Oh interesting! I did some looking and the Ibanez wiki is telling me in 2019 on the models in Japan have Rosewood but for markets outside of Japan, it is in fact macassar ebony! That would explain why it feels so great to play! I'll link this comment and mention this going forward
J.Customs neck is like a marriage once you get used to the neck you don’t really get to play “other guitars” because your hand starts hurting even looking at thicker necks.
Completely agree. I love the Super Hp Wizard neck which is the same as the j custom necks. The thinness with the shoulders makes it awesome for holding on to it while during certain types of bends. Also negates neck dive.
Anyone who's ever played a Japanese J custom or a prestige knows.... They're GOATs. Hard to beat even today by even the most modern guitars and brands. That ritchlite is a deal-breaker for me. Yes I own a guitar with that fretboard material. And it's "plastic" or "synthetic" feeling. Sure it holds up well to temperature changes. Great video man. Digging the content
Do you feel the fretboard while playing? Correct me if I’m wrong but you’re feeling the frets, not the fretboard. Unless you push the string down really hard but then that’ll throw the turning off. I have maple fretboard, ebony fretboard and rosewood fretboard instruments and they all feel the same.
@@YaYousef5 yeah I do. Fingertips come into contact. Subtle muting and whatnot. Got roasted maple, rosewood, ebony across 15+ guitars. I feel the board on em all. You feel em more on guitar without XJ frets. Technique varies from person to person. Got a ritchlite guitar too. Don't mind it. But i would choose a real slab of rosewood or maple anyday. Ebony too.
Thanks! The J custom is an amazing guitar that will not disappoint. Even though it doesn't have an evertune, it will stay in tune better than most guitars. And it will play faster than anything else out there
My solar’s definitely make me want to riff out when I play them, where as my thinner necked Ibanez definitely is better to play leads on. I have both an Ibanez and solar with hipshots and ebony fret boards and they are both very comparable, but neither can hold tune well when playing hard so I tend to play the evertune guitar.
Made in Japan and specially Fujigen guitars, pretty much are perfectly build. These things are workhorses. The newer J Custom & Prestige models now also have ss-frets, personally I think nickel frets are perfectly fine, if they're high quality. I have a 2008 PRS USA Cu 24, which I got second hand almost 10 years ago. The original owner played that thing a lot, so did I and the frets, despite being worn in are still fine. Every time I see people bitching about ss-frets, I roll my eyes...
Ibanez all day. The neck is a thing of beauty. I have it on my RG5121 which has the same neck dimensions as your J Custom and I love it. I’ll buy a J Custom when they put SS frets on it and put pickups that aren’t 30 years old like the Tone Zone is lol.
I hear you there, I love stainless steel frets. Strongly considering putting bkp polymaths in my j custom and a Blackhawk in my rga but I'm super behind on projects as is. Need to fix my RG5170 and restore a 1990 s
@@HighZ nice!!!! Tried the Polymath and didn't like them. Swapped them for Dreamcatcher and Rainmaker and they kick ass for metal / rock tones. Enjoy!
I would choose the Solar. Handmade, made in Europe (rare), looks metal as f, Swedish brand and Ola is awsome. But Ibanez make great guitars and second only to Europeans I trust in Japanese quality.
It's a difficult choice! I've been an Ibanez fan forever but all the points you've made are true. And the features make it so useful, I use the Solar more
@@HighZ Funny thing is Ibanez started as a cheap knock off brand making les paul copies and now they are one of the most popular. Yeah, fun with something more unique as well, a smaller brand.. I think
@LordOfSweden that's true! I remember seeing Paul Gilbert have all these amazing old Ibanez guitars that are clear knockoffs. Very interesting how things evolve
Great review!! I am an Ibanez man so my opinion is biased. I would choose the J custom of course. I do own a Ltd deluxe MH 1000 with the ever-tune (Fishman Fluence modern pickups so not a fan of Fishman) ever tune is not a bad thing. It's like you said it's not magic. Haven't owned a solar guitar as of yet. I just can't see myself buying one either. ( For various reasons(
Thanks and I totally understand. Solar Guitars definitely have a different feel than Ibanez and while the solars have been very useful for me, when I'm in the mindset to play an Ibanez, or need the best playability, it's no contest
It's a combination of them having an active sound and the on board PCB edits the tone further by evening out the frequency response, so if you're used to passive humbuckers or pickups with more bass it'll sound very strange. For this reason I dislike them in standard tuning but love them in drop C and lower, and in extended range guitars. Changing up your amp/plugin settings can help overcome this. Also I think a lot of people are paid to say only good things. Overall they're excellent pickups but might not be to everyone's liking
@@HighZ If thats really the case. Thats a lot of money going out to a lot of youtubers to say good things about their product. Quite a lot of guitars i was looking at come with fluence moderns but I may settle for something else with EMG retro actives or the usual Seymour Duncan sets if not a bare knuckle set.
@Rose.Of.Hizaki I do plan on switching out the Fishman for Bear Knuckles' aftermath. In my opinion, they also have the clarity of Fishman but also have more bass( that doesn't sound muddy with heavy distortion) and a growl that Fishman can't match. I do like DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan pickups as well.
Japanese made guitars are just exceptional. I've got a Fender Japan HH Jazzmaster and an FGN Tele style baritone. Both Japanese made, both flawless build quality and QC.
Is any string left in the saddle? Then there's a sharp burr that cuts it. If not, you can try making sure the saddle block isn't crooked and put the end of the string in as far as it can go. If that still doesn't work, next time you restring try cutting just the ball end off and having the braided section that was next to it go into the saddle so there's more for the saddle to hold. Hope this helps
