I received this axe today, December 24th, on behalf of my best man who is the actual owner. I just finished setting it up and played with it for about 40 minutes and my initial conclusions are the following... Firstly, this is one AWESOME, SEXY looking guitar!!! The wood grain on the front and back of the body, the beautiful rosewood fret board , the exquisite gold parts that blend perfectly with the black head stock and that sublime light honey colored body... What can I say? I even like the tree of life inlay and, mind you, I was never a fan of said inlay since I find it to be a little too much, even leaning towards the kitsch side... But this guitar sitting on my stand next to my other 6 prestige models looks exclusive! It is surrounded by an aura of expensive yet delicate quality! Top feature: the absolutely PERFECT neck /body joint!!! AANJ is a feature on all top line Ibanez models but the extra level of detailed accessibility on this one is out of this world! Talk about NO HINDRANCE WHATSOEVER in reaching the top frets! My only objections are the middle p.u., which I NEVER use and have removed from two of my guitars that came equipped with one since it messes with my picking style ( but that is a strictly personal preference ), and the Gotoh strap locks. I have no opinion about their performance, although they seem to be of excellent quality, but I promise you no strap lock system beats the Schallers, which I have already installed on this beauty!!! Now the sound... It sports the Tone Zone/Air Norton configuration and this happens to be the only alternative option to the Tone Zone/Paf Pro configuration that ALL minus one of my guitars are fitted with, that I can live with. The guitar sounds BIG, CLEAR, DETAILED, ARTICULATED, and ( you better believe it ) EXPENSIVE, in a way that it makes you feel that this is an instrument built for guitarists of a higher level, forcing you to excel yourself in every aspect of your playing! Now you all know that Ibanez guitars are world renowned for their playability, right? Well guess what? This one takes it a few steps further raising the bar quite high, as if deliberately throwing down the gauntlet to every opponent challenging them to do better, if possible... I would really like to go on praising this piece of masterful craftsmanship but I am, truly, at a loss for words... I know it is pricey but as my grandfather used to say: You cannot buy quality for pennies!!!
