BTW now in the ibanez japan page it doesnīt say it is Honduras mahogany any more, maybe theyīve stopped using it?

More than likely it was wrong to begin with

lighter?????????? thats laughable.........my 8527 is a heavy log.....plays awesome but it is really heavy.......i have 2 friends that also have 8527's and one says same that its a log and the other one weighs 7lbs

This are the old links:
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/japan/el_gui...om/rg8570.html
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/japan/el_gui...rx/rg8670.html

not working now, but have been there (minimum) from January to june with the Honduras Mah spec, donīt know when they changed it. I bought mine on April.
Fishhead, a 7 string is always heavier, but i wouldnīt call that guitar "heavy" on both 6 or 7, or in any of both mahoganies. You should try a LP or a Washburn Dime, thatīs heavy!!!

let me think for a second........since i personally have an RG7620, RG1077XL, RG7CT, and about 12 other 6 strings i think i can pretty much say intelligently that my 8527 is in fact the heaviest guitar i own or ever have owned for that matter

Being the heaviest of your guitars doesnīt mean itīs a heavy guitar, does it? I have or had much more than twelve guitars, the heaviest was an Heritage H 150 ultra and weighted...mhhh... in pounds must be a little more than 10. Almost unplayable, your shoulder hurted when playin more than an hour. A LP custom i had weighed more than 8 and another almost 8. My Assasin USA is almost 8 too, thatīs the most similar to a jC in shape, but is neck thru body.
Doesnīt mind, if itīs heavy for you, great. Just differents oppinions, itīs a stelire discussion.
Just a thing, i said honduras mahogany usually weights less than african, and i donīt find the connection with the weight of your guitar. I did not discuss if your guitar is light or heavy.

I want to hear more about the 8527. I've read the specs and such, but what would happen if you compared it to a newer Prestige? Like, compare the highest end Prestige 7 in production now to the J Custom 7...so the RG1527 as compared to the 8527. I guess that's Ibanez' current take on how high above the JC's are, it looks to me like the 8527 would kill the 1527 ina a comparison. Plus it's better looking1

Guys, check this link out. You may find it interesting.
http://www.kurosawagakki.com/ibanez1.html
Keep going through the Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. It answers many of the above questions.
Cheers,
Alex

Apologies for re-stoking the flames as it were, but has the JC/prestige situation changed now that we get J-customs in the UK, and have always had prestiges? I've heard these JCs are of the same quality as the signature series like the Jems etc. (they're made in the same factory aren't they?) Any help? Would there be any point if they were no better than prestiges? Or is it more snazzy marketting from our chums at hoshino?

I happened to have to J-Customs (97 ART and 2001) and one 3120 Prestige. I certainly can say that both J-customs are in a different class in regards to the Prestige one. For those JEMs that I saw I can't comment, since I never had one. On the surface those like JEM10th look almost as well made as my J-Customs.

I'll have to admit that these J-Customs looked more like an experiment or pre-mass-production research kind of thing, and really well excecuted. The current mainstream of the J-Customs look (only my opinion) as the upscale line of guitars, that are positioned as far as marketing is concerned above the Prestige line and seem to be build better. From the link you can deduce that better wood and more manual labour goes into J-Custom production than the mass-production guitars.

Cheers,
Alex

I recently bought a J custom S3040, in pearl white, Its an amazing guitar, and i think its far better than any prestige guitar i've played, but thats just me. I also own a JEM 90th, and i prefer the J custom to it any day. anyone else here own the S3040?

Rob

i loved spending 30 or so minutes reading this thread! thanks for the great amusement guys! the X-files analogy was also great!
i love the Prestiges i've owned and am planning to get a J-Custom very shortly. are they better? i think most of that is subjective. i do feel that more attention to detail is shown to J-Customs from the very few i've been fortunate to play. all in all - they are still a step or two beyond the standard production models and that is why WE are willing to fork out more $ for them, right?
with the J's being low production #'s is what i find most appealing over the standard Prestige. now Prestige badges are being put on a lot of models which i believe lessens the overall status of the badge even though it is a cut above most other models.
this is just my 1 1/2 cents. thanks again for the amusement guys!

I only have my Prestige 3120 and my J-custom RG8670 to compare, but from that limited comparison, the RG8670 seems finer than the 3120. For example, look at how the ends of the frets are rounded off on the 8670:



But it's only one data point, doesn't say much about the "average" J-Custom vs. "average" Prestige, if those are meaningful concepts.

Damn. Look at those fret-ends! That takes some serious skill and patience.

That's the same guy that did the RG21A's. He's a master, but, not every JC will be anything like that