- Apr 7, 2016
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After many years I finally have the chance to get me a new main guitar. Sorry for the not so optimal camera angles. Skip to 12:06 for the tone tests. Thoughts?
NGD - Ibanez RGAIX7FM-TGF Iron Label
- Thread starter johnny ForTiorI
- Start date
GrabtharsHammer77
Member
Last year I was desperately looking for a new guitar with that specs - black strat body, passive PUs with coil split and a fixed bridge.
It was a long and annoying search, as every known guitar company only had black strats with active PUs and/or floyd rose bridge - at least in the price range I was looking (approx. 1000 EUR or less). I ended up buying a 600 € PRS SE that I still love. But I had to tweak it and put quite a lot of money into it to really get everything right... a new nut, locking tuners, an intonatable bridge, Seymour Duncan PUs. Now it's perfect.
But if the Ibanez Iron Label would have been available last year already, it's quite likely that I would have bought it as it seems to have everything that I wanted. And I love the stripped down approach without the tone knob. With my PRS I ended up disconncting the tone knob, just using its push/pull function for coil splitting now. Honestly, somehow I feel a little betrayed by Ibanez for releasing this beauty a year too late... ;-)
The only thing I don't like about the Ibanez are the missing fretboard inlays. Seems to be a thing nowadays, but I don't really know why. However, I like to have 'em on my guitar.
It was a long and annoying search, as every known guitar company only had black strats with active PUs and/or floyd rose bridge - at least in the price range I was looking (approx. 1000 EUR or less). I ended up buying a 600 € PRS SE that I still love. But I had to tweak it and put quite a lot of money into it to really get everything right... a new nut, locking tuners, an intonatable bridge, Seymour Duncan PUs. Now it's perfect.
But if the Ibanez Iron Label would have been available last year already, it's quite likely that I would have bought it as it seems to have everything that I wanted. And I love the stripped down approach without the tone knob. With my PRS I ended up disconncting the tone knob, just using its push/pull function for coil splitting now. Honestly, somehow I feel a little betrayed by Ibanez for releasing this beauty a year too late... ;-)
The only thing I don't like about the Ibanez are the missing fretboard inlays. Seems to be a thing nowadays, but I don't really know why. However, I like to have 'em on my guitar.
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To be honest, it's pretty pricy for what it is. It's an Indonesia made mahogany guitar with a flame maple top/veneer and average pickups (DiMarzio Fusion Edge). For much less, you could get a Korean Schecter Hellraiser with EMG's or Duncan's. That's not to say it won't be a good guitar, it'll be nice but you're paying for the Ibanez badge. Why not add in a couple of hundred and get a Prestige if you're going Ibanez?
- Apr 7, 2016
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well, since it was b-stock i got it for 760€, and that price is perfectly acceptable for that guitar imo. and it has everything i wanted. crunchy pickups, one volume knob, no tone knob, coil splitting, no inlays, locking tuners, i love all that stuff and it´s rare to get all of that together in one guitar. not sure if any of the prestige has all of that and is still in my budget. and it plays and feels perfectly fine. i´ll also stick with the Fusion Edge pickups for now, but i´m leaving the option open to switch some time later.
Megin
Member
Who are you to say it's pricy for what it is? If that guitar has everything what he wants, it's worth the price for him. And he seems to be happy with it and want to share it and you suggest another brand, Schecter and active pu's? Who says he even likes EMG or active at all? This is not a thread about advice for purchasing a new guitar.
Keep your hair on, buckaroo. I'm giving my opinion, which is what a forum is meant for. I asked for his opinion too and he gave it to me (in a civil fashion, unlike your post.)
Forum n. "A place, meeting, or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged."
You'd do well to remember that. Also, for the record, Schecter does all of the aforementioned and has an equal number of guitars with passive pickups.
- Apr 7, 2016
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come on, people, please keep it cool. the definition of forums does not include arguments or fights.
GrabtharsHammer77
Member
Johnny, how do you feel about the Ibanez' stock pickups by DiMarzio? Does your Schecter have active EMGs? A direct comparison video between these two would be nice, especially regarding tone separation when playing chords and how tight they sound when playing palm mutes.
- Apr 7, 2016
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i can´t say too much about stock ibanez dimarzio pickups. the only ones i know are mine here and a buddy of mine who has a prestige ibanez also with ibanez-dimarzio pickups. as far as i can tell, they are not hi end quality, but they are also not bad by any means. they have a nice crunchy mid range that i quite like. top end is not fizzy or sharp, bottom end could perhaps benefit from a tad more oomph. the fusion edge do an alright job for me, so i won´t switch any time soon.
my schecter has seymour duncan blackouts. it´s quite difficult to compare the two because they are very different. teh blackouts are pure metal pickups, balanced characteristic, more treble and lows focused with balanced mids. being that kind of high output pickup it can also tend to smear chords, though not in a way that it gets undefined. subtlety just isn´t it´s strong suit. the fusion edges also have a high output, but even in humbucker configuration there is a distinct crunchiness to it which is most noticeable in the pick attack. use that on high gain tones it adds quite the unique character to it. because of that i´m not certain it could do just any kind of metal. you either like that character or you don´t. i personally love it. on bigger chords it seems the higher strings pop out a little more, but maybe i also need to adjust my pickup hight accordingly. not a big deal, though. in matters of tightness the fusion edge is good. i didn´t notice any sluggish or lagging feel.
my schecter has seymour duncan blackouts. it´s quite difficult to compare the two because they are very different. teh blackouts are pure metal pickups, balanced characteristic, more treble and lows focused with balanced mids. being that kind of high output pickup it can also tend to smear chords, though not in a way that it gets undefined. subtlety just isn´t it´s strong suit. the fusion edges also have a high output, but even in humbucker configuration there is a distinct crunchiness to it which is most noticeable in the pick attack. use that on high gain tones it adds quite the unique character to it. because of that i´m not certain it could do just any kind of metal. you either like that character or you don´t. i personally love it. on bigger chords it seems the higher strings pop out a little more, but maybe i also need to adjust my pickup hight accordingly. not a big deal, though. in matters of tightness the fusion edge is good. i didn´t notice any sluggish or lagging feel.
A Valdenegro
Chug & Chill
for a B stock it looks really cool!
I wanted to ask you, why did you have to get a new main guitar?
HNGD!!!
I wanted to ask you, why did you have to get a new main guitar?
HNGD!!!
Pxz
Member
- Apr 7, 2016
- 73
- 15
- 8
- 33
for a B stock it looks really cool!
I wanted to ask you, why did you have to get a new main guitar?
HNGD!!!
well, after 6 years with the Schecter it´s just naturally time for a change. also the Schecter is pretty much a pure metal beast. even with nice clean tones you notice the Blackouts are going very strong. now i wanted something more versatile with more crunch and character and especially coil splitting was very important to me. and than i stumbled across this Ibanez and i was set.
