Ibanez Product Line

JimmyBlind

JimmyBlind

Active member
Can someone explain to me how the Ibanez' product line works? Pretty much every other guitar builder I can think of has a Custom shop, a premium quality range of guitars & then a mass-production range. ESP Custom, ESP & LTD, PRS & PRS SE, Gibson Custom Shop, Gibson & Epiphone, Suhr Custom, Suhr Pro & Rasmus, etc etc etc. I appreciate that some of these companies have evolved with PRS S2 line etc

The Ibanez product line appears to be un-navigable except by price. Each guitar's product number seems to consist of a model, a random number, a number signifying how many strings it has & then an acronym that explains the wood finish.
The only guitars in their product line that I know are premium quality guitars are the Jem & presumably the J-Custom guitars are the Japanese custom jobs. Everything else is just a guitar with a price & a weird product number.

I've asked a few people & nobody seems to be able to give me a comprehensive answer.
 
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eg_t ... 4&cat_id=1

before getting into custom/premium etc.. there are 2 series lines

- artist series
- series by model

//

in each series, depending on guitar model (RG, S, etc etc ) you have various models which go from mass product // premium , and sometimes up to custom shop level, j-custom

'limited edition' afaik is basically the j-custom shop
http://www.ibanez.com/limitededition

let's take an example, say the andy timmons model:

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eg_s ... 4&cat_id=1

has a super hi end custom shop variant and a 'premium' level instrument that is available at a much nicer price

if we take a common series such as the RG , differences explained here quite well:

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_eg_s ... 4&cat_id=1

in order of quality/pricing according to ibanez for the RG series look out for :

Prestige
Premium
iron Label
standard

in the name (after or before the numbers ;) should give you a good idea

//

fwiw i find ibanez much more easier to navigate through as opposed to say Fender or Gibson , hopefully that's been of some help to you
 
An RG 'Prestige' seems to vary significantly in price on ebay. I can't rely on searching for a 'prestige' guitar and expect to be buying a high-end Ibanez. 'Prestige' doesn't appear to signify Ibanez' best, non-custom shop range of guitars. :(
 
All 'Prestige' means is that it's still made in Japan. Premium means they are made in Indonesia.

If you want killer QC and materials that also come with a high price tag, you're looking at the J-Custom line that is only made for the Japanese market. But I do believe that now, they will be releasing J-Custom guitars to the US market but at limited numbers.

The signature guitars that are non-Premium are killer guitars with killer QC.
 
Kind of goes in this order as far as the product line:

Sugi-built models
J-Custom
Signature models, RG Prestige, S Prestige series
RG Series, S Series, SA Series, Premium Series
Roadcore, Gio, Mikro series
 
There's also the LACS (LA Custom Shop) for endorsed artists. There seem to be different levels of endorsements. Some only seem able to get Prestige models refinished to different colors or maybe a different pickup configuration. Others seem able to get custom wood types, bindings, etc. and more custom instruments (like a 7-string Destroyer etc). The LACS does not accept orders from the general public, though.
 
JimmyBlind":1tasdu2w said:
An RG 'Prestige' seems to vary significantly in price on ebay. I can't rely on searching for a 'prestige' guitar and expect to be buying a high-end Ibanez. 'Prestige' doesn't appear to signify Ibanez' best, non-custom shop range of guitars. :(
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true, but that's where the numbers come into play (higher numbers are usually higher in features/quality/spec), look on the website for more info

it's gives an idea of what you're getting , price being a good factor to go by regardless of manufacturer

the best guitar for you is not necessarily one in the hi price range etc etc , one of my favourite ibanez's in a discontinued SZ series is the lowest/cheapest model .. and not the prestige version i owned for a while , ymmv ;)
 
cardinal":1afuvna3 said:
There's also the LACS (LA Custom Shop) for endorsed artists. There seem to be different levels of endorsements. Some only seem able to get Prestige models refinished to different colors or maybe a different pickup configuration. Others seem able to get custom wood types, bindings, etc. and more custom instruments (like a 7-string Destroyer etc). The LACS does not accept orders from the general public, though.
Click to expand...

This is true. Those are beautiful instruments if you can ever find one!
 
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