I had gone to Guitar Center over the weekend to check out their Easter sale. I've been thinking of buying a new guitar of late now that it's tax refund time :D. I like playing stuff like Tool and wanted to try out a few Seymour Duncan guitars especially Schecters and ESPs. But turned out my local guitar center does not carry ESPs and did not have any Schecters with Seymour Duncans. So i started trying Ibanez and Jackson guitars.
I'm currently playing an Agile AL2000 and compared to that these guitars felt so comfortable! The Ibanez's (RG4EX) neck was thin and the action was very nice and low. The bridge pickup was really nice and crisp. The Jackson i tried was a Dinky with Seymour Duncan pickups (not sure which ones) and again the guitar felt very good in my hands. I've always had the impression they were guitars for shredders but the neck pickup on the guitar i tried sounded good enough. I also picked a couple of more Ibanez guitars and the action seemed very consistent across all of their guitars.
I came back home impressed and determined to research more on Ibanez guitars. But they seem to have so many guitars that i'm now confused. I'm not very familiar with different pickups they use. I kinda figured RG and SZ were their middle-higher end guitars. How do their pickups compare with Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz combination? I liked the Seymour Duncans on the Jackson. but the Ibanez pickups seemed nice as well. I'm definitely going back again to try them out again but i would like to atleast draw up a shortlist. My budget is 450-500 at a push and i don't mind buying used. Musicansfriend has a blem Schecter blackjack with JB/Jazz for $423. And i'm open to other guitars as well. But i loved the setup on the Ibanez. I like playing classical Rock to Hard Rock so i'm not looking for a metal axe but something with a hot bridge pickup would be nice. Any suggestions?
Note: Mods, since we don't have the 'i want to buy a new?' subforum anymore i wasnt sure where to post this. Please move it to the appropriate forum if it's not meant to be here. Thanks.
When you wanna rock hard children, lean on F sharp
You might look at the reviews for the ones you're looking at on Harmony-Central. Folks are all the time saying what they like & dislike and whether they have or plan to change the pickups.
My own experience is a on a $190 starter that I still use. Plays fine, but I did change them after a couple of years to something with more crunch to it. GFSs I think.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
yes. check out the user reviews at Harmony Central.com.
If you're going to choose an Ibanez, I say play it before you buy online, Course, I guess that holds true for any instrument, but...I purchased the Ibanez RG4EXQM1 Quilted Maple Top several months ago, thought it would be an ultimate shredder axe...but when I received it, it turned out to sound like a "Country Fender Twang" guitar.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-RG4EXQM1-Quilted-Maple-Top-Electric-Guitar?sku=519785
A friend on another forum says that all Ibanez's sound like that; I cannot confirm that however, as I haven't tried any others.
Which is okay if that is what you are looking for, but not my idea of an axe. I also have a Jackson DK2 Dinky that I purchased around 5 years ago, now that one sounds like a "Metal Guitar". Beautiful thin neck, pinch harmonics are easy with the pickup design, a dream to play.
It has a Floyd Licensed trem. system; not the best, but it does stay in tune fairly well. I just can't get into the Ibanez at all; I thought I would eventually warm up to it, but I am thinking of selling it here lately.
On a side note - You mentioned Agile; I recently purchased Rondo's "Douglas" neck thru design, & I must say it is a dreamy guitar! The sound from the neck thru is amazing, the pickups sound very good, nice neck. Almost as nice as my Jackson. I was going to post a link, but they must be sold out of it, I cannot find it on their site now.
It is a natural gloss wood finish. When I get some pics. taken, I will post them in the gear section. At any rate, try out a lot of different guitars, good luck with your purchase!
Aa couple of notes on the Ibanez...
Many of their low-cost guitars have Ibanez-designed import pickups. The mid-level guitars ($300 - 800) have Dimarzio-built (but Ibanez branded) Infinity pickups, the high-level Prestige guitars have either the Dimarzio-built (but Ibanez branded) Infinity pickups or actual Dimarzio USA pickups. A few lines might have EMGs.
I agree that Ibanez has more guitar lines than any other manufacturer. From what I've heard the "S-line" of guitars is a great mid-level shredder. Some of the S-line have fixed bridges, others have the Edge Floyd-Rose tremolo, but if I were you I'd look for the S-line that have the ZR double-locking Tremolo. A great trem unit that isn't as difficult to set-up and maintain as the licensed Floyd bridges. Here are some links:
Here is the main S-series page on the Ibanez site:
http://www.ibanez.com/eg/series.aspx?s=s
If I were buying an Ibanez, this is the guitar I would get:
http://www.ibanez.com/eg/guitar.aspx?m=S470DXQM
-=- Steve
"If the moon were made of ribs, would you eat it?"
For around $500, you might find a used RGA121, which I believe is the cheapest of their "Prestige" line and would suit your musical tastes. Nothing wrong with the Jackson either, if that's your thing.
a "Country Fender Twang" guitar ... A friend on another forum says that all Ibanez's sound like that
Ah yes, the twangy country stylings of Ibanez players like Joe Satriani, early John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, George Benson, Andy Timmons, Pat Metheny ... :wink:
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Thanks for your inputs. Very much appreciated. I came across this ad today:
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/msg/616363073.html
I checked the DiMarzio site for the pickup and they sound very nice. But the floyd rose is making me very nervous. I don't mind reading up on Floyd Rose and getting my hands dirty but it does seem daunting. Would it be very difficult to drop the tuning on the guitar? Opinions?
When you wanna rock hard children, lean on F sharp
That Floyd Rose system isn't really that bad. It's a process. Once you learn the process, you've got it.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
That Floyd Rose system isn't really that bad. It's a process. Once you learn the process, you've got it.
Yup, the last two days I've been straightning out a wiring issue with my strat the has a FR on it. I've had the string so loose on it I could get the pickgaurd out from under them. Only took a few extra minutes to bring back in tune compared to my string through bodies.
Trust us FR players.... They're cake to work on!
