Ibanez 2023 Models

Millennials and Gen Z'ers get these new guitar heroes from social media. Millennials and Gen Z'ers
have zero monies and are historically broke ass broke---if not already in debt 6 figures without
even owning an house. Yup.

So, Ibanez releases social media-inspired Signature Guitars for "Artists" followed mostly by Millennials
and Gen Z'ers on social media.... but the guitars are priced in the Boomer Price Bracket. :idk

It all makes so much sense to me, a Gen X'er. :lol
 
Millennials and Gen Z'ers get these new guitar heroes from social media. Millennials and Gen Z'ers
have zero monies and are historically broke ass broke---if not already in debt 6 figures without
even owning an house. Yup.

So, Ibanez releases social media-inspired Signature Guitars for "Artists" followed mostly by Millennials
and Gen Z'ers on social media.... but the guitars are priced in the Boomer Price Bracket. :idk

It all makes so much sense to me, a Gen X'er. :lol
I saw a NGD Tom Quayle sig elsewhere. I'm excited for the person if they are. And TQ seems like a top bloke (first and last time using that phrase)


...but has he done music outside of sitting on a couch doing demos for Peach guitars?
 
I saw a NGD Tom Quayle sig elsewhere. I'm excited for the person if they are. And TQ seems like a top bloke (first and last time using that phrase)


...but has he done music outside of sitting on a couch doing demos for Peach guitars?
Saw him at NAMM playing for Wampler pedals. Very nice guy and very talented.

I guess the whole point of my post is acknowledging and questioning the new goalposts for who gets the love and who doesn’t in the industry.
 
Saw him at NAMM playing for Wampler pedals. Very nice guy and very talented.

I guess the whole point of the thread is acknowledging and questioning the new goalposts for who gets the love and who doesn’t in the industry.
He is one who sounds killer through everything. And his temperament is perfect for that kind of sales gig. Agreed completely on the redirection based on target audience. If it makes business sense; you can't fault them.
 
My RG8570CST comes without the tree of confusion. I also prefer it without it. It can be confusing

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I'm a fan of the J-Custom fret edge treatment. And they are SSView attachment 3449

I LOVE block inlays on Ibanez necks. They've got a Premium I'm considering plugging my nose and buying because I love the way it looks and the specs are perfect, if it weren't for the whole Premium thing. If I could try about 15 of them out I'd be stoked as hell to get one. I can even live with the burl finish, of which I'm really sick of seeing. This one is cool though.

iu
 
So, Ibanez releases social media-inspired Signature Guitars for "Artists" followed mostly by Millennials
and Gen Z'ers on social media.... but the guitars are priced in the Boomer Price Bracket. :idk
They're doing this third year in a row now, if I'm not mistaken. Posts here say they have trouble keeping up with demand for models from last year, so it obviously works for them.
 
I think the biggest reason these guys who got their claim to fame via gear demos/social media, they're doing exactly what the target audience is doing; sitting in their homes playing guitar.

The majority of guitar players aren't in bands/don't gig and even fewer are out there touring. I don't think the celebrity endorsers are ever going to go away, but people are much less enamored with the rockstar thing these days than they ever have been. The idea of becoming a rockstar doesn't have the same appeal as it once did before. Who wants to get in a van for a decade, playing sh*tty venues with no showers when you can make a 30 second funny video in your backyard and become world famous?

So much gear produced in the last 20 years has been aimed at the home guitarist, it makes total sense that companies would start using guys who just play at home to hawk their gear. No dealing with celebrity/artist/people who are motivated by creativity, they can deal with professional musicians whose entire motivation is to make a great gear demo because it pays the bills.
 
They're doing this third year in a row now, if I'm not mistaken. Posts here say they have trouble keeping up with demand for models from last year, so it obviously works for them.

It's not because they're selling out, it's because they can't get materials. People aren't even buying right now because they don't want to wait. The black PIA's took 9-12 months to get out of the factory and they're trickling out. There's people waiting on stuff from 2021, I believe. It's a major bummer, but definitely explains the lack of newer models this year.
 
I think the biggest reason these guys who got their claim to fame via gear demos/social media, they're doing exactly what the target audience is doing; sitting in their homes playing guitar.

The majority of guitar players aren't in bands/don't gig and even fewer are out there touring. I don't think the celebrity endorsers are ever going to go away, but people are much less enamored with the rockstar thing these days than they ever have been. The idea of becoming a rockstar doesn't have the same appeal as it once did before. Who wants to get in a van for a decade, playing sh*tty venues with no showers when you can make a 30 second funny video in your backyard and become world famous?

So much gear produced in the last 20 years has been aimed at the home guitarist, it makes total sense that companies would start using guys who just play at home to hawk their gear. No dealing with celebrity/artist/people who are motivated by creativity, they can deal with professional musicians whose entire motivation is to make a great gear demo because it pays the bills.
I guess all I can say is I’m happy to have come up in a time and knew a life where I lived a little. I couldn’t imagine not having played and playing guitar in a bar/club/small stage/big stage and seeing where the world takes me. Granted it didn’t get me all that far in life, but I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for 10 signature guitar models. I know for a fact I’d be musically unfulfilled if it was just students and making home videos. There’d just be so much more missing. I guess I’m in the minority. All I can say is that’s unfortunate.
 
Saw him at NAMM playing for Wampler pedals. Very nice guy and very talented.

I guess the whole point of my post is acknowledging and questioning the new goalposts for who gets the love and who doesn’t in the industry.

It's kind of universal now. If you are a musician it is far more significant to have an higher
volume in social media following than to see how many people who are coming to see
you at the club. Don't even really need songs. Kind of seems like the cart before the horse to
me, but that's the new reality.

Labels and artists have both realized Instagram, Tik Tok, and Youtube is where the $$$ is now.
 
I guess all I can say is I’m happy to have come up in a time and knew a life where I lived a little. I couldn’t imagine not having played and playing guitar in a bar/club/small stage/big stage and seeing where the world takes me. Granted it didn’t get me all that far in life, but I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for 10 signature guitar models. I know for a fact I’d be musically unfulfilled if it was just students and making home videos. There’d just be so much more missing. I guess I’m in the minority. All I can say is that’s unfortunate.

Hope me loving that reply doesn't make you feel creepy, Bruce. :idk

I say that as I type a message mediated through a screen to another person looking at a screen! :LOL:

Where'd I leave my VR Googles dammit!
 
The Japanese catalogue has more juice than the US catalogue


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Wanna this one! :p
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The Japanese catalogue has more juice than the US catalogue


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Wanna this one! :p
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They’ve got (or had?) a Premium Koa that was basically the Reb Beach model without the cutaway in the body, or like the J-Custom above without the vine. But since they ran that Premium line into the ground pretty hard, it was released to a “Oh…that’s cool, too bad it‘s probably built like sh*t.” crowd.
 
The one I keep feeling seriously tempted by is this:


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I keep telling myself I have zero need for a double locking trem… but then I remind myself how much fun it was playing VanHalen and Satriani stuff back in the day and maybe it’d be fun to dabble in that realm again
 
(...rant on the state of the music industry incoming...)

Okay, I get the criticism that so many of these signature artists are not mainstream rock stars in touring bands. But outside of legacy acts, who the hell IS a mainstream rock star in a touring band?

Rock music doesn't exist as it used to. It's not really that popular and doesn't get played on mainstream radio. Try to find any identifiable guitarist in the top hits of 2022:
List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones in 2022

Now compare that against thirty years ago:
List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones in 1992

And the type of music that DOES feature guitar tends to be jangly indie rock or acoustic. How many rock star guitarists are on this list (not counting the old songs that popped back up like Metallica and GNR):
List of Billboard top 100 rock & alternative songs in 2022

Rock bands aren't making money off albums. That income stream doesn't exist anymore due to streaming. And vinyl is a fraction of the sales they used to be 25+ years ago. Frankly, it's a lot easier for a good guitarist to make money basically making advertisements on YouTube, getting paid from companies for demos, and getting ad revenue from clicks.

It's time to just be honest and realize that there's basically two types of successful rock guitarists in 2022. Legacy touring acts from 30 years ago, and YouTube guitarists.
 
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