Almost ngd-8527z J custom

[Deadfall]

A lot of money ..could have gotten the new Jackson AND the esp nt-7.But there just isnt a guitar on the planet I would rather have.Having lost the first 2

bids on ebay Jim finally caved in and made a deal with me hehe.Really nice top on this one methinks.

Now on pins and needles waiting for it
Finally got it..My pics not as good as these but here are a few with some extra stuff..

Fuzzy family shot

Not diggin the pickups but otherwise its good to meh

 

[Nonservium]

Damn, that is beautiful

 

[simonXsludge]

wow!

 

[ShadyDavey]

Bloody hell dude, you have to post more piccies when you get it - that's AWESOME

 

[MaxOfMetal]

 

[kmanick]

Wow is right ! is this one of the new ones??
if yes I hope you talked him down some.

 

[Prydogga]

Oh good choice getting it from Meestursparkle, great prices from him/them/whatever. Looks great, I've been GASing one since I saw these new ones for '10, the vine inlay looks great.

 

[7slinger]

very nice

 

[Sonicillusion]

FKN Amazing dude...can't wait til i visit and can play it!!

 

[trippled]

I really like that guitar, if only it didnt cost 2800$ I'd be all over it.

 

[Deadfall]

Thanks all...I probably wouldnt have pulled the trigger..but I got scared about Ibanez' new policies concerning the exports.Hell man who would buy a universe with that gayass pickguard when you could have one of these for a couple hundred more.I mean hell,I would certainly have liked to have Mike Sherman build me one but its all about instant gratification I am afraid.
And for that matter I would consider myself an Ibanez fanboi....but those dumbasses in charge are idiots apparently.Cutting off exports with their J-customs???wtf is that all about?
Lets move on to the Broderick issue...look at their 2010 catalogue and what do you see?A badass guitar that you(the common man)cannot have.Its seeming to me that they've lost much of their fanbase because of this bullshit.
So guys like me wind up giving bidness to Jim because noone else can provide the service he does.And Rich from Ibanez rules moaning about Meestursparke over at Jemsite.I would highly advise anyone who wants one to get it now because the us dealers are starving...and they're starting to blow the whistle.Edit-and I dont mean to be hard on Rich...but for 3 years he just hasnt had anything I wanted,Does not respond to my emails and well...You do buisness with the people that do buisness with you.My money is as good as anyone's.Sorry for the grammar and for the ranting.But it needed to be said...and there,I said it.

 

[Esp Griffyn]

Wait why are they blowing the whistle? Meestursparkle isn't doing anything illegal

 

[blackseeds]

damn i have dreams about that guitar

 

[Deadfall]

Wait why are they blowing the whistle? Meestursparkle isn't doing anything illegal

IMO he isnt...and I made him aware of it as well.Old news to Jim apparently because he MOVES some gear.THe whole situation kinda sucks as far as I am concerned because ,obviously, I would love to give my bidness to peeps in the country that I live in.Talk to my local dealer and hes all like Yeah "I know the president of Ibanez personally"..I'm thinkin brother...you may have graduated Berklee....but you dont speak Japanese.And you cant get me a J-custom so stfu....rofl

 

[Vstro]

 

[Esp Griffyn]

IMO he isnt...and I made him aware of it as well.Old news to Jim apparently because he MOVES some gear.THe whole situation kinda sucks as far as I am concerned because ,obviously, I would love to give my bidness to peeps in the country that I live in.Talk to my local dealer and hes all like Yeah "I know the president of Ibanez personally"..I'm thinkin brother...you may have graduated Berklee....but you dont speak Japanese.And you cant get me a J-custom so stfu....rofl

I'm on Jemsite now reading about this whole crackdown.

Seems that basically, Ibanez don't want Vendors exporting their guitars and selling them at an uninflated price, since Ibanez are not able to break into the market since some vendors already undercut them. This is fair enough I say, business is business and it pays to be competitive, but it seems Ibanez have gotten bent out of shape and tried to make J Customs Japan-only.

Pretty tight of them, nothing to stop them narrowing their profit market a little and selling them at competitive prices through dealers across the world. Even though their profit per item would be lower, they'd make a ton of money more through massively increased sales overall. Bad business decision on their part, bad for PR too.

 

[Deadfall]

Yeah man...tis a heartbreaker..but in my opinion...Ibanez needs to realize where their bread gets buttered.

 

[Esp Griffyn]

Yeah man...tis a heartbreaker..but in my opinion...Ibanez needs to realize where their bread gets buttered.

I suppose I can see where they are coming from, one guy undercutting the rest by buying at cost price from a Japanese dealer and selling them on for a profit in the US, but still vastly undercutting US dealers who have a higher buy-in price, would definitely ruffle a few feathers. As they say, business is business and I applaud Meestursparkle for the service he provided, and guys like Ishibashi.

I can see a lot of fans feeling butt-hurt that they now have to pay domestic prices for their instruments rather than getting them at foreign prices from the likes of Ishibashi, but it is out of fairness to the majority of the dealers I suppose. While this will no doubt blow up in Hoshino's face, it's important to note that what they are doing is in no way unique - Fender Japan have been making better guitars than Fender USA for more than 20 years now, and as soon as Fender USA could handle production and quality to a sufficient level after their early 1980s dip they blocked Fender Japan instruments from leaving Japan, and since about 1990 the only one way to get ahold of one was from a private export under the table at a dealer who had a contact, or buying one second hand from Japan.

By that token, Charvel and Jackson (Fender companies) and most of the other big names in the guitar business probably have some cool stuff that is only selected for certain markets, but we don't hear about them as much since the Ibanez Japan models and the J-customs are so highly sought after, they are the ones that get talked about often.

But if Ibanez really are making the J Custom line a home market only model then that sucks. Sounds a bit like cutting off a nose to spite the face. I can understand Fender's move to block the export of Fender Japan instruments since they were better guitars than what Fender USA could make, and Fender couldn't risk the US production hitting the skids for a second time. In the case of Ibanez however, its a total block on J customs since you can't get an equivilant domestic model, and in this case the potential buyers really have lost out.

 

[kmanick]

Meestursparkle is great to work with, I got my J-Custom from him and he was more than accomodating etc.
One of the best buying experiences I've ever had.

 

[Sean Babiniec]

I am kinda okay with the whole export block. I really want a J-custom, but I would be afraid that if they started to produce three times more than normal to satisfy the worlds demands, the quality would go down. They have a team of elite luthiers working on those, if they all of the sudden had to double or triple that team, I am not sure that the quality would be held up. If they made them available for export to the US, I am afraid it would just be a pretty looking prestige guitar. I say keep them high quality and elusive.

Plus, if you have a J-Custom, you really are the shit!



*I am really jealous of the OP. Great looking guitar!!!!!!!