Ibanez ART700EQM

The Ibanez Artcore line has been around for a long time but it has never really taken off. Ibanez being known for their superstrats doesnt really push their single cut guitars which is sad because they are doing some good stuff with their recent models. This is one of the higher end Artcore guitars but you couldnt tell from the price. This guitar has a mahogany body with a quilted maple top. It has a mahogany set neck with a rosewood fretboard. The fretboard has block inlays with big frets. Up top you get 6 standard tuners but the bridge is a modern locking design. What puts this guitar over the top is the active EMG pickups. At this price its pretty much unheard of that a guitar would come with good pickups. There are Ibanez's that cost 1000 dollars that dont come with good pickups and you can get this guitar for 400 with real EMG's. This guitar has an 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck with a master volume and a tone control for each pickup. There is a 3 way toggle to switch with.

UTILIZATION

This guitar has a more traditional feel than most Ibanez guitars. The neck is a bit thicker and the radius is a bit rounder but the playability is still there. With the active EMG's from the factory Ibanez gives you a battery compartment and it is better than the compartments you get on some ESP's where you have to unscrew it and it doesnt really save you any time. The compartment on this guitar has a tab so you can open it very quickly.

SOUNDS

A stock Ibanez that sounds good is very rare nowadays. There are prestige models that still come with generic Ibanez pickups. For 1000 dollars less you can get this Ibanez with active EMG's. On this guitar you get the classic 81 in the bridge. WIth the 81 in the bridge you get razor sharp tone that can handle any type of metal you can throw at it. The lower you tune the better it sounds because it has such a high end sound. The 60 in the neck does everything that the 81 cant do or doesnt do well. It has a good modern clean tone and you can get a nice bluesy low gain tone.

OVERALL OPINION

When you find a crazy deal like this you should pick it up. Everyone always rags on Ibanez for putting such garbage pickups in their guitars and now there is a model that is reasonably priced with pickups that everyone likes. These guitars arent in stock at a lot of places and for good reason. If you are looking for a nice low priced metal guitar this guitar is up there with the ESP LTD's of yesteryear. You dont come across deals this good very often.