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Please bear with slower response times for the next few weeks. Mom had a fall today and badly broke her hip. Surgery will be sometime tomorrow, complicated by extremely advanced osteoporosis. Her recovery will be long and hard, *if* possible, hindered by the porosis and other ailments. As always I will attempt to minimize this effects my responsibilities to my customers, but I will hope you will show a little more patience and latitude than I would normally ask. She is in good spirits and as stubborn as ever, a little dopy from the morphine drip, but greedy and not willing to share. Complicating everything, on the drive to the hospital my car went into "limp mode" where it would just stay in second gear. Leaving the hospital tonight it was shifting perfectly again, but at any moment I should expect to be without transportation at the worst possible time. Just to top the day off, as I was going through the 200 emails from the day, eating the last 2 peanut butter filled crackers from the vending machine, my only nourishment for the day, I found a HUGE piece of metal in one!! Unfortunately I won't be suing, it was one of my fillings, and no, not the bulging filling, or the one in my cracked molar, this had to be one of my "good" ones. Go figure, hopefully this will be the last battle with adversity, at least for this year!

Obviously wishful thinking. I will be taking mom home this week and moving in to take care of her in her final days. Suspected but previously unconfirmed she's had advanced colon cancer for some time. Complicating this is sclerosis of the liver [never had a drink in her life], both of which are killing her, and not slowly. She has been given under 3 months and judging from her current condition and state of pain I hate to say it may be just a few weeks. It's very common for a serious injury to allow other complications to come to the forefront in the elderly and speed their demise. Obviously business will have to take a backseat to her care, but I will still be in business, I have my own bills to pay. I'm presently preparing for her and my move and still trying to figure out the logistics of how I'm going to be working in her home. It will be tough and undoubtedly create more delays than I'd like to admit, but rest assured that my customers are of the highest priority, and that all present and future deals will be completed in the most timely manner possible. Now go give your parents a hug and tell them how much you love them, you never can tell when their time will come.

I wish I had days to spend taking care of her. Mom passed away just before 2 this afternoon, at home, where she wanted to be. She had a rough night last night, in extreme anxiety she kept repeating things over and over again, things that strongly meant something to her, nearly hyperventilating and shallow of breath. The last set was about wanting the old family Bible, she wanted to touch gold to the old family Bible, so I brought it down and set it beside her and put her left hand on it, still wearing her wedding ring after 27 years a widow. A nurse came around 10 and gave her a full dropper of morphine to get her to relax. I sat with her holding her hands as it took over and she went deep into sleep. For 2 hours I cried sitting there holding her, I thought she had died a few times, her breathing was so erratic. I finally passed out from exhaustion curled up in her recliner. Woke up this morning and she was peacefully sleeping, hadn't moved an inch all night, and still had her hand on the Bible. Her breathing seemed a little more normal, I had no thought she wasn't going to wake up at any moment and as peaceful as she was I didn't want to disturb her by trying to wake her. My sister in law called to talk and I told her how peacefully she was sleeping, I could see her from where I was. After I hung up I walked over to check on her and she was gone. Mom was a woman of such great conviction and faith, and had so much love for everyone. She thought of everybody else first, never herself. As stubborn and as tough as an Arkansas mule, and at the same time caring and compassionate without limit. She was loved and will be missed by many, but none more than I. I love you mom, and I already miss you so badly. You've patiently waited 27 years to see dad again, and I can only hope there is a heaven, and that you remember to tell him how much I've missed him too. Rest in Peace.

Levi Gene Harris  5/19/18 - 11/20/03

I can only hope you understand. Business is temporarily on hold for 1-2 weeks. After services here mom will be buried next to dad in Arkansas. I might need to put all email on auto-responder in a few days, I just have too many other priorities right now and honestly am in no mental state to work on guitars. I have damaged 2 working tired and unfocused since she first broke her hip. Refunds are not a problem if the delay causes any problem for you in any way, do not hesitate to ask. I can be reached for emergencies only [including refunds] at 856-468-3922, or on cell at 609-805-2252 if no answer.

Thanks in advance to all those that would send best wishes. In no way would they not be appreciated, but I'm just too emotional right now and each sets me a little deeper. I probably won't have the time to respond anyway.

OK, so I can't help responding anyway. The outpouring of support and condolences has been incredible, it's good to know there are so many caring people out there and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you.

 

A sad day,  Jim Donahue has left Ibanez. "Mister Ibanez" was the driving force behind many of the companies innovations as well as having worked with Joe and Steve directly in the development of the Jem and JS models. One of his most recognizable recent creations would be the VAI2KDNA. His departure will leave many shoes to fill at Hoshino USA. Let's all wish JD the best as he pursues his piece of the American Pie. BEST OF LUCK!

 

Jemfest.com will be holding an email auction for a framed and hand signed printed score for Ballerina 12/24 with plaque. A gift certificate for an inlay job from LGM will also be auctioned. The email bids begin August 1 and will run until August 31st at 6:00 PM EST. Check Jemfest.com for details and updates.

 

I have just changed hosts from A+ [sucks ass big time!!] to Spinex [thumbs up!!] so you should find the entire site running at normal speed again. I also get an extra 14gig of bandwidth now so of course I've been trying to get this page caught up with pics. I'm getting close, bear with me ;o}

 

Haggling - it's only human nature to want to negotiate and feel like you've gotten a better price. Until now I have firmly resisted this, but, as times change, so must I. If you'd like to haggle there will be a $250 Haggling Fee assessed, and a maximum allowable discount set at a firm $250. Your fee is due in advance, before any haggling begins. So give it a shot and test my haggling skills! ;o}

"What's your best price on that?" - My standard response - "You're looking at it."   Prices shown usually represent the cost of the time I put into working on a a guitar plus a small $50-$100 profit. Some of them actually Reflect a decent profit margin! Some also reflect a LOSS. I get screwed buying online more than you do, I buy more! What *All* prices represent is *Bottom Line*, and are a *Fair* price for each guitar. If you don't like the pricing please shop elsewhere, but don't ask me "What's your best price on that?" ;o}

 

I am constantly asked "Please send me an email when you get a JEM77XYZ in and I will buy it!". I do not do notices of incoming inventory. I get literally 100 requests like this a week and in an attempt to retain whatever sanity I have left I will not even attempt to keep track of your requests. You will have to check the Used page just like everybody else does, and bottom line, it's fair to all.

 

I'm am EXTREMELY busy. I definitely have NO time to answer tech questions about guitars I did not sell, or figure out which 92' S series you just bought from ebay and how much it's really worth, this is not my job anyway. Please understand. Questions that do NOT concern IbanezRules can be asked in the jemsite.com Forum. I answer many questions there WHEN I have the time.

 

There was a time when I would install new studs in the used 1999, 2000, and early 2001 guitars that have the pinched studs. Because of the expense and the inability to procure enough good studs I no longer do this. This is a quirk that does affect some players but does not affect the majority. You can read about it here and decide if you want to have a guitar from these years upgraded with new studs.

 

I just did a MAJOR cleanout of this page and put ALL sold guitars on the Used Sold page. I will probably keep this page trimmed to current offerings only from now on. It was obviously creating confusion as I would get emails from people requesting guitars that were marked GONE.

 

Quick Jump links just added for your convenience. This does NOT mean I don't want you to look at everything else, but since some of you only check for Jems etc. it's there for your convenience. ;o}

 

Emails - I reply to every email I receive, if you don't get a reply it's because something happened. I will keep replies in my task bar for hours sometimes when busy, and if anything locks up I'll loose the replies. If you don't hear back I'm not ignoring you so please write back. ALSO - you couldn't imagine how many emails I'll reply to that bounce either due to your mail server being down, full, or the reply to address incorrect. If nobody is replying to your mail you might want to check your properties ;)

 

New Parts page now online, finally.

 

Check out the new Used Guitar Primer section for plenty of tips to help you with your own guitars. This also shows what the guitars on this page go through before they are shipped to you. It's 9 pages of longwinded dribble, half cleaning tips and the rest setup tips, and it was alot of work so GO READ IT NOW!! ;-)

 

I am constantly asked to put guitars on hold, HOLD means that cash is on the way in all but very rare circumstances. If you are waiting for a payment or bonus etc. guitars can be put on short term hold with a 10% deposit down. Short term is 2 weeks maximum. I do make exceptions on occasion for valid reasons, but in any deal for longer than 2 weeks and your 10% deposit becomes non-refundable! [Maximum penalty $100] I'm not an ogre, but this is a business! If there's a possibility that you cannot complete the terms of a deal then do not enter into it! I will in no way mark guitars on HOLD for people to "contemplate" whether they want it [or something else they're watching on ebay]. For every guitar on this page there are 2 people sitting on the fence, and a buyer that can come in 2 emails and "buy" it. This does not mean I don't want you to be very sure about a purchase and not take your time to decide, it does mean I won't "hold" it for you while you "think" about it. It's fair to everyone, first come, first served. ;o}

 

Disclaimer - Ibanez Rules is not affiliated with Ibanez or Hoshino USA.

Copyright August 2000 by Ibanez Rules!!