Ibanez JEM and PIA

[PFDarkside]

Question for the Ibanez fans...

With the release of the PIA, did they move production of the JEM7V (the White “standard” JEM) from Japan to Indonesia or something? They seem quite a bit “cheaper” than I remember a few years ago.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

No, they just have a Prestige version and a Premium version

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

No, they just have a Prestige version and a Premium version

Is Prestige Japan and Premium Indonesia? Then the JR below that?

 

[JMP/HBE]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

Question for the Ibanez fans...

With the release of the PIA, did they move production of the JEM7V (the White “standard” JEM) from Japan to Indonesia or something? They seem quite a bit “cheaper” than I remember a few years ago.

Years ago. No JEM's are MIJ anymore. Its all Indonesian crap that has no resale value. The JEM's don't even have Vai's sig on them anymore. Pia is supposedly mij but who knows how much of it really is made somewhere else & "assembled" in Japan. I had a chance to get a nice JEM from a guy who was new to recovery & strung out on drugs. Being that ive been sober almost 20 years i chose not to take advantage of the situation for personal gain. The guitar was nice but made in Indonesia & basically worthless as you'll never get your money back when you try to sell it. Any JEM with the 5 piece walnut/maple neck its almost always 100% Indonesian. I got rid of all my shredder guitars 15 years ago. Ibanez/Jackson/Peavey Vandenbergs. There is no value in that crap.

https://www.zzounds.com/item--IBAPI...MI-9rVtrvk6QIVj4bACh1fTQMPEAQYAiABEgK-A_D_BwE

And the Pia is $3500 bucks, hardly cheap. Ya played one Ibanez you've played them all.

Pia is just a JEM with gold tone hardware for an extra $2K.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

Years ago. No JEM's are MIJ anymore. Its all Indonesian crap that has no resale value. The JEM's don't even have Vai's sig on them anymore. Pia is supposedly mij but who knows how much of it really is made somewhere else & "assembled" in Japan. I had a chance to get a nice JEM from a guy who was new to recovery & strung out on drugs. Being that ive been sober almost 20 years i chose not to take advantage of the situation for personal gain. The guitar was nice but made in Indonesia & basically worthless as you'll never get your money back when you try to sell it. Any JEM with the 5 piece walnut/maple neck its almost always 100% Indonesian. I got rid of all my shredder guitars 15 years ago. Ibanez/Jackson/Peavey Vandenbergs. There is no value in that crap.

https://www.zzounds.com/item--IBAPI...MI-9rVtrvk6QIVj4bACh1fTQMPEAQYAiABEgK-A_D_BwE

And the Pia is $3500 bucks, hardly cheap. Ya played one Ibanez you've played them all.

Pia is just a JEM with gold tone hardware for an extra $2K.

Thanks for this info. I wondered where this stuff was made. That's a lot of money for any signature model made in Indonesia, no matter how many gold pieces it has on it. FYI, I think PIA is about as gaudy as a guitar can get.

 

[The Dali]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

Years ago. No JEM's are MIJ anymore. Its all Indonesian crap that has no resale value. The JEM's don't even have Vai's sig on them anymore. Pia is supposedly mij but who knows how much of it really is made somewhere else & "assembled" in Japan. I had a chance to get a nice JEM from a guy who was new to recovery & strung out on drugs. Being that ive been sober almost 20 years i chose not to take advantage of the situation for personal gain. The guitar was nice but made in Indonesia & basically worthless as you'll never get your money back when you try to sell it. Any JEM with the 5 piece walnut/maple neck its almost always 100% Indonesian. I got rid of all my shredder guitars 15 years ago. Ibanez/Jackson/Peavey Vandenbergs. There is no value in that crap.

https://www.zzounds.com/item--IBAPI...MI-9rVtrvk6QIVj4bACh1fTQMPEAQYAiABEgK-A_D_BwE

And the Pia is $3500 bucks, hardly cheap. Ya played one Ibanez you've played them all.

Pia is just a JEM with gold tone hardware for an extra $2K.

There's no value in that crap, so you got rid of it all?? If it had no value, why not keep it?

I've found the Indonesian Ibanez guitars to be sound instruments. Why would you get rid of something simply because it didn't hold value?

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

There's a big difference in high-end Ibanez and low-end Ibanez. The difficult part is even the low-end guitars are solid instruments.

Sure, nothing holds is market value like an American guitar. If you keep guitars as investments, though, you might be disappointed.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years and in took me 19 years before I actually pulled the trigger and purchased an Ibanez. It was an 80s graphic model that was kinda cheesy, but it was a solid guitar. I bought it paint...but after I saw how much it was worth I flipped it and haven't looked back.

That said...I'd wanted an S since I saw the S5570 at NAMM, and I finally bought an Ibanez to KEEP in 2018. I just bought another the other day. The S2620 I asked about a little while back.

Ya know, it's sad...both of my Prestige S series are KILLER guitars, but it was so hard for me to buy an Ibanez becasuse they have diluted their brand SOOOOO much with the various tiers and countries of Origin over the years.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

I don't really see the issue. If you plan to keep the guitar, don't worry about resell price. If not, buy used.

 

[Sirion]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

There's no value in that crap, so you got rid of it all?? If it had no value, why not keep it?

I've found the Indonesian Ibanez guitars to be sound instruments. Why would you get rid of something simply because it didn't hold value?

I would guess that he is just mad that he sold his stuff off just at the time 80s guitars started to increase in value again. For myself, I wish I had the money and knowledge to BUY more of that stuff in the late 90s and early 2000s!

 

[Francois]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

Just one word about Indonesia : I have one Epiphone thunderbird made there (the upper EPI range).

While the mahogany is most probably not classic (honduras) mahogany (maybe the wood they call Tun in India ?)
the indonesian luthier craftman's work was pristine (very nice neckthough).
The pickups (not made in Indonesia BYT) would better be swapped.

 

[JMP/HBE]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

There's no value in that crap, so you got rid of it all?? If it had no value, why not keep it?

I've found the Indonesian Ibanez guitars to be sound instruments. Why would you get rid of something simply because it didn't hold value?

To buy gear that does which is what i wanted in the first place. Im done with $400 to $600 guitars forever. But hey thats me call me old fashioned.
The CL of the world are clogged full of all that PV/Carvin/Ibanez/Bugera crap that doesn't sell. They can't give it away.
For $3.5K id rather have an ATV or a one of a kind amplifier rather than a Indonesian guitar massed produced in a 3rd world country.
Vai has soaked the JEM thing for damn near 40 years. Time to stop exploiting 3rd world countries for the almighty buck.

 

[JMP/HBE]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

There's a big difference in high-end Ibanez and low-end Ibanez. The difficult part is even the low-end guitars are solid instruments.

Sure, nothing holds is market value like an American guitar. If you keep guitars as investments, though, you might be disappointed.

https://media.giphy.com/media/eykivHQOsXrmo/giphy.gif

I buy guitars to play. I sell guitars that retain their value, that simple. Its called being smart after 40 years of buying/selling gear.
If i want a guitar with a "monkey grip" i'll break out my jigsaw & save $4K.

Calling every guitar with a monkey grip out of Indonesia a JEM cheapens the brand. Its like calling every first responder/Military member a "Hero" just for wearing the uniform since 911 or giving every kid a Trophy just for showing up.
That crackhead kid could not give away that new JEM on CL for $700 bucks, that ought to tell you something.

 

[devastone]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

There have been MII Premium JEMs for years, but the JEM7V (the white one) was MIJ until this year I think, now it is a Premium version and the PIA is MIJ. It's still easy enough to find MIJ JEMs out there on the used market. I agree with JMP/HBE about the MII ones being overpriced, although I hear good things about the current Premium line.

https://www.ibanez.com/usa/artists/detail/213.html - Basically if it has a P after the model number it is a MII Premium, if it has a JR after the model number, just say no.

 

[The Dali]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

To buy gear that does which is what i wanted in the first place. Im done with $400 to $600 guitars forever. But hey thats me call me old fashioned.
The CL of the world are clogged full of all that PV/Carvin/Ibanez/Bugera crap that doesn't sell. They can't give it away.
For $3.5K id rather have an ATV of a one of a kind amplifier rather than a Indonesian guitar massed produced in a 3rd world country.
Vai has soaked the JEM thing for damn near 40 years. Time to stop exploiting 3rd world countries for the almighty buck.

Ok, I get what you are saying.... although most people who say "I buy guitars to play" don't tend to care about what the resale value is.

But, whatever, we all have our preferences. I've come around to the fact that unless I'm spending $2000 on a guitar, anything in the $400 - $1500 range is going to be super playable and satisfy my need. I went through the "has to be USA or Japan" route and ended up realizing that super playable instruments are made at all price points and I should just buy what I like and have fun with and not worry about the name or manufacturer. If I were collecting that would be different because you are correct that guitars in the $400 - $800 range are not worth much after you purchase, and certainly won't go up in value!

 

[JMP/HBE]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

Years ago i got sucked into the Ibanez "JEM Jr." marketing. GC had one, i called ahead, wanted to demo it. They assured me they would have it ready. Now we can debate the virtues of GC all day long as i have 3 GC in my Metro and each of my 7 trips there the last 20 years have been more disappointing than the last in rapid succession.
Anyway i get to GC and the JEM Jr is all the way at the top of a 2 story wall of guitars. I have to get someone with a ladder to get the guitar. The setup made the guitar unplayable as the bridge was tilted back 16 degrees. Anticipating this i brought a guitar case/strap/tuner/multi tool [guitar comes with no case as 85% do nowdays] After a 20 minute setup with my multi tool i have to find an amp & cord that work. After flagging down about 3 minimum wage workers named "Tristan" the JEM Jr was DOA after trying 3 different amps. No sound, no nothing.
Absolutely the biggest clusterfeck buying experience ive ever had. Not to mention the guitar must be 3/4 scale & feels like a toy after playing Les Pauls for so many decades. Must weigh less than 5 pounds.
I leave with my friend and the manager comes running out after us yelling "hey we got it working" .... amilike ah no thanks.

Like i said CHEAPENS THE BRAND.

https://www.ibanez.com/common/product_artist_file/file/p_region_JEMJR_WH_1P_02_en_1.png

 

[Mincer]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

There is an argument to be made that any 'lower cost version' of a particular model can cheapen the brand. BC Rich and Kramer in the 80s experimented with this and it tanked them. Squier and Epiphone have been way more successful, but the key here is...it still needs to be a good, playable guitar.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

https://media.giphy.com/media/eykivHQOsXrmo/giphy.gif

I buy guitars to play. I sell guitars that retain their value, that simple. Its called being smart after 40 years of buying/selling gear.
If i want a guitar with a "monkey grip i'll break out my jigsaw & save $4K.

Calling every guitar with a monkey grip out of Indonesia a JEM cheapens the brand. Its like calling every first responder/Military member a "Hero" just for wearing the uniform since 911 or giving every kid a Trophy just for showing up.
That crackhead kid could not give away that new JEM on CL for $700 bucks, that ought to tell you something.

Did you read what I wrote at all? Where did I say anything about the PIA or Indonesian guitars?

High end Ibanez = j.custom.

Signature guitars are what they are: a way to charge a premium.

Back to my point, though - if you buy/sell guitars with any financial motive in mind and you do not run a store, you will eventually lose.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

I like some of the Ibanez models. I picked up a Jiva to try out a while back and it plays and feels really nice. Felt solid. Saw that it is made in Indonesia and my first thought was it's overpriced. Yes, it's a sig model and it's a really solid and nice guitar, but for the price of that new, I can get a new USA made Strat or a nice used Gibson. Heck, or even build a parts guitar with my specs from Warmoth (yes, I know resale value tanks for builds like that).

 

[JMP/HBE]

Re: Ibanez JEM and PIA

Did you read what I wrote at all? Where did I say anything about the PIA or Indonesian guitars?

High end Ibanez = j.custom.

Signature guitars are what they are: a way to charge a premium.

Back to my point, though - if you buy/sell guitars with any financial motive in mind and you do not run a store, you will eventually lose.

Anything that costs me money has a "financial motive". Stop being annoying.
Music gear is 90% bling & Marketing just like bicycles/motorcycles/autos/furniture & electronic devices and anything else on the planet. At some point people see thru all the spin & hype. But there's a sucker born every minute.
You go ahead & pay $1200 for an "Epi Custom Shop" guitar that costs less than $30 dollars to manufacture. No thanks buddy.