Ibanezrules

[subscorpion94]

Okay so on my recent endeavor to buy a new 6 string I've decided to stfu and get my first ibanez. And I've decided to go high end (2k$ USD). I stumbled across ibanezrules.com

Holy crap! This place is like freaking candy land! Rich seems like a pretty cool guy as well.

I made this topic for two reasons;

1 - to find out how some of your experiences with ibanezrules.com went

2 - so that anyone curious about the site, much like myself can use this thread to answer the questions I have now!

Also, is this the same Rich I see being referred to now and again around here?

 

[Jonathan20022]

Rich is a great dude to work with and easily one of the smoothest transactions I've ever taken part in. Highly recommend him, he's on here as well and there's countless people who can vouch for him.

Bought an RG3250MZ off of him awhile ago and it was shipped very quickly, he worked the frets a bit to make them perfect for me by the time I got it.

 

[Loganator259]

My only experience so far with Ibanezrules was when I had to buy a new locking nut for my RG550xx, and it was great. I (like an idiot) just told Rich that I needed a new locking nut for an RG550, not an RG550xx, it came in and didn't fit. So I called him and told him, and he was super nice about it, and didn't even make me pay return shipping, or shipping for the correct nut. Also, he didn't have any black for the 550xx, just cosmo, so he even called his distributor to see if he could get one, ended up not being able to get one, but he still sent the cosmo one for no extra shipping charge.
TL;DR, I was a dingus and bought the wrong part, and not only did Rich correct the problem on his dime, he went out of his way to try to get the color the would match the rest of the hardware on the guitar.
Hope that helps.

 

[MFB]

The only negative thing I've seen about Rich is that his site still looks it was built with Geocities in '99 Aside from that people seem to love his site and his guitars are top notch.

 

[rastachild]

i've bought 2 guitars off of him on two separate occasions and both transactions were excellent. the great thing about rich is he is a fan of ibanez's himself, so he will make sure you get the best guitar that he has in stock. and if he doesn't feel it's up to snuff, he has no qualms in letting you know. also his set ups are amazing. can't go wrong with rich.

 

[Given To Fly]

Never mind the guitars, he has Ibanez parts in stock! Nobody else has Ibanez parts in stock!!

 

[downburst82]

I echo that he is great, I bought a bunch of stuff for my prestige s and the prices were super fair and the shipping to Canada was only like $4-5 bucks!!

About the only think I could mention is I was looking to buy saddle shims for the ZR trem to match the neck radius and needed to figure out what sizes I needed. I was told he was really helpful so I asked him first, he just sent a short (not rude but abrupt) reply basically saying I would need to figure that out myself. Totally fair enough and I was able to figure it out after an hour or so of research, ordered the right sizes, he sent them, they work great! All is good

Will definitely always order all my ibanez parts from him in the future.

 

[s4tch]

I'll second the positive experiences. Never bought a guitar from Rich, but I got some parts. He's the quickest guy to respond e-mails, ships items instantly, no complaints from me.

Rich is back on sso btw:
SevenString.org - View Profile: Ibanez Rules

 

[Jarmake]

Rich is a great guy to deal with! I can highly recommend him.

 

[Daf57]

+100 on dealing with Rich! Super down to earth and reasonable prices on parts!

 

[mr_rainmaker]

Rich is Awesome!

 

[TheStig1214]

Love Rich. Needed a truss rod cover for my old RG8 and ordered the wrong one. Quick chat with him and he sent me the right one with screws.

 

[s4tch]

There's a lot to like in ibanezrules:
- huge stock
- reasonable prices
- 24/7 contact
- instant worldwide shipping
- great setup on guitars (I have no personal experience, just based on reviews)
etc

But the best thing is Rich's expertise. Whenever you face a problem, eg. "I have this old RG560 with the original, narrow Wizard neck, I dunno which nutpads to buy" or "I want the original 5-way switch for my guitar", or even "I have this rare RT with a rare trem, all I need is one single saddle", he'll be ready to answer.

 

[Given To Fly]

Also, if any of you happen to have an Ibanez JS Donnie or any of the JS Graphic models, those guitars are worth a lot and Rich wants them. When I say a lot I mean "mythical" amounts of money for an Ibanez. I'm emphasizing this because years ago a former coworker of mine had a JS Rainforest. He was in the Air Force and didn't really stay in the loop regarding the value of Ibanez guitars. Fair enough, but I knew its relative value and tried to emphasize that fact. He apparently didn't believe me because a few months later I found out he sold it for around $1000. As proof of the guitars actual value, the guy he sold it to came back to the store, I imagine to clear his conscience, and gave him an additional $500!
Anyways, Rich Harris, Ibanezrules, and Jemsite were the reasons I knew roughly how much the JS Rainforests were worth hence why I told the story.

Ibanezrules also has almost every Ibanez catalog up as PDF files. Its been an extremely useful resource for those "mystery" Used Guitar Center Ibanez models.

 

[TheShreddinHand]

Rich is awesome just like others have said. I've bought multiple guitars from him and parts and everything is perfect right out of the box. For the cheapest price you'll want to mail him a certified check which can take longer, but it's well worth it.

 

[broj15]

The only negative thing I've seen about Rich is that his site still looks it was built with Geocities in '99

it might just be me but i think it kind of adds a touch of charm.

 

[Webmaestro]

I've bought a ton of parts off him over the years--like well over $1000 worth of stuff--and every transaction has been great. He's absolutely legit and can be trusted. Awesome source of Ibanez expertise too.

Personality wise, Rich can seem a little terse, but what it comes down to is that he absolutely knows his shit and is very no-nonsense. I talked to him on the phone once and... whoa man... definitely a different personality from mine (I'm quiet, polite, and reserved). If you can get past that, his customer service is second to none.

My only regret is that he doesn't do setups/repairs on any guitars that he hasn't personally sold himself. But, that's his prerogative--tech isn't something he enjoys doing.

EDIT: Oh, and yes... usually whenever you see the name "Rich"... it's Rich Harris that they're talking about.

 

[Orandje]

new Ibanez RG2228 - $1250!! MAP what? wtf?

What does MAP mean?

EDIT: Google'd - maaan I'm lazy

 

[JustMac]

That site has that "I could get arrested for being here" vibe to it. Love it!

Holy crap though, is this just one bloke flogging impossible to find Ibanez axes? Is he really old? I honestly haven't seen a website like that since the mid 90's. Maybe it's a domain site for God's own classifieds page?

 

[Skrapmetal]

I haven't bought anything from Rich in years, but he's awesome. Just emailed him this weekend about a part and he got back to me within about 20 minutes.