My first Ibanez was a S model back in 1989 and at that time I thought that Ibanez as it is today looked great and was endorsed by really technical guitar dudes. The bodies felt great. The original Edge was on par with Floyd. The guitar had dimarzio pickups. I actually had at least half a dozen Signature Series that were made in Japan at one point. I said to myself that I would continue to collect Ibanez guitars forever...
But it was not to be...
One of the worst sounding guitars in my collection turned out to be a JEM 777vwh (MIJ). Ibanez started to make guitars in Korea. Ibanez could not warranty the majority of its guitars on 10 gauge strings. Ibanez started producing too many models AND too many thinner necks. Ibanez was now and is mass market which for me is an astounding success at the expense of good sounding responsive guitars however. As an aside, I think the audiophile guys are doing a good job at keeping the brand alive in the philippines with reasonable prices, multiple price points and yearly support in bringing new and varied models.
Since 1989, I have NOT found a good sounding and responsive Ibanez that meets my standards. I felt that limited edition JS20 at the paco branch got close -- and almost there but comparatively too expensive and not on par with the high end American made guitars.
I realized that the Ibanez formula is really more of looks and endorsement. In a recent trip to singapore Swee Lee (both Sims Drive and Bras Basah branch), I had a chance to test a MIJ Herman Li (Bras Basah branch) which would retail at around P180k. It basically sounded dead. The USA made Charvel Warren Demartini with cross swords graphic had better workmanship and feel and retailed for P130k but was also dead sounding. So on the second day, I was in the shop (Sims Drive branch) trying out as many guitars as I can and was assisted by a salesman. I asked him to bring out the best sounding guitars he had but he brought me all this high priced stuff that sounded like crap. So I decided to pick and try out the Jackson neck thrus and I stumbled upon a great sounding Jackson Soloist neck through which retailed for only P63k. So I decided to show the salesman what a great guitar sounded and responded like and I even let him play it himself and was floored. To my surprise he brought me ANOTHER MIJ Herman Li (Sims Drive branch) for me to test AND again a dead sounding Herman Li. I immediately told him but he was insisting that the Jackson had better pickups which were duncans. But I disagreed. I had him AB the Herman Li against the Jackson that I had chosen and he immediately realized how superior that specific Jackson was in terms of sound and response. He was suddenly sad. He then told me that he had just payed for the Herman Li with terms. But I told him that he could hear the difference in sound and response on the Jackson Soloist. He shook his head and started making reasons to keep the Ibanez and insisted on the pickups but I said that its not in the pickups because I felt that the Dimarzios on the Herman Li were clearly superior and customized. Next, he came up with another reason -- Herman Li was coming over and he needed to get the guitar signed. I told him to have the guitar signed and to sell it to buy the Jackson. Then another reason, the typical kanya-kanya lang iyan reason. So, I had him again AB and play himself the jackson versus the Herman Li and again the Jackson established itself as the superior instrument to which he agreed to. After that, he just left. I was shaking my head. My day did not end with that experience at Sims Drive. I actually tested other Ibanez and they all sounded dead -- even the new white Joe Satriani with a single coil sized pickup on the neck and the original edge back on (why the f*ck he endorsed the previous models with the newer edge is beyond me and revert back to the original edge is plain lack of guitar testing on Satch's part). A dozen prestige sounded dead despite my expectations of the better neck construction today with 3 piece laminate.
On the other hand, one brand that I have seen which has continued to improve since the 70s and actually make better than they did in 1986 (this was the golden era of RGs and S guitar from Ibanez) is Fender USA.
Over the years, Fender has improved its quality and surprisingly can turn out good sounding and more responsive guitars than Ibanez. Since Charvel USA was bought by Fender, I would definitely say that on the average they sound better than Ibanez and have the correct and more comfortable feel. Of course, Ibanez guitars steel look prettier.
Commercially, I would give an A to Ibanez for suriviving this long but sonically, I would say that they have not improved the past twenty years. The John Suhr Modern which is a younger and influenced by the Ibanez RG is clearly superior in both sound, response and craftsmanship (which is of course kind of pricey). From the get go, my suhr modern is one of the first five produced and already it surpassed expectations on twenty years of Ibanez super strat experience.
P.S. The only reason I did not buy the Jackson Soloist was because it was made in Japan (it also had different thinner neck profile that ain't the original fat soloist). When the right time comes, I want to pick a USA made Jackson Custom Shop neck thru in the shop.
