OK might be crazy but..............Should I buy an Ibanez Prestige?

Megii · July 2014

octatonic said:

Megii said:

I've been admiring this model:

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/eg_page14.php?year=2014&area_id=3&cat_id=1&series_id=3&data_id=77&color=CL01

OK, a "premium" rather than a "prestige", but looks good to me, and I'm rather taken with that dark 5-piece wenge/bubinga neck.

Friends don't let friends buy Ibanez Premiums.
I've worked on a bunch of these- they are not worth anywhere near what they are sold for new.
The trem's aren't great and wear out quickly and I dislike the pickups.

Buy a MIJ Prestige and you will get a much better guitar.

Forgive me, I just thought it looked cool - I am obviously not clued-up on what to look for when buying an Ibanez superstrat type guitar.

octatonic · July 2014

Sorry dude- I was just trying to help.

The only reason I'm aware is I know a few people who have them and they are universally not happy with them.

Megii · July 2014

octatonic said:

Sorry dude- I was just trying to help.
The only reason I'm aware is I know a few people who have them and they are universally not happy with them.

No worries, guitars always look good in manufacturer's pics, doesn't always carry through in reality, so your info is appreciated. I think the premiums aren't made in Japan, so I can well believe not of the same quality.

octatonic · July 2014

Megii said:

octatonic said:

Sorry dude- I was just trying to help.
The only reason I'm aware is I know a few people who have them and they are universally not happy with them.

No worries, guitars always look good in manufacturer's pics, doesn't always carry through in reality, so your info is appreciated. I think the premiums aren't made in Japan, so I can well believe not of the same quality.

IIRC Indonesia.

mike_l · July 2014

Cheaper Ibanezes tend to have weak pickups, and the trem knife-edges tend to get slightly destroyed quickly.

I'd get (and have) a MIJ Prestige, and it's a keeper........

Dave_Mc · July 2014

digitalscream said:

(a) I believe the hard tail -> Floyd option is £100, and then pickups are £<whatever they cost> so yeah...I guess that'd be more expensive. (b) I upgraded the pickups in mine to a pair of Ash's finest, but the both the ceramic and alnico pickups Jaden uses are still very, very good - certainly a lot better than the stock pickups you tend to get in Ibbys.

(c) Depends entirely what you want the guitar for - if the pickups and the Floyd are the most important part, then you're probably starting to run out of budget Personally I avoid Floyds these days, so I tend not to think about that part of it much

(a) I looked on the site and it's £100 to upgrade to the Floyd Rose Special and another £200 to upgrade to the Schaller OFR. I suppose you could get the FR Special option and then buy a Schaller Lockmeister or whatever later and save a little, but you're still talking another £140 or so on top (plus the bother of fitting it).

(b) Yeah I checked the price on the Jaden site for the Dimarzios, which added £140. As you rightly said, you can get cheaper excellent pickups too. Or if the stock pickups are just fine, as you said, maybe there's no massive need to swap them.

(c) Absolutely, agreed. As I said, the hardtail model looks to be a decent deal, especially if it's just fine in its stock form. The Floyd option, to me anyway, looks like it'd need at very least the OFR upgrade to be considered to have the same spec (on paper!) as an Ibby Prestige, and that's upping its price up towards RG 3xxx prices, maybe even J Customs if you're lucky and find a good deal. Granted, Ibanez prices have shot up a lot in the past few years, too, so it's not like they're anywhere near as good value as they used to be, either.