Ibanez NAMM 2017

[A-Branger]

I have to say I ahve no idea whats the whole crying about the Premium line

I just went to my local store and they had the new limited edition Premium RG in blue. They didnt had the 7 string tho.

apart from the top looking a bit "meh", the guitar felt amazing. I didnt spotted anything wrong with it, felt great to play and I ahvent seen such great finished frets in any other brand like in this guitar, they even had the ball end look.

mind you Ive never tried a Prestige tho, I never seen one in any shop. But these felt amazing. I much rather have this guitar which looks great and have some great looking woods than a plain boring basic prestige. But thats just me

Also I tried the new RGA. It felt much much nicer than the previous year one. But neck still feels bit weird to me, compared to the RG which is a similar neck to my iceman

 

[Soya]

I agree, seems like good value for the hardware, 11pc neck and stainless frets. I'm waiting with baited breath for the RG1027PBF to start showing up over here. It will be mine, Oh yes.

 

[s2k9k]

They're taking forever to be in stock anywhere though

 

[Petar Bogdanov]

People are still re-stating how they feel about the 2012 guitars, I guess. Most newer premium owners have been happy.

One thing you won't see in specs is that the Prestiges get a nicer locking nut and neck profile, and also come with a case.

 

[Ordacleaphobia]

People are still re-stating how they feel about the 2012 guitars, I guess. Most newer premium owners have been happy.

One thing you won't see in specs is that the Prestiges get a nicer locking nut and neck profile, and also come with a case.

The Prestige neck profiles are fantastic. That's a big thing for a lot of people.
The other thing is that the Prestiges (or, the ones I've touched at least) feel bulletproof. They seem like they could fall out the back of a truck and still play alright. Look at the abuse some of the old Universes have endured and you'll see what I mean.

To me, (and a few others I know, can't generalize but maybe) the Premiums lack that feeling. They just feel more like a really, really nicely finished Standard series to me. Maybe it's just bias, but that's why I can drop 4 figures on a Prestige and feel fine, but have some major second, third, and fourth thoughts about doing it for a Premium. With the prices being so high on them now it's a bit tough to bite the bullet and go for it, even though the specs are great value on paper.

They do definitely seem to suffer from Iron Label syndrome though. The first few years of Iron Labels were wildly inconsistent, and it seems like the line never really recovered from that reputation once build quality leveled off. Which is funny because the Iron Labels actually have my favorite neck carve.

 

[nistley]

I have a standard, an iron label, a premium, and a prestige. They all feel equally solid, and the Prestige maybe feels a bit more vulnerable due to thinner neck. But, they're all super solid guitars, I see no construction differences, and standard is way heavier and neck is batty

The difference is the playability, the Prestige has just perfect fretwork, perfect woods, fullest sound, best sustain. The rest have 'normal' woods. Premium had great, but just not as flat fret surface, the iron label had a high fret, and the standard... I can't remember, it's been too long, haha, but I recently had to relevel and recrown it, and now it feels and sounds as good as a Prestige, minus the neck thinness, and is probably louder due to thicker body and it's become more resonant over time.

 

[diagrammatiks]

I have to say I ahve no idea whats the whole crying about the Premium line

I just went to my local store and they had the new limited edition Premium RG in blue. They didnt had the 7 string tho.

apart from the top looking a bit "meh", the guitar felt amazing. I didnt spotted anything wrong with it, felt great to play and I ahvent seen such great finished frets in any other brand like in this guitar, they even had the ball end look.

mind you Ive never tried a Prestige tho, I never seen one in any shop. But these felt amazing. I much rather have this guitar which looks great and have some great looking woods than a plain boring basic prestige. But thats just me

Also I tried the new RGA. It felt much much nicer than the previous year one. But neck still feels bit weird to me, compared to the RG which is a similar neck to my iceman

Even the iron labels I've picked up recently have been very good.

 

[Mathemagician]

So I picked up a 6 string hardtail S series. The new one with the natural back but the flame maple blue & green top. Rosewood fretboard. The carve was fantastic (not the thinnest Ibby carve which I don't like) and felt very light and comfortable. Really impressed. And the colors totally popped. Can't say enough positive about that. I didn't get any red flags and the fret ends weren't prestige level, but definitely not borked up rush job.

 

[eightsixboy]

The Prestige neck profiles are fantastic. That's a big thing for a lot of people.
The other thing is that the Prestiges (or, the ones I've touched at least) feel bulletproof. They seem like they could fall out the back of a truck and still play alright. Look at the abuse some of the old Universes have endured and you'll see what I mean.

To me, (and a few others I know, can't generalize but maybe) the Premiums lack that feeling. They just feel more like a really, really nicely finished Standard series to me. Maybe it's just bias, but that's why I can drop 4 figures on a Prestige and feel fine, but have some major second, third, and fourth thoughts about doing it for a Premium. With the prices being so high on them now it's a bit tough to bite the bullet and go for it, even though the specs are great value on paper.

They do definitely seem to suffer from Iron Label syndrome though. The first few years of Iron Labels were wildly inconsistent, and it seems like the line never really recovered from that reputation once build quality leveled off. Which is funny because the Iron Labels actually have my favorite neck carve.

I feel exactly the same way. I have tried the new RG6PCMLTD and other 2017 Indo stuff, I even just owned a 2017 RG370 AHM that I sold a few weeks later due to trem and sustain issues. Its the case with all the indo stuff, they are impressive on paper but there is always at least one element that really lets them down.


Take the RG6, most I've seen online all have crap looking tops, the one I played in store looked ok but had very poorly installed fret markers on the side of the neck, they over drilled a few holes massively, one was filled with some black looking filler, another just had gap that you could see down the side of the inserted fret marker. Also they failed at the masking of the top, they went over the top in a lot of places, couldn't really tell where the top/body line was.


Some people seem really happy with them though, maybe just justifying their purchase, who knows, but I wouldn't be paying $1800+ AUD for one of these. I got a 2017 RG752LWFX a few days ago and the thing blows any of the new premiums out of the water in terms of feel/sustain etc.