Ibanez Scofield Guitars

[DanielleOM]

I had the opportunity to look at the JSM and at a store and I did not spend much time with it. All I can remember is that it just seemed to be one real heavy guitar and a lot more weight than I wanted to deal with. At the time I used to playing 5 lb., OM style flattops.

[DonEsteban]

I just received (and sent back) a JSM10. I got the new version with the 3 piece neck.

I own an AS93 and owned an AS153 and some other Ibanez semis before. I still have my test recordings I do with every guitar.

The guitar is visually stunning, a real looker. Craftsmanship superb. It was in tune when I took it out of it's box (after 2500 km from Germany to Spain). Neck is on the heavy side, almost a bit too heavy for me, though I like them not too thin.

What made me send it back was the sound. I did my usual test recordings, always the same sequences of chords and single lines under always the same conditions, same audio interface bla bla...

I couldn't find significant enough difference between the AS93, AS153 and the JSM10. There was something but... tiny, at the edge of perception.

More than once I couldn't tell which one I heard when I tried to guess blindly (someone else pushing the buttons).

I think that might have to do with the new neck. With the one piece sapele neck the guitar sounded rounder, more 335-ish I was told. Hear-say I admit, but it had been my motive to order the JSM10 in the first place.

As this guitar was meant to replace the AS93 I sent it back. The better visual appearance and that ebony fingerboard not being worth the extra money for me!

[patshep]

Sapele is a dense wood, an African wood and it has enough kinship in quality, character and weight that it's a common substitute for Mahogany these days. It tends to be more predictable as far as density. I've worked with some Honduras Mahogany that was incredibly light, others that were dense almost like a rosewood or ebony. Both are close grain woods and in fact, Sapele is often referred as Sapele Mahogany.
Hah, yeah like baby chickens are referred as cornish game hens and tender beef is called veal. Or a Corolla with blinged out wheels can be called a sports car, or Patagonian toothfish being called a Chilean Sea Bass.
In this world of wood police and the Lacey Act, not to mention dwindling wood supplies and protected regrowth efforts, it may have been a good workable solution to get the public accustomed to alternative woods. Certainly a stable neck on a nice stock Scofield guitar goes a long way towards establishing credibility in a new wood.

David

The Sapele on my Comins GCS1 was great, I definitely didn't miss mahogany at all... woods were chosen in vintage times based on what was workable and available, and sounded good... i'm all for trying new woods out, and Sapele was very nice