading for many years, but whoever they contracted with was probably just the low bid. There are too many issues with the paint process, too many hazy spots, etc.
I take it you wouldnt/havent got one? I've been on the fence, main thing putting me off was the price - when all is said and done its a paint job. I dont know enough about simulchrome to know if the price is remotely justified (ie. the level of detail required in the prep to get a mirror rather than granular finish). Some pics I see, it looks like a mirror, others it looks like spraypaint.... and in Aus, nobody has one to look at so I'd be buying it unseen.
 
#17 ·
I got my JS1CR last week and been trying to use it more and more to see how I feel about it, the reflective film on the head stock really bothers me, It's even lifted from one of the corners like missing glue or something. The body has a little bubble just under de neck pick up in the middle of the guitar and another buble in the side of the guitar. These bubbles are noticeable all the time not just when the light hits it. It also has like 2 places where I can see the paint distort close to the knobs, there are no bubbles that you can see easily like the other ones, but you notice it when the light reflects on it. All in all the bubbles and the reflective film in the head stock seem to me like very bad QA/design for a 5k guitar. I expected paint distorting, but the bubbles that you can even feel thru the finish is something else.

Is this what all of them are like?
Can I expect the film in the head stock to come off eventually from just hanging the guitar in the wall?
Am I nitpicking too much?

Pic of the bubble and head stock here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uGIvjxxl1ICmNPK1v7bZbdJAoGaaDbgA?usp=sharing
 
#18 ·
The headstock is not a film. I think it's just stuck on with double sided tape on the treble side and the tuners on the base. They are what they are.

I've never seen any bubbles and your picture didn't help. Fog spots, pimples, hazed areas, to damage from rough treatment can all be expected. Last batch had no hazy areas, I believe they may have changed paint shops. All had pimples, I've never seen one that didn't.
 
#22 ·
IMO a proficient paint shop using the correct process should give perfect results every time. There wouldn't be any haze problems. Of course the body they spray has to be perfect and I've rejected a couple for flawed bodies before they were sprayed. Then add the protection film, that's where you're getting the pimples. If they just sprayed it with regular clearcoat they could wetsand and polish like any other JS, but they can't do anything but spray the film and how it dries is what you get. And of course between the time the paint is sprayed and the film is sprayed, if moving, shipping, handling, etc, has caused plenty of flaws in the chrome, scratches thru the chrome, scrapes off a side, edge of the neck pocket. If 1 shop was responsible for the complete job of turning a perfect body into a CR they were doing a crappy job. This last batch seemed different, either they got better or somebody else took over, or it was just chance.
 
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