Great review ! I returned mine because catastrophic fretwork out of factory ,high frets all around the place, making just buzz instead of sound. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of fishmans in distortion mode situations, its just I dunno, robotic/weird. Cleans ate excellent ofc. The last thing that I didn't realized initially was how uncomfortable the fan fretting wirh neutral fret on 12th position is. Like Abasi larada/cort have it on 8th fret which makes the ergonomics so much better! Last crazy revelation was when I ordered Harley Benton with beautiful roasted maple neck (the cost is 6times lower than this Ibanez) which also has neutral fret on 8th, the neck has better shape than this ibanez (also the higher positions you mentioned - i can relate 100%, not the case on HB.l) Not to mention that fret work was stellar on that cheap HB. Ibanez time to wake up !
Man, such a bummer to hear that you had that experience with the guitar. And I agree with you on the Fishmans, they sound a bit robotic (at least the Fluence Moderns, I never had the chance to try out their other pickups, but really want to give the Devin Townsend set a go). And yeah, the latest Harley Benton stuff is just crazy good, it's nuts. When I started ~20 years ago my first ever guitar was a HB and it didn't even come close to the stuff they're building these days.
I'm thinking hard between this one and an RG8EX in which i would swap the pickups for fishmans... it's a tough choice really because i want to get the single coil split option and i don't like the dot inlays on the RG8EX, they look too basic for me 😅 nice review! But it doesn't make my choice any easier
@ChrisWeinhardt i went with the RG8 in the end, I enjoy doing some handy stuff like swapping pick ups, put on a new nut, etc. so that guitar feels more exciting to me. Will pick it up from the Thomann store in 2 weeks 😁
I hate to do this every time I talk about guitars, but it's hard not to.... Have you had a chance to play a vigier excalibur? And how does action and playability etc compare if so? Vigier doesn't make guitars anymore, and with my first and until recently only guitar for 15 years. I have kind of found home, and I am really hesitant to buy new guitars online because of it (live in Norway so import is silly expensive and returns become a huge hassle + transport of such fragile expensive hardware in our subzero northern climate makes me queasy).
I have to admit I had never heard of Vigier before, but they look great! Should you get one let me know what your experiences are with it, I hope you find the perfect axe and it’ll be shipped to your place safe and sound!
absolutely adore the glow in your eyes talking about your old ibanez
The OG Road Not Taken memorial Guitar ❤️
Makes me think about the guitar that the Abasi design started from.
I agree, the gold/silver/white combo is rather rare I’d say
Top quality review man, keep it up 🤘
Thanks man, I appreciate it 🤘🤘
Great review ! I returned mine because catastrophic fretwork out of factory ,high frets all around the place, making just buzz instead of sound. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of fishmans in distortion mode situations, its just I dunno, robotic/weird. Cleans ate excellent ofc. The last thing that I didn't realized initially was how uncomfortable the fan fretting wirh neutral fret on 12th position is. Like Abasi larada/cort have it on 8th fret which makes the ergonomics so much better! Last crazy revelation was when I ordered Harley Benton with beautiful roasted maple neck (the cost is 6times lower than this Ibanez) which also has neutral fret on 8th, the neck has better shape than this ibanez (also the higher positions you mentioned - i can relate 100%, not the case on HB.l) Not to mention that fret work was stellar on that cheap HB. Ibanez time to wake up !
Man, such a bummer to hear that you had that experience with the guitar. And I agree with you on the Fishmans, they sound a bit robotic (at least the Fluence Moderns, I never had the chance to try out their other pickups, but really want to give the Devin Townsend set a go). And yeah, the latest Harley Benton stuff is just crazy good, it's nuts. When I started ~20 years ago my first ever guitar was a HB and it didn't even come close to the stuff they're building these days.
I'm thinking hard between this one and an RG8EX in which i would swap the pickups for fishmans... it's a tough choice really because i want to get the single coil split option and i don't like the dot inlays on the RG8EX, they look too basic for me 😅 nice review! But it doesn't make my choice any easier
Thank you so much, let me know which model you decided on! 🤘
@ChrisWeinhardt i went with the RG8 in the end, I enjoy doing some handy stuff like swapping pick ups, put on a new nut, etc. so that guitar feels more exciting to me. Will pick it up from the Thomann store in 2 weeks 😁
Sounds awesome man, I hope you have a blast with your axe and all the mods 🤘🤘
I hate to do this every time I talk about guitars, but it's hard not to.... Have you had a chance to play a vigier excalibur? And how does action and playability etc compare if so? Vigier doesn't make guitars anymore, and with my first and until recently only guitar for 15 years. I have kind of found home, and I am really hesitant to buy new guitars online because of it (live in Norway so import is silly expensive and returns become a huge hassle + transport of such fragile expensive hardware in our subzero northern climate makes me queasy).
I have to admit I had never heard of Vigier before, but they look great! Should you get one let me know what your experiences are with it, I hope you find the perfect axe and it’ll be shipped to your place safe and sound!
I lOVED the body and feel. Hated the fanned frets, particularly the 1st fret.
😩😩😩 I WANT ONE … i dunno why but the design makes me think of cyberpunk …. It’s breathtaking!! 🫡🫡 that was cringe .. i’m sorry 🤣🤣🤣
I agree it’s looks pretty futuristic!
@ yeah, i can imagine it looking amazing with some h’r giger type art on it