Ibanez 2023 Models

[Bruce]

(...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.

Can the YouTube guys try and look more rockstary then? Another thing that grinds my gears about YouTube channels in general and I see this too much on my audio production channels I sub: can you PLEASE have a personality above the level of wet paint? Do these guys ever get excited about anything? Or laugh? Or get upset? Some channels are like watching grass grow. Glenn Fricker takes a lot of shit and he deserves every gram of it but at least he’s interesting to watch.

I agree and said before the last huge “rock star” was probably Bon Jovi. He got in under the wire and was able to make rockstar money where he can live on a cloud and is completely inaccessible to peons and fans.

 

[Whizzinby]

Can the YouTube guys try and look more rockstary then?

For real. Mix in a drug fueled bender, pack a day habit, or some other questionable/destructive tendency.

Most of these YT dudes are tech dorks. Grew up rough, one time they lost wifi connectivity.

If you haven’t missed a meal or been threatened with a blade once in your life GTFO.

 

[metropolis_4]

Signature models have never been about crediting/honoring players who are most deserving, they are a marketing tactic to increase sales.

The players chosen to get sig models are the ones the company thinks will help move the most products

 

[Bruce]

For real. Mix in a drug fueled bender, pack a day habit, or some other questionable/destructive tendency.

Most of these YT dudes are tech dorks. Grew up rough, one time they lost wifi connectivity.

If you haven’t missed a meal or been threatened with a blade once in your life GTFO.

I think we may have been separated at birth or you might be my spirit animal.

 

[Bruce]

I’m gonna spin a little positivity here and ass kiss a little.

Leon Todd. Runs a successful channel. Has a band that’s done some stuff and looks the part. Does he have a signature model guitar? PRS should be talking to him because I think those are the guitars he loves most.

Anyway. This is how you do it. Don’t have a channel, don’t look like the IT guy at my job, have a personality like wallpaper and have some solid stage experience.

Leon deserves some accolades for bringing a little Rock and Roll to this drab ass marketing environment. Plus, he’s young so there’s no excuse of the world changed. Yea the world changed but he’s still cool.

 

[Devin]

The 27 fret RGA's and the powder blue PIA are pretty dope


And the gold Satch of course :fap:

 

[DrewJD82]

Can the YouTube guys try and look more rockstary then? Another thing that grinds my gears about YouTube channels in general and I see this too much on my audio production channels I sub: can you PLEASE have a personality above the level of wet paint? Do these guys ever get excited about anything? Or laugh? Or get upset? Some channels are like watching grass grow. Glenn Fricker takes a lot of s**t and he deserves every gram of it but at least he’s interesting to watch.

I agree and said before the last huge “rock star” was probably Bon Jovi. He got in under the wire and was able to make rockstar money where he can live on a cloud and is completely inaccessible to peons and fans.

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing more with my YouTube channel, thanks to this post I‘ve now found my direction: Assless chaps gear reviews.

 

[DrewJD82]

The 27 fret RGA's and the powder blue PIA are pretty dope


And the gold Satch of course :fap:

The smell of baby wipes and a package of Huggies enters my nostrils whenever I see the blue PIA and for that, I’m thankful it’s not brown.

 

[Devin]

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?

Check out the album "The Elba Triangle" he played on

It's fucking epic af - assuming you like jazz/rock fusion type stuff anyway

 

[Jarick]

There's a few things I'd be interested in from Ibanez:

An RG that has an AZ neck, or something that isn't a Wizard. I still think about how much I wanted an RG in the 90's and ended up with something else, but then I pick up an RG and can't do the super thin neck.

This one still looks awesome though:

Also would be interested in their version of the AZ Tele except without the weird wiener shaped control plate.

Lastly I would like to see a good quality semi hollow under $1500. I did try out an AS93FM but it was awful. The John Scofield ones look neat at $1200.

 

[andergtr]

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.

very valid points. you gotta know your audience. i don't sell a $14 4 oz. burger out of my food truck in south central LA. they can't fucking afford it.

 

[DrewJD82]

very valid points. you gotta know your audience. i don't sell a $14 4 oz. burger out of my food truck in south central LA. they can't f*****g afford it.

Hopefully, if I ever go to NAMM again, you’ll park the truck right outside the Expo center for lunch. Once I’m hammered it’s nothin’ but In N Out!

 

[andergtr]

Hopefully, if I ever go to NAMM again, you’ll park the truck right outside the Expo center for lunch. Once I’m hammered it’s nothin’ but In N Out!

ha...not gonna happen because NAMM wants too much money. i know dumbass truckers who will do it because they don't know numbers.
i will give you an example. tomorrow i am gonna do 200 burgers/fries for an event from 11 am to 3 pm.

pays $5000 so that's my sales. food/materials cost is $3.25/meal so $650 there. labor is three workers (i am giving everyone hours, not that i need that many workers) at $32.50/each for five hours (one hour for prep) so $488 there (call it $500). truck lease is $150, cleaning is $30, fuel and propane about $60. commissary charge is $70. total costs are $1460. i take home $3540 or 71%.

why would i wanna set up at NAMM all day and pay those fuckers 25-30% of my sales? :)

now you see why i am buying so many guitars. that, and i have a deal with fender. :)

 

[Bruce]

Hopefully, if I ever go to NAMM again, you’ll park the truck right outside the Expo center for lunch. Once I’m hammered it’s nothin’ but In N Out!

You can’t leave those trucks under 20 bucks.

 

[DrewJD82]

You can’t leave those trucks under 20 bucks.

You should see what I’ve paid Uber Eats to deliver to my apartment when the restaurant is, literally, 1000 feet from my apartment, in the last year. If I’m not cooking food myself, it’s of no surprise to me that I’m going to pay about $20-$25, unless I’m doing a fast food drive thru and that’s a rarity. And when I travel I know I’m going to be blowing money.

Besides, I’ve known andergtr for like 15 years, I’d be happy to blow a bunch of money at his food truck. I know he’s passionate about running it and he doesn’t f*ck around with his product.

 

[DrewJD82]

ha...not gonna happen because NAMM wants too much money. i know dumbass truckers who will do it because they don't know numbers.
i will give you an example. tomorrow i am gonna do 200 burgers/fries for an event from 11 am to 3 pm.

pays $5000 so that's my sales. food/materials cost is $3.25/meal so $650 there. labor is three workers (i am giving everyone hours, not that i need that many workers) at $32.50/each for five hours (one hour for prep) so $488 there (call it $500). truck lease is $150, cleaning is $30, fuel and propane about $60. commissary charge is $70. total costs are $1460. i take home $3540 or 71%.

why would i wanna set up at NAMM all day and pay those *****ers 25-30% of my sales? :)

now you see why i am buying so many guitars. that, and i have a deal with fender. :)

I would expect nothing less from your financial sense, man!

Maybe the HRI crew can hire you to pull up on the other side of Disney, or a Suhr party!

 

[la szum]

(...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.

Reality and liking it are two different things.

 

[la szum]

Can the YouTube guys try and look more rockstary then? Another thing that grinds my gears about YouTube channels in general and I see this too much on my audio production channels I sub: can you PLEASE have a personality above the level of wet paint? Do these guys ever get excited about anything? Or laugh? Or get upset? Some channels are like watching grass grow.

Jesus, Bruce. We really have to do something about this love-fest. Not totally comfortable with these feels I am getting.
I agree. 1000%. And with what @Whizzinby said, too.

Start simple. How about standing up once in awhile instead of sitting in that god-damn chair all the time. Are guitar
straps banned now??? Do you have actual legs? If so, use them. It's not bad to move when you play, and by move I am
not saying, "shake your guitar neck."

Music can actually include passion and feeling, and maybe even be raunchy and naughty sometimes. I can't help but
feel that music can become bland, watered down, and as boring as the people making/sharing it. Or it can become edgy,
vital, and as passionate and intense as the people making it.

 

[DrewJD82]

Jesus, Bruce. We really have to do something about this love-fest. Not totally comfortable with these feels I am getting.
I agree. 1000%. And with what @Whizzinby said, too.

Start simple. How about standing up once in awhile instead of sitting in that god-damn chair all the time. Are guitar
straps banned now??? Do you have actual legs? If so, use them. It's not bad to move when you play, and by move I am
not saying, "shake your guitar neck."

Music can actually include passion and feeling, and maybe even be raunchy and naughty sometimes. I can't help but
feel that music can become bland, watered down, and as boring as the people making/sharing it. Or it can become edgy,
vital, and as passionate and intense as the people making it.

::scribbling random notes on a piece of paper::

….Steel Panther lyrics, ass-less chaps…..my gear reviews are gonna rule.

 

[DrewJD82]

There's a few things I'd be interested in from Ibanez:

An RG that has an AZ neck, or something that isn't a Wizard. I still think about how much I wanted an RG in the 90's and ended up with something else, but then I pick up an RG and can't do the super thin neck.

This one still looks awesome though:

Also would be interested in their version of the AZ Tele except without the weird wiener shaped control plate.

Lastly I would like to see a good quality semi hollow under $1500. I did try out an AS93FM but it was awful. The John Scofield ones look neat at $1200.

That black/grey AZ looks f*cking sweet. After 50 years, Ibanez figured out how to do gold hardware without making it look like a wedding prop. I say that as a white JEM owner) Between that one and the black PIA, damn.