Ibanez RGR8270

Another October release by Ibanez but it's Japan-only in the mean time: RGR8270. I'm still not into the tree-of-life inlay; too excessive for me, will confuse my fretting hand movements. Also, I'm bothered by the covered bridge humbucker but the neck counterpart remains exposed. The neck humbucker there is a PAF 36th while the bridge & middle are True Velvet & Tone Zone respectively, the usual Ibanez favoured DiMarzios. 

Also not my thing - locking tuners when there's already a locking nut.

Pics: Ibanez Japan

Revstar MM

About time. Yamaha released the Matteo Mancuso signature Revstar (RS20MM). I respect the Revstar, it's a very respectable guitar but this finish & the gold hardware won't win me over. Folks, DiMarzio PAF 36th humbuckers in this one if you are interested.

Pic: Yamaha

Andy T

I always enjoy playing this guitar; it's lightweight & resonant despite being neck heavy (those locking tuners...).  I also enjoy the very open tone due to the absence of a tone control. (Above: Ibanez SIX6FDFM)

Speaking of tone, the new bridge pickup in this guitar is the DiMarzio AT-1, Andy Timmons signature model. It replaced the Super 3. 

According to the manufacturer, this is the tone profile of the AT-1; it's spiked in both the midrange & bass but observes a rather tamed top end. Having heard it in person, the AT-1 has some pronounced bass response indeed, I had to lower the pickup into the body, deeper than the default setting. The midrange, however, is on par with the treble, I don't hear a more significant performance here. The strength of this humbucker lies in your willingness to back down the guitar's volume control to give that sweet, crunchy overdrive response. The AT-1 has similar tonal characteristics of the PAF 36th in the neck, that's according to the manufacturer, of course. It does possess that classic PAF character but the Alnico 5 magnet means it's more receptive to high gain settings while being very pleasant in clean mode.

EQ pic: DiMarzio