Well, let's see if I can screw this up. I've never done this before (NGD thread).
I forget if it was last year or the year before, but whenever it was - I bought an Ibanez Prestige S-Series - I think it's an S6570 - it's blue. It's mainly stayed in it's case in the basement, since I figure if I bring it out my son will look it up online, see how much it cost and then I'll be on my wife's crap list when she finds out.
Anyway, the few times I got it out I realized that I really like the S shape body. I have several RG's and I love their shape but the S shape just seems to fit me better.
So I figured I would look for another one. My original thought was to get the standard S model (S670), also in blue, so I could have that out and playing, then swap it once in a while with the Prestige so hopefully nobody would be the wiser. I may still do that sometime. But I happened to see some videos with Nita Strauss and her Jiva model. I always like different fretboard inlays and when I saw these, I really liked them. But to be honest, I was NOT a fan of the color. It just looked weird to me - too much of a contrast - the black going right to the "blonde" color.
So I just put it in the back of my mind and wound up getting some other guitars this year (will try to post those up some other time). I'm still waiting to get a PRS SE model - ordered it a few months ago from my local shop but they let me know that they had no idea when it would come in. That's fine - I've done business with them for 14-15 years and can trust them with my cash. Really like the other ones I have but that "S" itch was still bugging me.
I normally buy from Sweetwater and they had nothing in stock. Then I checked one day and they got four of these in. One I liked (the quilted top), another was pretty good, third was kind of meh and the fourth had no quilt that I could see. So again, forgot about it except to check in and see they were getting bought up.
Another week went by. During that time I was reading about how Ibanez guitar prices might be going up soon and the price jump might be big. So I headed to Sweetwater for the hell of it. This was on the site - the only one. It took me about 5 seconds to buy it. I loved the quilt on top (yes, it's a veneer) and I've grown to really like the color. Two days later & I had it.
If the photos actually show up, they are the Sweetwater photos - I don't have any others.
I really like it. I will be getting another "S" but I have to try to wait until next year. The headstock veneer really has no quilt but that's life. The inlay is better in person (to me) - it's not so obnoxious as it may appear in the photos. I love the black binding on the neck and body. The neck is very comfortable. It's definitely not as thin as the S6570 but it's...just right. The purpleheart stripe - I can definitely feel that. The grain is very different than the maple pieces on either side of it - more of an open pore feel and rougher. It doesn't have that flat spot on the back of the neck - it's slightly rounded but it's not a "C" shape.
I have not taken the time to plug it in yet but want to soon, so I have no idea how it sounds plugged in. Had to adjust the truss rod a little to get the fretboard dead flat, then had to lower the bridge to get it to where I want (just above buzzing). This has the locking stud inserts so I had to loosen and tighten those things up. Don't know why people complain about adjusting Floyds/Floyd variants. I raised/lowered this probably 5-6 times - I had my little procedure (loosen each string w/string winder 3 or 4 turns, carefully take springs out, adjust stud heights evenly, then springs and tighten strings. Check for buzz. If no buzz, continue dropping. After it's right then retune/stretch strings, blah, blah).
So I like it. Probably typed a million words so I better stop. Just to add, I did not get this because I'm a Nita Strauss fanboy. I have her CD and she's got a hell of a lot of talent but I liked it for the guitar, just by itself.
I forget if it was last year or the year before, but whenever it was - I bought an Ibanez Prestige S-Series - I think it's an S6570 - it's blue. It's mainly stayed in it's case in the basement, since I figure if I bring it out my son will look it up online, see how much it cost and then I'll be on my wife's crap list when she finds out.
Anyway, the few times I got it out I realized that I really like the S shape body. I have several RG's and I love their shape but the S shape just seems to fit me better.
So I figured I would look for another one. My original thought was to get the standard S model (S670), also in blue, so I could have that out and playing, then swap it once in a while with the Prestige so hopefully nobody would be the wiser. I may still do that sometime. But I happened to see some videos with Nita Strauss and her Jiva model. I always like different fretboard inlays and when I saw these, I really liked them. But to be honest, I was NOT a fan of the color. It just looked weird to me - too much of a contrast - the black going right to the "blonde" color.
So I just put it in the back of my mind and wound up getting some other guitars this year (will try to post those up some other time). I'm still waiting to get a PRS SE model - ordered it a few months ago from my local shop but they let me know that they had no idea when it would come in. That's fine - I've done business with them for 14-15 years and can trust them with my cash. Really like the other ones I have but that "S" itch was still bugging me.
I normally buy from Sweetwater and they had nothing in stock. Then I checked one day and they got four of these in. One I liked (the quilted top), another was pretty good, third was kind of meh and the fourth had no quilt that I could see. So again, forgot about it except to check in and see they were getting bought up.
Another week went by. During that time I was reading about how Ibanez guitar prices might be going up soon and the price jump might be big. So I headed to Sweetwater for the hell of it. This was on the site - the only one. It took me about 5 seconds to buy it. I loved the quilt on top (yes, it's a veneer) and I've grown to really like the color. Two days later & I had it.
If the photos actually show up, they are the Sweetwater photos - I don't have any others.
I really like it. I will be getting another "S" but I have to try to wait until next year. The headstock veneer really has no quilt but that's life. The inlay is better in person (to me) - it's not so obnoxious as it may appear in the photos. I love the black binding on the neck and body. The neck is very comfortable. It's definitely not as thin as the S6570 but it's...just right. The purpleheart stripe - I can definitely feel that. The grain is very different than the maple pieces on either side of it - more of an open pore feel and rougher. It doesn't have that flat spot on the back of the neck - it's slightly rounded but it's not a "C" shape.
I have not taken the time to plug it in yet but want to soon, so I have no idea how it sounds plugged in. Had to adjust the truss rod a little to get the fretboard dead flat, then had to lower the bridge to get it to where I want (just above buzzing). This has the locking stud inserts so I had to loosen and tighten those things up. Don't know why people complain about adjusting Floyds/Floyd variants. I raised/lowered this probably 5-6 times - I had my little procedure (loosen each string w/string winder 3 or 4 turns, carefully take springs out, adjust stud heights evenly, then springs and tighten strings. Check for buzz. If no buzz, continue dropping. After it's right then retune/stretch strings, blah, blah).
So I like it. Probably typed a million words so I better stop. Just to add, I did not get this because I'm a Nita Strauss fanboy. I have her CD and she's got a hell of a lot of talent but I liked it for the guitar, just by itself.
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