The first thing that I want say and it makes a EXTREMELY HUGE difference in how this guitar plays,sounds and that the guitar stays in tune is this……
Buy a graph tech nut that will work for the guitar and have it installed from a good luthier with proper trussrod adjustment and have the frets sanded that they are nice and smooth.After I got my guitar back home I was extremely impressed in what a huge difference it made in sound and playability, highly recommend it!!!!!
Before it was frustrating to have it not stay in tune properly and over time it demotivated me to play it but now…. It is such a enjoyment to play and a world of difference.
This is the second time I have had this guitar and happy I bought it again after 12 years.Overall for the money I think it is pretty good and I must say plays really nice. The action is much better out of the box then the last time I had it.
I had the Suhr Doug Aldrich humbucker installed from a technician that builds custom amplifiers and when I picked it up he was a bit upset with Ibanez. The reason be is with other companies who build guitars there is a access panel in the back to make the installation much easier, unfortunately it was not easy due to this reason but it is possible.
The last time I had the tobacco flat and this time the black matt, both guitars look much better in person then the pictures from Thomann…just a hint to improve their product page.
I play through a Kemper Stage with profiles from Tue Madsen and must say with the Doug Aldrich signature humbucker it sounds awesome!!🤘🏻 For the money this guitar rocks big time with new pickups. My last Ibanez Artcore there was the Seymour Duncan JB in it…and it rocked big time as well.
The fretboard needs some cleaning up and lemon oil to bring it back in shape.
I will also change out the tuners soon, they work but there are better ones.
Definitely would recommend this guitar it plays and sounds great for the money.
Keep on rocken🤘🏻