Ibanez June '24 (2)

On the non-solid body front, Ibanez has introduced a flamed top GA5 in a blue finish. Again, like a broken record, I'm of the opinion that it's money well spent if Ibanez invests in a solid top instead. Then again, the non-flame veneer version that I've tried has a decent tone for the money. 

A new one for the Talman lineup, again, a flame maple veneer for this iteration - TCM50FM. I find the Talman acoustic to be appealing in terms of the neck profile. Also, due to the pickup in the neck position, this is one of the few acoustic electric guitars out there that manifests a more likeable plug in tone; more rounded top end & fuller sounding.

Pics: Ibanez

Lil thunder

My further attempt to rectify my playing - Ibanez TM320. This guitar has a different neck profile than the other Ibanez guitars I own & that might psychologically make me play properly. The neck carve here is rounded, very Fender-esque. 

However, the presence of a certain pickup might influence playing psychology as well. This here is the Lil '59 (Seymour Duncan) & it generates lots of lethal punches with distortion dialled in. So I ended up playing more riff than solos. In the end, playing this guitar doesn't really address my current playing issue 😅 At least it makes me a little happier today. 

All that glitter

No idea if there's a strong Yvette Young following here but the Ibanez YY20 is available at Swee Lee now ($1,399).  

The thing with both the YY10 & YY20, it emulates the original Talman model closely with very little variation in features. The final iteration before being discontinued, the TM302, (pictured above) costs less than $500; very affordable & decent as well. If you bought one & had a pair of Seymour Duncan pickups in there (like the YY20), it will still cost considerably lesser than the YY20. Of course, if you have a thing for glitter finish, you might have a go at it. If you are into Yvette's playing style, it is a similar approach to the Polyphia guys & Ichika Nito; lots of double hand tapping. The way I see it, there is a stronger following of the guitars endorsed by those latter artists. Specifically, I'm referring to the Premium AZ THBB, SLM & ICHI10 models - these are hot stuff, hardly in stock.

Pics: Ibanez / Manga

J-Tal

 

I will continue to taunt the Ibanez fans with the J-Line models which are obviously not available here. The Talman (TM730) model received a pair of new finishes, nothing new in features. These are quality Japanese models & should be accessible to fans in terms of price. Hmph!

Pic: Ibanez Japan

P&G

New from the Ibanez camp this month - a pair of Ibanez acoustics, pink & green Talmans to be more specific.

Pleasant hues here but these are still not solid top models. I used to own one & feel that it's a very transitional offering if one is solid body inclined & wish to get acquainted to the acoustic. However, the unplugged volume could have been better in view of those cutaways that would understandably affect body resonance. The plus point is definitely the neck profile, slim & fast.

YY is here

 

If you are waiting for this to happen - it's now available at Swee Lee listing for a respectable $1,399 but without a bag. It will be the only version with a maple fretboard as the latest TM730 sports a Katalox fretboard. 

PIC: noisegate

T-revival

The best news this week (OK maybe more so for Ibanez geeks), the Talman returns. Let's take note that it's made in Japan. So far there's no news of a non-Japanese version. For many of us that would signal affordability but hey, these are not Prestige models, they are just made in Japan. We can look forward to a reasonable price tag like the current Genesis RG. Pickups are also not Seymour Duncans like the previous Prestige version; TM J-line they call it. Tuners are non-locking units. So based on these features alone, we know that it would be in a different price range from its predecessors. 

I just hope this would be a meaningful revival. The previous Talman adventure did not quite live up to the hype, the instruments got discontinued in less than three years. Not expecting much, not even hoping for many variations, just want these to be alive & kickin' in the Ibanez catalog. (Seen here: TM730)

 

Talman bout

I was literally fighting this Talman last weekend for over two days. I think it's an episode worth sharing because I definitely do not wish for you to commit this oversight. 

So I started with unhappiness. This guitar manifested a high action when I started playing so play halted immediately. A quick sighting up the neck showed excessive relief & that got taken care of very quickly; truss rod adjustment. Nothing to it. That should pretty much solve the problem but no. Action was still high past the 15th fret so some shimming took place which addressed the action issue but resulted in fret buzz. This was restricted to the G, D & A strings. Re-shimming took place using a thinner piece of paper but buzzing persisted. I proceeded to check fret height but nothing was amiss. It's only the following day that the answer to my problem presented itself. I decided to check the guitar specs & found out that the radius for Talman models are 12" unlike the flatter 16" RG models. Darn! So there you go, a simple solution for a simple problem, really. Never assume, make efforts to check.

For the fun of it, I tried reverting to a 1.5mm pick which really isn't my kind of pick any more. Nothing good happened so a 3mm pick took care of proceedings. Hope you are having a good midweek. Take care. 👋

Quiet jazzer

That sudden urge to play a semi-hollow so this was the pick: Ibanez TM-71

But before that, a quick re-string.

Some parts of the binding are beginning to show age-stains. This is one of those guitars with finished necks that I like. The wide-thin profile also caters to my type of playing. 

YY

This had been a quiet release. You won't even know it's a signature model as no significant quirks were made visible. Folks, this is the Ibanez YY10, Yvette Young's signature release based on the Talman model. The default design is so agreeable that no further mods were needed to accommodate her playing style. Pickups on board are Seymour Duncan's Five Two & that's a Wilkinson bridge there. 

Now that there's an established ambassador, it'd be interesting to see if this series of guitars deserve a re-issue/ re-introduction. 

Re-string: Talman

Had been attending to this one for the past few days. The Ibanez TM302 is a wonderful player, it's too bad that more were not brought into the stores here & the entire Talman range had been discontinued (again). It's also one of those Ibanez removed from the flatter Wizard neck profile which I need to feel every once in a while. A set of Dunlop 9s this time.

The usual fretboard treatment every time I re-string my guitars. Once again, being in this part of the world, do not be too quick to agree that constant moisturizing would lead to wood damage. I observe a simple rule here; it's a need-to basis. If the fretboard becomes dry & requires some attention, I would give it the due attention regardless of how long ago it was last moisturized. 

Ibanez included a set of locking tuners for a sub-$600 guitar & that's definitely value-for-money. Despite being brandless, I'm very happy with how functional & reliable they are. 

Im-tele-posters

Last weekend's noodling; Ibanez Talman & Schecter VE-TE.

The Talman is a wonderful Telecaster variant, not that it's close to the real deal, but it retains the Ibanez defiance in doing things the manufacturer's way. Pickguard semblance & pickups arrangement plus that metal surround all scream Tele. Tone-wise, it's closer to the Tele than the Strat but managed to avoid the former's honk. 

The Schecter VE-TE is a gem (to me). Tele in every way less the headstock. The Japanese has this penchant for outperforming originals & this was one of them but I had to Duncanized the pickups. Outcome- high gain single coil monster, not for those with a thing for cleans. But I have to give it to Seymour Duncan for packing some great cleans into these Quarter Pound pair, just not the vintage type. Also, this guitar was grounded, staying true to the vintage vibe but not that pleasant if you are into excessive drive.

Where do I go with these two? There will be times when I'm bothered by contemporary looks & tone,  these are my go-to 'substitutes' to keep things in check. 

Available, played

Work starts later after lunch for me today, so I had some playing time. 👍

The first guitar played was the Fender Jaguar. I'm kind of addicted to the super low action & shorter scale length. Also, the pickups here are some of the best single coil tones under high gain & they are default units. Stuff played with this guitar- 4-notes-per-string legattos, shred stuff. Couldn't play anything else. 😁

Had time for a second, so the Ibanez Talman was next. Despite the non-heavy metal looks (is there a legit heavy metal look for guitars to begin with?), it's all heavy stuff with this one. The way some guitars interact with the amp, it sometimes sway you to play in a certain style. 

Sparkling

Look closely, it's a sparkling finish for the Talman TM302 this fall. It's good to know that Ibanez is giving due attention to this come-back model.

Talman LBX

I'm plugging as many guitars as I could into the EVH 5150 III LBX. I'm interested to know how the amp sounds like during each guitar episode. If this wasn't the case, the amp itself might just be a one trick pony & I would never know. The Ibanez Talman TM302 had its LBX adventure this morning. The bridge pickup in use was a Duncan 'Lil 59 (Tele version) so the scorching tone heard was from the amp. The CMATmods Brownie in there was thrown in for good measure, the LBX is very competent in dishing out distortion without such supplements but it added more harmonics sensitivity.

This happened (thanks, Swee Lee)

This guitar had been featured here for a while. It's not new, it had even gone through pickups replacement. This guitar was a pleasant surprise. Here's why.

I received a call from Swee Lee a couple of weeks ago. The company's rep, a Mr. Faizal from the Bras Basah showroom (now presiding over matters at the Katong branch) asked if I would oblige an interview with them. All I need to do was be at the stated venue on the agreed date & time for the occasion & talk. That was simple enough. I wondered what it was all about & frankly I was expecting the worst since I was engaged in some Ibanez bashing right here at this blog, just some days prior to the meet up. In any case, I have nothing to hide, I was not slandering any parties & I was duly highlighting factual circumstances pertaining to some issues.

On the meet-up day, we made ourselves comfortable at Swee Lee's Bras Basah audition room- yes, that glass room full of Ibanez & Gibson upper tier models. It was a pleasant chit chat, Swee Lee just wanted to know a little bit more about myself & what made me go this far when it comes to the electric guitar. Swee Lee had been following my blog (sort of) & noted that more than 50% of what I own were instruments from them. I reminded them that my blog is a non-partisan online diary with some very emotionally charged comments at times. Also, I'm not a schooled player, my forte is product appraisal & that's what I take pride in. They understood that I have the right to opine on the circumstances & were appreciative that many entries over the years mentioned positive remarks about their business.

At the end of it all, the Ibanez Talman TM302 seen here was presented to me as a token of recognition & appreciation for my efforts & they look forward to some collaborations in time to come. So I guess, being true to myself paid off. All this guitar excess is really a personal passion that got carried away. If you are a passionate individual out there looking to make a difference, keep the fire burning because passion changes the world; everything else is a half-baked pastime. My astronomical thanks to Swee Lee; looking forward to working with you guys indeed. Cheers!

Lil' hot

The weather- it's been a little too hot lately. I suspect even my cat is affected by the heat. But really, I'm talking about my Ibanez Talman TM302 here which is a little hot as well, as in: 

• Bridge: Lil' 59 (ST59-1)
• Neck: Hot Tele (STR-2)

The Lil' 59 is a little hotter than its full humbucker counterpart & doesn't sound as scooped; that's what I like about it. The STR-2 is really an overwound pickup with the right amount of poke & warmth, nothing too 'hot' as suggested by the label. Paired up, I get the benefit of a hum-cancelling bridge pickup so tremendous amount of drive isn't an issue here. This one retains its inherent '59 voicing- a good PAF tone without the charged character of a modern pickup. The STR-2 has no issue keeping up with the '59 in terms of voicing; it's as biting but stays put in its single coil territory. It's also very dependable in clean mode. 

Duncanized: Ibanez Talman

Ibanez Talman TM302 got its first make over last weekend.

A new set of pickups: Seymour Duncan Hot Rhythm (N)/ Lil '59 (B). A fresh set of D'Addario while I'm at it. FYI, the half rounds are to tame the brightness; the reason why many jazz players specify flat wounds or half-flats for their guitars. 

Talman in

The objective of getting this Talman isn't about re-living the past but embracing the contemporary. The Tele/ Strat theme had been over-done, really. Every manufacturer who can think straight & has some financial figures to crunch would do well to have this interpretation manifested in their catalogs. Things are looking good with the current Talmans (more details to come), Let's hope it stays for a little longer than suffer the fate of Ibanez's we-tried-that models. 

Ibanez: Talman

So it happened :-)