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That's been my experience over 40+ years, with one notable exception.
Originally Posted by jazzimprov
Ibanez quality is excellent, Japanese on par with the best...
I've been playing Ibanez for decades - I live and work at the center of origin of the brand in the US. Harry Rosenbloom was the guy who took a few fine US guitars to Japan in the early '70s and said something like "Hey - I hear you guys can copy anything really well on the cheap. Can you make a bunch of these for me?" and singelhandedly started our Japanese guitar invasion. Harry was a luthier-turned-music-store-owner in Ardmore, PA a few miles from every home in which I've lived since 1968. His own brand was named Elger after his daugher Ellen and his son Gerson. His music store (Medley Music) was, like the other larger Philly music shops of the day, a family business selling our favorite stuff.
Because of his starring role at Ibanez, Hoshino is in the Philly suburbs (Bensalem). And Harry always had a few spectacular showpieces in the store. I went to see what the fuss over Ibanez was all about, and I bought a very fancy double cut semi in the 355 mold (that had been the star of their exhibit at a mid-'70s NAMM show) for very little money. He was trying to get the brand into the public eye by putting them in local musicians' hands. It was a wonderful guitar, superior in every way to the Gibsons of the day. Since then, I've had 3 more. My AF207 is a stellar laminated archtop that I ordered from 8th Street Music (my default dealer since the 1960s) as soon as I read the announcement of its introduction in 1996 in Guitar Player. It's been my main gigging archtop since I finally got it in 1997, still beautiful, and still a fabulous player that sounds wonderful. And I have a surprisingly fantastic dark blueburst 7 string flat top that listed for $500 and punches 'way above its class. With a smooth and fast bound neck, very nice hardware, and a Fishman system with an XLR out, this baby was only made for a brief while several years ago (apparently because I was the only person to ever buy one...).
My only disappointment from Ibanez has been the first 7 string flat top I got from them. As I always do with something I "know" I'm going to love, I ordered this one when I read the first announcement of its release. I picked it up from 8th Street, brought it home, and developed a very rare syndrome for me - I had buyer's remorse within minutes. It was a crudely made instrument with very poor intonation, a flat and lifeless sound, and a generally cheap feel. I returned it the next day. But when I read of the impending release of another 7 string flat top from them years later, I didn't hesitate to jump in again. Truth be told, Ibanez went far beyond just fixing the things that were wrong with the first model - this one's a great guitar.
I've never needed service or parts from them, so I have no experience with aftercare. But I do want to buy one of the 7th string tuners that came on my AF207 because it's made larger for a proper 7th string, it's gold, and it'll look decent on my Eastman 810CE7 (which, surprisingly, came with a standard 7th tuner that I had to drill out to get a 0.070+ into it). I haven't been able to find one anywhere on the web, so I'll contact Hoshino on Monday and see if they'll help me. Stay tuned.
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02-12-2022 12:06 PM
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You already found it - I happily settled on the Comins after cycling through Eastmans, Godin, Ibanez, and Heritage for years Originally Posted by jazzimprov
Jack, not sure if you are talking about the company failures or the guitars. How do find the guitar (AF2000) aside from the company, in that price range that you can order new? (selective older models aside).
Do find them satisfactory or of poor build for the money?
In the $2500 range what would be your preferences? (New)
As you know I am on the lookout for an AF2000...
I'm done with Peerless or Eastman so...
I don't see the Ibanez guitars as plastic, the JH Sadowsky is Poly, pretty thick too but sounds incredible.
As far as personality free ...???
Seems to be up to the player to provide that.... like, the personality is the Player not the guitar unless the guitar is just weirdly defective sound wise.
I believe Jack would bring plenty of personality to his guitars through his playing.
..no?
Or Wes, or Jim Hall....
Sounds odd to me but maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean.
Drbhrb what fo usually recommend in the 2500 range then?
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Selling my Godin Ambience Deluxe
To put towards the AF2000.
Couldn't get used to it
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I apologize if I missed it, but I have to ask - why are you so down on Eastman? I only own one at present (810CE7). But I love mine and have found every one I've played since they first started coming into the country (which is at least a dozen) to be better than decent. I thought that many were outstanding, some were similar to alternatives in the same price range, and more than half were near the top of their categories for type, fittings, and price range. Originally Posted by jazzimprov
Admittedly, I've only played their archtops. But I played several at Ed Roman's Las Vegas shop when he first started carrying them about 15 years ago, and those early ones were uniformly excellent. They apparently had some QC issues as they ramped up North American distribution several years ago, but every one I've played in the last 5 or so years has been great. I'm a fan and have been on the hunt for a 7 string El Rey for over a year.
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Wow, we don't need to get crazy on the subject.
Ibanez is a great company, giving people with a small budget to be able to have very good guitars for the money.
A few decades back, it was impossible to get that kind of quality at this price. Don't forget it.
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I’m with Jack Zucker on this. I’m a huge Ibanez fan and have been since 1987. Have had many high end Ibanez models. The AS200s I’ve had from all the way up through the last decade were incredible instruments.
the last few years, it seems like they have suffered from various issues from truss rods to humps in the neck to electronic bugs to fret finish.
I just got in a brand new AS2000 factory sealed. The bridge studs are set so high that they stick 1/4” above the top of the bridge. There is fret sprout. The truss rod is very tight. And the tri-sound switch doesn’t work.
on a $250 guitar ok. Not on a $2600 guitar. No way.
very disappointed.
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this lady (comins cgs 16-1) is at home since two hours, I played it unplugged (I will plug later), very nice, great confort, I need 5 minutes to adapt to the neck cause I played only strato since months and the comins is thiner than the neck strato.
I didn't stop to play it during two hours as soon as the guitar was there and I like it a lot, I think it's a good start, a really good start according to me.
I will plug this baby later in a tube amp and open my ears later....the better is coming.
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Any updates?
Im beginning to see the error of my ways after buying and selling a blonde GCS-16-1. Having had a Peerless MT and a D'angelico Throwback since (the latter being horrible) Im on the verge of ordering another GCS-16-1. The necks are fantastic.
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wow that Comins looks wonderful
in design , perfect for me ....
what colour sunburst is that one ?
tangerine ? I love it
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yes it's tangerine burst. Originally Posted by pingu
The neck is great after a month I can say that the sound is really cool (I like when playing unplugged all those "harmonics" coming from the body ).
The Kent Amstrong pick up is doing good, when plugged in a tube amp it sounds great and there is some possiblities with the tone to find many different sounds.
I use the rounded strings that come with this guitar (12-52) and I like it, I will probaly try later with thomastik flat (bebop 12-50) to compare.
I enjoy this guitar for sure.
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Update on this: after 6 weeks and 2 inquiries through their website, I’ve gotten no response from Hoshino. I also contacted them to find out if my AF207 would fit in the new weatherproof Ultra Power Pad acoustic gig bag, and got no response. So I bought a Mono bag and will fit a custom large post Sperzel 7th string tuner to my Eastman. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
I still love Ibanez products in general. But with two in my permanent collection and having owned 3 others, I think you have to consider their customer support to be skeletal to nonexistent. If Comins and others provide quality instruments at fair prices anywhere close to those of similar high end Ibanez with decent customer relations and service, I will avoid Ibanez on principle. I’m glad to hear how satisfying the Comins is - I’ve never played one.
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I guess to put it in some context, I emailed with a query and got a response from Bill Comins himself!
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Have just taken delivery of my second Comins GCS-16-1 (after selling the first in a moment of temporary madness).
Dark sunburst this time, very classy. I’ll post a NGD tomorrow when I’ve had a chance to play and photograph properly. Suffice to say no regrets so far…I’ve never tried an AF2000.
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Look forward to some photos
of the Comins.
Came close to getting one a few months back.
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