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Hatsubai « Great shredder »
Published on 09/25/11 at 09:23This is one of the few guitars that Ibanez has started releasing with some real pickups in it for once. No longer are they starting to push their IBZ line. Instead, we're seeing a huge improvement thanks to them using stuff that most normal people put in their guitars. The guitar features a basswood body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 24 extra jumbo frets, ghost shark fin inlays, an Edge Zero tremolo, two humbucker configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The first thing I wanted to check out on this guitar was the inlay work, and I have to say, it's pretty good. They did a very good job at the ghost inlays, and there is very little filler. The bridge on this is the newer Edge Zero trem. Stock, it's pretty annoying, and I dislike how it feels. Once you remove the ZPS system, it's actually a pretty good trem. I dislike how much of the wood they take out of the route on top of the guitar, but it's needed for the intonation tool to work, so I can't complain about that too much. Fretwork was pretty good, and the overall guitar felt nice in my hands.
SOUNDS
The guitar had a Tone Zone in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck. This is probably the most popular combination from DiMarzio. The Tone Zone in the bridge is very hot, and it had a cool cocked wah kind of sound going on for it. It's fairly bass heavy, and it helps thicken up the basswood body a bit. it's not super dynamic, but it's more dynamic than most other hot pickups out there. The Air Norton in the neck is absolute lead heaven. You can get all kinds of amazing leads with this pickup, and the clean tones are wonderful as well. It happens to be one of my favorite pickups in the neck position.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is very good, and I recommend anybody who's looking for an Ibanez to take a look at this. It's solid enough to where you don't even need to replace the pickups. I also like the return of the locking studs on the trem, although they're still not quite up to par as the old school Edge and Lo Pro locking studs. All in all, very solid and worth checking out.
UTILIZATION
The first thing I wanted to check out on this guitar was the inlay work, and I have to say, it's pretty good. They did a very good job at the ghost inlays, and there is very little filler. The bridge on this is the newer Edge Zero trem. Stock, it's pretty annoying, and I dislike how it feels. Once you remove the ZPS system, it's actually a pretty good trem. I dislike how much of the wood they take out of the route on top of the guitar, but it's needed for the intonation tool to work, so I can't complain about that too much. Fretwork was pretty good, and the overall guitar felt nice in my hands.
SOUNDS
The guitar had a Tone Zone in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck. This is probably the most popular combination from DiMarzio. The Tone Zone in the bridge is very hot, and it had a cool cocked wah kind of sound going on for it. It's fairly bass heavy, and it helps thicken up the basswood body a bit. it's not super dynamic, but it's more dynamic than most other hot pickups out there. The Air Norton in the neck is absolute lead heaven. You can get all kinds of amazing leads with this pickup, and the clean tones are wonderful as well. It happens to be one of my favorite pickups in the neck position.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is very good, and I recommend anybody who's looking for an Ibanez to take a look at this. It's solid enough to where you don't even need to replace the pickups. I also like the return of the locking studs on the trem, although they're still not quite up to par as the old school Edge and Lo Pro locking studs. All in all, very solid and worth checking out.