If you're a fan of Ibanez guitars in general, you would probably be pretty happy with a J-Custom. I have two, and both are really great guitars. I'm a sucker for Mahogany bodies/Maple tops, so that will get me with just about any guitar.

I've never played a Suhr, but I hear great things about them. As for everything else out there, well, there are a lot of really nice guitars that have a lot of different aspects to them.

You mentioned that you had a Caparison Dellinger. Have you seen some of the new stuff they are coming out with this year? They've got some pretty incredible looking new guitars.

 

When you're talking high end guitars, they will all be about the same in terms of quality, so it really just comes down to personal preference.

 

Wise words.
When your up at high levels of guitars it is just taste that separates them.

They all have about the same amounts of "almost magical" and down to "not so fun at all" copies, and everything in between.

/Magnus

 

I would say the quality of the Suhr would be better than a J-Custom, try and play a Suhr Modern before you make your choice. Ibanez quality is hit and miss as Rich Harris will tell you, even the Prestige guitars are in need of a professional fret job when they leave the factory whereas a Suhr will leave the workshop in perfect condition.

 

A J-Custom is a cut above a prestige model.

As Jaxadam mentioned at that level it's personal preference.

 

J Customs for the win... but then again I just love J Customs....

 

if you are going to buy a j. custom or a suhr, the quality is at such a high level on both of them it becomes irrelevant, they both will satisfy almost everyone. the way the guitar plays in your hands becomes the main factor.

 

I totally agree with this...

Went to my local GC last night and played a JEM (the white one), a EBMM Petrucci, a Prestige (the red one with yellow PuPs), and a PRS. I honestly was not blown away by any of them. None of them made me want to "tear it up". But I when I first picked up my RG760...is was like "Yeahhhhh boiiiiiiii" shred time. But TBH the set-ups on each was horrendous.

What I really noticed was how much wider the Prestige neck was compared to the older RG series...

 

As most folks are correctly saying, a j-custom will, fit and finish wise, hold it's own against pretty much anything out there, including a Suhr or a Tyler or an Anderson. At that level it's all about personal preference.

What you might want to watch though is the issue that a brand new J-Custom will very likely come with an Edge Zero Bridge, which in my opinion is a step down from the Gotoh licenced Floyd Rose found that Suhr uses as its double locker of choice.

Personally, I think the Suhr modern has one of the ugliest superstrat shapes in the history of the electric guitar.

I'd be looking for an older J-custom with a previous version bridge ( or a Suhr and a blindfold )

 

i was going to post J-custom vs PRS custom 24. Both are mahogany with maple tops.
What would you choose?

 

It's like Dodge Ram vs Dodge Viper, both have V10 engines but serve different niches.

I'd go for the J-custom as it's more like guitars I'm used to playing.

 

I've had chance to compare both -

J Custom build quality is great, but not up there with Suhr tbh. However the differences are very minor.

SS frets on teh Suhr will last a good 25 years longer without needing a refret.

Ultimately however I'm swayed more towards the Suhr due the fact that I have small hands and Ibanez tend to have very wide flat necks.

So it really is Horses for Courses.

 

.....

 

the suhr is going to be far better than an Ibanez, they are hand built / custom built to your specs. I think i'd go for a suhr

 

I must weigh in on this topic. I have never played a J Custom, but I've played a bunch of Suhr guitars. I can tell you that the Suhrs I played - which were well above 2 grand, were NO better than a late 90's Prestige (the Golden Age of Ibanez, in my opinion). If you put a new Suhr against a 1998 RG3120, the 3120 will either be as good or better than the Suhr.

NEW Ibanez guitars on the other hand are a completely different story. I refuse to buy any new guitars from Ibanez because I don't think I should HAVE to pay for a fret leveling after I've just paid $2,000 for a guitar and that happened to me twice in the past couple of years. I'm not going to be tricked again.

 

I'ver played some Suhrs, and they're fine guitars. Played and owned Andersons as well, and again they are fine guitars. I'd never bother with another of either though, they're just fancy Strats (to me). If I want a Strat I'll get a Strat. To continue this streak of honesty, I've found the J Customs I've played and owned to be just as flawless as any other guitar I've played (except for some high end hollowbodies), but none of them really make a mark on me either. I wouldn't trade my VWH for an Suhr, Anderson, Vigier, J-Custom, or any other solid body you can name.

 

Very wise words.

I have similar feelings/experiences after playing through Jems, J Customs, Suhrs, Andersons, Ernie Balls, et al. Built quality indeed isn't too much of an issue in these ranks. I however differ in that my conclusion is I enjoy my only J Custom the most. It is not perfect, however, and I like my 90ties Ibbys, my Prestige, my Lags and Ernie Balls, but the J Custom does blow them all away. And it's not the neck shape or the vine inlay or that I like Japanese things.

Why? I spent some time trying to figure out where this perception comes from. For me, it has mostly to do with two factors:

- First, I love the fretwire used on J Customs, which is very similar to a Jem (rather high and only medium wide) - very precise and wonderful playing feel. It's not for everybody though. Since I started paying more attention to the fretwire used on guitars I understand way more clearly why I like some brands/models and don't like others. Very big and often overlooked influence right there.

- Second, it's the "mojo", the "soul", whatever you call it the instrument has. My J Custom has that and keeps growing on me. The main issue here is that many people mistake "mojo" with "expensive" or "fancy finish" or "limited edition" - and that is all susceptible to all kinds of influences.
But it's there. Paul Reed Smith fell in love with a particular regular series model Les Paul because it sounded and felt perfect for him. That is something you can't usually predict. It's great when it happens with a guitar, then you should go for it (as with other things in life ). The problem is, high-gloss catalogs, flashy websites or raving reviews from others won't tell you that about a guitar. Try to make an effort to actually play the babies and make up your mind.

And feel free to post pictures once you get it, there is also a non-Ibanez section on the forum .

 

Suhr = butt ugly headstocks =p Hate the symmetry.

 

Is Suhr guitars in same prices than J-custom ?

 

If you want a custom Suhr Modern, per their order form, they start at a flat $3000, and only go up from there depending on what you pick:

http://www.suhrguitars.com/downloads/pdf/2010/Modern_2010_Consumer_Price_List.pdf

And if you were going to get a Suhr, just like with a Carvin, I can't fathom why you wouldn't be just getting a custom. I thought that was the point!

 

I've tried a Suhr. It was very nice. Was it ultimately better than many of the J Customs that I have tried/used? I found it to have a different feel that I wasn't particularly comfortable with. So, was it better, No. I've owned a Tom Anderson. Was it far and away better, No.

It all comes down to what you like. I now have 4 J Customs and each time I pick them up and play them, well......it's just feels right to me.
One thing that I hear is that the customer service offered by Suhr is fantastic. Ibby needs much work in that area, apparently.
I have no tuning issues with any of my Edge Zero bars and all 4 of my J Customs have this. They work great night in, night out and in and out of the studio.

Stainless steel frets are not the be all to end all. Sure they last longer, but what I found was a strange sound almost....thin? Again, all the pieces of the guitar probably have something to do with it as well.

 

Of all the guitars I have ever owned and/or played, nothing comes close to my J-Customs with regards to tone, playability, finish and vibe. Their necks and fretwork are in a league of their own imo. I have not played a superstrat/RG that resonates more… they sing! I also love the new edge zero trems, as much, if not more than my previous favourite, the low pro edge. My next guitar will most probably be another J-Custom…

 

Suhr moderns are cheaper than the list prices on Suhr's site. Contact mattsmusic and ask them to price one for you. I spec'd one with a handful of options and it came to $2700. I believe list price for the guitar I built was around 4k.

 

Suhr for sure

 

Both are great and it all comes down to personal taste. I'd go J Custom as Suhr's look a little bland to me. If I'm paying a 4 figure sum for a guitar I want it to look like a 4 figure guitar. That Suhr Purple Nova is sweet though.

 

i asked this qn few yrs back, and thus sold my J-custom and now im only left with a Suhr modern.

my modern is a basswood, maple top, maple neck and pau ferro board comapre to standard J-custom with maho body, maple top, maple neck and rosewood board.

Both guitars have very good quality finish. But i do not know does both uses the same dying methods, what i can tell is the poly finish on the modern looks alot thinner than that on the J-custom. The maple top use by Suhr definetly own any standard J-custom top nowadays.

Having said that, the J-custom has the bling factor of vine inlays which will set you back alot if you were to custom it on a Suhr.

Both guitars have excellent fret work, although the ones on J-custom looks nicer with rounded edges and neck binding, just some cosmetic stuffs. The fret ends on the modern feels good as well, and of cause you have the options to choose whether you want them to be SS.

Neck fitting: Base on these 2 guitars, i will say the modern has a better neck fit into the pocket, there is a slightly bigger gap on both side of the J-custom, and for those who are particular about neck fit, and tone transfer/vibration etc etc between the neck to the body, J-custom has a rounded end neck heel, thus will not have full contact with the neck pocket and the modern has a square heel which will has full contact with the neck pocket.

Neck Profile: I always thought Ibanez wizard profile are the perfect shape for my hands, but after playing the thinner modern profile, it definetly fits my hand better. I can only describe it as being not so wide compare to Ibanez wizard, but is a little bit thicker, which allows me to grab the neck better. I bought a modern without trying as there is no dealer in my country, was worried about the neck profile initially, but now i know the modern neck fits my hand better, you should try it out to see if you like it.

2 main factors which makes me decide to sell the J-custom are the neck profile and the sound coming from the Suhr. I know both uses diff wood, but the Suhr resonate more and i find the clean sounding of the Suhr is alot sweeter and clearer compared to the J-custom, im not sure if its the work of the pickups or bodywood though.

And from doing some readings online, i read that maho body will sounds nicer with a maho neck compared to a maho body with maple neck. Maybe something you would like to look into.

Hope these infos help =)

 

Suhr by a million miles. Mine is by far the greatest guitar I have ever played, and I have played a LOT. The instant I bought it, it pretty much made my other 15 guitars irrelevant and my search for a number one ended.

Suhr make unbelieveable guitars that sound even better than they look.

 

Not the same animal at all but I'd give the "build quality" edge to Suhr because of the fretwork. Suhr Pleks everything. Ibanez fretwork can be "ok" at best, but its hit and miss. Usually but not always they can be set 'medium to medium low', but never 'super low' like I prefer, without some aftermarket work.

They aren't the most level on any example I've seen, and I've seen a lot over the years, and they dont glue them in or crimp the tangs so they tend to be loose and move around some over the years, making them less level than when they left the factory. They should really invest in at least glueing the frets or adjusting the tang/fret slot on the high end stuff, and get a Plek machine. For what they charge, they can afford it.

 

Are you sure about that? Ibanez J-Customs have the best fretwork I've seen on any guitar, ever :O totally on a different level compared to a Prestige

 

All Ibanez have glued frets.