I bought my first PIA by surprise.
I like Steve Vai, but that wasn't enough to justify spending extra 1k just for the name.
So I went to my local guitar shop to check on a beautiful wood finished Ibanez J Custom which felt and sounded surprisingly bad given the high specs it has. So after playing with everything else they had in the shop, guitars like Plini's Strandberg, Sheckter Apocalypse and Mayonese Hydra, the surprising choice was made after I tried the Pia. It felt like a wild animal ready to jump, so I jumped out of my pocket, too.
A lot of players are complaining about paint finish defects on their new PIAs. I hoped I would not be one of them, but my first PIA came out of the box with body wings creases in the paint so I had to return it back to my local UK dealer.
When I decided to order from Thomann, this time I went the extra mile of contacting the Thomann customer support, and they assured me that the guitar will be examined and double checked for any issues before shipment to UK.
Unfortunately my effort didn't help at all.
This second PIA didn't had any paint defects like the first one, but unfortunately came out of the box with huge scratch marks left from the factory fingerboard sanding. It is mind-boggling how such defects go unnoticed by Ibanez QC and then Thomann's support.
The scratches stretched from the 1st to the 20th frets on the bass side of the board, with one of them looking like a deep crack.
The scratch marks are razor-sharp parallel straight lines in the fingerboard. They also continue and go over the inlays leaving scratch marks in them too, so these marks cannot be mistaken for normal Rosewood grain as I hoped initially. You can find my short video online if you search for "Ibanez PIA quality issues"
Sad day for me and Ibanez Japan as this is completely unacceptable quality for a brand new instrument at the £3000 price range.
Fortunately, Thomann was very quick to offer replacement or partial refund if I decided to keep it, so even though disappointed I am really thankful for Thomann's genuine effort to make the wrong things right so I can still recommend their services to anyone.
One curious thing!
In contrast to the first PIA, this second PIA's Edge tremolo bridge came with 2LE2-B locking studs having the 1.5mm hex inner screws for extra stability. So it's worth checking before buying if your PIA has locking or standard Edge tremolo studs.
Well, that turned out a long review with a very little said about what exactly makes this guitar special, so let me fix that.
Extremely responsive on touch, picking location and force. It chirps with lightest touch, it growls when you dig the pick. Responds just like a sport car and punishes careless mistakes quickly. It wants you to stay focused on the road with both hands on the wheel.
Easy screaming harmonics everywhere, especially in bridge position.
Requires very precise tremolo tuning from someone with experience who knows what gauging tool and where is needed.
Tremolo tuning is mission impossible without freezing the whammy bar at exactly 5 cm above the guitar first. The Vai's tech video was very helpful here.
What I don't like:
1. The golden plating on the (supposedly Gotoh) Edge tremolo bridge is of very inferior quality. It started to change colour fading away on the top side after only 6 months of occasional careful use. I have to send the tremolo for a proper 18k golden plating myself in order restore it, but for now I am forced to play with a fingerless artist glove to prevent further discolouration.
2. Surprisingly to me, the truss rod is one way only, so you can righty-tighty straighten the neck, but forget about lefty-loosy bowing it in order to achieve maximum lower string action without buzz.
3. Another bad surprise is the lack of carbon reinforcement, which makes this 3 piece quarter sawn neck (advertised as 5 piece because of the 2 microscopic veneers) surprisingly unstable to humidity and temperature fluctuations. As a result you will find yourself having to re-tune and adjust spring tension more often.
Why Mr Japanese luthier? Why no carbon rods or at least a two way truss rod found in your 6 times cheaper Indonesian models?
I actually sent Ibanez a feedback email, but they never replied. So much for any customer service on their side.
CONCLUSION
So, does this guitar worth the £3K?
Yes, if the brand name is important to you.
No, if you are able to spend a bit more and order a custom-made one off boutique instrument made by a small one man show luthier who stands behind his uncompromising artwork like a proud father behind a well accomplished son.
Rock on 🤟😈🎸
