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Hatsubai « One of my personal favorites »
Published on 10/23/11 at 14:19Ever want a J-Custom but didn't have the money for one? Well, this is pretty much as close as you can get, minus the balled fret ends. These guitars are easily some of the best guitars Ibanez has ever released, and they'll blow 90% of other guitars out of the water. The guitar features a mahogany body with a flame maple top, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 24 extra jumbo frets with offset dot inlays, a LoPro Edge, two humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar had a little bit of wear on the frets due to its age, but that's to be expected once you buy a guitar of this age. A quick fret level can fix that right up, and considering that Ibanez uses jumbo frets, it's really no big deal. The guitar had a great weight to it. Sometimes this wood combination can get a bit heavy, and considering I have a bad back, that can be a pain. However, this was right around the 7 lb mark which was perfect. The flame top on this isn't the best quality flame in the world, but it's stunning enough to help stand out from the crowd. The Lo Pro on this is one of the best trems ever produced in the entire world. Be sure to not lose the small locking inserts inside the studs, and be sure not to break the studs when trying to adjust the action.
SOUNDS
The guitar had a pair of DiMarzios installed in it -- an Evo 2 for the bridge and a Evolution in the neck. I'm guessing the previous owner first tried out the Evolution in both positions but found the bridge to be a bit too bright, so he swapped it for an Evo 2. The Evo 2 in the bridge is like the more organic and complex Evolution. You can get some crazy harmonics just like the original, and it's still tight, but you can also get a great clean sound once you roll off the volume knob a bit. I find it to be a lot more versatile than the regular Evolution. The Evolution in the neck is fairly bright sounding, and it works great for shred leads. Legato can sometimes be a pain, but it can deliver with the right settings.
OVERALL OPINION
This is the guitar I recommend every Ibanez lover buy. It's just so much better sounding than most of the other standard production Ibanez guitars out there. They also go for a pretty good price on the used market, so you know you're getting a solid instrument when you buy one of these. Be sure to search various forums and eBay for one of these.
UTILIZATION
The guitar had a little bit of wear on the frets due to its age, but that's to be expected once you buy a guitar of this age. A quick fret level can fix that right up, and considering that Ibanez uses jumbo frets, it's really no big deal. The guitar had a great weight to it. Sometimes this wood combination can get a bit heavy, and considering I have a bad back, that can be a pain. However, this was right around the 7 lb mark which was perfect. The flame top on this isn't the best quality flame in the world, but it's stunning enough to help stand out from the crowd. The Lo Pro on this is one of the best trems ever produced in the entire world. Be sure to not lose the small locking inserts inside the studs, and be sure not to break the studs when trying to adjust the action.
SOUNDS
The guitar had a pair of DiMarzios installed in it -- an Evo 2 for the bridge and a Evolution in the neck. I'm guessing the previous owner first tried out the Evolution in both positions but found the bridge to be a bit too bright, so he swapped it for an Evo 2. The Evo 2 in the bridge is like the more organic and complex Evolution. You can get some crazy harmonics just like the original, and it's still tight, but you can also get a great clean sound once you roll off the volume knob a bit. I find it to be a lot more versatile than the regular Evolution. The Evolution in the neck is fairly bright sounding, and it works great for shred leads. Legato can sometimes be a pain, but it can deliver with the right settings.
OVERALL OPINION
This is the guitar I recommend every Ibanez lover buy. It's just so much better sounding than most of the other standard production Ibanez guitars out there. They also go for a pretty good price on the used market, so you know you're getting a solid instrument when you buy one of these. Be sure to search various forums and eBay for one of these.