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An alternative to the Screamin' Deal

bagman67

bagman67

Epic Member
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I know a whole bunch of stuff just rolled into the discount rack at Warmoth, but have you considered a bolt-neck, factory guitar from the marketeers at Ibanez?


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UV77WFR?utm_source=gearnet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20170516


Sweetwater has the 25th Anniversary Steve Vai Passion & Warfare guitar at only (!) $6999, marked down from MSRP of $9333.32 (!!!!!!).


so-doge-wow-such-deal-much-savings.jpg



Of course, there will only be 77 of them, so I supposed scarcity and fanboi passion are worth SOMEthing.  Just not to me.  After the first 2 grand (and that's very generous of me, to be sure), there cannot possibly be any more to this axe than hype.  They're basswood, maple, and ebony, with CNC-cut everything.  It's not like some ancient Italian craftsman labored over his workbench on this guy. Even if each axe was finished by the top guy in the custom shop, there's not that much concrete value in the instrument.


Smoke and mirrors, kids.  Smoke and mirrors.
 
Used to love Ibanez, owned two of them my first time around playing, I don't think either was over $400 new. They seem to be producing some options for the 7 and 8 string crowd but this example just illustrates the absurdity of guitar pricing and why I took the high road and went with partscasters. It pains me to see kids work all through high school just to hand over $7000 to someone laughing all the way to the bank.
 
It pains me to see kids work all through high school just to hand over $7000 to someone laughing all the way to the bank.
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You're joking, right? I don't know many high schoolers who could afford seven grand for a car, let alone a limited edition guitar. After all - they are only making 77 of them.
 
I've seen people part with three times that for a non-vintage, non-collectors guitar, so eh. And given what some people spend on home cinema and hi-fi systems, cars, cameras, whatever else, seven grand isn't that unusual for a limited version of what is probably someone's dream instrument.

And it's disingenuous to refer to it as a "factory guitar", when it's as 'Custom Shop' as they come. Hell, you're on Warmoth forums; guitars here have seen more time on a mass production line than that Ibanez has. Ibanez really mean it when they call any of their top instruments "handcrafted". They're one of the few manufacturers around who does still commission actually handcrafted instruments. (Obviously only for extreme cases like this, though.)

Personally, I think Ibanez guitars are the most uncomfortable and atrocious-sounding in the world, and I can't stand Steve Vai, but the price and probable craftsmanship are not two issues I'd have with that instrument. Make the neck thicker and rounder, remake the body from solid maple, swap the Floyd for a tune-o-matic and remove all mention of Steve Vai, and I'd consider buying that; Ibanez can knock out a damn well-made instrument when they want to, and if the actual spec was to my taste, the price is easily justified.
 
Oh hey I was just looking for a cheap 7-string :laughing11: . It is a collector's guitar and nothing else really. They'll slowly gain value overtime :icon_thumright: .
 
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