Ibanez 2023: RG2550 - back

An interesting find - the RG2550 has returned to the fold but in China only. That's right, for some strange reason, it's not made available everywhere. The RG2550 bowed out of the catalog with an Edge Zero bridge & DiMarzio IBZ pickups. Looks like it has gone one up with the Edge bridge & DiMarzio pickups (Air Norton / True Velvet / Tone Zone).  

Pic: Ibanez CN

What an S! (4)

The default Ibanez pickups in this guitar made way for a trio of DiMarzios: Fusion Edge (b) / Cruiser (m) / Air Norton (n). I'm a Seymour Duncan fan but do not dismiss DiMarzio pickups; they are good but not appealing to my kind of music. The DiMarzios here are essentially exiled pickups, quite forgotten so to speak because they performed poorly elsewhere to such an extent that I lost faith in them.

Not so in this case. The Fusion Edge, for instance sounds muffled, with poor bass definition but in this guitar, it gives off that pleasant grisliness most suitable for bottom end chugging. The Cruiser - I dislike it because it's so single coil-ish, it fails to perform well under high gain settings but somehow, in this S270, it can pull off that high octane single coil distortion tone without the excessive single coil clunkiness. Air Norton - I thought it's just a slight variation of the Norton which I really like but it's very PAF with vintage vibes aplenty. I'm not into that kind of responses, it's all out attack for me which the Air Norton failed to complement but strangely in this instrument, it has a very Seymour Duncan '59 vibe to it with clarity to boot. These forsaken pickups, I'm really glad I held on to them. That's the least I could say. 

Ironed

Re-string adventure continues- Ibanez SIR70FD. Pickups on board are DiMarzios: Tone Zone (b)/ True Velvet (m)/ Air Norton (n).

I'm somehow thankful that Ibanez has the Iron Label range albeit my gripe with it in terms of purpose. The guitars in this range were given the alternative treatment without ending up as costly proto-customs. I was particularly drawn to this model due to its blank fretboard. That's my quirk- I have more confidence playing an unmarked fretboard. The SIR70FD is part of the pioneer Iron Label releases. The RGs at this point in time, featured EMG pickups while the S-Series were given the passive, gain friendly DiMarzios instead. 

The S-Series in this range had evolved to feature a reverse headstock & some fancy body caps but the DiMarzio & fixed bridge features stay put. I sincerely hope the Iron Label series won't go out of hand because as it is, it's a little fuzzy when it comes to being identified as a definite tier in terms of offering. Then again, this year the Axion Label became the branch-off which threatens to push the Iron Label into extinction.

Unlocking

Got my Ibanez S-Series out early in the morning: S420 (t) & SIR70FD.

The S420 is equipped with a pair of Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates while the SIR70FD has a default set of DiMarzio Tone Zone/ True Velvet/ Air Norton. 

The S420 is so much heavier due to the ZR bridge in there but the overall tone is crunchy without excessive treble. I'm saying this because the PG is associated with raunchy Texan sizzle but if you could manage your set up well, it'll give you that modern heavy metal tone which is suitable for prog as well.

The SIR on the other hand is a light guitar with that smooth top end response, instant Dream Theater tone on call here thanks to the DiMarzios on board. I'm not a fan of this pickup brand but there are some models that I fancy. The Tone Zone is not one of them but previously mentioned, it's something that's appealing once you figure out your set up in its entirety and not just banking on pickup performance for your tone ideals. 

Anyway, I like both guitars for their blank fretboards; ironically, I make less mistakes when dealing with chromatics & legato.

As you can see here, this episode was conceived at CBTL in the late morning as I was waiting for my daughter to finish her morning supplementary class. Despite its early operations, the air-conditioning here will only function at 10.00am, so it's sauna mode offset by a serving of sparkling ice tea. 

Have a great weekend, everyone. ☮

Get through it

A through-neck Ibanez RGA for the Summer (RGAT62) with a pair of singing DiMarzios (Air Norton/TZ). That see-through finish is respectable.

Face-off: DiMarzio vs Seymour Duncan

I've been playing these 2 guitars a lot lately:

• Left: Ibanez S470- Dimarzios: Air Norton (B)/ Area '61(M)/ PAF (N)
• Right: Ibanez S420- Seymour Duncan: Pearly Gates (B/N)

Ibanez dweebs prefer DiMarzios because majority of the endorsers embrace this pickup brand- Vai, Satch, Gilbert, Timmons, et al. Estranged individuals like me, had an initial rotten episode with DiMarzio so I went with the competitor's brand & I had to say that I was lucky- I bought the pickup that suited my needs so it was no turning back.

So it boils down to this- which pickup brand do I prefer? Simple answer: Both.

These pickups have something different to offer. DiMarzio has this peculiar adaptation to effects & other signal processors; the   more you add to them, they don't seem to be undone by gain overdose. Seymour Duncan has this signature bite that you'd hear if you plug straight through to your amp. Once you get hooked, it's the only thing you'd want to hear. I'm living with both tone options, there are no rules saying I should stay true to only one brand name. It's about liking what I hear coming out from the amp regardless of what were used to make that happen.

Ibanez: SIR70F DiMarzios

The Ibanez Iron Label SIR70F is equipped with a set of DiMarzio pickups right from the start: Air Norton (N)/ True Velvet (M)/ Tone Zone (B). I didn't commit to this purchase because there are DiMarzio pickups in there as I'm not a DiMarzio fan. Yes, they sound impressive, offering more sonic appeal than Ibanez's in-house pickups but they aren't quite my thing. However, I'm not going to do away with these default units because they deliver great distortion & above-average cleans.

The un-blackening (2)

Pickups are in: all DiMarzio affair (because I ran out of Duncans to try...)

Neck: PAF
Middle: Area '61
Bridge: Air Norton

DiMarzio-ed: RG721

Acquired some pickups lately, this pair included: DiMarzio D-Sonic (bridge)/ Air Norton (neck).

If you've read my other DiMarzio entries, you'll know that I'm not a keen DiMarzio fan but I won't exclude the good tones I hear from any pickup brands.

The DiMarzio pair you see above are in my Ibanez RG721. The D-Sonic gets my thumbs up for clarity but it has a generous bass response & the way you orientate the pole pieces affects the bass response (seriously). I like it this way as it complements heavy distortion. The Air Norton- it's something I've tried before & liked. I still like it for that midrange emphasis & warmth in the neck position, it's not as commanding in the bridge.

Beez- superb workmanship as usual!

I have 3 other guitars awaiting pickups swap, hoping to get them done over the next few days...

Ibanez: RG2620

I came across this guitar yesterday at Swee Lee (BB showroom). It's a very fresh offering from the manufacturer, if you refer to the online Ibanez Singapore page, it has yet to be updated there. What interested me particularly was that:

• this year, Ibanez pays more attention to the headstock-body finish matching for selected models
• the pickups equipped in selected Prestige models are DiMarzio units, not the DiMarzio IBZ models. For the above-featured guitar, the Tone Zone (B) & Air Norton (N) take care of tonal proceedings
  

I managed to plug it in to hear the tonal offerings & those DiMarzios in there are quite the works for fans of smooth, driven tones.

What: Ibanez RG2620 (revived with revisions after being removed from the catalogues in 2008)
How much: $2,570 (list)
Where: Swee Lee Co.