OME,

I got them from a music store. Fist one was ordered for me and I came to collect it. The finish, the grain of the wood in the neck, the sound, were perfect. Neck pocket was tight and deep. Playability excellent. However, I noticed the strings were offset towards the bass side of the neck, so much so that string 6 would often fall off the end of the fret.

No adjustement was possible. (Too long to get into the details).

The guitar guy at the shop saw it and immediately accepted there was an anomaly. They ordered another one.

Some time later I came to pick it up. But it was the same as "mine".

Didn't accept the replacement.

So a couple more weeks goes by... a holiday... and I return to get a new one. It had an ugly wood grain in the neck, not symmetrical, but I could live with that. Took it home. Played great, amazing in fact.

It's only when the light hit it a certain way that I saw a huge defect in the paintwork, just under the neck pickup. Runny paint... when something was reflected, it got all distorted. Very ugly. I was embarassed to pester the guys at the shop again and I've been starting a new job so initially I thought I was going to live with that but it bugged me.

Last week I phoned them and I said look, I think I'll buy another one, I can't ask you to change it again but I might sell it second hand, and if you get a real nice one phone me, I might buy it.

However they spontaneously offered to change it if I wanted, albeit this time with a small restocking fee, due to the long time I left in between.

So yesterday I went to check this one. This one has an ok wood grain, and basically no defect anywhere. I am real happy with it.

By the way this shop has basically gained a customer for life. I don't buy a lot of studio stuff because I already have plenty of equipment, but if I need to buy I'll go to them first. When my son switches from a 3/4 size guitar to a full size for instance, I'll get it from them.

So anyway, my thoughts on this:

- One guitar with offset string. - A second guitar with offset strings (refused). - A guitar with an ugly runny paint job. - One good guitar.

Guitar advertised for £1099, initially purchased for £1049 with a small discount, but a restocking fee of £100 on the last exchange.

In USD, that's a guitar that cost me well over $2000.

This is quite simply NOT the level of quality control I expect from Ibanez. I say it as someone who LOVES Ibanez. At their best, no one touches them. But they're taking the you know what.

My RG570, purchased in 1992 (1991 model) was PERFECT. Still plays amazingly well and it cost only around half that amount then.

My J.Custom (2007 model) is a beauty. Of course it was more expensive. It was a special gift made to myself to try and heal, when I thought I was losing my ability to play (I was diagnosed - wrongly - with rheumatoid arthritis).

Based on these two instruments that I love, I did not expect 3 out of 4 JS to be below standard. It's terribly disappointing.

Cheese - 4.22 a gallon!! Ouch! It's a shame how fast this is all happening isn't it? Really unbelievable.

T-Bones - High 5!!

lol!

101 faves, you Satch ho you! I guess you can always go to my page if you wanna hear something else. lmao!! OH, i didn't see any alanmckennamusic on yer page either missy! Better fix that! lol!

Ohh, you can save THIS vid so's you can see Joe pose for me with the guitar in his teefs till I take a picture :-)

Good times man, good times!

chelle...LOL...101 favs? for cheese101? I thought it was around 70 or so, dint know it was that manys until u said somefink :) Maybe it would be bad luck to add any more?

Yes, mckenna is on my list to add to favs, but I was 'xausted after doing that many satch youtubes.....and you'd be proud to know that of that 101, ONE isn't Joe....it's Achmed the Dead Terrorist, LOL.....

I need to throw some Sully stuffs in there too....and eeeeeeenemy...etc....

hybes, yep it's a damn shame the gas prices. Today, $4.22 a gallon, by next week it'll be over $4.50, wait and see...and before the end of this month I'm betting it'll hit 5 bucks a gallon. Completely ridiculous and so unneccesary. Bush could put a stop to it but won't because it won't line his pockets and those of his friends as nicely. They are getting rich off the backs of the heart of this country, all the people who work to support themselves and everyone else.

Gas prices in the US & Canada

I'm glad I live on the east coast!

Also interested in the article on Joe & Clapton. V curious ... wonder if it's anything like when Gary Moore said AWMAWY is too perfect, almost anal (or something like that)... grrrr : (

Keniko - thoughts & prayers with you

Do The Stu/Cheese - I'll second what al says - it's definitely "the feeling" thats the third toon from the MTV unplugged session

Big Bunny - that's really kind, thanks. I'll drop you a message before the big gig.... but did you get my last?

Cheese - awesome news about Black Dog. The current version looks great so hope it's modelled on that. Did you get the emails? Is your guitar guy called Rich by any chance?

Needed a blank tape tape this weekend and found some guitar practice. Not a good one either... think I should have called it the two cheek shuffle

Anyways.... have a good day everyone

The price of gas is still cheap. Wait until it hits 12 bucks a gallon. We are consuming too much. Hope we can find an alternative or we are all screwed. I have never owned a car. I walk to work. The rising price of oil is due to rising world demand. Americans are in for a shock.

For those of you who have itunes...episode 6 was just released! there's some stuff on there about the new DVD coming soon! 13 HD cameras at that show! THAT'S GREAT NEWS!

Cheese - I think you're right on with people's pockets getting deep with gas prices. The oil companies have been setting record profits every quarter. I just cant imagine how people in other countries are paying 10 dollars a gallon for gas. The cost of housing and utilities much be MUCH less over there. I wouldn't be able to keep my house if gas hits 10 dollars a gallon. I have never not voted Republican, but I have to say, i am very disappointed with the state of our country right now. We are all ready for a change.

Anybody got a fevah?

LMFAO.....the next podcast is freakin hilarious....I think they have a problem with mice....oh, and Joe? Why don't you borrow Stevie Vai's "other" band member...his fan....fer those hot times on stage :)

Did yer nano-techie pants not work for u? Do you need to solar charge their panels??

Hmmm....maybe some pants with air-conditioning would do u better, you poor dehydrated person, LOL.....

And I couldn't help but remember the "ELF yourself" program chelle put up last Christmas time....at one point in the podcast it just seemed similiar...but mostly Jeff, Stu and Galen started to look like mushroom-people, LOL.....or were turning into leprechauns.....maybe it was those Dublin tatoos.........

Hey everyone. I'm new here and was wondering if Joe even talks here.

O.K. I can't seem to find the questions I ask so I'm going to ask again, I'm not even sure if I posted it or forgot to hit post lol.

I was wondering, Joe, have you or is your music at all influenced by drugs? And are you planning on going to the Gorge at George, WA or the Spokane Arena(better for me, I'm a lot closer) in any U.S. tours? It would rock to see you live, man.

REVAN 2008 - No, Dream Theater aren't instrumental. There are about the same amount of lyrics in any one of their songs as there are in a typical five-minute rock song, but most of DT's songs are closer to 10 minutes in length. So I guess they seem like an instrumental band sometimes.

It's cool to hear you mention Led Zeppelin's Presence. That's my favorite album of theirs, but it seems to be rated pretty low among average/casual fans. My favorite LZ song is Achilles Last Stand.

I don't like Kashmir much at all. I don't know what it is about it...I guess it just doesn't change quite enough for me. I like live versions better than the studio version, but not by much.

Here's a short and very incomplete list of some of my favorite shows...it's mainly the first few things to pop into my head though:
- 10/18/97, Aerosmith with Jonny Lang opening; my first concert. Aerosmith was my favorite band at the time...I had high expectations and they delivered. Jonny Lang was an excellent surprise...I only knew the single "Lie To Me" before the show, I didn't expect him to be such a great guitarist.
- 10/19/99, Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes; recorded and released as Live at the Greek. This was right around the time I became a die-hard LZ fan. It was before I knew too much about the Black Crowes, which is kind of a bummer...but the band was so tight and Jimmy Page was ON.
- 4/12/00, Joe Satriani; my first Satch show. I'm sure my story is the same as everyone's...my mouth was wide open the entire time. I was just getting into Stu Hamm at this time, so it was awesome to see him. He played Linus and Lucy in his solo, which was awesome.

I don't know if those would be my top three, but I'll stop there with the details. Other good ones:
- 12/5/02, Yes
- 8/11/04, Van Halen
- 2/18/05, Collective Soul
- 3/10/06, Dream Theater
- 10/11/06, Porcupine Tree
- 11/13/06, Explosions In The Sky
- 6/2/07, Lacuna Coil
- 6/20/07, John Butler Trio
- 8/17/07, Joe Satriani
- 10/2/07, Dave Matthews Band

It's cool that you got to see Page and Plant live. I wanted to go see them in 1998, but I didn't for whatever reason. I don't think many LZ fans like Michael Lee, but I think he's an excellent drummer...I like his stuff a lot. I've seen him live once, actually...I want to say it was with Thin Lizzy (?) when they opened on the Satch and Deep Purple. I was bummed though, because I didn't know he was in the band...and he wasn't introduced until toward the end of their set. Hmmm...Satch actually jammed WITH Deep Purple at that show. It was the only show on the tour where he did that. Maybe it should be on the above list.

Great White and Whitesnake sounds like it'd be a good show...but I'd want to see them back in the 80s when you did. My favorite double bill is probably Dream Theater opening for Yes in 2004.

Well, I have plenty of other posts to respond to, but this is getting long so I'll stop here.

Does anyone else feel like sharing some of their favorite shows?

Kilgelec,

Q: "how did Segovia make an A chord? I'm just using my 1 and 2 fingers not the 3. Is that what he did or was he able to fit those pudgy digits in the single fret space?"

A: I never saw him close-up, only on TV. But from that, and from seeing his fingerings on classical pieces his technique was completely academic. He would have used 3 fingers for that chord. I don't think he would have written fingerings if his technique had not been perfectly maintream.

Don't forget that he was a classical guitarist and that's a context where you tend to stick to "the right way" of doing things(although there are endless discussions on what the right way is).

I've been in the classical guitar world a long time and if there had been rumours about Segovia having unorthodox fingerings, I'm sure we'd have heard about it.

Also, the string spacing is somewhat larger on classical guitars. But then his fingers were massive...

Django Reinhardt, for obvious reasons, is more of an example of unacademic technique. Because there was no way he could have played the same way as everyone else! When my hands were hurting and I thought they'd never work properly again, I thought of him a lot. Django is the obvious proof that mind rules over matter. _________________________________________________

"As far as playing professionally, unless it's determined that I have some supernatural gift, I'm just doing it for personal enjoyment! But maybe..... :) Keep it real dude.... "

A: Yeah... it doesn't really matter, professional or not. As long as your actual job leaves you enough time to play. Guitar teachers run out of time to play just as much as people in "regular" jobs. Even Joe was a guitar teacher!

The fact that Joe was an unknown guitar teacher for years also says something about the sort of talent and... also... luck needed to make it as a guitarist/composer playing your own music. In his case, talent certainly largely created his luck but still, there's a about hair's breadth between success and obscurity.

purple bear, you've asked 6 times (same copy & paste lazy post) if drugs have helped Joe make music. I see they certainly haven't helped yer memory. Don't take the brown acid man!

Happy Monday!

Ken, good vibes going out to yer dad.

I wonder if I'd get fired for saying "But I had to take the day off to watch podcast #6!!"

no good? nah, I didn't think so.... trudges towards the door.....

Superstrings...that really touched me about your wrong diagnoses of Arthritis. My Dad is really musical and plays the flute but he's been going deaf and he's now wearing two hearing aids. Luckily one of the great things about the flute isyou can 'feel' the music as much as hear it, but it's kinda tragic when someone who has a great love of music risks losing the ability to do it.

Markrainy...yep I'm in Nothern ireland too and I can't hold fuel in my car...it's like there's a hole in the tank or something, or could it be that my £20 doesn't go as far as it did not so long ago.

Put 50 Euro in it yesterday...still slightly cheaper in the south of the island.

I'm getting to bring my two children (aged 10 and 11) to their first Gig on FRIDAY><><<<<can't wait! It;s a Led Zepp tribute band (called the Rubber Plants)...Alley Theatre. My good friend who accompanied me to Joe's concert in Belfast is the bass player. I'm going to print out Meet and Greet passes for my kids to meet the band!!

BigBunny; Thanks...could you ask Joe why he chose instrumental music? just interested to know. I 'm John by the way...