333

Ah, so they held back till NAMM. This is Paul Gilbert's 30th Anniversary Ibanez PGM & it's a decent enticement (considering I'm not a signature fan). The Fireman was a distraction & Paul Gilbert went back to his RG roots for this one. The pickups are DiMarzio's PG-13 mini humbuckers. OK, I don't dig that 333 truss rod cover at all. 

Signatures (LTD - Ibanez)

So we have non-Japanese models from two Japanese manufacturers which might prove to be a little weak in terms of appeal & intention. The first one you see here is the George Lynch Kamikaze variation (LTD GL-KAMI4) for the year. Variation because it's nothing new, just a twisted headstock which is downright hideous. Lynch is an ESP veteran & the manufacturer is perpetuating his embrace of the brand name quite obviously. Staunch Lynch fans might be interested, curious onlookers might bite. 

Moving on to the Ibanez camp, we have another Paul Gilbert Fireman (FRM200) variation with no revisions in outline. I see this being more respectable & less desperate in terms of appeal but having a current flavour in a lower tier offering speaks a lot about intentions; selling looks to be more imperative. 

Having said that, in case you missed it, both models are propelling new signature pickups (Seymour Duncan's Hunter, DiMarzio's PG-13) so that's putting things in perspective.

PG-13

A new one by DiMarzio, the PG-13. It's a collaboration with Paul Gilbert whose current fix is a mini humbucker. 'Mini' here does not imply a reduction to conform to single coil measurements, these are not stacked units, so let's not get confused there. These are the narrower humbuckers like the ones in GIbson's LP Deluxe back in the 70s. From the manufacturer's EQ reference, these should give us a strong bass response with very controlled top end. 

Be informed that mini humbuclers won't mount into standard humbucker rings, you need the customized version (unless your guitar came with minis as default).