Greetings World! When the brand Ibanez is heard, then the first thing that comes to mind is cool rock/metal electric guitar with sharp forms of crazy sound. Yes, Ibanez guitars are very cool rock music instruments.
The form is very cool, guitars play perfectly in hands. The fretboard is very handy and it allows working on fast licks. That’s no doubt! Ibanez is famous among many music styles from harmonic to intelligent music and even to hardcore metal trash.
What I would like to point out today is that Ibanez electric guitar is very flexible and it can be a great instrument in jazz guitarist’s collection with soft jazzy sound or it can be metal “saw” in any metal musicians collection, from the other side (on the contrary to Jazz). To me, that’s the magic secret of Ibanez. That’s because I would like to dedicate a review of this wonderful electric guitar.
Let’s begin!
Table of Contents
Ibanez Electric guitar
It is known in the World since 1957. It came from Japan. Japan produces only expensive high-class musical instruments for Asian, European and American markets. Most of all Ibanez guitars are made in China, Korea or Indonesia. Those are middle-class ones that sound quite good and they do their job well.
Original Japanese instruments start from about 600$ or 800$ and the quality is great. Guitars are built out of expensive materials, have built-in branded electronics and are perfectly aligned for loud sound and noise. Japanese ones usually have high-class pickups like EMG, Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan for heavy and detailed sound. Expensive pickups usually highlight every note. Those pickups make Ibanez sound just super.
Personally I could divide into two big categories:
- With white (maple) fretboard;
- With black (rosewood) fretboard;
Ibanez has many guitar series (models) for heavy, rock or funk. It’s quite complicated to understand for the first sight which model is for what musical style. But mainly the company builds for the rock to heavy sounding with rosewood wood parts (black fretboard) and from jazz to funk and soul music with maple wood parts (white fretboard) which make a sound very warm, soft and enjoyable. Ibanez manages to make custom guitars for blues and jazz only, for example, Custom Artcore AG75 guitar here which has typical bluesy forms, style, and sound.
Ibanez maple fretboard (white)
These guitars look different. They have such an average look. Usually, you’ll see a dark body guitar with a white fretboard that doesn’t look like Ibanez from the first sight. The sound is quite good. It’s perfect for melodic minor music, soul or soft improvisation section. Of course, you can play heavy metal on it. It depends on how you tune the guitar, what pickups are built-in and what kind of amp to use. Maple white fretboard Ibanez can be used for a heavy sound, but the rosewood one will be better. That’s because the maple tree is much softer and makes a warmer sound. It’s perfect for funk, jazz, soul, blues, clean tone. Here’s an example of typical maple fretboard electric guitar by Ibanez.
That’s the sound of Frank Zappa, the cover of The Black Page. This is the typical sound of the maple white Ibanez. Very enjoyable and harmonic guitar.
Rosewood fretboard Ibanez (black)
These guitars are popular all around the World. They typically have a Mahogany body with Rosewood or Maple fretboard (the dark one). Guitars like these tend to sound very deep, resonant and extensive. This is perfect for rock, metal, hardcore and also for melodic or intelligent music (like Steve Vai or Joe Satriani) Comparing to Gibson or Fender, Ibanez has its own unique sound that doesn’t resemble any of his competitors. Ibanez is perfect for fast playing licks. It’s a great musical instrument for beginners, advanced players, and professional musicians.
I like the attack of the sound. Ibanez has defined sound, heavy and very clean. It’s perfect for playing rock, metal, and heavy music. Here’s the demo of Ibanez Prestige RG1451 on Marshall tube amp.
It’s great on overdrive and good on clean tone also. The clean sound is quite sharp. Prestige series is good for funk also, but the clean tone is not that soft enough.
The Rosewood guitars are perfect for overdrive, but if you like a more clean tone then maple fretboard guitar (white fretboard with no black rosewood top) is a better choice.
Series like these by Ibanez tend to be very comfortable and perfect for practice. They allow fast and precise playing.
Conclusion about the Ibanez
Ibanez is very popular among beginners and players all around the World. They have has sharp forms and headstock. It has a bright tang sound which makes it powerful on overdrive. It’s used by Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Megadeth, Drone Doom, Limp Bizkit, and many other rock and metal guitar players. Depending on the wood and the guitar contraction, the instrument can sound softly or a little sharp.
Ibanez has a comfortable fretboard that allows mastering fast play, tapping and complex chord playing. It is popular for its Floyd rose machine which allows making crazy cosmic sounds. But, if the guitar has cheap Floyd rose, then the instrument will be out of tune much often, which will make a huge headache. Remember that!
Tip: Ibanez makes you look more attractive to its sharp forms. If you like good looking looks on stage then take it!
So, hope that this Ibanez electric guitar review has been very informative. If you’re looking for the right instrument then just look at it, try it, play something.
If you like it – grab it!
Respect it and tend it, and the guitar will respect you!
Take care!
SaviArt
More resources:
- Interesting to read the big list of Ibanez players here
- Official site about Ibanez guitars by Mr. Vai
- Ibanez RG series guitar introduction from early 1987
- Review of RG series on Ibanez reviews
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