SeriesIbanez Iceman

This is the guitar that Ibanez released for the budget line up. It's not as good as the other versions out there, and it's intended for those who can't afford the higher end models. The guitar features a basswood body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 extra jumbo frets, dot inlays, a hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a three way switch. UTILIZATION The guitar was average in every way. The first thing I noticed is that this guitar weighed a ton. It was almost as heavy as some of my Les Pauls. I'm a firm believer that a heavy guitar is not necessarily a good thing. In fact, I find them to be usually dead sounding when compared to other, lighter guitars out there. The frets needed some attention, as did the nut. A good do-over was pretty much needed. The ends were sharp, and the frets weren't that level. The nut was worn down pretty good, and it needed to be replaced. The guitar itself has also seen some good amount of abuse, too. SOUNDS The guitar did not sound that great. The first thing I should mention is that this had some faulty electronics in it. The tone pot was pretty much dead, and no amount of electronic spray seemed to fix it. The volume crackled, but it wasn't too bad. The switch was starting to flake out, too. What's worse is that the guitar itself didn't seem to be all that resonant. Combine all of that with some of the bad Ibanez pickups that are normally installed in this, and you got a recipe for disaster. That said, I can't fault it too much as I didn't try it with aftermarket pickups, so I never learned its true potential. OVERALL OPINION I don't really recommend getting this unless you absolutely love the Iceman shape. I much prefer the mahogany bodied guitars instead of the basswood ones. They seem to be a bit better, overall. Maybe it's the shape or the grade of basswood that was used on these, but the mahogany ones just seem to be a bit better to me.

Back in the day Ibanez was known for their copies of guitars. The Ibanez Lawsuit era found them making guitars that were better than what america was producing at the time. This was one of their first original design loosely based of the Les Paul design. When these came out they were better than the 70s American guitars that were being made. This guitar has a mahogany body with a set in maple neck. The fretboard is rosewood with split trapezoid inlays and 22 medium frets. It has dual Ibanez humbuckers with with a standard set of controls. The controls are traditional with a volume and tone for each pickup with a 3 way switch. The pickups are switched with a 3 way toggle on the upper bout and the bridge an Ibanez tune-o-matic stop tail combination. UTILIZATION These guitars are not really shred guitars. They have a more traditional feel to these. Back in the 70s these guitars were blowing Gibsons away in playability because the American quality had declined so much. The upper fret access is pretty good because of the unique lower horn. Whenever I see one of these guitars I cant help but think they look like upside down Rickenbacker basses. Early on these guitars were just called "Artist" models. There was also a Greco guitar just like it made in the same factory called the Mirage. The 3 piece maple neck is strong and it is a setneck so the heel is not too big. The medium frets have pretty vintage feel but they are still totally playable. This guitar feels a lot like a Les Paul but plays better. These guitars have all the playbility of the RG models just with a more traditional feel. You can still get a super low action on these guitars even with its older style construction. SOUNDS These guitars have a nice beefy tone like a Les Paul. They have a beefier sound than Ibanez's shred guitars because it is a more beefy guitar overall. This guitar can do just about anything from Jazz to rock and blues. It has a very smooth tone like a Les Paul. The bridge pickup is nice and crunchy with an open tone. It has more of a classic rock voicing to it. The neck pickup has a smoother sound like a typical Les Paul neck pickup. It can get muddy but that is a normal neck position thing. A set of after market pickups would really take this guitar over the top. This guitar sounds good with the stock Ibanez garbage in it that means it would would superb with some good pickups. For a guitar like this I would recommend some Seymour Duncans. OVERALL OPINION The Iceman is one of the most unique and longest lasting guitars in the Ibanez line. They were great guitars then and they are great guitars now. They are like the Les Paul from Bizzaro world. They play great and have a decent tone stock. A stock decent tones means an excellent tone once you get some good pickup in it. The Iceman is an iconic Ibanez shape so if you are looking for one of these you can get a vintage one or a new one. I would try to get a vintage one first but either way you are getting a good guitar.

I've been playing for over 30 years, mostly these days at Church, but still play bluesy stuff and whatever I feel like on my own. In 1980 I was going to go home, but my friend convinced me to go to a music store instead. When I walked in the first thing I noticed was a 1979 Ibanez Iceman on sale. (I believe it's an IC-200. I picked it up & spent over an hour playing it in the store. I put a hold on it & went baack for it the next day. (No Interac in 1980) Just a few of the things I like- The shape-when I first saw a picture of one I wanted one. The balance of the body--I saw other reviewers call it unbalanced--and I must say I am confused by that--it is perfectly balanced between body and neck. This balance makes it easy to hold and play sitting or standing. The sound. The big frets (although I have no fret preference--I also love my fretless wonder Les Paul custom.) They make vibrato and string bending easy. The slotted tailpiece makes for easier string changing. Not much to not like. It's not as veratile as my Les Paul and has less sustain. But that's not a serious complaint. Well made, there are a few chips from bumping it into things, but it's held up well. It's a glued in neck. The feel, sound, and look of this guitar are incredible. I'm not sure how it matches up against the newer Iceman models as I haven't tried them, but most of the ones I've seen have bolt on necks. While I don't have anything against bolt-ons (I own and enjoy a Fender Mustang) that does affect the tone and sustain. When I started playing it, there weren't a lot around, and I got a lot of great comments on it, and made a lot of guitarists jealous. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I play in a classic rock type band, old Ozzy, ACDC, Zeppelin, that kinda thing. At a currently out of business local music store I have owned this guitar for 3 years and it has been my main guitar ever since, I also have a Gibson Les Paul Standard that this guitar completely outshines, I originally bought this guitar as my "take on the road" guitar with every intent to replace the pickups with aftermarket models, but after a couple of gigs with this guitar I decided keep them in, very solid guitar and very light due to the decreased body size, Ibanez got it right with this guitar as I plan on purchasing another one soon. The one problem I have with this guitar is its balance, when you let go of the guitar while standing up, the headstock heads for the floor, but dont let this scare you away, this guitar is a great deal, has a great sound, and is not limited to just hard rock, there are many types of music you can use this guitar for. Everything is fine, the only complaint i have with the guitar is the neck-heaviness. has served me very well, cant wait to get another This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Made in China Redesigned, smaller body shape Ibanez brand Infinity humbuckers Full Tune II bridge (similar to a Gibson Tuneamatic) Bolt-on 3-piece maple neck 22 frets Basswood body Rosewood fretboard Volume, Tone, 3 way pickup selector switch UTILIZATION This is an Ibanez guitar, so one could expect to have a good, fast neck on it. And one would be correct in one's assumptions! The neck is thin, like a Wizard profile, and the cutaway and rounded heel provides good access to all the frets. The backward angle of the headstock allows for good, clear sustain, and the smaller body is light and sits on the lap very comfortably. Fretwork wasn't perfect, but this thing was dirt cheap, and that's not hard to fix. SOUNDS The guitar sounds pretty good with the stock pickups. It's no boutique axe, but for the price I paid for it, it's pretty nice. The Full Tune II tuneamatic-style bridge allowed for great sustain, punchy attack, and good clarity. The shape of the guitar tells you that it's good for rock, metal, and the like, but I could honestly get some good blues and some decent jazz tones out of it as well. It's not really spanky enough for country, however, and all the down-home folks would probably look at you funny if you tried it on a chicken-pickin' gig. OVERALL OPINION This guitar gives solid performance for the price point. I paid a lot less, due to getting it used, so I might be painting a bit more rosy a picture, but I still think it's a good instrument for the price range. I know Daron Malakian of System of a Down used these guitars live for awhile, so they can definitely hold up. The best parts of the guitar are the neck, and the overall vibe - the body shape is pretty cool! If you find one for cheap, snag it!

These guitars happily have an interesting look and an interesting body shape but the overall feel is a very Gibson type feel. If you have ever play to Gibson Les Paul or a Gibson explorer then you'll notice the balance weight and feel of the body can be very similar to his guitar. These guitars are built to be played hard and shred. Give very fast next and over all the action on the frets are extremely smooth and easy. They come with it to humbug to pick ups a volume control and pick up selector. They a lot of times have the Floyd Rose or Schaller tremolo Bridge systems installed. This makes metal and hard rock players gravitate towards these guitars. UTILIZATION Make/Model: Ibanez IC HRG2 Serial Number: CP05071097 Neck/Fingerboard Wood: Maple/Rosewood Scale Length: 24.75" Nut Width: 1 11/16" Weight: 7.2 Lbs. Finish Color: Graphic Print Pickup/Control Layout: Ibanez Axis AH1 humbucking neck pickup: Ibanez Axis AH2 humbucking bridge pickup. 2V 2T/ 3 way switch. Features: Sweet Graphic Print Finish, Set Neck, Strap Locks, Comes with Coffin Case NOTE: This Guitar is set up to be tuned to A# or B and has heavy 12 gauge strings with a wound 3rd. SOUNDS This guitar sounds pretty good in a rock setting because of the thick double humbucker pickups. It can have a warm sound that is going to be comparable to a Gibson sounding guitar. These guitars primarily used mahogany wood and a mahogany neck wood. So you'll then have a very thick and warm tone. If you see Paul Gilbert then you can see a similar body shape to this guitar only his guitars feature single coil pickups rather than humbucker pickups. OVERALL OPINION These guitars of been discontinued for a while now but you can find them in the used section and in the classifieds very easily for right around 300 or $500. That's a pretty good price for good quality guitar mating Korea. They are fun guitars and definitely have a unique look to them.

Ibanez recently decided to bring back the Iceman, and they released it with a reversed headstock, as well as 24 frets. It's similar to the older ones, but I find that it kinda lacks the mojo the older ones had. The guitar features a mahogany body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 24 extra jumbo frets, sharkfin inlays, a hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a three way switch. UTILIZATION This model is pretty good considering the other Iceman iterations that have occurred. The first thing you'll notice is that the guitar has a reverse headstock, and this actually creates a slightly different tension on the low strings. It has a very cool vibe. The inlays are nicely done, and there weren't any heavy fillers that I noticed. The fretwork is pretty good, although I've seen better from this factory. It was definitely workable. The nut was cut correctly, so there was no issues with tuning stability or anything like that. All in all, a pretty decent guitar overall. SOUNDS The guitar had some stock Ibanez pickups installed in it, and you could tell they weren't really meant for this guitar. They had a lot of low end, but they lacked the clarity that I was looking for. This is pretty much the same with every other Ibanez pickup out there. They all seem to be very bland and forgettable. I would recommend you replace it with something of high quality from the DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan lineup. That would be one of the best upgrades for this guitar. Don't forget to replace the pots and switches as well as they're fairly low quality. OVERALL OPINION The guitar is pretty good, and given the features that it comes with and what you can get it for on the used market, it's a pretty good buy. That said, you'll probably want to play a few before buying it. Besides the actually odd shape, there can be some inconsistencies with the fretwork and nut. On top of that, the pickups suck in this, so you'll want to replace those.

These are pretty hard to find, and I've only come across a few before. It's the mack daddy of the Iceman series, in my opinion. It features all the great things I love about the Iceman and then some. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 extra jumbo frets, dot inlays, binding, a hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a five way switch. UTILIZATION This is the guitar that I've always wanted. It's a great guitar, although it did show some wear from it being so old. The binding on this looks great, and it adds some class to it. The guitar itself was a bit heavy, but a lot of that has to do with the maple top that's put on this guitar. It's very similar to a Les Paul in some ways. The fretwork was pretty good, but there were some grooves forming that needed to be taken care of. The nut was in pretty good shape, so no issues there. The hardware had some light pitting on it, but it was no big deal considering how great it played. SOUNDS The guitar had some aftermarket pickups installed in it, so I'll be going by those when it comes to how the guitar sounds. The guitar had dual DiMarzio Super Distortions in it, almost as a throw back to classic Iron Maiden. The Super Distortion in the bridge is awesome through a cranked Marshall. You got tons of output, and it delivers a super fat sound. It's not the tightest or clearest sound, but it definitely works great for classic metal. The Super Distortion in the neck was just too much, though. There was too much output, and it seemed to be too bass heavy for me. I'd like to have a more medium output neck pickup if I could. OVERALL OPINION The guitar is great, and it's the Iceman I recommend you get if you can find it. It's a top quality guitar, sounds great, uses a great combination of wood and the binding is killer on this. The problem is that these can be pretty hard to find, so you might be looking quite awhile for one of them. Snag it up if you find it.

This is the guitar that H.R. Giger painted and helped design with Ibanez. It's really the same as any other Iceman out there, but it has the fancy graphics on it. Great for those who like something a bit different. The guitar features a mahogany body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 extra jumbo frets, block inlays, a hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, two volumes, two tones and a three way switch. UTILIZATION The first thing you notice is the paint job on this. That's pretty obvious as that's the main reason you're going to be buying this guitar. The paint on this is pretty much flawless, and I didn't find any issues with paint runs or anything like that. The graphic itself is definitely a love/hate thing, and I'm not sure how much I like it. It's somewhat unique, but I can't help but think of the Aliens movies when I see this. The fretwork ont his was pretty good. There were no sharp ends, and I didn't experience any issues with the frets being under dressed. The nut was cut properly, although it was a touch high for my tastes. SOUNDS This guitar had dual EMG 81s installed in it. The EMG 81 in the bridge was great for heavy metal rhythm tones. It was very clear under gain, but it was also super compressed. It's kinda like playing on air because notes keep popping out with ease. Some people dislike that, but it works great for metal. The EMG 81 in the neck is a bit too bright for me. Some people like the clarity, but I find it to be a bit too much for me. I much prefer the EMG 85 in the neck instead of the 81. Even the 60 would be better, although I'd probably go with the A version. OVERALL OPINION The guitar is great if you like those funky alien-esque paintjobs. After all, that's what Giger specializes in. That said, it's definitely an acquired taste, and I'm not sure if I completely acquired that taste. The guitar itself is put together decently, but I find that it's a bit too expensive for what you're getting. Then again, there aren't many Icemen out on the market to begin with.