Glaive- deactivated

One of the reasons why I seldom play this one is because it sports a pair of in-house Ibanez CAP active humbuckers. My ears are a little fatigued listening to such responses not that those CAP pickups were under-performing (certainly not!) but because I don't fancy such manifestations.

Made a quick trip to Beez's yesterday to have these replace the CAPs: PATB Distortion (b)/ Jazz (n). A rather peculiar pairing of a menacing bridge model with a reserved neck counterpart. Not really. Seymour Duncan's Jazz (SH-2) humbucker should not be overlooked to deliver outstanding lead tones just because it's labelled to project a reserved demeanour. It's one of those versatile pickups equally adept in clean as well as driven tones. And then some in semi-hollow guitars.

The X-series weapons model are extinct now. They can be identified easily at the headstock less the early Xiphos models which were cataloged without that specific label. 

A quick cuppa before heading home.

FYI, the rest of the family members seen here. These were definitely interesting additions to the Ibanez fold but there were very few takers & it's all about the outlines. Ibanez fans are still hardcore when it comes to the RG. It remains to be the manufacturer's formidable model in terms of sales & no frills offering when it comes to design pleasantries. 

Shoutout to brother Joshua- good to have met you at Beez's! 

Ibanez: Ghost weapons

I was expecting this to happen- the Ibanez 'weapons' models (seen here T-B: Falchion/ Glaive/ Halberd) have been discontinued for 2014. The only remaining member is the Xiphos whose availability is restricted to regional distributions. Also, Mick Thompson has the Glaive under his name & hopefully it would live on in that line of production. With no firm ambassadors & very limited options, this trio of guitars was destined for the archives. Kinda sad because I see this as the manufacturer's avenue in dealing with extroverted outlines but there's simply no extended marketing for this. I believe many of us prefer to tread the BC Rich path when it comes to such designs. Treasure yours if you have them :-)

Ibanez 2012: Falchion

2012's Falchion... still no fixed bridge version, still Edge III in there... *yawn*

Ibanez X-series (Brief take 1): Falchion

Ibanez X-series (2011 offerings)- they are finally here & thanks to the good people of Swee Lee, I've managed to try all 3 models. This is the first installment featuring the Falchion. Simply put, it's the most well-balanced model despite looking like a mutant star, in fact, place it upright & it looks like a dancing person with a very long neck... 

Anyway, the message here is, we should not dismiss any instruments just because they don't look appealing to us. The Falchion excels in its balancing act both sitting down & strapped on. Shredders would love the generous upper fret access but a blank fretboard would prove a little challenging for some of us. As for me, I love blank fretboards- it makes you look lethal when you play fast, adding a touch of mystery along the way. Tone wise, the CAP-LZ humbuckers in there might have limited fans by virtue of its singular offering- I hear awesome distortion but once you clean up your tone, it sounds lacking in warmth & character. Not really a dud pair but it's not as dynamic as we'd love them to be. Remind yourselves that there is no tone control to offer some consolation in times of need. But I have to say that the Falchion's non-heavy nature makes it sing more than croak, it's a rather light instrument even with the Edge III bridge in there, it doesn't stray too much from the weight of its other siblings, the Halberd & Glaive. Hope the manufacturer would include a non-whammy Falchion for us, I'd REALLY appreciate that.

Falch 7

Well, the Ibanez Falchion will see a further manifestation soon as depicted above (it's currently in proto mode). The guitar sports 1 more string than it's current offering, possibly a pair of non-in house pickups & a more dependable bridge- looks like an EZ in there, yes?

Really hope the pickups are EMGs/ Duncans because if they are Ibanez's LZ pickups & we have the intention to swap them out, fitting issues await.
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PS: Blogger was under maintenance lately, as eveident here, some of the comments have disappeared. I sincerely hope they were not deleted with certain intentions. Why should I bear allegiance to a blogging website which cannot observe a full restoration after its house-keeping?

What the Falch...?

The Ibanez Falchion is one of the newest member of the X-series but the manufacturer decided to have an Edge III bridge in there when the other standard series models now sport an Edge Zero II model. No disrespect to the Edge III unit but to many of us, Ibanez just second-rated their new product by doing so. The Falchion could have just sport the non-whammy bridge like the Halberd & Glaive.

Ibanez X (Musikmesse 2011) slight return...

Fresh from Musikmesse 2011, the trio of new X-series. From top tpo bottom: Halberd/ Falchion/ Glaive. All models sport a pair of active LZ humbuckers.