{"product_id":"saisei-ibanez-rg350dxz-2015-white-kintsugi-inspired-restoration","title":"Saisei! - Ibanez RG350DXZ | 2015 | White | Kintsugi-Inspired Restoration","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGifted to a member of The Stray Chord community\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSaisei was never put up for adoption.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe gave her away.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHer name comes from the Japanese word \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e再生 (saisei)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, associated with rebirth, regeneration and restoration.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere really couldn’t have been another name for her.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSaisei is a 2015 Indonesian-built \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIbanez RG350DXZ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, finished in White. Underneath is a mahogany RG body paired with Ibanez’s wonderfully skinny Wizard III maple neck and a bound rosewood fingerboard carrying those unmistakable sharktooth inlays and 24 jumbo frets.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShe’s loaded with an HSH set of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIbanez Quantum pickups\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, with ceramic humbuckers at the neck and bridge and an Alnico single coil between them, controlled by a five-way selector, master volume and tone.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt the other end is an \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdge-Zero II double-locking tremolo with Ibanez’s ZPS3Fe stabilising system\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn other words, she’s a proper RG. Pointy, fast and equipped with precisely the sort of hardware that encourages otherwise sensible adults to make terrible decisions with a whammy bar.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut Saisei came to us with something else.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShe was cracked.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere was damage around her neck pocket. It was repairable, and the damage was professionally repaired and made structurally sound.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt that point, we had a choice.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe could disguise it. Fill everything, colour-match the white and try to erase every trace of what had happened.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut that didn’t feel right.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eInstead, we took inspiration from the philosophy and aesthetic of the Japanese art of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ekintsugi\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, in which the repair of a broken object becomes a visible part of its continuing history rather than something that must be hidden.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSo we traced Saisei’s repaired scars in gold.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThey aren’t something we’re trying to hide.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThey’re the point.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSaisei was damaged. Then somebody took the time to repair her.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNeither of those things makes her worth less.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePerfect isn’t the goal. Being repaired doesn’t necessarily mean returning to exactly what you were before. Sometimes it means carrying the evidence that something happened, that you came through it and that somebody thought you were worth putting back together.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe think that’s rather beautiful.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eImportantly, Saisei isn’t simply a metaphor that happens to have six strings.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHer structural repair is sound, and she received exactly the same rehabilitation we would give any Stray being prepared for adoption: deep cleaning, fret levelling, crowning and polishing, fret-end attention, hardware and electronics checks and a complete professional setup.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShe was ready to be played again.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut rather than sell her, we chose Saisei for something we’d promised ourselves we would do whenever The Stray Chord could afford to.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe gave her away.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShe went to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJames\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, someone we’d never met and didn’t personally know, but whose name had become wonderfully familiar underneath our posts.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the early days of The Stray Chord, James had been there. Commenting, reacting, encouraging us and celebrating the restorations, ridiculous finds, adoptions and little milestones along the way.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere was nothing in it for him.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHe was simply consistently kind to three strangers trying to build something they believed in.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAnd we noticed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSaisei wasn’t a consolation prize or a guitar we couldn’t sell. We specifically chose her because her story represents so much of what The Stray Chord was created to be about.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRescue. Restoration. Second chances. And recognising that something doesn’t have to be perfect to be worth caring about.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen we started The Stray Chord, we thought it was going to be about guitars.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut increasingly, we’re discovering that some of the best bits are the people gathering around them.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSaisei found her next chapter without ever receiving an adoption fee.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNo strings attached.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWell…\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSix strings attached.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAnd a double-locking tremolo.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSo quite a lot attached, actually.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRescue • Restore • Rehome\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Stray Chord","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58721976451336,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1059\/2829\/4664\/files\/D8A83ADB-D3B5-449D-B4DA-3B1A10F46F51.jpg?v=1789330892","url":"https:\/\/thestraychord.com\/products\/saisei-ibanez-rg350dxz-2015-white-kintsugi-inspired-restoration","provider":"The Stray Chord","version":"1.0","type":"link"}