NAMM 2009: New Ibanez Jem saves planet

So it seems there's more to the now infamous VAI/Earth graphic that adorns the new Ibanez JEM7EAFXBK than originally thought.

The display accompanying the guitar at NAMM reads:

The newest member of the JEM family of Steve Vai signature guitars is the first JEM to feature a fixed bridge, which alone makes it a modern guitar milestone. But as Steve Vai's own global graphic design on the body indicates, the JEM7EAFXBK is the first of Ibanez's World Wood Program dedicated to increased utilisation of sustainable hardwoods in guitar making. Basswood is used in the body not only because of its tone, light weight and ability to work well with effects, but also because basswood has long been recognised by progressive guitar makers as a sustainable hardwood with a fast growing cycle. The maple used in making the neck is verified as a sustainable wood by the United States Forestry Service and the Indiana DNR Division of forestry.

Ibanez and its artists and designers believe that the use of renewable resources in musical instruments is a necessary and important contribution to the livable world.

As Steve Vai himself says, "This guitar will give you wood forever."

Photo courtesey of Rich Harris' Ibanez Rules. CLICK HERE to buy a JEM7EAFXBK from Rich.

NAMM 2009: Ibanez Paul Gilbert Airplane Flanger

2008 is truly the year of Paul Gilbert and Ibanez. At his clinic in Geelong last year, Paul mentioned that he had been using a modified ADA Flanger for years, and that he’d suggested to Ibanez that they reissue one of their vintage flanger designs, which he said had a very similar circuit to the ADA. It seems they listened to him: they’re now releasing the Paul Gilbert AF2 Airplane Flanger.

Paul’s ADA flanger had a modified feedback control to get that wild, whammy-like sweeping sound, and this pedal has the same feature incorporated.

Here’s what the Ibanez website says about it:

The Paul Gilbert Signature AF2 Airplane Flanger is two fantastic pedals in one rugged package. One section is a traditional chorus flange; the other is the “Taxi Take Off” flange (hence the “Airplane” moniker), which provides virtuoso guitarist Paul Gilbert’s own “crazy flange” sound, which includes shifting the pitch up and down. Time to buckle up.

You can read more about the pedal over at the Random Chatter Music blog.

NAMM 2009: Ibanez Paul Gilbert Fireman.

The venerable Rich Harris from Ibanez Rules has confirmed in a posting on Jemsite that the much-rumoured Ibanez Fireman (reverse Iceman, geddit?) Paul Gilbert model will be released in extremely limited quantities, and it ain’t going to be cheap at $9,333.33.

Rich said: “There will be 50 Fireman's total. 45 SSS for World distribution, 18 to HUSA, and 5 in HH for Japan distribution only, probably by lottery the way they usually do.

The 20th (the PGM100RE) is very reasonable at $2,666, but limited to 300 Worldwide, 120 to HUSA, so tough getting allocations.”

Free plug for Rich: I've bought a bunch of parts from Ibanez Rules over the years, and while I've never bought a guitar from him, his setups are legendary.

NAMM 2009: New hard tail Ibanez Jem

This one has been floating around the net for a few weeks, but I didn’t really want to post about it because unlike those guitars published on the Thomann website last month, the image of the new Jem was obtained by somewhat shady means (someone snooped around and found an Ibanez website photo directory with photos that were to be put on the 2009 website).

But now it’s official and here it is: the JEM77EAFX. What do you think? Personally I love it – except for that decal. And I’m assuming it’s under the clearcoat so you’re stuck with it. It kinda defeats Vai’s original intention of keeping his name off Jems so they wouldn’t just be associated with him. The decal instantly turns this into a guitar for Steve Vai and people who wish to say loud and clear “I’m totally a Steve Vai fan,” which is cool but I’d much rather have a guitar that doesn’t scream VAI in big letters. I think this one’s a bit of a missed opportunity.

The specs are pretty similar to the JEM77VBK, and I dare say that if you really want a fixed bridge Jem, you might as well just buy one of the other models and install a Tremol-No.

Neck type: 5pc JEM Maple/Walnut neck
Body: Basswood body
Fret: W/6105 frets
Bridge: Tight-End bridge
Neck: pu DiMarzio® Breed (H) neck pu
Middle: pu DiMarzio® Breed (S) mid pu
Bridge: pu DiMarzio® Breed (H) bridge pu

Neck:
Scale 648mm/25.5"
Radius 430mmR

Dimension:
a: Width at Nut 43mm
b: Width at Last Fret 56mm
c: Thickness at 1st 19mm
d: Thickness at 12th 21mm

CLICK HERE to buy the Tremol-No on eBay.

CLICK HERE to see Ibanez Jem guitars on eBay.

NAMM 2009: Ibanez RG1527M maple-boarded 7-string

Here’s another awesome new Ibanez design for 2009 – the previously-hinted maple-fretboard 7-string RG Prestige.

It’s been a long, long time since Ibanez released a 7-string with a maple fretboard. The only one I can think of is the UV777GR, a green Universe model made in small quantities in the early 90s.

Specs include:

Neck Material: 5pc Maple/ Wenge
Neck Type: Wizard-7 Prestige
Body: Basswood body
Frets: Jumbo frets
Fingerboard: Maple
Inlay: Black dot inlay
Bridge: Edge Pro 7 bridge
NeckPU: V77
BridgePU: V87
HW Color: CK
Finishes: GW

I’d love to get one of these and swap out the pickups for a Blaze set, but otherwise it’s perfect. Want!

NAMM 2009: Ibanez reissues Paul Gilbert PGM100

Ibanez has confirmed the re-release of the Paul Gilbert PGM100, and has launched a mini site celebrating Paul’s 20 years with the company.

The mini site has very informative comments from Paul about each of the PGM models over the years, including the less often-seen models based on the Iceman (PGM600) and Talman (PGM900), and of course his violin-shaped model, the PGM700.

Of the PGM100 reissue, Paul says:

Give or take a few months, it is the 20th anniversary of the Ibanez PGM100 guitar. Whenever I think of this guitar I think of Mr. Big. That was the band that I was in when I first started playing the guitar. I always remember my first Japan tour, taking this guitar on stage, and arguably doing some of the best guitar playing I've done in my life. A lesser known record that I did with the guitar is "A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix", which was kind of an accidental gig that I did in Germany. I wasn't supposed to play any Hendrix songs. I was just supposed to do a jam, and the main artist got sick. So I was saddled with doing the whole night. I did all those Hendrix songs with this guitar, and it's some of my most fiery and shreddiest playing that I've ever done. The PGM100 accompanied me on that amazing gig as well. So, to me, it's a very important guitar from some of my best musical times.

Over the years, I've continued to play the guitar. I used it for a lot of the later Racer X albums, because the sound was so good, so easy to play. It's great for playing fast and getting good sustained notes. I'm looking forward to the reissue, because I want to get back into some whammy licks. I know it's got a great locking tremolo on it. For the kind of 80s Racer X style, that's a great addition to my sonic palette to have that whammy bar available. So that's gonna be a lot of fun. It's an amazing color, the combination of the blue and the pink f-holes. It's instantly recognizable. Enjoy it! It's back! The PGM100 by Ibanez. Rock and roll. I will, too.

NEWS: New 2009 Ibanez RG3550Z GK on eBay

Wow, that didn't take long. These guitars aren't even officially launched until NAMM but Home For Tone is already selling one on eBay.

RG3550Z GK specs are:

Finish: Galaxy Black
Neck: 5-pc Maple & Walnut Prestige Neck, Super Wizard Profile
Body: Basswood
Fretboard: Maple with Sharktooth Silhouette Inlays
Bridge: Edge-Zero w/ ZPS-3
Pickups: Zebra DiMarzio Air Norton Neck Humbucker, Black DiMarzio True Velvet Middle Single Coil, Zebra DiMarzio Tone Zone Bridge Humbucker
Prestige Hardshell Case Included

CLICK HERE to see the listing, and CLICK HERE for the Home For Tone eBay store.

NAMM 2009: 20th Anniversary Ibanez Paul Gilbert model

Moderator Jay from the Ibanez forum has posting this very interesting little tidbit about NAMM 2009:

As many of you have figured out by now, we will be releasing the new PGM401 as Paul Gilbert's Signature Model for 2009. It's a beautiful Ash body with black F holes (graphic) and a fixed bridge. You've seen the pictures from our sister distributors around the world. A great addition to Paul's rich history of Signature PGM's for sure!

For 2009, we will be celebrating a milestone in our relationship with one of the greatest guitarists of all time. 20 years of PGM goodness. And in keeping with Ibanez tradition, the 20-year mark earns this great musician a 20th Anniversary model.

Can anyone guess what it might be?

Ok, I'll give you some hints...

- It has the letters "RE" in the model number.
- It has two distinct, vibrant colors.
- Does not have a reverse headstock.

See if you can guess the model...

JAY

Jay later added that it's not the rumoured Fireman models - besides, those don't have vibrant colours and it's unlikely that the hint about the two letters was a reference to the RE in Fireman. He later went on to say 'think reissue' - so is Ibanez going to reissue the original PGM100 or PGM200?

Click on any of these links to preorder the official bootlegs of Paul's upcoming Japanese tour with Freddie Nelson from CDJapan.
Official Bootleg Tokyo 1
Official Bootleg Osaka
Official Bootleg Nagoya
Official Bootleg Tokyo 2

CLICK HERE to preorder the new Ibanez PGM401 guitar from Thomann.de.

CLICK HERE to see Ibanez items on eBay.

NAMM 2009: Two new Ibanez 7 strings on the way

In a posting on the Seven String forum, an Ibanez representative has announced that in 2009 Ibanez will unveil two new 7 string guitars.

The only hints he's dropped so far are that one will be a 7 string RG Prestige with a trem bridge and a maple fretboard, and that neither of the new guitars will be in the RGA (arched top) range.

This is huge news because Ibanez have only ever released one maple fretboard 7 string, the UV777GR Universe, which was made in pretty limited numbers.

I'll keep my eye out for further updates.

And no, the photo above isn't a hint or a clue, I just needed a pic of a 7 string headstock, sorry!

NAMM 2009: Ibanez gets their metal on in 2009

These guitars are already mentioned in this story, but howabout some more pics? Metal monsters are going to love these new 2009 offerings from Ibanez, as posted on the Thomann website. I'm surprised Thomann has posted these already, but there it is, I guess the cat's out of the proverbial bag. Anyway, here we go:













Here's the new entry to the Destroyer series, the DTT700-MGS. Mahogany body, Wizard II through-neck, rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, Gibraltar custom bridge, chrome hardware, Dimarzio D-Activator humbuckers (voiced to sound like actives). CLICK HERE to preorder.











The Xiphos XP300FX-BK has a mahogany body, bolt-on maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 24 jumbo frets, fixed bridge, Ibanez INF3 neck and INF4 bridge humbuckers, and comes with a gigbag and strap. CLICK HERE to preorder.











The Xiphos XPT700XH-GSF is a real head-turner, although with one poorly-timed onstage move it could be a real head-severer. Mahogany body, maple/walnut thru-neck, rosewood fretboard, 27 jumbo frets, Edge III tremolo (I wish it had the Edge Zero but what can ya do?), DiMarzio Air Norton neck and Activator bridge humbuckers. Includes case and strap. CLICK HERE to preorder.

NAMM 2009: First new Ibanez 2009 guitars

Thomann has opened up preordering for new 2009 Ibanez guitars, and while not all the photos are on the site yet, you can tell a lot from the specs. They're talking about these over at the official Ibanez forum and at Jemsite, which is where I first heard about the Thomann links, so I figure it's ok to re-post the info here now that it's out there in the public domain.

For instance, there's the PGM401-TFB (pictured). Paul Gilbert Signature, ash body, 5-pcs maple/walnut PGM Prestige neck, rosewood fretboard, 24 medium frets, dot inlays, painted "f-holes", cosmo black hardware, fixed bridge, DiMarzio Air Classic humbuckers, 648 mm scale lenght, color: Trifade Burst, incl. case and leather strap. CLICK HERE to preorder. And by the way, check out his new CD, United States, with Freddie Nelson. It's awesome.

Or how about the return of Andy Timmons to Ibanez's endorser list? AT100CL-SB, Andy Timmons signature, alder body, 1-pcs maple neck, (AT "Prestige"), maple fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, Wilkonson by Gotoh VSVG bridge, DiMarzio Cruiser neck, DiMarzio Cruiser middle postion and DiMarzio AT1 Custom bridge pickup, cosmo black hardware, 648 mm scale lenght, color: sunburst, incl. Prestige case and leather strap. CLICK HERE to preorder.

Oh and who likes maple fretboards? RG2550MZ-GW, basswood body, 5-pcs maple/walnut neck, maple fretboard 24 jumbo frets, shark inlays, Edge Zero tremolo, 1x Di Marzio/IBZ-N neck humbucker 1x Di Marzio/IBZ-S single coil middle position and 1x Di Marzio/IBZ-B bridge humbucker, with mirror pickguard, incl. case, color: galaxy white. CLICK HERE to preorder.

RG2570MZ-VBE (pictured), Basswood Body, 24 Jumbo Frets, 5-pc. Maple/Walnut Neck, Maple Fretboard, Prestige Shark Tooth Inlays, Edge Zero Tremolo, 1x Di Marzio/IBZ-N Neck Humbucker 1x Di Marzio/IBZ-S Single Coil Middle and 1x Di MArzio/IBZ-B Bridge Humbucker, 648 mm scale lenght, Color: Vital Blue, incl. Luxus Case and Leather Strap. CLICK HERE to preorder.

And let's not forget the return of the Destroyer series. DTT700-MGS, destroyer-series, mahogany body, 5-pcs. maple/walnut neck-through neck (Wizard II), rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, AR block inlays, Gibraltar custom bridge, chrome hardware, 2 x Dimarzio D-Activator humbuckers, 648 mm scale lenght, color: metallic gray sunburst , incl. case and strap. CLICK HERE to preorder.

The Xiphos series also gets a lower cost little brother: XP300FX-BK, X-Series Xiphos, mahogany body, 3-pcs bolt-on maple, rosewood fretboard, 24 jumbo frets, white dot inlays, fixed bridge, cosmo black hardware, INF3 neck- and INF4 bridge humbucker, 648 mm scale lenght, colour: black, incl. gigag and strap. CLICK HERE to preorder.

There's also a way pimped out version of the Xiphos: XPT700XH-GSF, X-Series Xiphos, mahogany body, 5-piece maple/walnut neck thru-neck, rosewood fretboard, 27 jumbo frets, white sharktooth inlays, Edge III tremolo, black hardware, DiMarzio Air Norton (N) and Activator (B) humbuckers, 648 mm scale lenght, colour: Green Shadow Flat, incl. case & strap. CLICK HERE to preorder.

27 frets? HELL YEAH.

No news yet on the rumoured Paul Gilbert Fireman (reverse Iceman) or new Steve Vai Jem models - let's wait and see what else is posted on Thomann before NAMM in January.

Regarding the reissued Timmons model, Andy recently posted the following on his website:

Hi Folks,

I'm very proud to announce that Ibanez and I have agreed to re-issue the original AT100 on a global scale. As opposed to the original AT100 which was a limited production (we think @ 300 were made), the AT100CL will be available worldwide and will be made to the exact specs as the original including the hand shaped neck!!

As you may recall, I announced a while back that I had parted ways with Ibanez and that I just wanted to play whatever I felt like playing. I never had any intention of signing with another guitar company as many had speculated. I did get approached by many companies once word got out (which I was very flattered by) but it was more important to me to remain independent and avoid a reputation as an "endorsement hopper".

What I discovered in this time period is that I do love to play Strats occasionally as well as SG Specials, Teles and Les Pauls but nothing feels like "home" like my original AT100. Tone, feel and expression. It's truly MY guitar.

As I was coming to this realization, Hoshino invited me to play for their 100th Anniversary concert in Japan w/Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert. I was very honored to be asked to do so and I thought it was cool for them to ask considering I wasn't currently an endorsee. During my visit they approached me with the idea of re-issuing the AT100. It was just perfect timing...it felt "right"!

I know there has been a lot of interest in this guitar in the past, so I'm so happy to say that it will finally be available in 2009!

The guitar will be unveiled at the January NAMM show (and available for pre-order) in Anaheim and should be in stores by Spring.

The Andy Timmons Band will appear opening for Paul Gilbert and Racer X as part of the NAMM festivities. Good stuff indeed.

I'm off to play...I'm inspired!!!

Andy