Watty
Naturally Cynical
Did it surprise you that they were veneers; at that price point, what else would they be?
Ibanez 2014 NAMM Thread
- Thread starter jvms
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
Did it surprise you that they were veneers; at that price point, what else would they be?
This site may earn a commission from merchant links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
I have never understood why people hate veneers so much. It's being added for purely cosemtic function.
If you believe in the magic mojo of tonewood, a veneer allows you to keep the epic tone of the saber line with ....ing epic looks.
If you don't believe in the mystical properties of cut down trees covered in plastic, then it doesn't matter a lick whether it's a veneer or a "real" top as it has no effect on the tone.
The sabers have to have a veneer. Certain parts the body are 3/8 of an inch thick. Putting a 1/4" top on that is problematic.
If you believe in the magic mojo of tonewood, a veneer allows you to keep the epic tone of the saber line with ....ing epic looks.
If you don't believe in the mystical properties of cut down trees covered in plastic, then it doesn't matter a lick whether it's a veneer or a "real" top as it has no effect on the tone.
The sabers have to have a veneer. Certain parts the body are 3/8 of an inch thick. Putting a 1/4" top on that is problematic.
I know man. Every time I see your posts it's like looking in the mirror. Livin' in Ontario with a 2 year old and a 6month old gassing for a fixed bridge RGD through Long and Mcquade and tired of Efkay's mishandling of Ibanez distribution.
I did manage to snag a mint 1527RB before baby number 1 popped out but I'm playing through a Line 6 spider 3 so...
Sephiroth952
Ibby Fanboy
This. I can only recall a couple occasions where ibanez has put thick maple tops on their guitars. Them being the J-customs and the old american masters series. And thing else is either a thin top or a veneer. So it should come to no ones surprise that these are either.
j0eyaces
Well-Known Member
I'm at the Axe Palace right now... almost ready to pull the trigger on the S5570QDpb. The top on this thing is incredible. These photos don't do justice you need to check these guitars out in person.
The RG752LWFX is gorgeous. The RG752FXSPM is a very dark purple very sexy.
Gibraltar bridges aren't bad at all.. no need to hesitant on it plays like a dream.
Ibanez gets a thumbs up from me so far this year.
The RG752LWFX is gorgeous. The RG752FXSPM is a very dark purple very sexy.
Gibraltar bridges aren't bad at all.. no need to hesitant on it plays like a dream.
Ibanez gets a thumbs up from me so far this year.
Jonathan20022
Engineer
Considering most LACS guitars are just production guitars that get customized and get the things like fretwork and setup done by some great guys and luthiers. It probably won't be any different than what you played at NAMM.
guitarmadillo
Son of Popsyche7
That bulky square heel is the best bulky square heel. I've not played it on a seven, but going from a JEM with it to an RG570 with the tilted joint is painful. Artist got what artist wanted.
I don’t know, I tried a square heel and an AANJ heel and I prefer the second in terms of comfort, the thing I don’t like with the square heel are the sharp angles. I also like that the body kind of blends into the neck or the other way round if you prefer, one thing is for sure I’ll get a neck-through some day 
Veneers are a good thing Leonardo. I wouldn't want the Saber to lose its pure mahogany tone by having a 1/4" maple top that eats up the majority of the overall body thickness. The point is to retain the guitars sound and light-weight but have it look pretty. It is real quilt fake, its just a thinner slice. This is why also why these cost less than say a PRS. I dont think anyone complaining about "veneers", which is what every IBanez Saber has used since the danw of time, really understands what they'd be sacrificing.
guitarmadillo
Son of Popsyche7
I dont know, I tried a square heel and an AANJ heel and I prefer the second in terms of comfort, the thing I dont like with the square heel are the sharp angles. I also like that the body kind of blends into the neck or the other way round if you prefer, one thing is for sure Ill get a neck-through some day
I love the AANJ, the cut away block heel and neck through. It's the tilted block one that's a bitch. That thing gets in the way so much.
Well, i always thought that would be the big difference to all the cheaper models ?
I wonder if they select the wood for the Prestige sries, there must be a difference, cause all of the cheaper one´s have veneers too !?!
There have only been a couple real 4mm tops on S's and they were J Customs. Everything else has always been veneer. They've also used plenty of veneer on Prestige RG's, flame, quilt, Koa, etc. In fact every flame top Prestige you see that is bound [not faux bound] is a veneer top. It's decorative only and keeps the price down.
HaloHat
Baritones
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2009
- Messages
- 1,530
- Reaction score
- 220
Carvin's or something ha...
DC7X under construction. Real Black Limba body and neck strips, the rest I'm not tellin till NGD but they are not typical stock woods and they are nice and not cheap. All with a hard case and under $2k.
So as much as Ibanez has come out with lots I like better than past models [ebony boards at last on some models] the only Ibanez I see myself buying for sure so far is the nylon 7 string acoustic. And that has a rosewood board, ironic eh. The Jake sig looks super fine but missing a string. And the Tele like Ibanez with the ebony board also lookin good but missing a string.
I love Ibanez, Schecter and Carvin so not anti anyone. But Carvin pretty much covers my wish lists now that they are giving us the 27" scale seven option.
Chuck
Well-Known Member
Just to touch on the veneer vs thick top thing, I've never understood why people dislike veneers so much. As long as it has nice figuring to it I don't give a flying .... how thick it is.
narad
Progressive metal and politics
I'm normally against veneers - the premium line tops of the past few years look awful to me, two dimensional and gross. It looks like a vinyl sticker of quilt.
But something is up with these new sabres. I've never seen veneers so convincingly resemble a thick quilt top. It's actually one of the highlights of NAMM for me this year: Orange dual dark, Caparison TAT special returns, Ibanez pulls some magic stunt to make veneer look like a proper 5A quilt top.
SoItGoesRVA
Do You Even Riff?
Jake
GAS Master
My S Prestige has a veneer....I don't see the problem here
That's because, contrary to popular perception, the thickness of a top has very little to do with how much the figuring "pops."
Yeah man. I think people are confused about what a veneer means, and perhaps are mixing up "veneer" with "photo flames" or something thats fake. Veneers are "real" top woods, its just merely a thinner slice, the figuring is the same either way. Most companies do things this way.
Ibanez use veneers because it looks just as good, keeps the cost down for consumers, and does not upset the tonal balance (or add weight). ESPs, Parkers, Schecters, and plenty of high-end guitars use veneers. They may still have a maple cap under them, but the part thats actually showing is often a veneer. What are you going to do, add a 1/2" maple cap onto a Parker Fly? Surely that wont completely ruin everything!
I actually wish companies would use veneers MORE and here is why: So many expensive guitars out there have very mediocre tops. I would much rather them find one really amazing looking quilt or flame slab, and then cut them into thin slices so they can produce a lot more guitars with them, and then be able to bring the price down considerably. At the end of the day, most people want a killer top because it looks good, not because they care about how that maple is actually adding to the sound (which is quite subtle).
Exactly. People just are misinformed about it, which is okay. That's where we're here for, to enlighten!
narad
Progressive metal and politics
It's really maple and redwood that have the most striking 3-dimensional effect - called chatoyance outside of guitar world. I feel like the Bubinga veneers I see are more or less just what I see from a thick slab of Bubinga, and I'm not against veneer tops as a general concept at all:
But veneers in practice...
C'mon, that looks like shit. You can find an angle or two where a premium Ibanez looks great, but in person there's something off about those tops. My best guess is that when using a veneer top, or when producing a guitar at a "veneer top price", the finishing work is lacking or restricted. Maybe they can't do the proper double stain technique? Maybe they're just not bothering at that price range? So I can totally get with people being anti-veneer, because it's more of a "proof is in the pudding" scenario: whether a veneer is inherently bad, what Ibanez has been doing with them for the past 3 years has been quite bad. That's what I really hate to see too - buying up increasingly rarer big slabs of awesome 5A maple, slicing them paper-thin and turning them into shitty tops for a fifty guitars that would have looked better as solid colors.
On the other hand, sometimes I see veneer maple and it just looks great. I shamefully thought this was a new j-custom leak when I saw it on the axe-palace facebook page:
So I'm quite glad with NAMM...lots of veneers...not a lot of ugly guitars. So ultimately, kudos to Ibanez this time around - I may have to change my tune on the whole thing
