Ibanez XH300

This guitar has a mahogany body, a bolt on 24 fret 3-piece maple nck, and Ibanez CAP-LZ humbuckers. It has a tune-a-matic style setup for the bridge, with a separate tailpiece, one volume knob and a 3 way switch for pickups. The finish is called Mars shadow.


UTILIZATION

I have to say off the bat that the color scheme is fantastic! This Mars shadow design that Ibanez has used on this guitar - it needs to be on more guitars! Craftsmanship is great - they paid good attention to detail, especially on the fretwork and finish. The guitar's playability is fantastic, for sure, with great access to all frets, and the guitar balances well on the knee or on a strap.

SOUNDS

With Ibanez pickups, it can be hit or miss, but these pickups are pretty good! They are very hot, getting a range of tones such as "metal" and "more metal"! All joking aside, this guitar is designed purely for hard rock and metal, so don't expect too much versatility from the factory pickups. This is not your Nashville star's guitar, nor a jazz cat's axe - this guitar simply ROCKS. Feed it gain, and it will roar like a lion.

OVERALL OPINION

I'm glad Ibanez is putting out some bold new shapes to see what sticks. I could see this new Halberd design as being a classic shape that could be used again in many different incarnations, including a more subdued instrument for more classic rock folks, something like a Halberd shape with more of an Iceman influence on the rest of the aesthetics. Either way, I hope they take this neat finish idea that is just on this model for now and apply it to other guitars! The guitar screams and plays great, so it is definitely worth a look! Recommended for rockers.