Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

[ICTGoober]

For about 3 weeks on Craigslist in Wichita there's been this listing for a fake Ibanez Joe Satriani - very pretty in metallic ruby. It said "fake" in the title, and "fake" twice more in the text. The seller warned, "Real ones sell for over $1500, I'll let this fake one go for $200".

Walked in the shop last night, and there it was.... someone bought it and dropped it off for a setup. And, boy - it was FAKE! The logo was a vinyl stick-on, the pickups were some weird solid slug things - not DiMarzios, fake Ibanez whammy, even the rear control cover was the wrong shape. Action a mile high at the bridge and the nut, and the truss rod had 1/8" of bow in it. It looked brand new and unplayed…… with good reason.

Spent 4 hours with the thing today, and it's better now - but what a PITA! Tuning machines don't work well at all, and the bushings were stripped out from overtightening. Locking nut shimmed at the back so the strings buzzed, took care of that. The whammy studs pulled out of the body, added a touch of glue. Needed another whammy spring to get the plate flat with the body. Fought the truss rod for hours, it was TOUCHY. Anyway - it's all cool except for intonation. I'll do it tomorrow after the axe sits overnight and settles down....

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

It’s the sig model for his brother, Pete Satriani, who never finished high school.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

So the set up cost more than the guitar did I take it?

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

So the set up cost more than the guitar did I take it?

No. But the new owner should at least invest in a good set of tuning machines, and have the whammy blocked because it's going to be trouble in the future. Haven't plugged it in yet, it might sound good - might need new pickups. Personally, I'd ditch the white (not cream) pickup rings and put on black ones. It will probably be a kickass rig with a little more cash.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

It’s the sig model for his brother, Pete Satriani, who never finished high school.

Hey ***hole, I'll have you know Pete completed his GED and has a semester at an unaccredited online vocational college.

so **** off!!!

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

:laugh2:

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

The sad thing is that person could have picked up a JS-100 for like $300. The hardware and electronics would have been decent and the body/headstock would have been correct. This thing is a monstrosity to any true Satriani fan!

 

[devastone]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

No. But the new owner should at least invest in a good set of tuning machines, and have the whammy blocked because it's going to be trouble in the future. Haven't plugged it in yet, it might sound good - might need new pickups. Personally, I'd ditch the white (not cream) pickup rings and put on black ones. It will probably be a kickass rig with a little more cash.

That was very nice of you, 4 hours on somebody's bench would be close to or more than the cost of the guitar around here. But I have to disagree with you, based on your own list of things that were fixed or need to be fixed, that thing is definitely not worth the cash to make it a "kicka$$ rig".

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

You'd be surprised how nice a cheap guitar can be once a competent luthier gets to work adding a few good parts and tweaking it just so. I've done plenty around here for some serious players. Those little Disney/Lyon guitars made by Washburn and Ibanez Mikro are terrific with the right parts, and so fun to play. I have several of my own, and you can play them on any stage with your head held high.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

Someone more hip than me noticed that this fake has 24 frets.... The real JS-100 only has 22....

 

[OLDERBUDWISER]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

The sad thing is that person could have picked up a JS-100 for like $300. The hardware and electronics would have been decent and the body/headstock would have been correct. This thing is a monstrosity to any true Satriani fan!

I dont think its sad, I think these counterfeits should be taken outside, doused with gasoline and set ablaze. Justice more like it

 

[Demanic]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

Caveat Emptor.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

Someone more hip than me noticed that this fake has 24 frets.... The real JS-100 only has 22....

You're in luck -someone knowing how many frets are on a Satriani model is pretty far from Hip -so you still stand a chance of being hipper.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

Pickup rings the wrong color for Joe

Pete however, was not as aesthetically (or sonically) cool as Joe.

 

[Seraphial]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

Is it the camera angle or are those horns waaaayyyy too pointy for a JS?

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Fake Ibanez Satriani on the bench

Is it the camera angle or are those horns waaaayyyy too pointy for a JS?

This is closer to being a Sabre with pointy horns. So yeah, kind of like RG horns but tapered and heavily radiused. Whatever it's supposed to be - it's not, but it looks great, and played great when I took it back to the shop. Hope it sounds good.