Lorcan Ward
7slinger
All I know is the Ibby copy someone got her years ago is what got me interested in custom guitars in the first place.
RAN guitars offline. Did they close? Update: Trouble Relocating
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All I know is the Ibby copy someone got her years ago is what got me interested in custom guitars in the first place.
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prlgmnr
...that kind of idea
I don't think you're the first person in here to not care about copying.
Albake21
Ibanez Nerd
Whoa..... be right back, gonna go start some plans to build a custom RGA.
All I know is the Ibby copy someone got her years ago is what got me interested in custom guitars in the first place.
LeviathanKiller
Knee-shooting Archer
Same
those aren't straight copies 1:1.
most of them are copies with custom specs, which you can't get from the original brand.
like people want their guitar with a floyd, more frets, different fretboard etc, specced to their liking.
i don't think the major brands were hurt in any form if someone builds a few "copies".
to me it's a grey area for sure, but not as bad as copying it straight, with the logo etc.
most of them are copies with custom specs, which you can't get from the original brand.
like people want their guitar with a floyd, more frets, different fretboard etc, specced to their liking.
i don't think the major brands were hurt in any form if someone builds a few "copies".
to me it's a grey area for sure, but not as bad as copying it straight, with the logo etc.
jephjacques
BUTTS LOL
That RGA fuckin owns
narad
Progressive metal and politics
All I know is the Ibby copy someone got her years ago is what got me interested in custom guitars in the first place.
Weirdly enough that has the deeper cutaway contours I've only seen on the Broderick LACS. Wonder if they modeled it after that.
Jonathan20022
Engineer
That photo took me back to finding this this
Spicypickles
Sweeps & Mops
Not much to say on the subject, but I will miss the bolt on porn they produce, best neck joints in the biz
First Ran I saw was an Ibby RBM copy, but Ibby don't make them any more so good copying is a good thing for the fans of the model, I guess. Ibanez isn't gonna lose a cent because of it.
After the whole "who copied who" discussion, I'm still wondering what happened to Ran. I find it hard to believe that relocation is a reason to quit an entire business. Did the guy behind Ran get a job offer he couldn't refuse? Did he get sick? Retirement? Financial problems? Never played a Ran but I hear or read nothing but good things about them.
After the whole "who copied who" discussion, I'm still wondering what happened to Ran. I find it hard to believe that relocation is a reason to quit an entire business. Did the guy behind Ran get a job offer he couldn't refuse? Did he get sick? Retirement? Financial problems? Never played a Ran but I hear or read nothing but good things about them.
Isurez
Well-Known Member
What difference does it make? I mean honestly, will it change anything? This is Darek's private affair. A lot of different things had accumulated and he had no influence on most of them. Wondering and gossiping will not help at all.
The only thing I can say is that whole situation hurts me especially when you take into account fact that I was very close to ordering a guitar from him because the quality of his work was unbelievable. Legend.
The only thing I can say is that whole situation hurts me especially when you take into account fact that I was very close to ordering a guitar from him because the quality of his work was unbelievable. Legend.
Let us know if you find someone willing to actually do it. I'm looking for someone to make a duplicate of my main axe. I was talking with Ran guitars about doing a copy of my custom and they would no longer do an Ibby headstock so I was going to ask them to do something close which I could later modify into the shape. I was saving up for it when all this went down, so bitter sweet that I luckily didn't lose any money. Let us know if you find someone willing to actuallyy do it. I went to my original builder, Ron Blake, but he since retired from full builds. I was definately the first person I know of to have an Rga like these built. At least 5-6 years before any LACS or Rga models were released. I'm not not bragging, just saying, It was the only one on the internet or that I ever heard of for years, then they started popping up once Ibby released them. If anything Ibby copied me
The closest thing at the time was an ESP. It's an Ed Roman (I know, let's not start on an Ed Roman rant please) built by Alan Dreher and Ron Blake. Ron did many customs for all the big names, they even did ghost builds for the LACS and never got credit because they are ghost builds. The man is a master and it was really sad to hear he doesn't do full builds any more. I think he's in his mid 70's now. Here's some pron. It's a black Limba Body, 3pc hard maple neck, full double edge system and hardware from an rg2027xvv made in 1999 a year before they were released, with EMG's , ebony fretboard and custom inlay. The neck profile is even nicer than the rg2027xvv was. 20 years later, It is still solid, though it has some battle scars, every one of which I kicked myself in the ass for, but this is a player guitar. I refuse to put it in a glass box and stare at it, that would be guitar abuse, but I do need a backup for it, so anyone who knows of a godd luthier that will do this, please tell! Also has a french polished ebony vaneer headstock, it's a 3/4" maple flame top with a thick ebony vanneer on the headstock to. View attachment 68474I say copy. None of these companies will make a guitar like this. They are all custom. If they refuse for over 20 years now to make these guitars then it's not copying, it's filling a need in the market. I think it's stupid that companies can even copyright their headstock shapes. As long as it is not sold as something it's not, then it shouldn't be protected, imo. Especially Ibanez, they didn't care when they ripped off Gibson and they won't make any options available either. I've been saying it for over 20 years, and they never come out with something that checks all the boxes, at any cost. stop making so many damn guitars with weird stuff (like a 7 string bass where the bottom 2 strings are fretless) and start giving me real quality options I can use. I should be able to just order the parts I want at least and build the guitar I want, dare I say like Keisel, No let's not even start on that subject now! I swear, i'm not trying to start trouble. Tone wood! just kidding.
Albake21
Ibanez Nerd
I meant making one myself.View attachment 68476
Let us know if you find someone willing to actually do it. I'm looking for someone to make a duplicate of my main axe. I was talking with Ran guitars about doing a copy of my custom and they would no longer do an Ibby headstock so I was going to ask them to do something close which I could later modify into the shape. I was saving up for it when all this went down, so bitter sweet that I luckily didn't lose any money. Let us know if you find someone willing to actuallyy do it. I went to my original builder, Ron Blake, but he since retired from full builds. I was definately the first person I know of to have an Rga like these built. At least 5-6 years before any LACS or Rga models were released. I'm not not bragging, just saying, It was the only one on the internet or that I ever heard of for years, then they started popping up once Ibby released them. If anything Ibby copied me
Lorcan Ward
7slinger
jephjacques
BUTTS LOL
They're actually more similar to the contours on their carved-top Crusher models. A nice bit of Ran/Ibanez synthesis!
Albake21
Ibanez Nerd
Broderick's RGA is still one of my all time favorites. I wish more companies made white stained tops, but I know it's a difficult process.
That RGA is one super classy guitar. I think the best thing about small builders is that you could ask someone to imitate an existing design, but make it your own in the ways you want. I don't think Ibanez lost any customers due to RAN. If anything, smaller luthiers' unique takes on their designs should serve as an R&D/market research platform and a promotional tool for the bigger brand. If someone made amazing variations of existing Ibanez designs in a smaller shop, and people would be interested in them, it would be easy for Ibanez to just take the formula and apply it on production guitars the next year.
Anyway, now I want a black RGA with white binding...
Anyway, now I want a black RGA with white binding...
That's kind of how it already works, and it's not really industry specific to guitars.
Small shops innovate, as they're much more agile (typically) and due to market factors they need to innovate to stay above water.
When they hit on a great idea the larger manufacturers come in and use their supply chain muscle to make said innovation cheaper and faster to implement, which makes it more available to more buyers.
So the little guy is better at new ideas and the big guy is better at making them happen.
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