You can get them used for less than the price of a new prestige on Reverb. If you like the specs, they're still a lot less expensive than a lot of other companies top of the line models. That said expensive guitars are never the best value, period. This has only been further reinforced by the fact that cheap import guitars have gotten so much better. You're primarily paying for the craftsmanship but you're also getting better pickups, hardware, electronics, woods, and resale value. It's up to you to decide whether it's worth the price tag.
Ibanez 2022 discussion.
You can get them used for less than the price of a new prestige on Reverb. If you like the specs, they're still a lot less expensive than a lot of other companies top of the line models. That said expensive guitars are never the best value, period. This has only been further reinforced by the fact that cheap import guitars have gotten so much better. You're primarily paying for the craftsmanship but you're also getting better pickups, hardware, electronics, woods, and resale value. It's up to you to decide whether it's worth the price tag.
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aesthyrian
Well-Known Member
and this is why there are indo premiums with fancy finishes and name brand pickups going for more than MIJ genesis line guitars. All that matters is appearance and specs it seems, craftsmanship and quality are just not marketable to the masses I guess. 
MrWulf
Well-Known Member
I mean given Indo guitars are getting the 2020 MIK pricing, MIJ gonna get into the 2K+ area this year for sure. And let's face it, people who complain about pricing in here aren't gonna buy either of the MII or MIJ anyway, despite the bitching.
odibrom
.
... errr... MIJ Prestiges are already in the 2k+ price level...
and this is why there are indo premiums with fancy finishes and name brand pickups going for more than MIJ genesis line guitars. All that matters is appearance and specs it seems, craftsmanship and quality are just not marketable to the masses I guess.
That's a pretty unfair assessment. Most people aren't gear nerds like us. Side by side a premium RG is going to sound better than a RG550 at guitar center just by nature of the pickups(subjective but i hate the v7/v8). You're never going to get a gig because your guitar has better craftsmanship, you will get one because you sound better than the other guy. Conversely you need to look the part. Sometimes a neon yellow doesn't fit. Finally it's not like all MIJ guitars are vastly superior to MII ones, plenty of good and bad examples of both.
StevenC
Needs a hobby
My used J Custom actually cost less than my used Prestige.
nickgray
Well-Known Member
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It's down to price/performance. With regards to craftsmanship, I've yet to see a guitar that is actually spotless. I have a Prestige, and it has plenty of small cosmetic flaws - tooling marks near fret edges, there's a tiny bit of glue near one edge, the side dots are slightly crooked, there's some white gunk in the pickups cavities and on some screws. Great playing guitar though.
Paying $3k for spotless workmanship (let's assume that it is) for a guitar that looks subjectively cheap is, at least to me, a bit weird. I'd rather buy a new Prestige for $1.5k (that also looks cooler), look at the tooling marks up close once, and think if it's worth to pay another $1.5k for that "sure feels good" sensation for when you don't see any tooling marks up close.
aesthyrian
Well-Known Member
Those are some fair points. Much is subjective and opinion based I suppose, but I'm still not paying MIJ prices for MII just because it has a "cool" finish and fishmans. Why someone would opt for an $900 RGA42HPT over the $1000 Genesis boggles my mind unless they really want that Nyatoh body, Jatoba fretboard, and AANJ(Which many seem to think is a requirement for playing anything above the 12th fret haha).
You're clearly paying a very large "premium"(name makes sense now) for appearance at the cost of performance when we consider than the RGA42HPT comes with a "double locking tremolo"(but it's gold!) and the Genesis all come with the edge. It's a case of sacrificing the functionality of the tremolo for the looks of the guitar. I'm sure it's still a very serviceable and usable instrument, but it being only $100 less than something made in Fujigen by the same brand with arguably the same features is so crazy to me. I mean, it is what it is and I don't expect it to change, I'm just venting
The $1000 MIJ genesis line is easily the best price/performance available, yet there are still more expensive MII Ibanez models that people are buying. So, there is far more to it than I will ever understand haha
Wolfhorsky
Regular idiot
The feel of the MIJ neck is way different and this sums it up for me. Pickups can be swapped easily - to taste. Solid construction, nice feel and good trem - MIJ Genesis is imho Ibbys bang for buck.
It's only a good deal if you like the RG550 (full disclosure I love mine). If I have to spend money on pickups, plus pay a tech to rewire and refinish that doesn't sound like a great deal. Rather spend my money on something like this.
https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/rg631alf_1p_02.html
or
https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/rg60als_1p_01.html
Um, I think you might be a bit confused. I said that J.Custom is like the Lexus LFA crew but this J.Custom in particular looks like the Lexus LFA crew was commissioned to make an LFA that looks like a 2003 Toyota Corolla. It's not just a bad top and light brown fingerboard, but also the cheesy block inlays and the cheap looking pickup rings.
Maybe because a bad top and a light rosewoord fretboard does make a guitar look cheap? I wouldn't want that on my $3000 guitar. Also, we were more criticizing the cheap looking pickup rings and ugly block inlays.
Alex79
Well-Known Member
You say that as if a Lexus is a good/desirable car... :-/ Maybe in North America, but I've never even seen one in Europe. I don't know what the European equivalent of that metaphor would be.
J-Custom = Porsche 911? Mercedes SL? Nissan GT-R?
StevenC
Needs a hobby
The LFA is the equivalent of like a Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari 488 or McLaren 720S class supercar.
Standard range Lexuses would be Mercedes C E and S Class competitors. They are the fancy, upmarket marque for Toyota.
Muzz
Well-Known Member
All I want is an Ibanez RG7EXFX but with a trem to compliment the fixed bridge version 
StevenC
Needs a hobby
That would be an argument if it weren't a stylistic homage to the guitar already posted with pickup rings and the same inlays. No one is forcing you to buy a J Custom if you don't like it.
All this makes a lot of sense to me when I examine my taste in guitars, as my idea of a good car is as far from those mentioned as one can get. I unironically want a Citroen Berlingo or a van of some sort, preferably with as anonymous a colour as possible. Same with guitar: I want the purely utilitarian options, and even stuff like a somewhat bold colour, like on my now-beloved Road Flare Red RG550, is difficult for me to swallow. This explains why 99% of modern, new guitars just leave me feeling pretty much totally alienated.
Exactly.
This j-custom is a recreation of one of the early USA customs, right down to the inlays and even the font used on the headstock.
Not gonna lie, that is pretty neat!Exactly.
This j-custom is a recreation of one of the early USA customs, right down to the inlays and even the font used on the headstock.
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