Details & History
Limited run of 250 pre-production graphic finishes, prior to
the full production runs believed to have started around 1990-91. This one
has the date 11/28 89 under the trem but is dated 88 if the serial number
is anything to go by, it has its original USA Custom case and even the Bensalem
shop, shipping cardboard box. Other features are the reverse
headstock & sharkfin inlays. PU's are Ibanez C2 neck and DiMarzio PAF-Pro
hum. Ibanez Edge trem system. plays and feels like an early JEM.
Here's what Andrew say about the guitar...
The C2 pickup gives a great clean tone. It's much more meaty than
other single coils on a few fairly nice strats. Sounds
great when the guitar is slightly down tuned, maybe
just a drop-d. You get a real grittiness that is
much more powerful than I'd ever have expected. It's got a real personality
to it. This was the sound that really wowed me with the guitar. Before
with my other guitar, with Jackson stock pickups, everything sounded
so much more muddy. I normally practice on a lin6 pod, and
the Ibanez makes it sound so much more alive. Before
the only amp setting i used was a mesa boogie dual
rec on 10 gain. if i rolled off the treble or changes to a "non
metal" amp, there was no definition. With the C2
everything is a lot different. Everything is glassy
and beautiful, tones that were impossible to obtain
with the Jackson. When you add gain on the C2 it becomes a bit of a
bruiser. It doesn't quite have the power of the PAF pro as
you would expect, but it keeps that real personality
to it that can give some great tones. It sounds rich
when a lot of gain is added. It won't really work with metal, after
all this is a single coil, but anything less than that and it sounds
great.
The PAF Pro has altogether a different feel. There was less
difference between this and my old stock pickups
than the case was with the C2, but it's much better
nonetheless. Without down tuning, on a high gain setting you can
get a great 80s hair metal sound; Van Halen all night long. I'm not used
to these huge frets, great for bending, but they reduce my
speed a bit, although widdling/wigging out is still
a breeze. When the guitar is down tuned far enough
it becomes a totally different animal altogether. I had a
marshal amp on 10 (ok so it was 15w but it is a great little rocking
practice amp) with my band, with the guitar down tuned
probably somewhere between Bb and d and it was
really quite striking. Definitely more grindcore than
Nu metal, there is a character and rawness to the pickups with a great
controlled bass that sounds great. It sounded kind of out
of place against my other guitarist playing a £150
Pacifica standard tuning clean setting but hey! When
put on clean setting, with coil tap, the Paf pro isn't quite up to the
C2, it doesn't quite have the impression of hearing the resonation of
the body that the C2 has, but you could probably get a good
"metallica" clean sound out of it without
too much trouble. The Floyd Licensed Edge Trem is
great, perfect for dive-bombing on pinched
harmonics, the greatest sound a guitar can make. The tuning stability
is great and the fine tuners work excellently. I haven't quite got used
to setting up the guitar as of yet, and I've somehow caused a fret buzz
on one of the strings, but that shouldn't be too hard to alleviate.
It's a lot lighter than my old Jackson, the neck i think is
wider but thinner giving my hand a bit more room to
spread. It feels a lot different to hold, but only
in a good way. The neck joint is great, making it pretty easy
to get to all 24 frets, although i might prefer a thru neck (although i
haven't tried one of them before). Overall
a great guitar, beautiful finish. I haven't quite "tamed" it
yet, but I'm enjoying the ride.
Cheers
Andrew
(Thanks for the insight, Ed!) |
