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What do you guys think of this Japan market Ibby? It can be had for about $1400 including shipping from Japan. Pretty unique spec:
- 335 (AS) shape
- Spruce top
- Fully hollow except for under the bridge
- Ebony board and other partsLast edited by rpguitar; 11-03-2013 at 09:51 PM.
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11-03-2013 09:29 PM
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That looks way cool! I like those specs
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Looks great, nice specs. Reminds me in a way of another MIJ Ibanez a couple of years ago that had a deeper, archtop body design (a la PM35), also with wood binding and ebony bits. Forget the name but I really liked that one, too. Wish it was still available. I wonder if this SAS300 model will ever make it here in the US. Got any FS links?
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I agree about the specs, fully hollow, ebony fb, etc. Nice One. - but - despite the fact it might sound and play great, I think Ibanez have dropped the ball in regards to how their guitars actually look - looks a bit 'cheap' to my eye, especially in comparison to Ibby's from the 70', 80's and 90's which by and large looked pretty damn good. But on the bright side, at least it doesn't have a lightning bolt on the headstock. Maybe I'm being a bit pissy here, but in comparison, the Sco model looks the bomb - if they combined looks of the Sco, with these fully hollow specs, I think that would be an awesome axe.
Just ramblin' for the sake of it...
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They kind of did with the ASF180, fully hollow but with a maple top instead of spruce (and a much higher price, since it's MIJ):
Originally Posted by 3625
I just read a bit more carefully and the SAS300 is not MIJ... it's probably MIC like the AF155/151 and AFJ95/91. I agree that the finish is a little cheesy on these, but they sure do play nicely once set up.
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Originally Posted by rpguitar
They kind of did with the ASF180, fully hollow but with a maple top instead of spruce (and a much higher price, since it's MIJ):
I stand corrected!
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The SAS300 pretty much follows in the vein of the Ibanez SJ500 and SS500 and Made In China. I have the 17" SJ500.
Not very loud acoustically and it has a warmer woodier tonal response than an Ibanez with a laminated wood top but not acoustically alive compared to a carved top archtop. The top may be spruce but it is pressed spruce. I was not impressed with its construction as the humbucker routs were not squarely routed but perhaps the Japanese shop sent me a lemon. There were two filled in holes in the top under the bridge base where someone made a mistake and thought that the base would cover it up.
So, based on my experience, the SAS300 would be a warmer thuddy version of the AS103. Not as bright and snappy at the top. Not as tight at the bottom; warmer rounder thuddy bass response.
New instruments sold outside of Japan by the Japanese retailers carry no warranty so be careful. I raised the issue with the Japanese store I got it from and the response was "No warranty. No warranty." In essence, I was stuck with whatever lemon they sent me with no right of return.
My SJ500 was playable despite the construction and cosmetic flaws. The QC isn't quite what you would expect. The QC ticket (yes, there was one) was signed by a guy named Lo. I guess Chinese QC means the flaw that you don't see is the flaw that is passable.
I don't have much confidence in the SAS300 based on my experience with the SJ500. For $1400, you can do much better like the Seventy-seven Guitars Exrubato Custom Jazz which is a Gibson ES-355-style beauty with a trapeze tailpiece, a hollow body and a pressed spruce top. Made in Japan to typical Japanese high standards of finish. Looks a damn sight better too. You wonder why Gibson doesn't take a leaf out of the book of its Japanese admirers and make a guitar like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqMLbvC7oqw
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 11-04-2013 at 01:56 AM.
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been waiting for spruce tops to become a thing for a while now, especially with the ebony board. hofner has been cranking them out for years and guild recently made some beautiful mia ones. i'd be curious about this one, too. wouldn't mind giving it a shot. that little flippy switch could be interesting, as could its general mij-ness. never had one of those turn out bad.
but since i'm "that guy", i'll complain about the only thing that really matters: the aesthetics.
the overlay, pickguard, knobs and tail piece all have to go. not huge on the shape of the ears, either. similarly, my big beef with seventy-sevens is that, aside from their availability, they insist on putting dumb, boring old dots on everything.
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http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/hb_...&series_id=177
Anyone tried these
Like a 330 fully hollow could be an inexpensive way to get a Grant Green Vibe going
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I'd love to try one. The construction and materials should give it a pretty convincing acoustic voice coupled with a more comfortable form factor.
Like others, I'm not crazy about the aesthetics of these new Ibanez hollow bodies but they do actually look better in person and the quality and performance is not only good for the price, it's good regardless of the price. I've had my AFJ91 for a while now and it's not going anywhere. It's going to be fascinating to watch where Ibanez takes this line in the future. As a company, they don't always have the longest attention span but if they stick with it, they could end up building some real classics.
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What exactly is under the bridge? Just a little support for the bridge posts glued under the top? Or is it a solid block that is connected from the top to the back? Makes a big difference. Originally Posted by rpguitar
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For my money, if I was after that style guitar I'd buy a carved Heritage 555. They've available used ev'where. I bought a 555 for $1600 that was as new.
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This seems to be the exact counterpart of the SS500 I had been semi-lusting for for a while. Originally Posted by rpguitar
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SS500 - that thing is gorgeous, although Jabberwocky seems not too impressed by his... Not sure what to do, although $1400 is not a deal like the $549 I paid for my AF-155. I stole that one...
Heritage 555, eh? Seems like a 355 clone. It's a semi made with all maple, so it probably weighs 8 lbs or more. The Ibanez I posted about is fully hollow with a spruce top - not the same creature.
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Mine's the SJ500, a 17". The flaws are hidden under the pickup rings and bridge. It looks quite nice otherwise and is VERY GLOSSY, not a nice satin violin as shown in the pictures. It certainly marks very easily so I suspect that the top coat is nitrocellulose and feels a little sticky on the hands.
It has a nice comfortable neck profile and the ebony fretboard looks good. Solid curly maple binding all round.
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These guitars would make a fine addition to the regular Ibanez production line. I would have thought that there should be a market for Ibanez archtops in the 1500 range, but apparently there isn't. I remember seeing about half a dozen SS500's on ebay (from European dealers) over the past couple of years, some of which were being offered for months on end.
It sure takes a good stomach to import a guitar from Japan with no warranty.
An inexpensive alternative in the ES330 vein (fully hollow thinline) would be the Ibanez ASR70 (which actually looks nice).
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for some reason, that ss500 works a lot better for me, aesthetically. Originally Posted by rpguitar
as for heritage, it would be the 530 you'd be after- that's their casino-alike. i'm sure if you ask nicely, and have all the patience (and money) in the world, maybe they could make you one with a spruce top. not sure if anyone has ever asked, but its worth a shot.
sadly, the spruce topped electric guitar market is pretty niche-y.
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You can say that again. I'll say this about dealing with the Japanese. Even when you get screwed over, they remain unfailingly polite to you... Originally Posted by palindrome
I contacted one shop through Rakuten Japan about a guitar gadget. Back came the reply, Sorry, for international customers, we do not sell through Rakuten. Please contact us directly at this email address.
So, I contacted them directly at the email address that the shop provided about the guitar gadget. Back came the reply, Sorry, for international customers, we do not sell new items.
Like, why couldn't the shop have told me that right from the first email?
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For the same price in Yen, I chose the guitar with more wood in it. Yeah, I am that shallow. The SS500 is really the GB10; it is about 15" across the lower bout. The SJ500 is a full 17" across. I suspect I got a lemon or a shop demo because it had no foam slip under the bridge. And we all know that all new Ibanez archtops come with that infernal foam slip under the bridge. Originally Posted by feet
Oh, you mean I supposed to remove that?
It came set up with flatwounds though which was a nice change from all the 0.010 D'Addario roundwounds that one usually gets. And there were no case candy, no hang tags, no nothing.Last edited by Jabberwocky; 11-05-2013 at 03:17 PM.
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$1400 for a MIC Ibanez.
Too dear, sorry.
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I agree, hence I climbed down off the GAS ledge for the SAS300.
The SJ500 looks so darn nice... I'll put it on my Ebay search list for the near term and see if one pops up.
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I tend to agree. At the very least I'd like to try one first. On the other hand Ibanez is clearly on to something with their better MIC archtops so it would't really shock me if it turned out to be a terrific guitar. Originally Posted by DRS
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It may be Made In China but the wood package is very nice. And it is finished in nitrocellulose lacquer. The craftsmanship is generally superb except for the humbucker rout which was not squarely cut and the two filled-in spots in the top under the bridge on my SJ500. That could have been from a very early run because I ordered it very shortly after it appeared in the catalogue.
You would pay that much for an Eastman or Peerless these days so $1400 is not really out of the ordinary.
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If it is a 335 knockoff clone //.that. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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Looks great!
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