The Most Iconic Ibanez Guitars Ever
Published on 16 August 2024
Here’s an understatement for you: Ibanez are not short of a few eye-catching guitars! Neon finishes, graphics, bizarre shapes, curtains (I’ll explain later) and detailed inlay work: theirs is a catalogue that no other maker can really compete with for colour and imagination.
Renowned for innovation and for taking bold chances with aesthetics, Ibanez are a brand who clearly make up their own rules.
That rule-breaking has worked well for them: they’re one of the top-selling guitar brands in the world, with a roster of talent that is pretty jaw dropping (check out our Greatest Ever Ibanez Artists blog for more).
Today, I’d like to highlight some of Ibanez’s most iconic guitars. Whether artist models or cool collaborations, these are the models that have turned heads, made history and become truly famous within guitar communities.
Here then, in no particular order, are the most iconic Ibanez guitars ever…
Contents
Joe Satriani Chromeboy
Joe Satriani is obviously an alien (humans cannot play like that) and so it makes sense for at least one of his guitars to look like a spaceship, right? The Ibanez JS Chromeboy fulfils this criteria, and is exactly what it sounds like: a JS model covered in a chrome coating. It first showed up as the JS10th with two humbuckers and 22 frets in 1998 for Joe’s Crystal Planet record, and an alternate 24 fret version, the JS1CR was released subsequently.
I believe the actual ‘chrome’ part of the guitar has changed throughout the years, with a sort of simulated chrome paint achieving the best results over the wooden body (initial Chromeboy bodies were made from synthetic material). It all looks pretty ace, though.
Next time you go surfing with any aliens, make sure you have one of these!
Iceman
If you don’t think the Iceman is one of the most badass guitar designs ever, then we need to have a serious talk. It’s one of the few bold, original designs that have stood the test of time, and whilst it’s fair to say that it’s an acquired taste, it’s clearly an iconic instrument.
Paul Stanley first made the Iceman famous, then White Zombie’s Jay Yeunger took that vibe and made it gloriously weird, only to be followed up by System of a Down’s Daron Malakian, proving that the Iceman is actually the ultimate ‘alternative show off’ guitar. Perfect.
JEM 7V (and the Floral JEM)
The Ibanez JEM is an obvious choice for this blog. It’s one of Ibanez’s most enduringly popular signature models, plus it birthed the entire RG line of guitars, which are iconic in their own right (see below). It’s also one of the most immediately recognisable guitars in the world, thanks to its massively distinctive monkey grip!
There have been loads of JEMs issued in the last 37 years, so the question really is: which one to pick? I feel like there’s an obvious winner here, but since I’m the one writing this, I want to give a shout out to my favourite JEM model too, so let’s have two in here!
The first one I’d pick is the one Steve Vai prefers himself: the white JEM7V. It’s the one most closely associated with him, and it has all of the JEM ‘bits’ you’d expect to see: the Monkey Grip, the Lion’s Claw (tremolo routing), the Tree of Life inlay and the scalloped frets. Add a white finish and gold hardware and you’re in JEM heaven.
That said, my favourite JEM was always the original Floral JEM77-FP. I love the mixture of how undeniably beautiful this guitar is, and how bonkers the concept behind it was: Steve had a set of curtains with a pattern he loved, so got Ibanez to put the actual material over the JEM body and then spray it black around the edges and apply a lacquer. (I can report from first-hand experience that this story is entirely true, it’s no myth!) It’s kind of like what Fender do with Paisley finish guitars, except with curtains instead of wallpaper!
Pink DiMarzios and a green Tree-of-Life inlay finish off this gorgeous guitar.
RG550
The RG is, as you know, one of the big Ibanez calling cards. A stripped back take on the JEM, the RG was created for those who wanted a flavour of that guitar’s vibe and performance, without going ‘full Vai’, as it were.
There have been countless RG models across the years - indeed, there’s another one in this list - but it’s the initial RG550 model that seems to have cemented the guitar’s legend. It’s basically the blueprint for all Superstrats, with the edgier body shape, the H-S-H pickup configuration and the locking wiggle stick. The Ibanez ‘Wizard’ neck is as legendary as the guitars: thin, flat and very much ready to shred.
Destroyer
‘Shape’ guitars have always been a big thing for rock players, and whilst Ibanez’s most unique shape is undoubtedly the Iceman (see above), it’s hard to overestimate how flat-out awesome the Destroyer is, too.
I say ‘Destroyer’, but I actually mean the Destroyer II, which Ibanez were somewhat obliged to make in order to fend off angry stares from Gibson. If I’m calling a spade a spade, the first version (made from 1975 until 1978) was quite clearly a copy of the Gibson Explorer.
The Destroyer II though, whilst undeniably similar, had it’s own super cool vibe: slightly chunkier with some extra angles chopped into the rear ‘fin’. It was cool enough to attract players like Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith, and was available with various pickup configurations, but it’s quite clear that the red ones were easily the best.
Bring this guitar back into production!
HR Giger S
It’s actually amazing how long it took anyone to realise how incredible HR Giger’s artwork would look on a guitar. The Swiss artist came to mainstream prominence in 1979 after working on Alien, and these guitars weren’t made until 2006!
There was an entire range made, actually, from 2005 until 2008, but this beautifully ornate top-end model took an extra year to show up. It’s a S series guitar, and the body has been covered in zinc and then etched with a detail from Giger’s ‘Biomechanical Matrix, which was originally an aluminium floor plate. They only ever made 105 of these and they are now rarer than the proverbial hen’s teeth.
Movie score fans may have noticed Hans Zimmer playing one of these recently on tour!
RGDIX6MPB-SBB
Is this the ultimate metalcore guitar? It certainly showed up on an inordinate number of stages over the last 6 or 7 years, crushing audiences with huge sounds whilst looking inordinately pretty. The name is somewhat unwieldy (Ibanez RGDIX6MPB-SBB) but there’s no denying the potent mix of oceanic colours, poplar burl swirls and the brutality of a baritone 7 string!
‘Lawsuit’ 2350
Now, isn’t this a familiar sight? Ibanez fans will be familiar with the company’s ‘lawsuit years’, even though no actual lawsuit emerged. In reality, Ibanez’s owners Hoshino Gakki had taken heed of the warnings put about the industry by Gibson and others, and had begun to change their guitar designs accordingly. The lawsuit never actually happened, but let’s not allow the truth to get in the way of a good story!
Prior to all of this, Ibanez were making affordable takes on classic electric guitars in their now-famed FujiGen plant. These instruments - though employing anachronistic details such as bolted-on necks - were becoming renowned for their quality and playability. If one were to squint one’s eyes, the likes of the Ibanez 2350 also looked pretty convincing from a distance!
Tree of Death TOD10N
Polyphia have taken the technical/shred world by storm with their flabbergasting command of their instruments. It’s next-level stuff and it’s also quite subversive in its own way: there are jazzy passages in amongst the prog-metal, and even nylon string tunes.
To play such music requires a special guitar, and Tim Henson certainly has that in his signature TOD10N Tree of Death acoustic! It’s a thinline nylon string electro acoustic with a fresh new take on Steve Vai’s Tree of Life inlays that adds some thorny goth vibes to this already-moody looking axe! The TOD10N has actually been one of the best-selling guitars on the market since its release, proof that not everyone is looking for classic designs from the 50s!
Paul GIlbert PGM300
Paul Gilbert is a rare thing in shred circles: he’s a genuinely eccentric character with a host of unusual ways of expressing himself. He’s fond of a zany outfit, he loves to pull ‘playing faces’ and one of his signature guitars is an upside-down Iceman, for example.
I say ‘one’ of his signature guitars, because he’s had a whole run of them over the years, and his most famous are perhaps the PGM models. The big distinguishing factor with these models is the painted f-holes on the finish, like giant-sized violin soundholes. This is on a fully solid guitar, remember, and one that is otherwise spec’d to fully rock, too!
There have been numerous versions of the PGM over the years - including some adorable shrunken models for pint-sized shred maniacs - but the consensus with us in the office is that the white version is the one we all remember best.
Universe UV77
It was the world’s first mass-production 7 string, and once particular guise of it introduced us all to the notion of a ‘swirl’ finish: it’s the Ibanez Universe, of course! I know I’ve already mentioned Vai’s JEM guitars but the Universe - and the UV77 in particular - deserves to be here in its own right.
Korn took the Universe (in a slightly more sober set of finishes than those shown here today) and turned the metal world on its head, but prior to that, these were designed by Vai during his stint with Whitesnake, in order to give the Slip of the Tongue record an entirely different sound to the hair metal and hard rock of the period.
Those swirl finishes though! No two are exactly alike, because the process of ‘dipping’ the bodies is exactly that: a vat/bath/container is filled with inks, swirled around and then the bare-timber body is carefully dipped into it. If Jackson Pollock ever decided to play guitar, this would be the one he’d pick!
Diversity
So that’s a few of Ibanez’s most iconic instruments. I’ve actually left out so many interesting, beautiful and flat-out crazy guitars because there are so, so many! Did I miss a favourite of yours?
One of the cool things about Ibanez is that their build quality has always been high across the price points, so no matter how simple or bonkers-looking the guitar appears, you know it’ll play great and be reliable. Also, they are not a small niche brand, they are one of the biggest guitar builders on the planet. The fact that they enjoy such success whilst taking so many creative risks with their designs says all kinds of cool things about them.
You obviously now need to begin an Ibanez guitar collection! Which will you get first?
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