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New Universe!

3K views 26 replies 14 participants last post by  maqify 
#1 · (Edited)
#4 ·
But the close-up of the rosewood fretboard looks nasty. :(
Agreed -- that ain't the finest chunk of rosewood I've ever seen.

I've played a Premium RG920 at a local music shop and lemme tell you, I was not impressed with the playability. Granted, the thing looked unbelievably awesome, but man it was a mess. It was probably the fact that it had been hanging there for going on a year, needed new strings and wasn't set up at all. The neck was horribly bowed, practically unplayable. The trem was whacked out too. Frets felt a little rough, but I'm sure the setup played a part in that perception.

I've gotta admit that it sure is an AWESOME looking axe, and really killer for the price point. I'd love to get my hands on one of these Universes and be proven wrong about Ibanez' Premium quality.
 
#7 ·
You get what you pay for with Premium Ibanez guitars.
In my opinion, its like they made nice parts and don't know how to finish the guitar or care.
The amount of finishing work that goes in to them is about the same as or less than the 3XX series guitars.
It's too bad that a $900 - $1400 guitar is nice to look and and not to play.
 
#8 ·
Yeah those are my thoughts exactly...they really seem like good guitars with potential, but the price point is a little skewed. I mean, you can easily pick up a used, lower-end Prestige with case for around $400-$500 and have an axe that was built with quite a bit more attention to detail. That's what I ended up doing.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I got a JEM70V from the first batches when it came out. It was horrible from factory and wasn't comfortable to play at all. Good thing i ordered it from my local shop so the tech guy there fixed it up for me. The things that had to be done was. Lowering of the nut, correcting neck/neck pocket allignment, correcting neck angel and leveling frets.
Now it plays like a dream. :)

Maybe the Premiums are better now than they were a year ago, but i'm not going to take any chances if i'm getting another Premium. I will get it from my local shop that i know do good work and not from some giant online retailer that doesn't care about how the instrument plays.
 
#26 ·
I got a JEM70V from the first batches when it came out. It was horrible from factory and wasn't comfortable to play at all. Good thing i ordered it from my local shop so the tech guy there fixed it up for me. The things that had to be done was. Lowering of the nut, correcting neck/neck pocket allignment, correcting neck angel and leveling frets.
Now it plays like a dream. :)
I got one of the first batch and i must be a lucky one! All i had to do was the normal setup stuff, intonation, action and stuff like that! Sometimes i think people are too critical, i dont blame them, when you have so many nice guitars it can seem strange to play a lower quality guitar, but they're not bad guitars, i love mine, granted it doesnt compare to my 7v but its still awesome guitar.

I kind of think it will be the same situation with the new UV's theyll be good with a setup, but nothing will compare to the MIJ guitars and old universes!
 
#20 ·
I bought a 2012 RG350MZYE and hated it, I much preferred the finish of my 1998 RG270DX and my RGT42DXFM and both were Korean. I did not like the necks of the MIKs in the last couple of years, too square but at least the finish was ok.

My two favorite "Ibanez" players are my 1989 RG750 by a long shot and my 1991 UV77MC. Older MIJ axes are very hard to beat, I choose my RG750 over my Gibson Les Paul most times...

The 2012 RG350MZ YE was very nice but needed more time in finish that what I wanted to invest. Fret edges were terrible, neck needed to be shimmed and adjusted.

I did dig the maple neck! It could have been a killer guitar.
 
#22 ·
I guess they will improve over time, on the other hand a guitar for that money should be without cosmetic flaws etc. I have not seen this new uv so i can't say much about it, but will check it out. But if somebody buys it,they could have the store set it up as they like and also send it back if it got imperfections. Ibanez would(i hope) tell the Indonesian factory to make a better work if they have guitars sent back-right?.
 
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