ibanez theory....

[Clive Hugh]

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but does the slim neck feature in their basses? Like many guitar players I can play bass but find the huge wide necks and fret spacing a pain but Ibanez might be a partial way round it.

 

[metalj]

I always loved their necks, but found their hardware(knobs, switches, screws on the tremelos, locking nuts) to be cheap and break easily.

Their paint jobs were not very good either, they faded, and cracked and scratched rather easily.

but the neck was great, the pickups were good for stock, and the intonation was good too.

JMO

 

[Jouni]

Since I nowadays play guitar only at home, I've gathered some cheapo guitars.
BCrich warlock bronze, and just the other day, a Ibanez X-series DG-350 landed on me, it must be from 80's but really nice to play!
A couple of nicks and bruises on it, and I hate the floyd rose-type of bridge, but action is good, and it seems to have gathered a hellpile of riffs inside, so I'm getting songs everytime I pick it up!

 

[cubanorocker316]

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but does the slim neck feature in their basses? Like many guitar players I can play bass but find the huge wide necks and fret spacing a pain but Ibanez might be a partial way round it.

its true even ibanez bass necks are fairly thin, go in to your local music shop and see for yourself.

- Lou

 

[Clive Hugh]

its true even ibanez bass necks are fairly thin, go in to your local music shop and see for yourself.

- Lou

We don't really have one, but I'm driving to Perth soon (1800km) so I'll have a look then.

 

[ibanezrocks]

I always loved their necks, but found their hardware(knobs, switches, screws on the tremelos, locking nuts) to be cheap and break easily.

Their paint jobs were not very good either, they faded, and cracked and scratched rather easily.

but the neck was great, the pickups were good for stock, and the intonation was good too.

JMO

I can agree with the hardware when referring to the cheaper models, however the bridges on the prestige models are some of the best floyd rose type you can get. Since when has the paint job been easy to crack or scratch? It's polyurethane, which by nature is way harder than nitrocellulose thats used in most high end guitars, it might not be as thick as on a cheaper Fender, but thats generally regarded as good for the tone not having tons of plastic coating the wood.

I gotta add the I would also love to see a Prestige model of the Artist. All the RG prestige models are really nice, and I can't wait until I find an S series prestige, that would probably be the most comfortable guitar ever.

EDIT: If you want an indestructable finish get a noodles signature I'm not hard on guitars, but I've had it long enough to know it can survive pretty much anything and this guitar sounds beautiful unplugged. Can't wait to replace the neck humbucker. I can't say I'm a fan of the Ibanez pickups at all.

 

[Sirnothingness]

I remember the late 80's early 90's when it seemed everyone was playing Ibanez. Satch, Vai, Paul Gilbert, Frank Gambale. The Mike Varney crew practically owned stock in Ibanez.

 

[noisedude]

We don't really have one, but I'm driving to Perth soon (1800km) so I'll have a look then.

The Soundgear basses have very slim necks, especially the SR500 which is almost TOO small.

 

[TMatt142]

Hey IbanezRocks.......The S-1525(I think that is it) is a prestige model S series. The body face is bubinga, neck only has one "sqwiggly on the 12th and features the ZR trem. It is a SWEET machine to play and will be my next purchase.

 

[mandocaster]

I have a 1986 MIJ As80 (335 clone) . The workmanship is first rate, better than most Gibsons.

80's Japanese Ibanez are beautiful.

 

[ausgrindslaught]

I've had my trust Ibanez RG 450DX for something like six or seven years and its never let me down. I love the thin, fast neck -and the floyd rose has put up with me tuning from standard E down to drop A.

Any recommendations for other thin-neck guitar lines?

 

[lifes_a_fallacy]

...cracked the body, but the neck survived without a scratch

Is this "wicked-sturdy-neck-but-pansy-body" thing pretty common in ibanez guitars? I've owned an IC-300 for my main "rock" guitar for a few years .. and i swear that the neck of that thing weights twice as much as the body - and seems twice as solid. Big long maple 2x4 screwed onto a sheet of basswood - but i love it.

 

[Anfontan]

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but does the slim neck feature in their basses? Like many guitar players I can play bass but find the huge wide necks and fret spacing a pain but Ibanez might be a partial way round it.

I've had a Ibanez Jazz Bass style since the mid 1970's and the neck is pretty thin to me. The body seems to weight a ton, but its a solid sounding instrument.

 

[cstockdale]

I have a 1986 MIJ As80 (335 clone) . The workmanship is first rate, better than most Gibsons.

80's Japanese Ibanez are beautiful.

I have an AS120... very similar to the AS80. Can't recall the exact difference between the models, but it is my go-to guitar. I use flatwounds on it, and it is such a smooth jazzy beauty.

 

[mop93]

I play Ibanez basses and like them quite a bit. Dont like the guitars as much as Epiphones and Hagstrom's or even ESPs in the same price range.

 

[heroics321]

Is this "wicked-sturdy-neck-but-pansy-body" thing pretty common in ibanez guitars? I've owned an IC-300 for my main "rock" guitar for a few years .. and i swear that the neck of that thing weights twice as much as the body - and seems twice as solid. Big long maple 2x4 screwed onto a sheet of basswood - but i love it.

When you put stress like that where the neck joins the body on a bolt-neck guitar, there is a good chance the body with crack before the neck. That whole area is prone to cracking and breakage.

 

[JB1979]

The first Ibanez I ever played was a friend's Iceman bass in highschool. It was white w/ active pickups. It played really nicely (even better when he actually had all 4 strings on it) and sounded killer. My only problem with it was that it was totally neck-heavy. Take your hand off the neck and the headstock is taking a dive.

The 2 that I own now are both budget models (GAX70 & TRB50) I bought the TRB50 off of one of my wife's friends for $70. While she owned it she had the output jack replaced. On my GAX70 after about a month I had to resolder the output jack on it.

So I guess the only concern I might have with the cheap-o Ibanezes is that you might need to take a screwdriver and a soldering gun to them if the jack wiring comes loose. No big deal, takes about the same time to change a set of strings.

 

[Halion]

I absolutely hate the cheaper ibanez guitars. The woods is so bad these things have virtually no tone at all. It's not a strat, and not a paul either, but a middle way which totally doesn't work for me. I can't really comment on the more expensive models, although I like the hollowbodies.

The basses are a bit, and sometimes a lot better. The soundgear line is mostly ok, the BTB and ATK lines are good to great.

I had an ibanez tonelock distortion pedal once. It was so screatchy, I could be playing an chainsaw through it and nobody would know the difference.

Ofcourse, not a bad word about the older pedals, like the tubescreamer and analogue delay.

 

[kojdogg]

I've had a few cheap Ibanezes-- one Roadstar II electric guitar, a TR (I think) series bass, and an SRX300 bass, all of which were fine instruments-- particularly for the price.

 

[lbanks]

I've never played an Ibanez I didn't like. Both of them!

I never played an Ibanez.