USA Custom No. 4 GET IT AWAY! (1988) ...

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Author Message   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - 8:52 pm:    When I was orientating in order to purchase my first own electric (you know my dad found I had to wait until after my Masters degree and after that I had to pay it myself anyway) I built up a huge archive of what I could possibly buy (I was still p..... about that price increase of the Epiphone Sheraton II from hfl 695.- to hfl. 995 that I could be any guitar except Epiphone. As a classical guitarist I had always been very fond of Aria, so a combitation of an Aria The Cat and an Aria TA model with the small Aria GA-35R was an option then, but after all I'm glad I didn't do that. I had set a budget of hfl 2000 accessories included. And buying the 100W Polytone Maxi-Brute 104 (the type George Benson used to play) forced me to buy one real good guitar, instead of 1 quite good semi and 1 cheapo. Anyway, being that p..... about Epi price politics I collected catalogues of every brand I could lay my hands on. At Schreeven's in Nijmegen I walked in several times and they had this guitar salesperson before Ron Houben started there, called Kenny Pol, a nice guy with oriental blood, Indonesian I guess, who was patient and kind and showed me he had real knowledge. And Kenny thought: "Just let that guy take away as many catalogues as he wants, because in the end I am the one who's going to sell him his first electric." And he was right. There are a few things that I don't like about a certain type of salesmen: knowing less than the customer in combination with arrogance and another thing is talk in a negative way about the competition. Anyway I had set myself a hfl 2000.- budget case and cable included, so I was shopping around. Schreeven had a special offer for the black and the white MIJ Strat, but I was still in doubt. I went to another shop in Nijmegen, where they had a Aria Herb Ellis (which I probably should have bought) that had some fret buzz probably because of a too low bridge, but not knowing anything about these things then I just thought "No, thanks". And they had the same offer for the strats as Schreeven had, only hfl. 30 cheaper (because they had sent a spy to Schreeven's of course), and the tall skinny black haired acted quite arrogant and said that "Schreeven could NOT sell for that price!"... expecting that I would buy from him. Then the patience of Kenny started to pay. I was so upset about this sneaky attitude that I walked out of the shop, jumped on my bicycle and rode right to Kenny. I told him what happened. I said: "Kenny, you don't have to go one cent under that price, but if you offer me the same price you sold me a strat." He said: "Done, you can sit down in the test room with the classical guitar and you may test them all on a double jack on one channel to pick the best one in the shop, but I can tell you that the one we just took out of the window is a really good one, I don't expect the other to be better." And he was right. The guy must have tested them all and knew exactly what he was talking about. O.K. so far about one of the best guitar salesmen I know. So, Kenny and Schreeven's staff, this "Ibanez U.S.A. custom Specially Made For You" illustrated order form came from your shop in 1988! And I immediately recognized the picture of paint brush No. 4 GET IT AWAY! on eBay: Ebay Item #140181015461 It just went for $1325.- Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - 9:28 pm:    Oh, there's an s missing in 'classical guitars', a quieter department in the shop, so that you don't have the hear all the electric noise when you test classical guitars, because many youngsters seem to hold competitions on making as much noise as possible in music shops without buying anything. They just make you cover your ears and leave the shop. I love it when a shop has separate rooms to test instruments without bothering others and without being bothered by others. So that's where I tested the Strats on a Fender The Twin. Anyway, these USA Customs are not on pricelists and I don't have clue what they costed back then, but 250 guitars of this paint brush No. 4 makes it quite rare, even compared to the desert yellow JEM that I just saw for over $1600.- I guess. Perhaps these paint brush jobs are just too personal. This one got only TWO bids. So, apparently they're more difficult to sell than an unicolor guitar. Ginger   Peterdryan Username: Peterdryan Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - 10:21 pm:    Check out: http://www.gmwguitars.com/paintprice.html This page lists the patterns and prices. There are buttons at the bottom of the page that show the various patterns.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 12:48 am:    Interesting, but Ibanez USA Custom had these 12 finishes as shown on the front page of the Ibanez USA custom order sheet. The back of that 1988 form was yellow and you filled in your name and address etc. then: 1. body finish (12 options); 2. pickup/wiring configuration (8 options; 3. pickup selection (13 pickups x 3 positions 4. neck/fingerboard (1 neck profile W - super thin 24 frets and 4 different fretboards: R = rosewood w dots, M = maple w dots, I = rosewood w shartooth & binding and V = is like I with reverse headstock; 5. hardware finish 6. string gauge (2 options .009-.042 or .010-.046) 7. string height (3 options) 8. hardshell case (y or n). This was not an aftermarket paint brush job. This was all original but custom ordered with this range of options. BTW: right now finish No. 11 is for sale on eBay with a $1399.- BIN price (starting bid $999.-) Ebay Item #120188281276 In 1988 I didn't like these sharp pointy hard rock guitars. I was looking for the smoothest Hank B. Marvin tone or something jazzy and these multicolor finishes were not my piece of cake. But I had the feeling that that piece of paper was worth preserving. I can say now that my taste has evolved, and that the fact that I was not into hardrock or disco (those disco's were really load then) when I was young is the reason that my hearing is still intact. Oh, and not playing in a big band with a horn section behind me, of course... Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 12:50 am:    By the way, I just discovered a print error after nearly 20 years! It says there would be 17 finishes, but there were only 12. Ginger

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