braedon_clawsey's Reviews

The guitar that can do anything

This guitar, in typical Ibanez fashion, has a lightning fast neck and a thin body, with a 5 way pickup selector (Bridge, Inner Coils, Both Humbuckers, Neck in series, Neck), and a beautiful finish. These guitars were made back when Ibanez used decent stock pickups (they've started again since about 2015, no worries)

That is where the similarities end. This beast has two output jacks to accommodate the piezo (nearly unheard of in Ibanez guitars). There is a 3 position selector switch for how this runs. With only one output, the bottom position is Piezo only, the middle is a mix and the upper position is purely the magnetic pickups. When you plug two cables in, the selector switch changes functions slightly and you can select either output (magnetic, piezo) individually or both at the same time. The piezo blend knob is nice and out of the way, I could never see myself accidentally hitting either it or the switch. A very well balanced guitar with some nice attitude and a beautiful finish. They went out of production in 2004 but if you can find one for a decent price, buy it!

Use with a good power amp and cab and it's amazing.

If you know how to dial a tone, this can do ANYTHING. Not quite up to the level of a helix, axe fx or kemper, but in a band mix they're nearly indistinguishable (again, if you're good with dialling tones). I use it with a power amp and a 2x12 cab loaded with V30's and it ROARS. It was between this and an Axe-FX ultra and this was on equal footing with it. I picked this because of the floor pedal form factor. Setting up my rig takes exactly one minute. It's built like a tank and I can see myself having it for many years to come.

Good tone, Not very reliable.

I purchased this guitar in 2015 and used it to record rhythm guitars on my band's first album. I would have used it for leads, but unfortunately a half step bend on any of the higher strings causes the guitar to go horrendously out of tune. The hardware is sub-par and the neck is not seated very well. As well, the dark chrome finish on the knobs and bridge is rubbing off and it looks terrible. The pickups are exceptional for stock pickups, I know some of the first versions of this guitar came with the older Ibanez INF pickups but this one came with the new unmarked Quantum pickups that seem to be closely modelled after DiMarzio's tone wise and are identical appearance-wise. They're medium gain with rather tight low end and nice bitey highs. I replaced them with DiMarzio Titans and it really added another dimension to the tone. I will keep this guitar simply for the purpose of recording chunky rhythm parts. I may change out the bridge with something a little more stable in the future and add locking tuners, but for a guitar that retails for less than $400 I'm not sure it's even worth it.

Stable, reliable and predictable with no frills.

I bought this guitar in mid-2015 and have played it heavily on stage and in the studio ever since. I play in a progressive metal band and I tend to be very demanding towards my guitars. I'm going to start with the pros and then the cons to simplify things.

Pros: This guitar is very predictable and it is never going to go out of tune, the only time I've ever had to tune it is while replacing the strings. I love the simplicity of this instrument, you have your three-way selector and a volume knob and that's it. I added a speed knob and a coil tap for a little extra versatility as a recording guitar, but overall I'm pretty impressed with the fit and finish and I haven't had an issue with the hardware yet. The edge system was a nice touch, but I removed it to make using the tremolo a little more flexible for flutters. It does NOT need it. I've been abusing this guitar since I got it and it hasn't gone out of tune.

Cons: As soon as I plugged it in I knew the pickups would have to be replaced. They were VERY muddy and boomy in the low end and lacked articulation in the high end. I dropped a Seymour Duncan '59 and JB in and it is a great all round guitar, not tonally weak in any area but also does not shine in any area. I had a huge problem changing the pickups over as the switch is VERY strange, I was not able to find any wiring diagrams for it so it was more or less trial and error. I had to switch all the wiring out for a smaller gauge because of how small the internal cavities are. Minor thing, the fret ends were pretty rough when I got it, but I think I paid $450 canadian for this guitar on sale so it's bound to have some minor flaws.

Overall a very dependable main instrument. It is now my secondary instrument as I picked up a Sterling by Music Man JP60. It's nice not having to deal with the double locking system, but it can't take QUITE as much whammy abuse as this guitar.