pleading for pros to help! a buying dilemma between two high-end guitars

[tjphoenix]

Hey, I'm trying to get a new guitar, and after all the routine research I have done with Internet and local guitar retailer, I have narrowed down the options to two guitars.

Since I am a bit inclined to buy the signature models, so the two guitars are both signature models.

One is ibanez JEM 7vwh, the other one is ibanez EGEN18.

I checked already, and found out that the main difference between the two is the wood, alder for the former and mahogany for the latter. The former uses edge tremolo and the latter uses edge zero tremolo, which I really could not tell the difference(hope to be enlightened on this spot).

I personally play much rock and metal, all the shredding and sweeping stuff, and also sometimes play some jazz and blues. This deal involves my almost "lifelong" savings, so I really appreciate if all the pros can give me some great insights to enhance my choice making.

Thank you all very much!!

 

[j_m_s]

go try them out.

really. best advice, ever. try them out, then buy the one you like better.

 

[ItAcHi]

why only ibanez?

 

[tjphoenix]

I don't know where got to try EGEN18, I have tried jem already, which I found sound amazing, but never got to try EGEN18.

 

[teleplayer]

I don't know where got to try EGEN18, I have tried jem already, which I found sound amazing, but never got to try EGEN18.

you can try calling sweelee.

 

[lightice]

See if brendon @ bgwguitars.com has stock for either.

 

[jskadiang]

Word of advice, if you're buying from SL. Try to hold out till the mid-year sale (if there is one), so you can buy it at an arguably reasonable price.

 

[subversion]

... I have tried jem already, which I found sound amazing,...

you might be hearing the amp in addition to the guitar...

 

[LiQuiFireX]

Wait, till NAMM is over.... I saw some cool Ibanez models coming up.

 

[Whitestrat]

??? Those are high end???

 

[jskadiang]

^ Yes, apart from J. Custom, they are the most expensive guitars that Ibanez make. How are they NOT high-end?

 

[Whitestrat]

^ Yes, apart from J. Custom, they are the most expensive guitars that Ibanez make. How are they NOT high-end?

Being the most expensive in the "Ibanez range" does not qualify it to be high end either.

It's not so much about the JEMs being expensive or what, but rather, what else is it compared to? It's great value for money. A relatively well made guitar for that price with so much value built in.

Then you consider a Tom Anderson with lesser specs that costs twice as much.

I didn't at the JEM being a good guitar. It's a very good guitar for what it is. I just find that the classificaction of it being in the high-end is a bit myopic.

Let me give you another example. Rolex, Omega, Jaeger LeCoultre and IWC. High end? No. Far from it. But to the man on the street, those are probably the most expensive brands he's encountered. Then you meet Mr Richard Mille. *ouch*

So, high-end or not, should be a perspective of the entire spectrum. Thats why, according to the entire spectrum, Ibanezes are middle range, or upper middle with their J Customs, at best. EBMMs are upper-middle range with their BFRs. Detemples, McNaughts and D'Pergos are high-end.

 

[jeffsatriani]

sorry bro,u got to have lots of guitars in order to play many type of genres and pickup gave you different kind of many sound you looking for. some guitar body have 2 types of wood glued together. e.g reb beach signature suhr. words of advice from me good pick up plus skill and knowledge that's all it take, the wood is good for investment or fire camp. toodaaloo.

 

[Innuendo]

one of the posts above is funny. not in a humorous sort of way, rather sadly, farcical. considering Ibanez as 'high-end' beset with myopia? hardly. the planet's 'high-end' players can attest to this.

a view of having the pricetag as the universal determinant of being 'high-end', to me, has cataracts written all over it.

pointless to argue what 'high-end' is. in any case, it is de facto subjective.

apologies to the threadstarter for me trolling.

 

[jskadiang]

That's not what I meant. I can attest to expensive not being equivalent to good. I think we're just arguing semantics here, but saying that something like a JEM7V not being high-end is just being a bit of a cork-sniffer IMO. Sure, there are guitars that cost 5 times what a JEM does, made by a one-person company in a loft in Slovakia. But to many, if not most, a guitar that costs a few thousand dollars is high-end as heck, in a market of widely available guitars.

To the TS, his choice is limited to a mass-produced guitar such as this, a Tom Anderson definitely being out of the question in terms of being affordable. But coming into a thread where he's asking for advice on making a decision that involves him spending all his savings on a guitar and saying "Ibanez isn't even high-end" is just insulting IMO.

But enough of this anyway, I can see what you mean. High-end by definition does mean the best of the best, but I just think that it's too subjective a term to start debating about, particularly in as trivial a context as a thread title.

 

[Whitestrat]

But coming into a thread where he's asking for advice on making a decision that involves him spending all his savings on a guitar and saying "Ibanez isn't even high-end" is just insulting IMO.

Ah... I missed that bit... Opps...

Apologies to the threadstarter. No insult meant.:mrgreen: