Check out this Ibanez inspired design !

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Author Message   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 9:48 am:    No doubt where this idea came from !   Lespaul Username: Lespaul Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 10:59 am:    Yeah, An over the top decorated Gibson Les Paul knock-off! Happy holidays to all, Paul   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 11:36 am:    I like it though.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 12:42 pm:    Nevermind the fact that its a highy decorated LP copy-look at the design- see anything familar ?   Lespaul Username: Lespaul Registered: 10-2004 Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 2:22 pm:    Ofcourse Dave, I was only kidding. It is a 2674 ripp-off with a post lawsuit headstock shape. Paul   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 3:31 pm:    Some cowboy features!   Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 4:14 pm:    Dave: So, where'd you find this?   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 12:08 am:    This guitar is on EBay right now, but the seller wants way too much for it...I have a bit of history with this seller and his guitars-they are decent but you have to be prepared to do some fret work and replace all the hardware (including pups) to get a decent guitar. So with a BIN of $400 PLUS $125 for shipping I figure this guitar is overpriced by at least $250...   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 3:13 am:    JohnS, Can you post that 1986 Royal guitar picture I sent you please. That was a one off. six (with nothing better to do on Christmas Day)   Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 4:05 am:    Just an aside note: Bruce Wei is a very fine craftsman of M.O.P.Matter of fact i bought a truss rod cover from him on e-bay.One of the coolest sellers on e-bay!Im thinking the guitar in question was more of a display of his artwork than the guitar itself.The guitar itself is most likely a copy of a Gibson from china.Havent we all been contacted on e-bay by this nock off Co.?   Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 4:11 am:    Oh its on e-bay up for bid, sorry very tired.Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays to all   Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 4:53 am:    Heres a poor try at a copy http://www.chnzde.com/items/jt/jt010.htm   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 8:36 am:    Wow thats some real crap there!   Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 9:24 am:    Here's Six's picture of the Royal guitar with Ibanez inspired vine:   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 9:58 am:    Fingers....I own 30 or so of bruces guitars...some good , some bad. The inlay work is verygood but sometimes the guitars that he uses to apply his craft to are just cheap crap, especially the strats.....I have a coup[le of real gems that are of exceptional quality (I believe that bruce uses several suppliers to supply "blank" unfinished guitars. A sure sign of the "better" build is that the necks do NOT have the infamous Koren scarf joint on the neck-they have full length laminted rock maple or Mohagany necks-make nice players with a little effort   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 10:37 am:    You know fellas Bruce Wei and Antonio Tsai (INLAIDARTIST) do some nice inlay work. I've had a chance to buy a couple of inlaid guitars from guys in the States that got them and did some setup work: after some polite emails to the sellers they confided that the instruments were pretty bad. I opted to update two guitars of my own with: a) an inlaid fingerboard and headstock overlay b) a all rosewood neck with lovely inlay here is the end product. In each case both jobs cost me more than anticipated because of little shortcomings in the inlaid product. In the case of the neck it was more than 1/2 an inch too short and my tech needed to add rosewood to the end of the neck (you can barely see it sticking out beyond the end of the fingerboard). Nice inlay though, breathtaking actually.   Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 12:11 pm:    Bigmike- very nice indeed ! What kind of guitar is the electric?   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 12:30 pm:    The electric is a Tokai Talbo: Tokai ALuminum BOdy guitar. Really cool sounding. ASK GUITAR TIM he's played it... The rosewood neck is nice and believe me the inlay is killer. Cost of the neck delivered from Vietnam EMS $120.00... No kidding. The other guitar is an 1897 Washburn parlor guitar, all Brazilian rosewood sides and back, cedar top. Real sweet... the inlay on the neck is KILLER...   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 12:42 pm:    I tried to resize this one photo of the neck on the parlor guitar and was totally unsatisfied with the loss of detail. Thus here is Photobucket link to the photo, check it out. Even this does not give you an idea of the subtle beauty of the materials these guys use. http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/bigmikeinca/P1010128.jpg   Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 1:10 pm:    Real nice BigM.The garden backdrop would make a great e-bay photo layout.Im tempted to jump the fence and use the neighbors rose bushes for my next photo shoot!   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 7:00 pm:    Thanks John, Just to fill you in. I recently had an email chat with Kevin Chilcott at Royal guitars about this guitar. The vine on the Royal guitar was copied from an old Ibanez brochure. It was HAND MADE and inlayed by Kevin back in the mid 80's. I saw this guitar in the flesh at a show back then and was so knocked out I took the photo. The inlaying was outstanding. Here is Kevin's site http://www.kevinchilcott-luthier.co.uk/private/royale-guitars.htm six   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 1:26 pm:    Gentlemen, I bought the guitar that started this thread as well as another of Bruce's electric's he had on ebay. It was another black Paul shape axe with a bunch of flower/rose inlays all over it. I thought the 2 axes would look nice sitting next to each other. However, since I took both axes, Bruce gave me a break. So... I got both guitars plus shipping included for $800. He wanted like $130 each to ship to USA so, if I deduct $260 (shipping he wanted) from the $800 total I owe him, I figure I got each guitar for... $265... plus shipping. May be a convoluted calculation and line of thought but... that's the way I am figuring it, just to justify the purchases. Now... I knew Dave had purchased from Bruce in the past and I knew I would be gutting the guitars. Looking forward to it adctually. I will put one set of pups in one of them and another type in the other axe, just for grins and have 2 "different" sounding axes when I am done. Phot is the other one.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 1:26 pm:    Gentlemen, I bought the guitar that started this thread as well as another of Bruce's electric's he had on ebay. It was another black Paul shape axe with a bunch of flower/rose inlays all over it. I thought the 2 axes would look nice sitting next to each other. However, since I took both axes, Bruce gave me a break. So... I got both guitars plus shipping included for $800. He wanted like $130 each to ship to USA so, if I deduct $260 (shipping he wanted) from the $800 total I owe him, I figure I got each guitar for... $265... plus shipping. May be a convoluted calculation and line of thought but... that's the way I am figuring it, just to justify the purchases. Now... I knew Dave had purchased from Bruce in the past and I knew I would be gutting the guitars. Looking forward to it adctually. I will put one set of pups in one of them and another type in the other axe, just for grins and have 2 "different" sounding axes when I am done. Photo is the other one.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 3:01 pm:    Bob, Bruce accepted my offer of $285 for the guitar this morning and I am listed as the winner of that auction (Ecomtrust)....You might want to contact Bruce.....BTW..the floral is very nice too ! I find that the Burstbucker Pro's really sound good and the solid construction of these guitars give it a real nice resonance....   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 10:42 am:    Dave, maybe he made 2 of them? I have the printouts of the two auctions I won and that guitar is one of them.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 11:50 am:    Dave, here's the link to the auction I "won." http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&It em=180067527375 I did get an e-mail from Bruce, but I can't read it. I don't own a computer but I went to 2 different computers and tried to read his e-mail. Both times, I got a message stating I needed to download some kind of converter in order to read the e-mail. I guess it's a China/English conversion thingamajig. Both times I tried to download it, I got a message that it couldn't be downloaded at the present time. So... Your message above troubles me a bit because, as you can see by the auction (and the invoices bruce and Ebay have sent me) that I think I won the axe. I was looking forward to having the both of them. Until I can get this conversion thingy figured out or get to a computer that already has it, I am stuck and not feeling good about the current situation. My gut feeling is that he will have 2 of them. If he made one, he can make another, and probably quickly too. Dave, if you don't mind, maybe you can let Bruce know my situation and maybe he can tell you what was in his e-mail to me dated 12/16/06 and then you can post it here or better yet send it to my personal e-mail address which is bobzilla6969@hotmail.com If you send me a message, I won't need a converter. I can probably get access to a computer again later on today/tonight. if you can't do that or just don't feel like it, that's OK, no prob.   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 12:35 pm:    Guys, I would exhale on the guitar sold issue. Bruce and Antonio have a crew of people making these guitars, necks, fingerboard overlays and such. If you look around their "stores" on eBay you will find dead exact examples of the instruments for sale multiple times. Reason is simple so let me digress: When I got the fingerboard overlays and neck from Antonio Tsai I showed my tech across the street - the guy is a cabinet maker by profession (working custom homes only). He felt the work was so cheap because they are using CAD/CAM equipment to do the cutting into the wood AND the cutting of the little inlay pieces. Some poor Vietnamese person sits there gluing in the pieces with a filler dyed to match the wood it's going into. Same deal with the guitars - basically guitar kit bodies and necks that are run thru the CNCs. It's why they are so cheap to buy. I am sure you both will get your instruments. And both Antonio and Bruce use EMS which means you should have the instruments in about a week from when you pay them. No kidding...   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 12:39 pm:    Bob, My auction "win" is a different number, so perhaps he did make more than 1... 180066825069   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 12:41 pm:    http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1751-2978-71/1?AID=5463217&PID=1802666&mpre=ht tp%3A//cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D180066826099 Well I believe this ad reflects what I said above: they got multiple examples listed/for sale. They are knocking these out constantly. You'll both get what you paid for. I bought a bunch of inlay material from Bruce to make abalone guitar picks with and he seems very nice to deal with. Enjoy your guitars guys !!   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 12:43 pm:    DUOH, I haven't had my second cup fellas - when I clicked on the link to verify it all had worked ok I noticed that it's the one BOBZILLA won. As I said though, there are guitars like this coming out his shop doors all the time... You'll be fine.   Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 3:00 pm:    Bigmike: Abalone picks? Sounds pretty, but isn't that material a little brittle or subject to flaking around the edges?   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 3:17 pm:    I cut opals as a hobby, have for about 25 years. I have a real nice water cooled diamond wheel rig for that. It cut the picks fine. High polished about a dozen of different shapes. They're thick and haven't flaked or chipped on me yet - but I'm not Pete Townsend windmilling like a mofo on an SG... LOL   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 6:21 pm:    Bob/Dave I'd be interested to know what you think of the overall quality/sound/price when your guitars arrive. I'm weakening on one ...just a bit. six   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 10:05 pm:    Six, I own a bunch of these-I'm intrigued by the handiwork so if theres a bargin, I'll throw a snipe at it...remember the shipping is pretty steep..ANyway I have won a number of these for under $100 so that with shipping I land them to my house under $250-with a case. Not bad for a crappy Epiphone and reasonable for a guitar with so much inlay. Quality: The build on the guitars is predictable-both of these guys use several different sources for the "blanks" and at least two of them are good-at least a Samick type quality. Very nice neck joint work, solid construction (no plywood)clean routes. Most have neck scarf joints (a la all the Koren manufactureer)but I do have a few with real three pc laminated necks. The quality is lost in the details however. I don't think that the factory is all that carefull when installing the inlays as it is very common to get a guitar with slight scratches, pings etc-evidence of some rough handling. have only had one incident where the guitar was unacceptable and Bruce provided a very prompt refund and allowed me to keep the guitar... Another area that needs work is the frets. Since the factory is inlaying the necks-they are also putting the frets in. The quality of this work varies a lot. Most , if not all of the guitars have to be given finish dressing on the frets, especially the ends-very sharp ends that will actually cut your hands if you don't file them down. I have a guitar now that has two different sized frets used on it-the frets used where the inlay is are actually higher than the rest of the neck ! I'm in the process of fixing that. The finish work is ok...just OK..expect a fair share of drips, overruns, and surface imperfections..mostly just annoying and not dealbreakers (at least to me) Sound: These guitars come with pickups (4 leads with two taped off) from a company called G & B Co. These pickups are very similar to what Epiphone is using, right down to the "F" and "R" designation for the Front (Neck) and Rear (Bridge) position. Interesting side note is that the covers fit the metric spacing of the old Super 70's, allowing me to replace the worn gold covers on a couple of my more minty items. Anyway the pickups are a bit "over the top" for me. They are pretty gainy with a ton of growl and a bit two crunchy for my personal tastes, but seem to be a great choice for metal. I have been changing them out for a more predictable sound using Bustbucker Pro's. The harness is about what you would expect and , again , just like the chinese Epiphones-I change out the small pots for new 500K from Stew MAc-no problem. So, what you have is an expensive hobby that-if your handy and can do your own setups, fretwork and are not afraid to experiment-can result in a very nice head turning guitar. If your expecting to get the quality of say a 1978 2617, don't bother...I think that Bruce and Antonio are both a couple of years away from that.   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 11:53 pm:    To Quote Dave: If your expecting to get the quality of say a 1978 2617, don't bother...I think that Bruce and Antonio are both a couple of years away from that. AMEN to that. But they are on a learning curve and are learning. But for the money, once you change to some better pickups and redress the frets and set it up to your liking you have a great looking guitar...   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 4:05 am:    Phew! Wasn't expecting quite a long read so soon Dave but I appreciate you taking the time to get me up to speed. And thanks to Bigmike too. Although there is a value for money aspect to these guitars, for me personally, it may be worth hanging on for a bit to see how their work improves. I really don't have the time to 'fiddle' at the moment. Plus I have a couple of other guitars that I want to fiddle with first. Thanks again six   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 10:02 am:    Six...Sorry to be so long winded but I probably have to most experience with these sellers than anyone. They are on a learning curve..the guitars they are producing now are a quantum leap beyond what they offered three short years ago both in terms of construction and astethics (the early guitars seemed to be just a collection of very stylized chinese dragons) I think that they will continue to improve (especially Bruce) and will probably continue to rise in price...... Needless to say I am fancinated with this aspect of collecting for one reason only....Ask your self this question. Whats the difference between a $600 2680 and a $3500 2681 ? The answer is around $250 worth of inlay work (well its really not that simple, but you get the point-its the ornamentation not any special woods or electronics or other "bells and whistles"..) If only the quality could go up a couple of notches.....   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 11:58 am:    Quoting Dave: If only the quality could go up a couple of notches..... Which I why I went with a rosewood neck for my Talbo and the recorated fingerboard and headstock overlay for my turn of the century Washburn parlor guitar. I had my tech really work both guitars over a lot so they really, really play as good as they look. It will be interesting to see what these guys turn out in 2 or 3 years. I think they'd both do well with a lot of constructive feedback from customers - friendly advice... I wrote Antonio about the problem I had with my rosewood neck being too short (not the standard Strat length) and he started making the right length and posting the size in his ad text. Very smart.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 8:13 pm:    Dave/folks, It's Thursday. Got another e-mail from Bruce and he told me not to worry so.... I guess Dave and I are gonna own a pair of bookends. I made the 2 guitar purchase knowing full well what Dave had thought of the guitars, I've spoken with Dave at length about them in the past and I knew what I was in for. A cheap axe that I was gonna gut and refit with top-notch guts and pups. Like I said, I will refit them differently and have different setups on each one. I am not planning on having a valuable instrument when I'm done, I am counting on having two knockaround axes that will probably initiate a few guitar conversations. Dave, let me know when you get yours, I'll let you know when I get the 2 I ordered.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 8:39 pm:    BigMike, did you drop those inlays in yourself? They look great. Thanx for the photos. I hope I wind up with two "decent" axes in the long run. If not... no prob. Sometimes it's fun just mucking about with them. With the length of time that any axe stays with you, you usually forget about the cost factors down the road and you're just happy that you made the decision a while back to buy the dang thing. Guarantee these things will impress most folks, not guitarists, but most of the general public. If I can make useful noises come out of it, that will be fun.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 10:52 pm:    Bob....As you know I have several of these...in particular I have a Blue LP with a cool PRS type dragon on it outfitted with a new harness and a set of Burstbucker pro's with embossed Gibson PU covers. I took it to a jam with at least 8 other guitarists that each one is a professional with decades of experience....all and I mean all were stunned at both the appearance and the sound of this beast ! They wer fighting over who would get to play it next ! I put a LOT of fret detail on the guitar and its damn near perfect. The only negative vs the 1977 Gibson LP was the lack of tabs on the neck-something that the fellas will figure out over time. I'll drop ya a line when I have the git   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 10:58 pm:    Bob....I think one time you told me your nickname....thought you would find these interesting. The LP is fitted with the BB Pro's and Vintage Pup covers (note the wrong Bridge cover-I'm still looking for the correct one) and the 335 type has a pair of Super 58's.....   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 11:01 pm:    Bobzilla, My neighbor across the street did the work on BOTH my parlor guitar and Talbo. He's a very good cabinet maker and has done a lot of guitar of building himself. He's pretty good. He had the parlor guitar first and he worked on it in his spare time. So times that was a lot of time and then at other times it was a week between when he had time to work on it. He had to remove the old fingerboard and headstock overlay from the parlor guitar, remove a lot of old glue, he repaired two body cracks and then starting installing the fingerboard and headstock overlay, making room for edge binding on both. Then he did the binding and let the glues dry for a couple days. Then did the frets and final finishing. He charged me $500.00 (and I brought him a lot of free BigMike pizzas and meals to boot). The Talbo is weird - it's a two screw neck but actually they're BOLTS. So he had to tap the two things into the neck that the bolts bolt into. But then when he started setting it up realized the mofo was about 2/3 an inch too short... I told him - MAKE IT RIGHT. And he did. He took some rosewood stock and glued it to the end of the rosewood neck and after a week of drying did the final finish and setup. I will skip an assload of detail here - let's say he just made it perfect. He charged me $400.00 or so for that headache (but that included locking tuners and other hardware). He did an amazing setup job on both instruments. The parlor guitar looks nearly new - he rubbed about a century of grime off it. The Talbo he did a lot of pot cleaning and stuff - the Talbo screams... I really like them. On the Talbo - I have the old neck and if I ever wanted to sell it to a collector it would be no bid deal bolting the original stock neck back on.   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 2:12 am:    Dave, Those 2 look pretty scary! six   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 - 10:13 am:    Dave, yes, my nickname is "Spider" and... as you know, I WANT THAT GUITAR!!! Maybe someday.... ay? Big Mike, I have a few uncut rubies and emeralds, can you do anything with them? Dave, I can't wait for my 2 guitars. We'll have bookends and the floral one looks pretty cool to me. I got an e-mail from Bruce today, he says he will ship ASAP (which means he is probably building the 2nd of our bookends as we speak, he'll probably send you the original one before he sends mine.)   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 - 9:52 pm:    Bob, I don't what's called "faceting" in the trade, I cut round smooth stones called cabachons. Emeralds and rubies usually are faceted. You need a specialized kind of gear for that I don't have. Besides I'm getting all soddy in my old age, you don't want me mucking with your stuff. LOL Post a photo of the stones with a dime in the shot so I get an idea what they look like and how big they are.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 - 8:36 am:    I will try Mike. Some are actually large.   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 - 1:11 pm:    Take the shot in natural sunlight too, if you have a piece of black felt put the stones on that.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 11:25 am:    Theyr're heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 1:27 pm:    ooopsa. This one too....   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 2:57 pm:    It's gonna be AWFULLY QUIET around here for a couplea days while Bob looks, plays, gets them restrung/setup, looks at them some more, plays them some more. LOL SO BOB, what do you think man ??? I would think with new pots, some sweet pickups and a decent fret level you'd have yourself one badass g-tar. OOPS, make that TWO GUITARS. They're pretty good about getting the stuff over here EMS huh ??   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 5:10 pm:    The Twin arrived safe and sound also..its already been gutted, frets dressed & Neck stained, NOS Gibson harness with 500K pots installed. Tonite I'll add the Burstbucker Pro's and test 'er out !   Jchester Username: Jchester Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 11:02 pm:    They're puuurrrrrty!!! ...but from Dave's post, it sounds like they need some "lessons", before they can "dance". Tell us the bad stuff. How cheesy are the "blanks" they're usin'?   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 1:23 am:    jchester....Not cheesy at all. The quality is rather good, its just the finish work that need a bit more atttention to detail. The only negative on the build is that many of these guitars have scarf joints on the neck (Just like all of the Koren mid range production)..probably not a problem (this is a very common method of producing "price point" guitars), just a personal pet peeve of mine-I just prefer a laminatd neck. You have to remember that the "skilled craftsman" that are churning these out probably work in a sweat shop and are only concerned with piece count. So its the little stuff....fret finishing, hairline surface scratches, pings and bings, laquer drips, errant saw marks, fingerprints and the like.... The body is pretty good, at least as good as a koren Epi or a samick...Nice book matched flame laminate top, block mohogany body, decent import hardware, high gain pups, the expected low end import harness-all routes are clean and joints tight...not bad at all. Put it all in perspective. Once finished, I have around $400 into this guitar. The result is a decent build, with a full Gibson harness and pups, with awesome inlay work...... You just cannot beat that with a stick. Once you crank up those Burst Bucker Pros, you don't even notice the lack of a known brand name on the headstock ! I think I'll put some Super 70's in one tommorow !   Jchester Username: Jchester Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 1:41 am:    So... what I'm getting is: Good build, w/NO setup (remember that was what Hoshino, USA did) & crappy electronics ... but AWESOME INLAYS. Hell... the inlays alone are worth what you paid for 'em... even if you just hang 'em on the wall... as ART! Congrats guys, they're beauties! JC   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 12:21 pm:    Everything Dave said... pertains to my two. I think It's neat that Dave and I have matching bookends there. Fortunately for Dave and very unfortunately for me... Dave can do his own neck work and electronic work. I have to bring mine to my Tech (Ed Clark) in NY... he is amazing. So... I paid $270 each for them and.... the necks and frets are in need of MAJOR work. yes... MAJOR! Ed took a look at 'em and says he will try but he can't promise anything. Frets are especially horrifying on both axes. I could not and have not played either guitar. So, will I get away as easy as David as far as dollars invested vs. final result? NOPE! Cosmetic flaws are numerous, mostly on the flower guitar. Neither axe fits correctly in the case it came in, so.. on saturday I am picking up a brand new, immaculate flight case for $50 from a buddy of mine and then I will track down another case for the other axe. One case took a hit on the way. It has a measurable one inch deep crunch in it. It's sort of "rounded." (That dent.) If I had Dave's skills, I would have made out OK I guess, but I don't have his skills and it will cost me a considerable amount of money to get them both to be where they need be as far as playability. I can live with the cosmetic issues for the most part because I was expecting MOST of them, not all of them. I can't make a final judgment on these 2 'til the bill comes in for the neck repair work. And... Guitars were shipped on 1/6/07 and arrived in my hands on 1/9/07 at noon. EMS was alot faster than I expected. Orient to NY in 3 days. Amazing. My strong recommendation to anyone considering such a purchase would be to ONLY ONLY ONLY buy if you yourself can do the work they're gonna need... or if your wallets can withstand the hit. Hopefully, when I'm done, they'll be players and I will get a chance to enjoy them.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Saturday, January 13, 2007 - 1:31 am:    On second thought, th ebody of the guitar has a BM flame maple top but the body is made out of a lighter wood than mohagany...might be AGATHIS   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 12:17 pm:    There is about a 2-3 lb. weight difference between the 2 guityars I got. EXTREMELY noticeable. Still can't play eitherr one though. I wonder what they sound like.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 7:31 pm:    David... where'd you go? I need you.... bud.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 8:19 pm:    Bob, I here ya dude but , unfortunately I'm having major issues with my company...seems like it went down hill after some numnutz burned down the fifth ave store.....I'm puttin in some serious hours here trying to keep this baby afloat-no time for guitars...it hurts to even type it !   Jchester Username: Jchester Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 11:39 am:    OUCH, Dave! Good luck!   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 1:42 pm:    Sorry to hear that David, best of luck with it.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 8:34 am:    Thanks guys for the kind words..I did manage to find some time to fool around in the shop...This might be as close as I ever get to the Holy Grail...2675... I know its kinda creepy in a way, and the NOS Ibanez parts are worth more than the rest of the guitar, but this is just for fun ! THe pickups are circa 1976 Super 70's with new covers.....   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 7:55 pm:    Lookin' good there Dave. Tonight I picked up a whole setup out of a 2004 Gibby Les Paul. Both pick ups, pup surrounds, complete pots and wiring ...the pots and wiring are all on a "board" for lack of a better term, including the input jack all in one connected piece, plus the pick up selector "nipple" or whatever you wanna call that thingy that fits over the toggle switch. I am gonna contact Pit Viper and see if he will make me two of those in abalone, one for each of these axes. I got the whole guts of a Gibby LP for $60, and these guts were never played because they were immediately rplaced with EMG's in his Paul. Everything is BRAND NEW/Unused. So basically, the entire complete guts of a Les Paul Standard for $60 total from my buddy. This stuff is going into the flower guitar along with a bone nut up top and a bone nut's going up top on the IBZ copy like Daves. I have to find guts now for the IBZ copy. I am working on it. Both axes are still in the shop, have not played either one yet, they both need neck work and complete re-frets, especially the IBZ copy (which I call the "scroll" axe.) I wonder why the flower axe is so much heavier than the scroller? Way heavier. Oh by the way... seller is sending me a refund of $400. So I sent him $800 total in the first place, $260 of which was shipping. Taking that shipping out of it, and figuring in the $400 refund, I think that brings each axe in at $70 each... correct? (not figuring in the shipping.) But, it's costing me over $500 to have them brought to playable condition and that should tell you something very important about these guitars. So... the refund goes right back into the axes. And... that blows my "deal" out of the water, I'd say. I am taking care of the guts of the flower axe first because it is the heavier of the two and I prefer it over the scroll axe for the time being. Looking into Dave's recommended burstbuckers for the scroll axe but the guts on that one are gonna have to wait til I recover from all this repair work cost. I don't even think I will have them back for a few weeks and I've never even played 'em yet. THEY NEED LOTS AND LOTS OF WORK. I wish I had Dave's skills, his scroller looks like a real player now, I'd like to hear it in person one of these days. Excellent job there Dave.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 8:02 pm:    Ummmmmmmmmm P.S. Dave... Holy Tailpieces! I may need that tailpiece on Monday! Will begging, groveling and or paying get me anywhere with that? I will also throw in my left _______(your choice of my personal human body parts!) Just fill in the blank.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 9:49 pm:    Bob, I figured you would want to troll ye ole parts bin for some goodies-which is perfectly fine with me (although I don't think I have NOS on the fancy tail, but I probably have a couple to choose from that would be acceptable-I know I have 3 in chrome that are NOS). The "board" that the Gibby Pots and input-jack sub harness are mounted on will not work in these guitars-the spacing of the pots is different. I did use the sub harness ('cause I think its cool) by mounting it on the side of the control cavity-but you have to trash the base as the sub harness is riveted on. The tech (or yourself) will have to enlarge the holes for the knobs as the Gibby post are a larger diameter. (HINT-be sure to use a bevel reamer on the hole first to "cut" the laquer back so when you file the hole ever so carefully with a rat tail file you do not chip the finish around the edge of the hole. The Burst Bucker Pros will bring tears to your eyes ! FYI....I cannot read music either (severe dyslexia as a child) nor have I ever taken a lesson. I was grounded in 8th grade for smoking pot and during my 6 month sentence, I learned to record copy and figured out the "Holy Trio" of jam tunezz...Freebird, Stairway to Heaven and Green Grass and High Tides...really --every change, every lead. After my "grounding" was over and I formed a garage band with a couple of my buddies, I learned that in 1976 those three songs were the key to most hippy chicks hip huggers and I have been learning , playing and chasing hippy chicks ever since !   Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2007 - 12:59 am:    Dave, That axe looks very cool. Did you work with those guys to make this particular guitar with what appears to be exactly like the inlay work on the 2675 or was it them who copied the design and you spotted it? Be as long winded as you like with your response. six   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2007 - 8:56 am:    Dave... I truly admire you even more now because of what you just explained about your guitar playing/"learning" experience. That's so much cooler than (without offense to anyone) book-taught knowledege. I do not exaggerate when I tell you that I got laid (back in the day) at least 15x just because I knew how to play Stairway to Heaven" and "Over the hills and Far Away" (I usually play "Over the Hills" with the guitar completely behind my back (behind my head.) Until that lead run that starts on the F# note on the 6th str, 2nd fret and runs up the neck of the guitar from there. You know the bit! In any event, your little story warms my heart. Man what happened to the good old days when you could get laid just for playing Stairway... ay! I have a hippy chick too. I am gonna print out your advice about the drilling now so that when I drop the Gibby guts off today at noon, techie can have a look at it, Thanx for the advice, thanx for the story. If I put the burstbuckers in my scroller, we'd be darn closer to having bookends then. I'm trying... finances are getting whacked left and right by these monsters... all of 'em.   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Saturday, January 20, 2007 - 11:14 am:    Me ? Long winded ?...It still hurts to think about it, but I believe that this guitar was produced from pictures that I sent the builder. The guy that did the inlay on these guitars was the guy that was supposed to do the work on "Shame"....that is until the US customs decided to loose the guitar for 4 months. The original concept was to copy the wood and shell inlays on the NAMM guitar from the catalog . I'm not sure what year, but it was the guitar with the bird on it and corresponding neck inlays. During the negotiations we had corresponded about doing a 2675 type inlay and I provided catalog scans. I do not think its a coincidence that they produced these guitars. I do not recommend anyone else trying this , these guys have produced some decent inlay work, but this design was barely acceptable. Its not a problem when the guitar you are inlaying is a chinese LP copy, but a vintage AR500 is another story. The plan was to send the guitar body to Vietnam and have the work done , then ship back to the US for final finish. In retrospect I am glad that the guitar was finally returned as I now believe that the quality of the work would not have been acceptable and I could have ruined an already abused guitar. "Shame" has been resting ever since.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 12:05 pm:    My tech says I'll have these 2 back by weeks end. I've got $510 in repairs in them and upgrades and that's still leaving the original guts in the IBZ copy and that's still not accounting for machine replacements for both axes. Man. Sounds like I will need another $300 minimally.   Tubescorcher Username: Tubescorcher Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 12:24 pm:    Hey Bob, It's sounding like you shouldn't have pulled the trigger on these!   Bigmike Username: Bigmike Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 8:38 pm:    Tubescorcher, Naaah Bob'll be pretty happy with them once they're setup... I posted a couple times when people mentioned these: I had found a couple of these here in America for sale on eBay and wrote politely to the guys asking them what they REALLY thought (they had BuyItNow prices well below what they paid for them, that alone should be a tipoff) and they all told me the same thing: Probably kit guitars, a kid just learning might be ok with them but if you have any experience in guitars you would find them sorely lacking... It's why I went with an inlaid fingerboard for my parlor guitar and a rosewood inlaid neck for my Tokai Talbo (which ended up being a BIG expensive headache because the neck was over 1/2 inch TOO SHORT). In a couple years these guys will be something else, it seems they are learning fast AND at some point will realize they can make big money using better guts electronically and with a tad more attention to details can really improve their profit margin.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 8:38 pm:    Tube... I'd have to agree with that assesment 100%. In the end though, I will have 2 decent players. The flower axe is Les Paul guts in an inlaid body. The IBZ copy will probably turn out to be close to that as well. Would I do it again... NOT! Would I do it if I had Dave's skills... Yes. So... like I said before... if you can't do the work yourself or have deep enuff pockets to pay for the upgrades... my advice would be to stay away. If I had Dave's skills though, I would by a bunch of them as I think the inlays are improving and they are certainly conversation pieces. Every time someone sees them they will be drawn to them. And with actually Gibby guts, it's gonna be alright. The money comes and goes, I will enjoy these long after I recover from the financial strain they caused. Just like the ar5000. I am so happy to have it and everything I sacrificed to get it was absolutley worth it to me. Same will apply to these 2.... eventually.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:30 pm:    Today I recv'd $400 refund from seller.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007 - 12:20 pm:    It's 1/29//07, Still don't have these axes back, still have never played them. Bah.   Sabeking Username: Sabeking Registered: 06-2006 Posted on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 - 9:09 pm:    Personally, I think these guitars take away the aura surrounding real vine guitars. Call me crazy, but I like uniqueness in things...   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 - 9:42 pm:    Sabe... with the $400 refund and the Gibson Les Paul complete, and I mean COMPLETE guts going in, plus the bone nuts and the work is being done by an amazing luthier... the necks, the electronics, etc. etc. I am gonna have 2 decent axes I assure you and... for the investment, to me, well worth it. They needed a sprucin' for sure. They are not intended as "vine copies" they don't have vines in the necks. One has butterflies and flowers and the other has a scroll design so... let's just wait til I have them back before we make the final call. The flower axe has considerable weight to it and Les Paul guts. The neck and frets are almost done, so it's quite a different animal now. Quite. I still haven't played them or heard a sound come out of them, as you can imagine, I am going nuts to plug 'em in and take 'em for a ride. I will be honest with you in my review of them when I get 'em back, If they suck, I will tell you. I don't think so though. Each one cost me $70 (basically) and then I dumped money back in 'em... yes. But still, I happen to like 'em and as you can see, Dave turned his into something nice. So far, what everybody has posted in this thread has alot of truth and insight in each post. Dave wound up with an axe that I am sure could match blows with a bunch of axes. That's not a bad end result. Hopefully, I will have success with them as well, I wouldn't have expended the time, energy, coin... if I didn't think it would be worth it. We'll see, let's just wait a few more days.   Sabeking Username: Sabeking Registered: 06-2006 Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 12:01 pm:    Bobzilla and everyone, Please don't get me wrong, I might end up doing one of these as well (if the price completed is right and everybody likes the playability). All I am saying is that the vine has an aura around it (at least for me) and I like that... I know the flowers, etc. are not the same but the idea is. I just hope these variations don't affect the aura (I have) of the real vine guitars. Nonetheless, keep us updated on how it turns out...   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 01-2002 Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 5:36 pm:    Bob, I'll do ya one better.....I put Super 70's (with new covers) into mine and it sounds great !   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 02-2005 Posted on Thursday, February 01, 2007 - 11:16 am:    Yeah Dave, an ICW member posted 58's for sale and I think I got to him pretty quick but he said another ICW guy got there first. I told him I wanted to dump them in the IBZ copy... oh well, I got fooked. In any event, I've definitely decided that I will only dump Ibanez pups into the IBZ copy. Dave, I'd like to put yours and mine next to each other and see what we got. Unfortunately, I still don't have 'em back. I checked w/ ED my guitar tech yesterday afternoon, well... it didn't sound like I'd have 'em back anytime soon. I dropped a '69 Epiphone Texan acoustic off with Ed a while back, took 4 months to get it back, but ... it came back a real player! I try not to bug Ed, let him do what he does best and then, someday... he calls me. I think my call to him yesterday may speed things up but I really doubt it. Could you imagine waiting so liong and never have heard them plugged into an amp yet! Bah. Oh well... it's worth it in the long run. I just want to emphasize that I don't think the designs in the necks even resemble remotley the Ibanez vines and I know they not intended to imitate them in any way shape or form, so... I wouldn't worry about that big fella. The IBZ vine is the IBZ vine, it is what it is and... always will be. Topns of axes have inlaid nex these days and a bunch of 'em are a direct "tribute" to the IBZ vine. I don't like that. So... I kinda know what you mean but, it doesn't pertain to the axes above.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 2-2005 Posted on Thursday, February 15, 2007 - 6:56 pm:    I got these 2 Viet axes back, Bone nuts on both. The IBZ copy is stock except for the bone. The flower axe has a Gibson Les Pauls complete guts... from the pups right on down to the input jack. Both necks are straight as an arrow, all frets have been addressed and... now I can make an assesment of the overall situation. The assesment is: I AM VERY VERY VERY HAPPY with both guitars. The flower axe is a heavy bird, so it's got that LP weight to it. It's loads of fun and it sounds just about like a Les Paul to me. The IBZ copy is lots of fun to have and play as well. I brought them to Warren J. Maniacs house to show him the axes and a buddy of his happened to stop by and he says (without any influence from me) he says, "Can I guess how much that guitar cost you?" (The flower guitar.) I said, "sure... go 'head." He says, "$3000." I said... "Nah." Point being: I can already tell I will have a few interesting conversations about these 2 axes in the years to come, so that's fun and they're just fun to have and own and PLAY! They play and sound just fine. Main thing is... I am thrilled with them now, they both play extremely well, the necks have no issues.... it's a hoot.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 2-2005 Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 10:50 am:    PitViper is hand making me an abalone pup selector switch tip and the "ring" that goes around the pup selector switch as well. So, both those bits will be in hand-carved abalone and I've got a set of pearl tuners on it now as well. Plus the Gibson Les Paul guts. When Pit is done and I have it installed, will post photos. This guitar turns heads and... it plays and sounds like a very very decent axe. I'm having a Dimarzio BluesBurster pup installed in the bridge position and a Gibson BurstBucker pup in the neck position on the Scroll guitar. The Scroll axe is light, it needs balls. Hopefully these pups will help.   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 2-2005 Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 3:03 pm:    I've got Ibanez pearl tuners on both these Vietnamese axes now. Very nice.

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