Ibanez Electric Guitars Are Hot!
FOR DECADES, metal guitarists have favored Ibanez guitars for their flat fretboard, greasy-fast playability and modernized double locking tremolos. But for a guitar to appeal to devoted metalists, it must do more than play like the devil; it also has to look the part, as well.
After the success of the mildly radical Iceman guitar, Ibanez was convinced that the time was right to build a truly outrageous instrument. The new Xiphos is the company’s first guitar specifically built for hardcore and metal players. The Xiphos Ibanez electric guitar takes its name from the brutally effective double-edged sword used by Greek and Spartan soldiers, and true to form, it delivers notes with surgical precision. It is one of the fastest guitars in the Ibanez line, and its specially selected DiMarzio D Activator pickups give it a truly demonic edge.
THE CHALLENGE FOR Ibanez’s electric guitar designers was to create a guitar shape that was incredibly aggressive without giving up any of Ibanez’s famous comfort and playability. They achieved this by building the guitar around a five-piece maple Wizard II neck-through design. This rock-hard centerpiece creates enormous sustain, and because the bridge is mounted in this same dense plank, note definition and clarity are maximized. The remainder of the radical X-shaped body is made from mahogany, which adds warmth and depth to the maple’s bright core. Although the Xiphos’ long beveled points may look unwieldy, the guitar is surprisingly lightweight and superbly balanced.
An Ibanez electric guitar this wild would not be complete with an off-the shelf finish. So Ibanez chose to cover the Xiphos in a sparkling color-shifting paint that they call their Chameleon finish. As you move the guitar, its finish appears to quickly change colors, like an alien cyber skin. The Wizard II’s neck shape is thin but not squared, and its somewhat rounded feel is enhanced by the thick Chameleon finish. The fl at fretboard and jumbo frets produce Ibanez’s trademark feel. Only a light touch is required to sound a note, and the action is low and level. This style of neck is purpose built for the player that wants to play fast, sweep through the strings, use two-handed techniques and move across the board in a nonlinear fashion. The Xiphos Ibanez Electric Guitars feature Ibanez’s Edge III double-locking tremolo. One of the company’s most advanced Floyd Rose-derived bridges, it boasts easy tuning adjustment and a very unobtrusive profile. Its tone is very neutral, and it is certainly capable of performing any whammy trick you can imagine. The Ibanez electric guitars new weapon may be the first production guitar to feature DiMarzio’s brand-new D Activator pickups as original equipment. They are designed to accurately deliver the same resonant peaks, long sustain and tantalizing harmonics found in today’s hottest active pickups. Being passive, they have organic tone and natural response.
IF A RAZOR blade was musical, it would be the Xiphos. Its acoustic clarity and sharp definition mix perfectly with the DiMarzios’ rich output and harmonic enhancements. Plugged straight into a Marshall JVM, the Xiphos delivered a very Zakk-like tone. The DiMarzio’s excited harmonics made chords sound enormous, almost as if I was using a chorus. But the punch from the Xiphos’ maple core pushed notes right through the Marshall on single note attacks. Even when I played at top speed, every note was clear and distinct. Staccato blasts, especially, cut the air like a machine-gun’s rattle, while properly picked sweeps sounded like alternate-picked runs.
We tested the Xiphos’ ability to produce clean tones with my modified Mesa RoadKing. In no time, I was finger picking student exercises and recalling my favorite etudes, as if the Xiphos was a fine classical guitar. Even though the DiMarzios are built to sound like active pickups, their passive design ensures a warm response.
The Bottom Line Is
WITH ITS FIVE-PIECE Wizard II neck, Ninja-weapon body, double-locking Edge III trem and DiMarzio D Activator pickups, the Xiphos Ibanez Electric Guitars are one of the most aggressive guitars on the planet. Hardcore ax players may try this guitar because of its hot looks, but they’ll buy it because of its lightning-fast playability and blowtorch tones.
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