Premium guitars have been available since 2011 in most of Ibanez’s guitar series. They still offer higher quality materials and craftsmanship but at a lower cost. The Premium sub-brand is slightly more affordable than the Prestige guitars as they are produced in Indonesia instead of Japan. While you may struggle to find j.custom models, you’ll always see plenty of Prestige models available.

Looking for the Prestige logo on an Ibanez headstock is a quick way to identify the top quality guitars in any Ibanez series. Ibanez has been building Prestige guitars in Japan since 1996. The Prestige models can be identified by the clear ‘Prestige’ logo on the headstock. The Prestige sub-brand is the highest quality Ibanez guitars you can buy (apart from J. In the early 90s, Ibanez also offered USA Custom guitars, so you may still find second-hand models out there. Custom name tells you that these are custom models produced in Japan by their top luthiers.Īs you might expect from a Custom guitar, they use exotic tonewoods and are produced in very small numbers.

You can easily identify a j.custom Ibanez from the headstock logo.

Custom is the top-tier sub-brand in terms of quality and price. The great thing about these sub-brands is that you can find an Ibanez shape you like, then find one in the sub-brand that fits your budget level. Think of these sub-brands as quality levels or tiers. The first thing to understand about Ibanez guitars is that each series (eg: RG series, S series) are split into sub-brands. 11.8 Related Guides and Lessons: Ibanez Sub-Brands Explained

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