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Question Any word or guess on when they might be releasing new Kaizen colors?

V

VK18

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Feb 24, 2017
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I already have a matte finish but would love a brighter, gloss Kaizen as a backup and Tosin has been playing a kryptonite green one on tour and last week he posted this pink one. Curious if anyone has any intel or inisight bast on past guitars and when they've done new colors as this is my first EBMM so I'm not really familiar with the cadence of releases. SCR-20231007-ocdj.jpeg
 
VK18 said:
Where did you see that!? Link?
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What's it worth??????


















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Ernie Ball Music Man Kaizen 6 - Kryptonite - S09648 | Reverb

• Make: Ernie Ball Music Man• Model: Kaizen 6• Body Wood: Alder• Neck Wood: Roasted Figured Maple• Fingerboard: Ebony• Fingerboard Inlay: White Dot• Radius: Infinity Radius• Scale Length: Multiscale: 24.75" to 25.5"• Color: Kryptonite• Pickups: Music Man Custom Wound Mini Neck Humbucker and Custo...
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Glenn |B)
 
I love that green one. I have a special edition Fender Stratocaster in Electron Green and it's almost the same color. The Kaizen is a cool design-- I don't think it's a model that I'd go for, but I like it. The hot pink one is cool too. I really disliked the maple one I saw here a few months ago though.

On a side note, I don't know if these are matte or gloss but I hate the idea of matte finishes in solid colors. They look great when brand new and unplayed, but it doesn't take long for them to start looking worn down and greasy and shiny in spots. Horrible result and some manufacturers seem to really encourage the matte finish trend. I have one very nice guitar in matte Ferrari Red that I'd like to have refinished in gloss if at all possible.
 
Ted said:
I love that green one. I have a special edition Fender Stratocaster in Electron Green and it's almost the same color. The Kaizen is a cool design-- I don't think it's a model that I'd go for, but I like it. The hot pink one is cool too. I really disliked the maple one I saw here a few months ago though.

On a side note, I don't know if these are matte or gloss but I hate the idea of matte finishes in solid colors. They look great when brand new and unplayed, but it doesn't take long for them to start looking worn down and greasy and shiny in spots. Horrible result and some manufacturers seem to really encourage the matte finish trend. I have one very nice guitar in matte Ferrari Red that I'd like to have refinished in gloss if at all possible.
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Currently all the finishes are matte--except this random green one (which if it was a seven I would've already bought.) And I tend to agree with you on the solid colors thing. I do think it works on the Spectraflare color which is kind of an oil slick metallic finish because it looks so space age in the matte. Also you're so right about the natural one posted here. It looks too vintage on such a modern guitar.

One thing you could try is polishing rather than refinishing your red guitar. I've had a few matte guitars over the years I've hand polished to a gloss and had some good results.
 
Yes, Pete's a dealer.
The new color release is obviously happening soon as the Kaizen section of the EBMM website is currently under reconstruction.
 
fogman said:
Yes, Pete's a dealer.
The new color release is obviously happening soon as the Kaizen section of the EBMM website is currently under reconstruction.
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Wow, crazy! Seems like I was thinking about this just as they were about to do it. Thanks for the answers! This is a really helpful forum; y'all are nice.
 
VK18 said:
One thing you could try is polishing rather than refinishing your red guitar. I've had a few matte guitars over the years I've hand polished to a gloss and had some good results.
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I'm thinking in the future I might consider having it done professionally if it could be done to a degree that it will look exactly the same as a gloss finish that just came from the factory-- if that's possible. It's a really nice headless guitar-- a limited edition one-- and I don't want to screw it up. But I really can't stand how it looks after I play it a lot.
 
Ted said:
I'm thinking in the future I might consider having it done professionally if it could be done to a degree that it will look exactly the same as a gloss finish that just came from the factory-- if that's possible. It's a really nice headless guitar-- a limited edition one-- and I don't want to screw it up. But I really can't stand how it looks after I play it a lot.
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Makes sense. Is it a Strandberg by chance? That's the one I did it to. It wasn't factory perfect, but I thought it looked really good. You can see the shine here.

20230924_153513.jpg
 
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VK18 said:
Very cool! Maybe once those guitars are offically released I'll be giving him a call.
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Absolutely, Pete and Nick are the absolute best to deal with. I've bought from them a few times, they go above and beyond!!

Glenn |B)
 
VK18 said:
Makes sense. Is it a Strandberg by chance? That's the one I did it to. It wasn't factory perfect, but I thought it looked really good. You can see the shine here.

View attachment 42506
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That looks pretty good! Mine's a Kiesel Jason Becker Numbers Vader.

Here's a pic I took of it when I just got it. (Hope I don't get in trouble for posting a non EBMM guitar here and hijacking the Kaizen thread a little.)

IMG_4413.jpeg

It's a great guitar but aside from the matte finish thing, I played it once live and then kinda retired it after an awkward incident. I bought it in 2016 thinking It would make a cool stage axe-- I like bright 80's colors-- but there were semiotic factors about the aesthetics of this guitar that I did not consider when I bought it. With the rainbow colors in 2023, it looks like a gay pride guitar which isn't really what I was looking to project on stage. Oops. haha.

I also have one of their Holdsworth models with a translucent birch top in tobacco burst and the matte finish is tolerable on that one because of the wood grain and burst. But I hate matte satin on solid colors.

And in the past few years I've moved more toward vintage styled guitars, hence my getting into the EBMM Valentine model.
 
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Those are all pretty damned slick.... I have to admit even that Honeysuckle one has a certain strange appeal to it that is growing on me.
 
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