Ibanez 2025 (2)

The disrespect for the S-Series continues this 2025 with no new model offered. This SML721 was listed as new but we know 'new' here refers to the colour. The SML721 had been around since 2023.

Pic: Ibanez

Epiphone Tribute... how much?

As predicted, the Epiphone Les Paul Tribute is now listing at City Music for $459 (Initial mention: CLICK). If you are interested, please be informed of its bolt-on construction hence the very pocket-friendly price. The 2-knob SG version is also available for $429.

Pics: Epiphone

MOMM (56)

This is one of 2024's sleeper releases. I seldom tread the death metal path these days but it's good to know Blood Incantation is out there keeping the flame alive. Given the band's definite illegible logo, it's all about the music, a make / break episode, really. With Absolute Elsewhere, it's a definite make. Unlike other attention-craving death metal bands, the content here are rather introverted. There were episodes where bits of King Crimson & Yes come to mind. I'm hinting at some psychedelic / prog content that were tastefully done, nothing overwhelming, just hinting at the fact that the minds behind this release did a fair amount of thinking instead of playing fast for the genre's commitment sake. Oh, these guys are big BC Rich fans.

Salvation: S521

When I saw this listed for sale, I know I had to get it. This particular model dated back to its first issue (S521, ocean fade metallic, 2017) so it's not a fresh piece. In fact, it had quite a substantial layer of gunk on the fretboard, saddle intonation springs were corroded, oxidized saddles & virtually all hardware looked dead & the 5-way selector was ultra dodgy; I initially thought it was the input jack. Plot twist - when I was ready to purchase it, it was marked as SOLD. Darn.

The initial owner played the heck out of this guitar & it became unwanted when the instrument suffered a hit & this much paint job came off. It was quite severe as the wood was visible. The subsequent owner bought it with the intention to re-finish the entire body & getting this part fixed in the process. He was taken aback by the cost of it (much more than the instrument itself) so letting it go was a more sensible discourse. It was re-listed & I managed to convince him to sell it away for as much as he bought it for. So the guitar ended up in my possession. If something was meant for you, regardless of the occurrences, it would eventually make its way to you. 

As you can see above, I used wood putty (have it for craft work, not for guitar maintenance) to fill up the substantial gap, oblivious to the colour clash but this was not meant to be an immaculate restoration adventure. Just a get by fix to revisit its former glory. I'm gonna keep it anyway (third owner) because I have a soft spot for the S-Series. 

Someone told me to use real wood to fix this up but as you can see there. it's a curved surface so getting a definite surface conformity is gonna be extra work for me & I don't have the tools for that to happen. The putty took three days to fully dry up. I sanded the surface off & applied super glue to keep things in tact then manually buffed it up for that glossy look. I got a little overboard during sanding & you can see the blue finish coming off the unaffected part there. More importantly, it's fixed. 

These Schaller pickups were first mentioned here: CLICK That same friend helped purchase another set for this guitar & I couldn't be happier with the tone (not meant for clean activists). By the way, this guitar was cheaper than a BOSS Super Chorus.

Ibanez 2025

Today is the big reveal day by Ibanez. The initial models to be released to distributors world-wide are finally announced. I've seen what's on offer but Ibanez is confusing the masses by actually including some of 2024's late models in this 2025 platter. Whatever the case, I will begin by noting the debut of the AZ Standard range. With this, the entry level AZES are removed from the catalog & the Standard models are currently the most affordable AZ guitars.

There are currently two models in this range, the AZ22S1F (HSS pickup combo) & the AZ24S1F (HH pickup combo, sans pickguard). In view of the price bracket these are in, pickups are in-house models (Ibanez Modern Custom) & I sincerely hope these would be on par with what the AZES were equipped with which were definitely above expectations. Steel frets & alder body to match the Premium & Prestige specs but fretboards are jatoba for both models. Scale length is 25.5" unlike the AZES' 25.1" with the T106 bridge being the only AZES feature to be retained.

With the specs for these instruments in mind, we can expect prices to be hovering around the $1K mark. It's a pity the AZES models were entirely removed because those were absolute value for money. Looks like Ibanez is still trying to cash in on the AZ line by raising standards up a notch & pricing these guitars expectedly more. We note that virtually all the guitar brands are doing likewise, Fender especially.

Welcome new follower: JINZ

Pics: Ibanez

Review quickie: Burny RLC-60 SW

Pic: Amazon

With the demise of Fernandes, coming across the copy models under the Burny monicker would be next to impossible especially in this country as there were no official Fernandes distributors here. The RLC models popped up at Davis not too long ago & I gave the RLC-60 SW depicted above, a try.

Likes

• Playability
• Overall construction, fit & finish
• Tone

Dislikes

• Weight

I have a personal interest in Gibson copies, especially the Japanese-made ones. The RLC-60 above, is not new. It debuted way back in 2018 / 2019 & these were the revived version. The initial impression was absolutely positive as this NOS was somehow kept away well & suffered virtually no deterioration. Everything, from one end to the other, was in very good condition. Since it was made to mimic the LP Custom, only the weight proved to be rather spot on (heavy!). The neck was rather trimmed down & did not manifest that proverbial bulk. In fact, it was very shred-worthy despite not being too slim either. The pickups here could be considered a hit / miss affair. I deem them as a hit because these captured the vintage vibes rather well without wimping out when distortion kicked in. 

If you are interested, do act promptly as this might be a chance acquisition by the store in view of the clear-out owing to Fernandes' closure. This is a good guitar but many of us would rather have 'Epiphone' on the headstock for a peace of mind in this price bracket but that's brand snobbery. I'd rather you embrace the wholesome goodness this one has to offer & live with the lesser known label. 

Rating: 80%

Burny: RLC-60 SW

• Availability: Davis GMC
• Price: $1,300