Ibanez

6 String Aerial View of Paradise There’s some speculation over what RG stands for on Ibanez’s guitars, on the RG1121PB we’d suggest “Really Good” because … well, it is. As part of their premium range Ibanez have gone the extra mile to provide amazing looking, playing and sounding instruments while still at a fairly decent price point. Lets face it, we’ve all seen guitars with a lot less spec going for a lot lot more. So let's look at the spec. First up we have to discuss the appearance which is striking without being garish, a poplar burl top in ocean blue with a sandy white centre instantly reminds us of a paradise island. Why isn’t this a standard in all guitar ranges, it simply makes people smile. The contrasting Ebony fretboard leads up to the blue colour matched headstock. Flipping the guitar over we find an 11 (yes ELEVEN) piece neck! Comprising a mixture of Maple, walnut and purpleheart woods, simply stunning! Featuring two passive DiMarzio pickups, a wizard profile neck, gold plated hardware including the jumbo frets, the choice of with or without trem and even Gotoh locking tuners this guitar is made for people who want to look good and play great. Not a guitar for the conservative play but if you want to show off in style (or beach shorts and sunglasses) then this is for you! 

The Ibanez Talman TM302 is a perfect starter's guitar and more! Getting around with the TM302 is pretty much a straight forward thing. Double cutaway Alder body, 2 passive custom vintage single coil pickups and a standard 3-way switch will get you all that you need. Thanks to the comfortable neck shape and classic, no hassle 3-way pickup configuration, we found the Ibanez TM302 a great candidate for those who make their way into the guitar world and want to start/move playing the electric guitar. It's not a heavy guitar, but has the right weight, so playing using a strap is quite nice actually and the medium fret size makes it easy to fiddle around with string bending and more complex chords.Sound wise it's more than we hoped for, check out the demos.

Unbelievable Value Is Understating It RG's are undoubtedly as much a staple of the guitar world as strats and les pauls, serving players from beginner level all the way to virtuoso’s who in turn inspire whole new generations of players. Like all good guitar companies Ibanez have continually updated the RG specs to accommodate growing payers needs and the world around us. The RG421HPAM features many of these upgrades.The body is Nyatoh, used as a responsible alternative to traditional mahogany yet almost indistinguishable in appearance and tone. The top is Ash wood grain which looks simply amazing, that grain pops out in such a pleasing way. Another high end addition to this guitar is a roasted maple neck which many pro-players are adopting today due to the ease of playing and tactful feel, this comes in a wizard 3 neck shape tuned for fast playing. The 24 fret fingerboard adorning this beautiful neck is also Maple which blends in a pleasing way with the Ash top and gives a little snap to the tone. Down to the hardware, we have two DiMarzio’s, an Air Norton™ in the neck and The Tone Zone® in the bridge position. Both pickups can be coil tapped via a switch on the front body giving 6 possible pickup configurations, enough for even the most demanding of players.Sound wise you will hear elements of classic Gibsons and Fenders but the combination is something new which Ibanez have crafted. Considering a guitar like this will excel at anything from jazz to shred metal and everything in between it's very safe to say guitarists have the world at their fingertips in today's market.

The Artcore Vintage AMV10A has sound and looks one can hardly expect to get at such price point. The demand for relic guitars is constantly growing, musicians want guitars that sound a look rock 'n' roll (and who can blame them). The thing is, good relic takes time and raises the price of the instrument. Ibanez has been innovative forever and came again to the rescue with the Artcore Vintage Series. The AMV10A comes in a beautiful, nicely relic'd tobacco burst low gloss finish and worn hardware which gives the guitar a well played guitar look. The sound is no different, the Ibanez AMV10A fits Jazz, Rock and just about any style you would like to play thanks to the fat sounding Custom Elite pickups. We also appreciate the Quik Change III tailpiece Ibanez equip the AMV10A with, as it is both good looking and makes string changing as easy as it gets.

Unbelievable Value Is Understating It The RG range has been around for a long time, serving players from beginner level all the way to virtuoso’s who in turn inspire whole new generations of players. Like all good guitar companies Ibanez have continually updated the RG specs to accommodate payers needs and the world around us. The RG421HPFM features many of these upgrades and also some woods traditionally found on more exotic guitars.The body is Nyatoh, used as a responsible alternative to traditional mahogany yet almost indistinguishable in appearance and tone. Featuring a full flame maple top, it’s clear no costs were cut to provide the warm yet cutting tones this combination excels at. Another high end addition to this guitar is a roasted maple neck which many pro-players are adopting today due to the ease of playing and tactful feel, this comes in a wizard 3 neck shape tuned for fast playing. The 24 fret fingerboard adorning this beautiful neck is Jatoba, another responsibly sourced wood this time from the rosewood family. Unlike other rosewood alternatives this example maintains the darker appearance of traditional rosewood helping the player feel more at home.Down to the hardware, we have two DiMarzio’s, an Air Norton™ in the neck and The Tone Zone® in the bridge position. Both pickups can be coil tapped via a switch on the front body giving 6 possible pickup configurations, enough for even the most demanding of players.All told a guitar like this could fetch a very high street value yet they retail at amazingly great value prices. Considering a guitar like this will excel at anything from jazz to shred metal and everything in between it's very safe to say guitarists have the world at their fingertips in today's market.

The Respectable Shredder Many of us growing up between the 80’s and 2000’s have played Ibanez guitars or something trying to be an ibanez at least. Yet as time has passed, our hair cuts have become shorter, our jeans have become trousers and our guitars have become tamer.  Yet something inside us still yearns to plug a super strat into a high gain amp and tear into the fretboard as if it had just offended our mothers. The AZ’s from Ibanez’s premium range offer us the best of both worlds, subtle colours with artfully interesting wood grains giving a nod to the world of flame tops yet staying tasteful. Staying on appearances, the roasted maple necks look great and yet are functional in their feel. The Seymour Duncan Hyperion pickups are powerful yet can be gentle and dynamic, they also feature coil tapping for single coil tones. In fact 10 different pickup combinations are possible via the switching.The floating trems and locking nuts we remember with mixed feelings have been replaced by a Gotoh trem and locking tuners to provide both whammy fun and tuning stability.All this together provides us with a guitar which jazz fusion players are flocking to, and if anyone needs a variety of tones, it’s them. So yes this will work great in the 70’s cover band but if you manage to convince the band to play some Pantera or Steve Vai then you have everything you need right here! 

The Colourful Shred MachineAt first Glance Ibanez's S671ALB looks similar to many of the company's new offerings. The classy blue variation, matched headstock H-S-H super strat. Dig a little deeper however and some key features start to pop out, that's an ebony fingerboard for instance, those are Fishman Fluence pickups with a second voicing accessible by the push pull pot, 5 ply binding around the body and a bound 5 piece neck. The list of specs goes on but it's fairly obvious this isn't the run of the mill RG, in fact this is an Axion Label series Ibanez. These are designed for the demanding metal player market but are so good most players will find something they love. Gone is the tone pot allowing the signal to go pickups > volume > output jack providing a stronger truer tone. Speaking of the output jack, this is situated on the top for ease of access.A combination of Gotoh locking tuners and fixed bridge makes this a great studio tool due to the tuning stability as well as giving superb resonance through the body. Metal players are all about ease of playing, when things get fast and complicated little things can have a big effect, so Ibanez have added luminescent side dot inlays and sub zero treated Jumbo frets (It would seem the mortal kombat team have found unexpected employment) It used to be the case that all super shred machines came in either black or garish finishes so it's great to see Ibanez making these lovely looking guitars which still allow the player to rip open the gates of valhalla.