Ibanez LGB 300 - short clip

[joerg petersen]

Hi Fellows,

here is a short clip with the Ibanez George Benson flagship model - enjoy.

Cheers
Joerg

[jzucker]

WOW! Sounds unbelievably great!

[JSanta]

Fantastic tone! I have not seen/heard one of these before, so this was a treat, thank you!

[kris]

5500 $-sounds good...

[joerg petersen]

Thanks, thanks - what a smartphone recording can show ...

Yes i love the sound as well. Though it was not 5 grand, more close to 3k. As you see from the specs its close to a L4 but with an Ebony board.

The neck is very different from the GB10 model. A wider fretboard and thinner neck diameter. The laminate is thick and shows many layer. Absolutely immaculate set up and craftsmenship.

I thought it was a bargain for that price. But i feel real lonely, only know about GB, another NT prototype and a easteuropean owner so far. Please let me know if any other LGB300 pops up to share some experiences. Maybe for a duet project :-)

Cheers n take care!
jörg

[jzucker]

i don't know anyone in the usa that has one . I don't see them advertised in any of the stores.

[kris]

There are in Germany and Poland:
http://www.thomann.de/pl/ibanez_lgb300_vys.htm
http://musicandmore.pl/ibanez-lgb300-vys

[Jim Soloway]

i don't know anyone in the usa that has one . I don't see them advertised in any of the stores.

I have no idea why, but Ibanez seems to consistently release new products in the US last (and sometimes not at all).

[jzucker]

I have no idea why, but Ibanez seems to consistently release new products in the US last (and sometimes not at all).

not sure I follow you

[Jim Soloway]

not sure I follow you

It just seems like every time they bring out a new product, they release it in Japan first, then the rest of Asia, then Europe, and finally in the US. If you look at their website, they have a different line up of products depending on what you choose as your home country and the US page is often missing several of the higher end products that are on the Japanese page and even if they are listed on the US page, they are often much later getting to the stores.

[GuyBoden]

It just seems like every time they bring out a new product, they release it in Japan first, then the rest of Asia, then Europe, and finally in the US.

Jim, in the UK, we're still waiting for the 7 string Archtop.

AFJ957

[kris]

I think/but not sure/ that first model of Ibanez LGB 300 got George Benson in USA...:-)

[Jim Soloway]

Jim, in the UK, we're still waiting for the 7 string Archtop.

AFJ957

On the other hand you go the AKJ95 with the Florentine cutaway that they didn't get in the US. I wonder how they make these decisions.

[GuyBoden]

On the other hand you go the AKJ95 with the Florentine cutaway that they didn't get in the US. I wonder how they make these decisions.

Jim, obviously, the Ibanez sales statistics department have charts/graphs showing that the UK players haven't purchased many 7 string archtops and the USA players don't purchase florentine cutaways.

[jzucker]

jim, you can get them in the usa but I think with the current state of the economy and with the music industry in decline in the USA, it's harder to find those $3500 USD guitars in stock. Sweetwater has them

[Jim Soloway]

interesting. The Krasno, which is $2800 street is showing up at a bunch of the US on-line sources.

[jzucker]

what is the krasno? link?

[Jim Soloway]

Eric Krasno from Soulive is their newest signature model endorser in the hollow body division. He's like Schofield, someone who's been playing an Ibanez 335 type for a long time so it made a lot of sense. It's being made in Japan and has a big clubbish 1-piece neck (.905 at the first to 1.03 at the octave) and DiMarzio 36th Anniversary pickups.

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_h...=2014&cat_id=7

[jzucker]

Eric Krasno from Soulive is their newest signature model endorser in the hollow body division. He's like Schofield, someone who's been playing an Ibanez 335 type for a long time so it made a lot of sense. It's being made in Japan and has a big clubbish 1-piece neck (.905 at the first to 1.03 at the octave) and DiMarzio 36th Anniversary pickups.

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_h...=2014&cat_id=7

I am schocked by ibanez' marketing strategy with their high end instruments. I can't imagine many folks in the USA paying $3k-$4k for these artists' instruments. A few years ago, the artist instruments were going for $2200-$2500 which was a bit more reasonable but I'm seeing sweetwater selling the Ibanez PM200 for $3500 and I believe that's a dumping price. The LBG-300 is not available at any stores in the USA that I could find. I see one in toronto for $4500 which is a little over $4k in USD.

[kris]

Expensive guitars.

[Jim Soloway]

I am schocked by ibanez' marketing strategy with their high end instruments. I can't imagine many folks in the USA paying $3k-$4k for these artists' instruments. A few years ago, the artist instruments were going for $2200-$2500 which was a bit more reasonable but I'm seeing sweetwater selling the Ibanez PM200 for $3500 and I believe that's a dumping price. The LBG-300 is not available at any stores in the USA that I could find. I see one in toronto for $4500 which is a little over $4k in USD.

I have a hunch that they don't anticipate selling a lot of these Japanese made guitars. The purpose seems more to establish their credibility which then helps them sell larger numbers of the very well priced Chinese models.

[jzucker]

I have a hunch that they don't anticipate selling a lot of these Japanese made guitars. The purpose seems more to establish their credibility which then helps them sell larger numbers of the very well priced Chinese models.

Could be but the profit margin is very slim on the chinese guitars. At some point, the cheaper guitars begin cutting into the sales of the flagship instruments. Perhaps - unlike gibson - they've reached a point of equilibrium with regards to the 2 product lines but I remember when they were actually selling GB10 guitars and then they made the korean version which sold for under $1k and the sales dropped like a rock on the japanese version. They quickly canceled the korean version but now this particular strategy seems like it's back en force

[Jim Soloway]

Could be but the profit margin is very slim on the chinese guitars. At some point, the cheaper guitars begin cutting into the sales of the flagship instruments. Perhaps - unlike gibson - they've reached a point of equilibrium with regards to the 2 product lines but I remember when they were actually selling GB10 guitars and then they made the korean version which sold for under $1k and the sales dropped like a rock on the japanese version. They quickly canceled the korean version but now this particular strategy seems like it's back en force

I'm just speculating but I suspect that the quality of the Artcore Expressionist series guitars has gotten so good and the bang for the buck is really just so spectacular that perhaps they think the future of more expensive artisan guitars is shaky at best. As you've noted, the economy is not what it once was and their ability to delivery a really credible guitar for 600 to $1200 has really gotten to be quite remarkable.

[jzucker]

sounds reasonable, Jim. I'm actually interested in trying the LGB-30 sometime. Unfortunately, around here they'll never get one.

[Jim Soloway]

sounds reasonable, Jim. I'm actually interested in trying the LGB-30 sometime. Unfortunately, around here they'll never get one.

Definitely going to be tough to find. It may be one of those guitars that you have to bring in from out of the country, but that makes the risk level awfully high. I just wish they made an arch top with a 25.5" scale length.