Ibanez Tim Henson TOD10 REVIEW & FIRST IMPRESSIONS...A HUGE LETDOWN
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- Опубликовано: 24 сен 2024
- I just received my brand new Ibanez Tim Henson TOD10 guitar. At first glance the guitar looked great but upon closer inspection I noticed a bunch of QC issues. Is this a one off or does Ibanez have a QC problem on their hands?
Ibanez GIO/ TOD10 QC Comparison Video: • Ibanez GIO QC IMPRESSE...
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Ibanez was my first back in the early 2000s and remains my favorite brand, but I recently got a new guitar and chose a $900 Schecter over a $1200 Ibanez. No complaints-the QC on the Schecter is amazing. As other commenters said, if I get an Ibanez in the future, I’ll have to get one of the models actually made in Japan because the QC in their other factories has taken a nose dive. It’s wild how many imperfections are in this video alone.
I have been very impressed with the Schecter guitars that have come through our shop. I haven't seen any issues like the ones I found with this TOD10.
I own a Schecter bass that I got second hand but it was barely used, and the owner didn’t really do anything to it besides put on his strings of choice; thing is absolutely fantastic for what retails for a $900. I got it for $800 and I’d put it against most other basses in the multi thousand dollar range.
Crazy, ibanez is my fave brand i just go a schecter and its the worst guitar I've ever had 😂 guess its a gamble these days no matter who makes it
Schecter has had good guitars out of Korea for nearly 2 decades if not more. Just need to replace the pickups on my first one.
I respect your views, but actually Schecter have more returns in shops than most other brands.
Good on you for sending it back, consumers have to hold brands accountable. Indonesian guitars are getting crazy expensive, many examples much higher than this, and brands need to know that they can't keep jacking the prices without making sure the quality is increasing too.
Totally. I was going to have them send me another one but decided for a full refund. It left a bad taste in my mouth for sure.
I do it all the time. Honestly I'm done buying
Especially since there are more and more 300$ chinese guitars that have insanely perfect routing and a crazy tight neck pocket (made with CNC machines). IMO, the main reason why people are still buying those relatively expensive Indonesian made guitars is the marketing aspect of it (especially Artists models like Polyphia and Chon). A lot of people don’t only want a nice guitar, but they feel the need to copy their idols.
ngl yes, ibanez indonesian guitar are not worth for the price. However the Silver Sky made in Indonesia are great value tho
I agree especially a instrument built in a 3rd rate country that's made assembly line style they don't care how it's made so long as they get a paycheck to get a good instrument it needs to be made in a 1rst would country I got a American Elite Jazz bass from fender and a schecter stilletto custom made in Indonesia and the difference in quality is very much night and day it's a huge difference but we're talking a $3'000 bass versus a $700 bass but you get what I'm saying I'm not sure what he paid for this garbage but these other countries gotta step up there game your almost better off getting a Chinese instrument there's some really awesome stuff coming outta China
Ibanez has had QC issues for a long time. Ordering an Ibanez, regardless of the price, is often a 50% chance of it having issues. Only exception to that rule is the Prestige line (or j.customs) because any guitar that comes out of a japanese factory is going to have the best QC you'll find in the industry.
Such a pity. I had a Korean RG in the 90s that was amazing. Currently have a Jem Jr and one of their Artwood acoustics and they’re fantastic. Pity to see them go downhill
Not really, i m interested in sparkling blue jem in a store back in 2015 or 16, hanging in the wall from 2010 if im not mistaking. And guess what it has flaw with the trem system. So the stor cant sell it. What jap dont have qc issues????
My prestige AZN is the best playing guitar I ever put my hands on, I have to say. The absurd thing is my prestige AZN was 1800€ a couple of years ago and now they’re selling this premium line one for 1400.
Modern ibanez is such a fall from grace from what they used to be. They just try to cash in on their extensive artist roster and whatever fads are going on in the music industry. They’ve fallen into that nasty “cheap guitar but throw some fishmans in it and charge $1500” habit that some companies are starting to get into. Their AZ series is just becoming a Suhr carbon copy, and lots of their other models are ugly and uninspired. Really disappointing, especially since they used to be arguably the most iconic modern guitar brand
Even with Prestige guitars, it can be iffy
And even with cheaper models, they can be really nice
It really is a coin flip as you said
J. Customs are all immaculate in my experience, but I’ve only owned 1 and played about 3
It's a shame companies are letting their QA fall short. For many companies it seems to be a hit or miss: either your quality is perfect or the guitar is pretty awful. It's a shame, because many people will simply skip such brands or models and not take the risk of getting disappointed. I know good retailers will try to get you a better version of the same thing but the let down is bad when you expected to get a great guitar from the gate.
I echo this. It seems that a lot of corners are getting cut. Tough economy but that should make it more imperative for the consumers that can buy new instruments to get a quality product. Nowadays it’s hard to justify buying anything new. Don’t get me started on the QC my significant other’s parents had buying a brand new Tesla. Even for $60k you get bad trim, uneven doors, cheap paint, and a glitchy display.
For some relevant context from when I worked at an instrument store in 2018:
About 5-7% of guitars from any brand would have cosmetic issues/outright broken in some way or another. The cheaper the brand, the higher likelihood of issues. Epiphone in particular was quite bad, but technically fender had the highest quantity of duds. This was because they sold more guitars than basically everyone else. Notable brands to notice: lakland never has a case with their basses despite the price, but QC was right in the normal range (that normal range is typically shipping damage, which isn’t something these factories can realistically control). Hofner was astoundingly poor QC despite the prices, not sure exact numbers but it was like 30-40% at least that would have cosmetic damage of some kind.
My honest advice to people buying guitars: anything over 2500 is paying for something besides instrument quality. Think woods, branding, paying fairer wages to their workers, taxes, artist signature, age, special hardware/patents, etc.
Anything in the 500-1000 range will likely work quite well for anyone. It might need a professional setup but honestly not that much. For 300-500 you’d probably need a setup but the guitar or bass will play great once that’s done.
A final note. Purely cosmetic damage does not matter. Unless you are collecting instruments you are simply getting a discount on an instrument you’d likely do damage to eventually. If anything it got rid of that anxiety when I got a demo instrument like that. Just save the money. If there is a demo available, choose it. Might as well save a few hundred bucks for the same instrument.
It's almost as if you were sent the original concept model or something. I would be furious if I payed $1500 for a guitar and received it in that condition. Very happy to hear you sent it back - it's understandable that manufacturers will have a guitar with a defect slip through QC every now and then - this guitar had 67 of em. Shameful. Hope the replacement is in much better condition, man!
So sorry for your loss experience. I got the tod10N which for a lot of people had lots of QC issues. When cross checking pics on Reddit, my guitar had at least double the attention in it. The binding and fret work is even. Despite not shipping in a case, the guitar came tuned with no locking tuners. The action was pretty impressive considering that’s like the first thing I’ve had to adjust on my fenders and gibsons. However, I seem to be lucky. Some people had their bridges popping off, or markings and uneven paint. I think Ibanez got absolutely shafted by the popularity of polyphia. Although tbh, the reason I never owned an Ibanez in the first place is every floor model I ever played felt nice but the QC was disturbing. My friend has a JEM that costed over $2k and had similar issues on a smaller scale (really knit pick-y but the more you spend the more you can justify buyer remorse). Ultimately I’m gonna take my 1 for 1 with my experience with Ibanez and refer to other brands for any future purchases. A lot of upset people, and the prices are getting higher.
" I think Ibanez got absolutely shafted by the popularity of polyphia." You're joking right? This has nothing to do with how popular they are.
@@nikonmikon8915 you have no idea what you are talking about. The manufacturing overhead was bottlenecked for the recent signature guitars for polyphia. Sweetwater originally ordered 400 models and had a queue of 1800 pre orders. While popular retailer, far from the top retailers in the country. There was a gross underestimation of how the TOD10N would sell and ended up being one of the most popular Ibanez guitars in the last decade. Ibanez has been known for good QC until recently. Now there are hundreds of complaints mostly surrounding the signatures for polyphia due to immeasurable popularity. One chat with a sales rep of any retailer stocking these instruments can tell you how of a nightmare it has been to back order.
I Bought my first "professional" guitar in 2003-ish, I was 15. It was an Ibanez JS-100 Signature, got it for just $500. With some tweaks and a stopper wedged into the Floyd Rose, it still remains my #1. I bought a few Fenders, couple Ernie Balls... Only competition I have with the JS-100 is SA160M.
When I saw the title of this review I was like "what the heck!?!" but the video evidence quite clearly shows the issues and I'm glad to hear that you're sending it back. A $1500 guitar shouldn't come brand new with issues like those and this definitely seems like a QA issue. Definitely, if anyone else ever gets a product like this and there are clear defects you HAVE to send it back because that's the only way that these sorts of issues can be improved. In the case of guitars, they are actually stamped with the person who QA'd it so it is definitely a metric that can be tracked and the root cause identified.
100%! I really wanted to love this guitar but there were just too many issues. I would’ve expected this on a GIO but even the GIO’s I’ve seen have better fits and finishings than this guitar did.
Same
yea you should see the quality issues on my T0D10N its absolutely horrendous. and it took Ibanez forever to get ahold of me and didn't seem to care much.
I was tempted to try and reach out to Tim Henson with pictures and let him know the quality his fans are receiving and that he should really think twice about putting his name on the guitar.
My Harley Benton Fusion cost less than half of what this guitar costs and the fit and finish is flawless no routing issues at all.
One curious note I own an RG570 that I bought new in 1994 and it came with a similar chip on the neck at the same fret as this one! And it also has routing issues.
Amazing in almost 30 years Ibanez still produces guitars with the same flaws. They play and sound amazing tough.
That's weird because I have a Ibanez RGR652AHBF prestige and it came here flawless while my friends Harley benton had issues with the sharp fret edges and ground issues. I also tried my friends Jem and J custom and the quality on that is amazing. Every Japanese Ibanez I touched always had amazing quality but their Indonesia guitars are always crap. Same can be said with other companies. I see this a lot with Jackson and Solar. I always try to avoid Indonesian and Chinese made guitars.
@@TYLERtheMAGGOT1 did your friend by any chance buy a harley benton with actives? there was a (really stupid) issue with some of their newer actives', where the bridge was covered in paint, so the strings weren't grounded, essentially making them long as antennas...
Man, that sucks. I feel like it would be easy to overlook all the flaws if it played well and was half the 1500$ price tag
100%. The guitar really did play well but I couldn’t get over how bad the QC was in regards to the craftsmanship. I just posted a video of a $150 GIO that was waaaay better.
@@goldenstateguitars7247a gio being better? Wow, they really got work on their QA at the premium factory
I agree, except for the crack in the neck joint. That looks a bit scary to me. For the rest it's just small flaws, but added up it's way too much for a guitar in this price range.
cap@@goldenstateguitars7247
From a $200 guitar, i can live with it, but over $500-700 i wouldnt accept half of these flaws, at $1500+? It’s not even the vanity behind it, how can you trust anything else to be up to snuff if that’s acceptable?
We have to remember that, like all other big brands, Ibanez employs a foreign factory to manufacture the instruments of their specifications.
It is not an Ibanez, it is a XYZ guitar with an Ibanez logo and their asked specifications.
These factories do not give a fuck if your instrument will be garbage because it's not their name on it, most of the times thay have a fixed contract of x amount of time or x number of instruments produced and it doesn't matter if they lose subsequent contracts because if they lose one brand, there are 10 other brands waiting to get a foreign manufacture contract.
The only thing we can do is purchase from a reputable guitar shop, which is obliged by contract to do a QC prior delivering the instrument and it's their job to send bad instruments back to the factory before reaching the end customer
BUT the most important thing, if we want those corporations to stop selling us garbage, we have to stop buying them, force them to offer good quality.
So many good points here. The dealer I purchased this from made some excuses for how they missed all of these issues. This was the second "new" guitar I have purchased in 20 years and it was a real dud.
It’s sad that they sent it out of the factory looking sub par! Especially with how much you were looking forward to receiving it 😢
Its one of the most popular guitars this year. Its constantly out if stock, QC is going to be an issue. Not an excuse, but i can see how it happens. They just work fast to get them out and sell.
I waited for an Ibanez QX 7 for almost a year, and when i received it, i saw that the bass side neck pocket had bad routing. My tech told me that as far as he could tell, it looked like they wait too much before changing bits, thus making bad cuts.
I still kept it, as i didn't want to wait a few months more.
But it is still disappointing to say the least.
they didnt sell many of tims first signature model so ibanez was caught off guard when the TOD10 sold out of its pre orders. they are having trouble keeping up with demand, for this and the nylon string, and there are going to be QC issues untill they get caught up. its a poor excuse and doesnt make it right, but thats what my dealer said he was told when he had to send back 3 of the nylon string signature models
Ya that makes total sense. It's just a real bummer that they are putting these out under such sub par standards. I have also heard a ton of similar stories regarding the TOD10 and TOD10N. It is a sure fire way to kill your reputation.
one of my next purchases, no longer want one now... ty for this video and ty to everyone commenting
I wanted to love this guitar but just couldn't get past all of the issues it had. It was disappointing to say the least.
Good decision in sending it back. "Premium" branding should reflect the quality of the product, but if they do sell this somewhere else half the price for its defects? Imma snatch that no questions asked. lol
100%! If this was listed on Reverb for $750 I would be all over it. At $1500 this thing was a dumpster fire.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 Totally. I just grabbed one on reverb for $825 plus shipping and im hoping im happier with it at that price lol
What’s also bad is that some companies are not checking these guitars before sending them out to consumers. Shout out Sweetwater for looking over guitars before sending them out.
Yeah i ordered TWO of those, knowing that due to the bad QC nowadays, i better already start with two to choose from. Well... I've sent back both. One of them had butchered pickup wirings (bridge pickup didnt work at all) PLUS a few laquer issues, the other one was covered with laquer issues & dings and dongs. Seriously ibanez, we are heading to 2k here. Harley Benton guitars within the 300 dollar range get a better QC. Get your sxxt together.
I imagine if a company like Ibanez instituted a B stock tier, just as an experiment, and found that via some set of assessment metrics that nearly half of their offshore made instrument fell into that tier, they would tighten things up considerably.
It would be, should be, highly embarrassing.
I know Solar does it which is good but the high amounts of B Stock inventory does look bad unless they're all just finish issues
Great job with attention to detail. You had me confused because in the thumbnail it looked fine, but up close it really does disappoint.
Did you end up getting a second one from the retailer? If so, how has the QC been on that guitar?
Thanks for the comment! Ya it was pretty disappointing when I started noticing all of the small problems. I ended up just sending this one back and getting a full refund. The retailer couldn't promise me that the next when would be much better so I decided against it.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 wow man. That's heartbreaking. You're right that QC on a Premium AZ should not be below QC on a Gio. I really hope ibanez addresses this.
I just checked over my TOD10 and have none of those issues, PHEW. I absolutely love it. Sorry to hear you got a bad one!
Same for me !
I’m really glad to hear it. I’m hoping the one I received is the exception.
pretty obvious observation tbh but this issue is probably a thing because of the hype and high demand for these guitars as tims name is huge and everyone wants one of these now
that's really unfortunate. I bet the factory is slammed trying to catch up to demand, but I'd rather wait a little longer for a great guitar than to get sent this one. Maybe they will improve QC over time once they're out of the preorder hole.
I am hoping this is the case. I will be keeping an eye out on the forums and YT to see if more of these begin popping up with QC problems. I ended up just getting a refund and will wait on the sidelines until I get a better idea whether this was a one off or whether these really are that bad.
The biggest problem with the world today is people really don’t care about what they make anymore, there’s no pride in workmanship and certainly no one repairs like they used to, it’s just throw it away and better luck next time, if more people start sending this stuff back and making it public, they’ll pull their heads in, that’s shit, really, a lot of people would just accept those issues and pretend they don’t exist , must’ve been heartbreaking when you got to the last little problem and decided you couldn’t accept it and have to send it back, Waiting for such a long time to finally be so disappointed, man that’s sad.
I won’t buy sight unseen anymore, for that very reason, time you could have spent enjoying a guitar you bought knowing it was good.
As the other comment said, good on you for sending it back, it’s the only way to get change, everyone needs to refuse to accept poor workmanship and QC
Yes you really hit the nail on the head. As a consumer we need to vote with our hard earned dollars and not allow companies to get away with sub-par craftsmanship. What gets me is the fact that an Ibanez GIO that costs $250 brand new looks better than something that costs 5 times that.
Great Content! We need more people like you sharing their honest opinion and demonstrating why. Thank you for this upload! Looking forward to the next one and I plan to stop by your shop to see what else you have in stock! \m/
For me, I may be able to get past the cavity covers being a little weird and the routing being a bit funky, but yeah the headstock being a different colour to the guitar itself, and pretty obviously, even on camera, and the crack in the neck joint especially would be a real issue for me.
I got a Manson MBM-2 in blue with the sustainiac roughly 8 months ago, and I was relatively happy with everything apart from the cavity covers being a bit tight-fitting and one of the bolts for the back part of the tune-o-matic bridge having what seemed to be a bit of a moulding issue which left a bit of unpolished metal in the adjustment slot. Everything else was top notch though and it’s a great guitar for the money, and I didn’t send it back because it’s not too big of an issue for me personally. And hey, if something does go wrong, it has a 5 year warranty on it.
Yeah. Crack in the neck joint and neck/fb separation is as bad a deal breaker as a girl telling me she has aids.
I love guitars like this. I just dont care about the finish on my personal guitars. I do totally get holding companies to account for damaged new stuff for sure. The reason I love them is there's a ton of brand new "b" stock and returns that play perfect for huge discounts. Just got a bought a brand new one of these for a thousand.
Ya I would tend to agree with you. If they sell it as B stock and offer a nice discount then I am not mad at all. Because I paid full retail I was hoping for something a little more akin to my THBB10 which was near perfect in the QC department. I am seeing a TON of these TOD10's on Reverb being offered as B stock now. I think Ibanez just over sold these originally and couldn't keep up with demand hence the poor QC.
I've noticed lots of Ibanez guitars with cracks in the neck. I saw a brand new prestige with a bigger crack in the neck than that. I also recently purchased an ibanez 2 months ago and it has a crack in the neck also. Disappointed in Ibanez especially as they want me to pay shipping to get it fixed.
Recently had to exhange 3 Schecter Synyster Custom S guitars due to terrible QC issues, all guitars had finishing issues and even worse the floyd rose bridge studs weren’t secure and were wiggling in their mounting holes. They were also literally unplayable from the factory with the action set close to a 50$ pawnshop acoustic guitar.The last one i exchanged had a loose nut that wouldn’t screw in thanks to a stripped screw, either way i gave up paid the difference and exhanged it for a KM6 Mark III and the difference is night and day, absolute flawless finish on the KM, the difference is like a custom shop guitar versus a standard lineup guitar. Extremely puzzling that both guitars are made in South Korea yet they are miles away in terms of fit/finish and QC.
On my last guitar purchase like 9 months ago I chose the Tagima which feels more premium compared to the Ibanez that I was looking at. And surprisingly the Tagima costs way more cheaper. Only issue is that the Tagima is heavier due to the wood that they used. My 1st guitar was an Ibanez and it was supposed to be a great reunion with the brand but I guess it's not meant to be.
What Tagima did you buy man? Just for curiosity!
@@jmorellisilva I got a t-635.
Wild that the quality here seems worse than most Squier strats I’ve seen. I wanted the classical signature model from Playing God but now I’m scared to order one.
That is exactly what I thought as well. I have seen the Gio lines with better quality than this one. When you consider the price differences there is no way that should be the case.
There were a lot of quality issues with the TOD10N too, like bridges popping off bad, on a nylon. My TOD10N had sticky strings, covered in dust, and some finish issues. Meanwhile my $330 AZES40 came out with no issues, just like your GIO. When I replace my AZES, I'll be going with a different manufacturer. I think Ibanez is great for that budget line, I've had one of their GIO 7 strings that was great, but I can't trust their higher end guitars due to the experiences of many in the community.
Reading that. I'm glad when my sales engineer at Sweetwater emailed me that my reservation was in, I told him I was no longer in need of one.
Sorry but this isn't a high end Ibanez. This is an expensive guitar made by a cheap manufacturer. You need to try a japan made to get an opinion on the high end guitars. Like the RG550, it costs less than two thirds of this signature model but i promise it will come out of the box perfectly. They're top notch quality, and a lot of them offering for very good prices.
@@Severmore If you ordered an expensive one made by a cheap manufacturer in indonesia it makes sense. But if you haven't tried the high end japanese made you're missing out.
@marcrchz that's the thing. The Indonesian ones WERE quality. Flawless. I owned 2. I then went a few years after selling them (times was tough). I then bought another and it was a joke. I remember the first time just staring at the fb and thinking "damn.... this is perfect". When I tried them out again I could only think "damn... this is a travesty". But all in all, I'm good with my mm Majestys and my aristides.
My squier affinity doesn't have these issues
I got an ichi10 from them when it just came out 2 years ago - made in indonesia. Same kind of QA issues. Chips in the neck, inconsistent sanding on the neck, gaps where the fret and fretboard meet, issues in the neck pocket, paint job seemed haphazard and had blemishes underneath the top coat. I sent it back and waited an entire year to get my replacement - though the replacement was really good quality - probably almost as good as my Japanese AZ.
Makes me really hesitant to buy indonesia models from Ibanez. My japanese one though is the best guitar I own
I think I may just wait it out until they get through these first batches. It seems to me like this guitar was a total rush job.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 Yeah that aligns with my hunch. They probably were in a rush to get the first few batches out the door because so many people wanted this right at release.
yeah i've noticed such a QC dip in any non MIJ Ibanez's (ibanezes?). seen a few too many posts about peoples TOD10N's bridges flying off, which is almost impressive for a nylon strung guitar.
thats really strange, mine came out perfect! could it be because we ordered it from different companies? i got mine out of sweetwater and they are really good so idk
I am starting to think there may have been good and bad batches of these guitars when they were first rolling off the line. The one I received was one of the first ones and it looked like a rush job to be honest.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 Right, your observation is correct. My friend recently got his, and just like in your case, there were many issues. So, he is returning it. Hopefully, they'll address these problems.
Some of these aesthetic issues were negligible, but others were definitely bad.
I would definitely be upset considering about the fact i paid $1500 for a guitar and it had issues like that, all things considered.
Honestly, I think some of the issues look more like shipping/packaging problems vs the manufacturer ones, but yeah, I think you're definitely justified and getting a return on it.
It's not a one-off problem. My TOD10 has major issues too. Chips on both sides of body where the bridge humbucker looks like it was forced in. The dark finish on the fretboard looks terrible. My 9-year old could have done better. Setup was terrible. The worst is what I just noticed is the lumen dot inlays are dark. I can't even see the fret markers. These are knock-off Luminlay. I charged them with two different LED lights and they stay lit for less then 20 seconds. The dot inlays are pretty much useless for trying to navigate the fretboard. Forget about them being lit on a dark stage, or even in a well-lit bedroom for practicing. Unless your song is 20 seconds long, in which case you can see what you're doing. I really wanted to like this guitar but I'm about ready to send it back. I'd have to get the dots replaced with Luminlay's to make it playable, plus have it professionally setup. And then, it would still have cosmetic issues with the fretboard stain and chips in the body. On the plus side, the neck finish is killer. But for this price I'd rather stick with my Charvels. And I am glad there isn't a Floyd Rose or Wizard III, because those bridges are just a big pain. Nice guitar. Not $1,500 nice though. Shame on Ibanez for producing this crap. Hell, it's Indonesia. Send an American citizen over there for a year for quality control and pay them $20 an hour. They would live like a king (or queen) for what it costs to live there, and fix all these problems. Nothing new for Ibanez. My last Vai Jem (another $1,500 guitar) was sanded and painted by an amateur too.
Dang I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a similar experience. It’s such a bummer especially considering the fact they had my cash for 2 months before getting the guitar. There is no way companies should be putting out junky gear in that price range. Vote with your dollar and send that thing back.
just got mine yesterday. nearly same issue. chip by the pick up. small cracks where the neck connects. small air bubbles/ dots in the finish. definitely doesn’t look like a $1500 guitar
Dang man sorry to hear that. I would sent that thing back in a heartbeat.
Love ibanez and own a bunch of RGs and a few prestige models and premiums, but that is not even acceptable as a B-stock. Hopefully a very rare one-off.
I tried one of them which had the frets non parallel, all the second octave looked "fanned" but was just bad. I don't understand how a guitar like that passed a chain of quality controls...
Being conservative here.....some of the "issues" you point out are valid; some are not, imhwo. Were you upset with the shop from which you purchased the gtr & did you let them know you didn't appreciate being forewarned? They should have let you know upon *THEIR* inspection of the instrument when they received it from Ibz & before they shipped it to you, that there were finish flaws that may or may not matter that much to you, send you detailed pictures & then offer you a discount. It plays great, it sounds great. The truth is, & you know this, even a $1000-$1500 & up instrument sometimes can look like this but as long as there's no fret sprout, wiring shorting out, dead pickups, mechanical failure, or neck twisting, I get the sense that it's buyer's remorse & you're nitpicking to a large degree. IMHWO: I'd want to keep that beauty & address "finish flaws" with the store from whence it came & see about a discount/refund of some kind.
Hey I understand where you are coming from. I actually own a pawn/guitar shop and have roughly 85 guitars in inventory at any given time. I am a massive fan of Polyphia and own Tim's original Ibanez sig model which I purchased new from the same shop as the TOD10. That guitar is incredible and has zero issues to speak of. That was the first "new" guitar I had owned in a very long time as I mainly deal with used instruments. I was so impressed with the quality that I decided to pull the trigger and preorder the TOD10. This one was not even in the same ballpark compared to the THBB10. Not to sound like a douche but $1500 isn't enough to trigger buyer's remorse for me. The issues I saw were unacceptable especially considering I did a similar breakdown on a $150 GIO that I had here at the shop that was immaculate by comparison (only speaking on build quality ie. sanding, routing, fit and finish etc.) The shop I purchased it from gave me a bad excuse that their power was out when they received these guitars hence the reason they missed all of the issues. I am not mad at the shop as they did shoot me a refund. I was more bummed with Ibanez themselves as they dropped the ball on this guitar. It isn't just me either. Just read through some of the comments on this video. It seems like Ibanez is drowning in orders and are pumping these out as fast as possible to keep up with demand. IMHO the issues I am bringing up in this video are not nitpicking in the slightest. Thanks for the comment and take care!
I haven't had a Ibanez guitar for decades. I was thinking about getting this guitar, not now with that many finish issues
I have a lot of Ibanez guitars..... Mid to high end. 19 to be exact. I have noticed massive cost cutting in the mid range Ibanez guitars starting in 2015-16.
They went back to the scarf joint on all but the highest end tilt back headstock necks. The three piece maple necks from 2005 -2015 are so stable......electronics went down (pickups, pots, switches). I'm not even going to get into the locking trems they are using now. Yes I will..... I was disappointed when they went to the Edge Zero II with the ZPS. But it is not terrible. Now that is reserverved for high end mid line.... without the ZPS. The last Ibanez guitars I bought were the Genesis RG550... and an Ibanez S570AH . The Genesis is solid but the fret work was trash. The Ibanez S570AH (with the scarf joint) arrived with a twisted neck...unfixable. QC and cost cutting and maybe wood scarcity or supply problems ??? Only thing I can say for sure is something is going on at Ibanez and I'm not happy with what they are putting out. The last guitars I got from them that had no QC issues was the 25th Anniversary RG1XXV....RG2XXV....RG3XXV.... and the S1-XXV. They were all flawless W/ Dimarzio pickups..... but for the fact that they did not use the Original Edge trem. Fit and finish were on par with all my Prestige and J-Customs. Mostly.
I recently bought an EART Corsair that has a neck that is better than any guitar I own.... I'm not exaggerating one bit ...it is truly a work of art. The rest of the guitar is pretty but, meh... They are $259 on Amazon as of today. I will probably buy a couple more just to mod them or use the neck on a Strat or something custom.
It really is incredible how these cheap Amazon guitars can outperform a $1k+ unit from one of the major manufactures. The only power we have as consumers is to send these bad guitars back and broadcast your displeasure via social media. Hopefully if enough people do this then things will actually change.
My 1998 Ibanez rg 270 has the best maple neck ever …
I sent back the first PRS I ever got, it had the glue they use for the feet wire all over the fretboard as well as glue all over the top and bottom of the fretboard where it’s bound to the neck. Also it had a grounding issue and one of the screws in the back cover plates was energized. Sent it back to Sweetwater for another model and they were super cool about it
I feel like a lot of the tod10 models will have QC issues due to the back order that they have been on for over a year. They’re probably rushing to get models out. It’s a shame because I really wanted to get my hands on one of these
I think that is exactly what is happening. There are way too many orders for them to keep up with hence the rush-job fit and finish. Such a bummer.
That's unfortunate - that should have never left the factory. I love my three Ibanez instruments, but one is a '92 (RG 550) and the other two are '94s (SR800 and SR805). I haven't seen anything quite like this, but I haven't been overly impressed by the Indonesian made ones I've played in the last few years.
Ya man, I actually stopped buying indo Ibanez’s cause of the qc problems. I had SO many guitars that had to go back cause of issues. I stuck with the prestige’s so I wouldn’t have that problem. But just recently I got in a trade a rgd71al axion label guitar. And the previous owner had some upgrades done to it, but man!! That guitar is just killer!!!! I was blown away by it! The qc, craftsmanship, frets, fret ends all that was perfect!! Spot freaking on!!! As good as my prestige’s. I literally have been blown away by it. Now could it be a rare one? Maybe. I also have a prototype rg1027smf that is the same. Just incredible, but I was told the prototypes are made by Ibanez’s better luthiers. So I assumed the reason it was so good was because of that. But ya I guess they must just be hit and Miss still, and I guess I lucked out these last 2 times.
Damn... I've heard a lot about the recent QC issues with Ibanez... Especially with the TOD10N.
I preordered a TOD10N and a KRYS10 which are supposed to arrive in around 2 weeks at the guitar shop I frequent. I'm already getting anxious about the potential bad QC on those guitars... Even though I only play Ibanez and I love their guitars.
Also makes Tim and maybe Scott (depending if the KRYS10 has the same issues) somewhat look bad imo, because it is their signature guitars and the quality is "shit" for a 1700 EUR guitar.
I hope your guitars come out great. I am such a huge Polyphia fan hence the reason I made the purchase for the TOD10. I was so impressed with my THBB10 that I decided to pull the trigger on the TOD10. It honestly feels like a money grab by Ibanez. After filming this video I noticed even more problems. I am going to do a follow up video today on a cheap used Ibanez GIO here at the shop that was finished far better. Crazy that a $200 guitar blows away a $1500 guitar. I just hope more people voice their concerns if they receive a bunk guitar.
It’s not Tim’s and Scott’s fault. It’s Ibanez’s factories fault
@@bigpoo27 Totally agree. I don't put blame on the artist in the slightest. Unfortunately it is becoming more and more common to see poor quality from all of the major brands. I had a like new Gibson Hummingbird in the shop that literally had the top of the headstock unfinished. Minor things but for a $3k+ guitar I couldn't believe it.
Man that sucks, did you send it back?
@@bigpoo27 It was purchased second hand and we were able to flip it to a customer who didn't mind and got a great price.
Seems like ibanez premium is a QC roulette. Hoping mine ends up being better, sorry you had to deal with that
Can you find the date of production by serial or something ?
I’d be REAL curious to know if it was made a Friday afternoon smh….
I played a TOD10 at guitar center and it seemed to be perfect, so maybe it was just one off for the one I’ve played, but idk, Ibanez is my favorite brand ever, so I might be biased, but still, the one I played didn’t have any issues except for it didn’t make me play like Tim lmao, but still, good on you for sending it back
Ever since I snagged my 2006 RGA121-NTL for only 450$ CAD back in like 2016, I legit sold off all my guitars and focused on acquiring Ibanez Prestige models, when I played that RGA121 I could feel the craftsmanship and see the attention to detail and fell in love with them, all my previous guitars were made in China, Indonesia and Korea. MIJ models just seem to be several notches above the standard Ibanez models, I now have 10 Prestige models and I won't buy any electric guitar that is not a Prestige model, specifically models from 1997 to 2009. The neck quality on the Prestige models are to die for, compared them to my cheaper Ibanez ones and you can see the craftsmanship in the Prestige ones, whereas the standard models up to the Premium line does have QC issues. My fav Prestige has got to be the RG3120 line, I managed to snag the Deep Red, Dark Amber and Twilight.
i was super excited to get this guitar and i've been very happy with it so far, i've recorded a fair amount of songs with it to boot. but today while i was recording, the audio quality rapidly degraded until there was no sound left anymore. my other guitars sound fine, so it looks like i'll have to check the soldering with the jack and pray it isn't a deeper issue. this was my first big guitar purchase, my previous being the squier j mascis jazzmaster, and i am extremely disappointed and mindblown that a $1500 guitar could have so many QC problems. what the fuck, ibanez
Oh wow, your brother was so right!
Looks like somehow a "production line prototype" managed to make it out of the factory and into your hands! If any Ibanez Principal views this vid, they're going to be aghast! Sometimes it's better to wait for a bit on any new model (of anything manufactured, really) until the production crew "finds its groove"...otherwise one might become an impromptu "Field Operative"! "It is a far, far better thing to do than you have ever done..." 🙂
We got the nylon signature guitar and it was great. No issues like this. But we have had issues with other Ibanez guitars. Had a bass that came with a twisted neck and could not be fixed. They replaced it with a new one which was great but was a pain to return and wait for the new one. That bass has since been traded for an older Ibanez bass which is awesome. So seems like it’s hit or miss.
Basswood guitars are more susceptible to have these rough routing finish issues, I have experienced similar issues on a $5k usa Jackson custom shop guitar made with basswood. It is not acceptable of course, it means they are not handling the guitar properly
I got the signature classical and it had horrible fret buzz. Luckily Guitar Center fixed it for me, but I'm moderately unimpressed with it. First and last time buying an Ibanez. Sticking with Schecter and Strandberg.
Man, if you can't adjust a guitar on your own, don't buy one!
@@iloveitall yeah sorry i’m not comfortable resetting fret dividers on a new guitar. Silly me!
@@alexhaisting @ Silly you: So you can't do a setup but you are very sure the fret (dividers???) are the problem? Hmmmmh.
The internet is full of ppl like you who complain about guitars to cover their lack of experience.
@@iloveitall That’s what the professional told me! He had to remove and reseat some frets. I don’t think there is anything wrong with paying someone to do work, especially if they offer it for free when I came to pick it up.
Why are you so tilted?
@@iloveitall … do you work for Ibanez lol
man for how much these are I would expect the guitar to be near flawless, that is a lot of subpar workmanship.
I actively avoid guitars made in Indonesia and Mexico now to be honest, the QC from factories there are just not good. Only way I would get one is if I get to inspect and try them in person and in depth at that. I am so apprehensive to order guitars online in general because of issues like in the video and the process or returning an undesirable instrument.
Ya I’m right there with you. This is the second guitar I’ve ever ordered online and only reason being they’re not available in store. It’s definitely not ideal.
that is terrible finishing and qc. id send it back, just too many flaws. cheap brands are getting it better than this thesedays, its not acceptable from ibanez. thanks for sharing an honest opinion!
Woah... I'm very surprised at how bad this is! Man, terrible QC! Wouldn't even expect this from a $200 guitar. I have owned cheaper Ibanez in the past and they've always been awesome. I have had plenty of cheap guitars, and actually thought they were getting better with time. But man, this is straight up terrible!!! Glad you're sending it back - I wonder how many others have experienced this? This was wild! Hope you get a perfect replacement man
Totally! I reviewed a $150 Ibanez GIO that I had here at the shop that blew this TOD10 out of the water as far as fit and finish goes. Obviously it doesn't compete in the hardware/electronics department but there were zero issues with build quality. I was really caught off guard by how poor this TOD10 was made.
Ya real bummer dude, poor routing and finish work. I have one on preorder from sweetwater and now im going to be keeping an eye out when i get it, thanks for the vid!
That was my whole goal for this video. I wasn't expecting it to get this kind of traction. I just want people to be aware considering this isn't being sold as a "cheap" guitar. It says "Premium"on the back of the headstock. In my opinion if something is marketed as "Premium" then it needs to have "Premium" craftsmanship, fit and finishing. I hope you are very happy with yours when you receive it. I wanted to love this guitar and wasn't looking to make a video like this. Thanks for the comment!
Like my old school mate Johnny G. always says, "It isn't how expensive the guitar is, it's the worth of the player's practice!" I own many Ibanez brand guitars and have been more than satisfied with my Indonisian made RG5EX1 in pewter color. Used, and only replaced a black tuner with a pewter color, all for around $300.
That crack is totally unforgivable. Good on you for addressing this and sending it back
What retailer did you buy from? This should have been returned and never sold. It might be an imitation based on that headstock.
I didn’t want to put the retailer on blast as they did handle the return and gave me a full refund. The owner said they had a power outage the day these arrived. They’re a large very reputable independent in the Midwest. It looked like a counterfeit but alas it is 100% authentic.
Funny thing though:
I'm always hearing that Asian instruments are all CNCed to hell, whereas those made in the "good ol' USA" are handmade and by definition absolutely perfect, best invention since the left-handed spoon, all thát jazz...
Well, if it really was CNCed then those cavity covers should be spot-on. Sanding (which is also automated these days, same as painting) wouldn't show these flaws.
So, yes I agree - the QC here is a hige letdown. But can we agree it certainly looks like it's largely handmade nevertheless?
Which you wouldn't expect from Chinese or Indonesian gear. Or at least, Americans don't.
But anyway,
That's certainly a shame to see this low quality on an instrument in that price range, especially if you really wanted one....
I've never had or played a bad Japanese guitar, though - ever. And I do have a few.
Go for the Prestige models 😎👍
just got mine today. the routing as you said is sub-par for the price range of this guitar (although mine could be worse). Just looked at the base of the neck and above the first humbucker is what looks like a crack/split in the paint and i can visibly see the guitar's wood through it. I'm not sure if i should send it back. It took me so long to get.
Honestly I would send it back. I know it sucks especially because we waited as long as we did. Ibanez needs to know that they can't do this and expect no repercussions. Try not to let FOMO dictate the situation.
Holy jeez! That routing is a no-go!
Had a few Premiums before going with the MM1 (Martin Miller’s AZ Prestige).. and even though they were not perfect and one had an unleveled fret.. I never saw that kind of defects on a 1500$ USD guitar, especially from Ibanez.
I own the THBB10 and it is excellent with none of the issues this guitar had. I am wondering if maybe these were just rushed due to the insane demand they are dealing with at the moment. Either way it is totally unacceptable to put something out like this at that price point.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 Sure there are good Premiums, but quality control is still an issue. Even at beginning of the Premium line, I had 2 RGs and one had some unleveled frets.. it only cost me 900$ CAD at the time (around 700 USD), but even at this price I expected the guitar to have no defect that will affect playability. Rush or No Rush… no tolerable excuses at 1500 USD (only things like parts, finishes and attention to "fine" details should be expected to be lower). Things like fret leveling and routing should be 100% top notch.
@@davidmultimedia2024 100% agree. Any guitar that runs in that $1k+ range should never have these types of issues especially when I see way cheaper guitars that look and play better.
The Crack in neck joint is Breaker. The rest can be overlooked . But when you find one QC , many will pick it apart
I don't want to receive a guitar with so many flaws after waiting for about half a year
This was the biggest bummer. They had my cash for months before I got the guitar. The fact that we had a cheap used $200 Ibanez Gio that had better QC than this thing blows my mind.
bro, can I please ask, if you had a budget similar to what they are charging for the Ibanez TOD10 Tim Henson, what guitar would you go for instead? I am fully stuck watching tons of reviews and looking up different guitar makers, but I keep coming back to ESP/LTD. I am an intermediate player looking to buy something decent for some home recording. Thank you in advance
Of course! I would save up a couple extra bucks and look at the Ibanez AZ Prestige line. They will run you a little bit more but they are so nice and perfect out of the box.
Very objective,bro.I like Tim,but this one is go tooo far😢
I bought an ESP E-II a few weeks ago from Sweetwater that was completely scuffed. It was a snow white finish that had many spots not covered in paint, and they had gotten the white paint on various areas of the natural finish neck. The routes were super sloppy, a lot worse than what you're seeing on the TOD10 in this video.
For nearly $3k out the door, I was really shocked. The Japanese ESP factory is supposedly one of the best factories in the world, and the guitar I received had way too many red flags. On top of that, Sweetwater decided to hand the guitar to me as well, which is weird since they have a decent reputation. Multiple failures on two parties.
I ended up getting a full refund and unfortunately I don't think I'll ever buy an ESP guitar sight unseen, not with that experience.
It seems like QC has been a huge issue in this industry as of late. I am not a QC expert by any means and was able to point out the flaws very easily. Makes you wonder what the QC inspectors are actually getting paid to do.
I bought a majesty 7 from sweetwater that I had to return. Almost 4k and it had sloppy finishings and a few cracks in the fretboard.
Happened the same to me! A 3000 euros guitar that had tons of dead frets and paint on the fretboard! Wtf legit my fingers were getting darker and darker the more I played the guitar, that's so awful and cheap for a 3k guitar!
I ordered an Ltd hexed and it came out just fine. My biggest complaint from ESP is the price. I get that the price of wood has gone up, but $1600 for a $1000 guitar is a bit ridiculous. Also, what they choose as differences for the Ltd kind of pisses me off. Specifically routed out the back in a way you can't install the mm04 gain booster and don't give you a belly cut. I still love the guitar, and think ESP plays great, but man they have some scummy business practices. I ain't paying an extra $3400 for a gain boost, belly cut, and a logo
I would like to point out that QC is bad for Business because it is an activity that does not produce any value, just more cost.
The actual goal should ideally be to make them without mistakes in the first place. This is hard to balance if demand is high and more guitars need to come out per month. I would imagine that they're not running crazy high margins for it. But as a customer it is still unacceptable. 🤷
I couldn't agree more. I am sure the demand for this model is off the charts at the moment. The retailer I purchased this from said that all 18 they received had already been spoken for. It sounds to me like they are just rushing to get these out as fast possible.
Just received mine and also sending it back. Different issues, mostly visual blemishes, but the big thing is the fretboard not being properly glued to the neck at one Spot. Thats a big no no.
I’m sorry to hear you had issues with yours. I had been talking Ibanez up with my customers after seeing how nice my THBB10 was. This ordeal really put me off to recommending or purchasing from them in the future.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 just received the second one. Also going back to the shop. Several flaws, too. This time mostly visual stuff, but nontheless not acceptable at that pricepoint. I'm getting really annoyed by Ibanez.
@@Platinrock Dang that is a serious bummer. All we as consumers can do is vote with our dollar and spend it elsewhere.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 Oh I did. I just bought an ICHI10. Such a good guitar. And now I even could buy a TOD10 in actually good condition, but I'm fed up by this guitar. Dont want it anymore.
Wow, that is completely unacceptable for $1500 new guitar. Ive bought vintage guitars with similar cosmetic issues, but thats expected with 40+ year guitars that are hard to come by. Hope they can send you a new one quickly.
I ended up just getting a refund. They couldn't send me another one for over a month and they already had my money for two months leading up to this. Thanks for the comment!
Damn, I have one on pre order too. Hope mine doesn't have all these issue :(
I hope you have a great experience. I was looking forward to mine so much but was pretty bummed with the outcome. Good luck!
@@goldenstateguitars7247 Good Luck to you too... I've had this happen to me before with a chrome boy. QC was just terrible and returned it. My replacement was MINT! Also just got the Gold Boy and was so happy with it. Was worried about that one too.
those cosmetic issues are a shame and should have been B or C stocked but from what i can tell it looks like they took care of what actually matters. the playability and sound.
Ya the guitar played great with no glaring issues in that department. I am a guitar tech so I can technically get the cheapest GIO playing great with an hour of work. The fit and finish was definitely B or C stock. I guess Ibanez Premium is a dice roll these days.
Honestly the routing and sanding does look like a really bad job but my experience the thing you’re holding the guitar neck on is known to crack the finish where the body connects to the necks from just how much stress is being put on body
The crack on the neck joint was cracked out of the box. The neck rest is just for doing basic restrings.
Sucks you have had issues. Every Ibanez I've ever bought has been flawless. There's always gonna be lemons, no matter what manufacturer you buy from. I love the new Tim Henson and Scott LePage guitars. Fantastic instruments at a great price. PRS makes the best Indonesian guitars, though, in my opinion. The SE's are top notch. Good idea to return it. Makes them aware of the issues to they can work that out!
It look used
This is what has always held Ibanez back from being kings or at least in the discussion.
When you get a good one it can be as good as it gets but there has always just been way too high of a chance for something like this or worse to show up.
QC and customer service are the difference makers for me, between recommending a brand or not.
This! My THBB10 is really a killer guitar. I was so impressed that I decided to pull the trigger on this guitar. I emailed Ibanez customer service and never heard back from them. I probably won't buy another one of their instruments for personal use.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 and nobody can blame you. Great Customer service and great prices are what exploded Harley Benton. I haven't owned any of those guitars but I have bought one of their cabs and have heard mostly good things about customer service. Seems like it may be slipping as of late but that could just be my perception.
Guitar players are actually pretty forgiving. Most of us just want that feeling of knowing we got our moneys worth. It doesn't matter what your salary is, buying a guitar 1k and up is a big purchase. The less you make the bigger the gamble. At 1500 dollars you should be singing it's praises or talking about how great customer service was when you called to report the issues.
Never really had any QC issues with Ibanez . Just sent back my Kramer Dave Mustaine signature which is a pos !
I have an Ibanez at half that price, and it's been fine for years. This looks like a Monday morning hangover job! Surprising, as it changes my impression of the brand.
Ya it really changed my opinion as well. I have seen some killer 7 string premium models that are built really well. Like you said maybe this was a Monday morning hangover or Friday evening sleeper.
Just wait for the 2nd batch bro, i still waiting because i knew this guitar will be really in high demand and will be a QC problem, i’m from Indonesia and this guitar is nowhere to be found here 😂 be patient bro!
Thx for posting this review. Saved me $$$
That was my goal with the vid. Hopefully others will know what to look out for with this model and not get a dud like I did. Thanks for the comment!
So this is mostly cosmetic (very minor) flaws but it does play well and stay in tune well?
that's pretty shocking, the routing is terrible, and the crack in the neck pocket.....how did that get past QC.
Are you sure you didn't pick up the AL1BABA edition? 🙃 Man, that thing looks rough! Glad you sent it back.
That's a shame to see. I have a 7 string that they sold from like 2010-2012, and the finish and playability on it is absolutely top notch.
I have been able to put my hands on a couple of Premium 7 string RG models that are some of the nicer guitars I have ever played. I am hoping this was a one off but something tells me these were over sold and they are rushing them out the door.
That is a QC nightmare, good on you for sending it back. People gotta stop letting these clown ass big brands get away with bs like this. Fender, Gibson, and PRS are just as guilty.
I preordered the guitar and waited months to get my hands on it. I really wanted to love it but there were just so many issues. I have seen a couple show up on Reverb with just as many issues as the one I received. Seems Ibanez has really let QC slip on this model.
@@goldenstateguitars7247 You really hate to see it 😞
I just got one delivered and it has wiring issues, pickups dont really respond to anything and Im pretty sure the hot and ground are reversed because it makes a buzzing noise and the noise amplifies if you touch the bridge or any metal on the guitar. Im pretty sure this it came like that from factory tbh. Ill probably either return it or try with a local luthier cuz I really like the feel of the guitar otherwise it just needs a set-up and fixing some wiring connections.
Had nothing but trouble from my Ibanez RGDMS8, also an Indonesian made model - £1200.
Not impressed. Getting it replaced next month. Luckily the store was real cool here too.
Actually crazy. This feels like almost comparable to some Harley Benton QC issues i've seen.I personally have the multiscale HB 8 string and that came flawless. Fretwork is great finish is nearly flawless all around and the routing looks better that most of what is on that guitar. This should be absolutely unheard of that a 1500 dollar 6 string guitar from a large company like ibanez has this many QC errors.
I would be heartbroken if that was my guitar.
I can't believe it's a ibanez guitar. Use to be top notch qc even from Indonesia made.
Honestly if I hadn’t purchased this from a reputable dealer I would have guessed it was a counterfeit.
That's Disappointing QC, I've seen that more and more on this price range guitars not just Ibanez. This is not an Inexpensive guitar either you would expect better QC for that Price range. As the saying goes..." Looks good from far, but far from good"