Immaculate to play, stunning, almost overall perfection

Quick info: Bought from Thomann around mid-2023. Swapped pickups for fun, did minor cosmetic changes (toggle switch parts changed to black)

First and foremost, the looks are personally really really stunning and Ibanez have outdone themselves with this super sick reincarnation of the classic Xiphos models.

The parts do slightly lack in some aspects. The Edge Zero-II bridge is fantastic with great setup and tuning experience, yet still the tremolo arm unscrews after every minor use, it immediately goes loose and swings down like a broken clock hand. Though I cannot imagine many people actually using the tremolo on this metal machine, this could be better, not important to me though. The next thing would be the frets. They are definitely amazing and perfectly smooth, yet on a nearly 1300€ guitar you'd maybe appreciate some stainles steel, not nickel. The frets haven't presented me with any issues at all yet, but still, compared to some even lower cost axes, nickel is a bit odd here. The neck is the best one I've ever played, the dimensions are my favorite among all Ibanez necks. The finish is a kind of satin that never feels dry, it's really nice and smooth.

I can't say a bunch about the original pickups as I swapped them out for Bareknuckle Aftermaths after a bit, but I've only heard great opinions about the original DiMarzio D-Activators.

Another HUGE standout for me is the overall advantage of the shape. I notice on regular strats with the same scale length that the 12th fret seems to be way way closer to the player, here you have ideal and quick access from 1 to 15, which definitely has made fast riffing easy for me. The rather long body shouldn't fool you at all, this axe is lightweight with absolutely 0 neck dive in any position with any strap. It's immaculate for sitting and standing, and is definitely much more comfortable than it may look.

Now, obviously, the price tag is something to be cautious with, but I'll be totally honest and say - it's worth every f###ing cent, excuse the profanity. Playing thick deathcore breakdowns or just some calm black metal harmonies has never been more comfortable and awesome.

And lastly, yes, I know, people like keeping guitars with double locking systems in the same tuning forever, but I can only tell you that that's nearly a waste of this crazy machine. I understand the problems and troubles of changing the tension and stress on a tremolo bridge abruptly, but in the months of owning this weapon, it's scarily stable and diverse. I do keep things in drop-a mostly due to the great stability in low tunings with lots of riffage abuse, but I've had her up to drop-d with no need to worry. Ibanez/Gotoh bridges are just a bigger blessing to work with than any Floyd Rose I've used.

To sum this all together, I love: Neck, shape, bridge (when blocked), all looks, weight (distribution too) and the emotions you go through when looking over at this weapon hanging on your wall.

I dislike: Tremolo arm performance, fret material (not a disadvantage to me AT ALL, just compared to the standard for this price class)

I love this guitar. I will never sell it. No other guitar has come close to making me want to come home totally exhausted and playing my favorite riffs for hours instead of relaxing on the couch.

Thanks 👍