Everyone around here knows that color has been a major complaint with Ibanez for at least 2 decades now. Ever since grunge hit, Ibanez has been pushing an avalanch of black, grey, dark grey, dark red, and dark blue guitars. We've complained and Ibanez has (mostly) given us the finger.

But now, Ibanez is offering gorgeous looking trans maple finishes! That's the good news. The bad news is that those finishes are available on the sub-par Premium line models with inferior tremolos, flabby neck profiles, and questionable build quality.

Please. PLEASE, start offering a variety of color options (not just black and embarrasing 80s neons) on your MIJ Prestige offerings.

I don't think anyone would be pleased or in acceptance of cheap veneer finishes on MIJ Prestige level instruments...NO thank you.

Its low end eye candy,not real tops and looks exactly what it is.....cheap.

they offer it in Japan.

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/pag...1&series_id=30

That is a real top,4mm thick......theres a difference.
Its what the cheap guitar you speak of is trying look like....quality.

Not only are you not in the position to speak for everyone, but you completely missed my point. Veneer or not, it's disappointing that the cheap Indo junk looks better than the Prestige line.

Ibanez, it's time to break out of the 90s. Stop finishing everything in black, grey, dark red, and dark blue. And no, embarrassing 80s neon reissues are not good enough.

I'm sorry, but, what was it about these you didn't like?

you're not in tHe position to speak for everyone either, which you seem to be doing. Cool your jets.

You think the premiums look great, others think they look cheap. Proof positive that you don't speak for everyone. Furthermore, not everyone would think that the neon finishes are embarrassing, especially next to the single stain veneers you see on some of the premiums...

Everyone's mileage varies. Youre making some valid points, but please bear in mind that yours is not the only opinion.

Jono, I never claimed to speak for everyone. I'm making my opinion known to the company-the color selection is incredibly limited on the Prestige line. And while some people may like the neon colors and 80s throwbacks, there's a very good reason why you don't see anyone noteworthy playing them. Even if you personally like them, I would hope you can agree that the majority of people out there are going to see a nuclear orange RG or green S and think, "wow, hair metal. That's lame." or something similar.

And yeah, Rich, the J-Customs are gorgeous. Too bad this thread has nothing to do with J-Customs. I shouldn't have to drop 3 grand to get a non-black, non-embarrassing finish on my guitar. I'm simply calling on Ibanez to actually make the Prestige guitars look better than the Premiums.

The total lack of decent finishes and the sub-par Edge Zero are the two reasons why I've bought several new guitars in the last few years, but none of them were Ibanez.

If you're asking for colors they've been giving you colors. If you're not buying because of the EZ, then it wouldn't matter if they gave you the rainbow, you aren't going to buy it anyway. So what's your point?

I love those "embarrassing 80s Neon" colors. I have a bunch of them and 2 of them are Pink! I'm man enough to play a pink guitar I'm sure a lot of people want more color options, but give it some time. It will happen.

Have you even played with the edge zero and zero 2 trems? They are great. If you know how to take care of your stuff and set it up, it will last you a good while . Mine held up great through these last few tours. They went through a ton of climate changes. From hot ass Texas, all the way through Cold ass Washington. In and out of clubs and the trailer. As a matter of fact, I only had to tune those guitars a few times during 2 months. I had to tune my Lo Pro trem( PGM300) more than the Edge Zeros....

Uh, I like the gold flakes in the 2550Z GW and GK, and the 3250 Orange is nice too. I do agree that Ibanez needs to be a little more original with the colors they offer (when is the last time they released a nice candy apple over here? I havent seen one listed in Japan for ages) but not all Prestiges look bad. While I dont like alot of the designs on the Prems, they arent terrible guitars by any stretch of the imagination. I have a 350EXZ (which is a standard rg, not prem) and I am happy with that guitar. Just because it's indo doesnt mean its trash. I do prefer MIJs but I wont knock a prem if it has the sound I want.

certainly nothing I dont like about those ,whats this guy on about ,if you dont like the guitar dont buy it.

and about the cheaper guitars ,they gotta look good to sell dude.

why dont you but a guitar with the stuff on it that you like and have it custom painted.

just a thought .

You're still somehow missing the part where this thread is explicitly about Prestiges NOT wildly expensive J-Customs.

Look at the Prestige line:
3550 - black
3250 - white or day-glo orange
3520 - dark blue or black
3521 - black
2627 - black
2228 - black or white

Those are pathetic choices for $1000+ guitars.

Yes, the Edge Zero is deficient compared to the Edge and Lo Pro Edge, and I've definitely joined the list of folks encouraging Ibanez to pay the $14 per guitar and return to their better tech.

I'll be the first to admit that this year is lean on exotic colors, but the last several years have seen plenty, and all of them had one commonality. They didn't sell enough to keep around.