For those considering buying one of these things (now my comment may be obsolete since there's a newer model out than this): There's a known problem to the balancing of the Xiphos body. When hanging on the strap, it will tip toward the head, thus making it hard to play without constantly counterbalancing the neck with the left hand. There's videos on youtube however that show how to reposition the strap pins so that the balancing problem disappears. Otherwise a really nice guitar! Rock on...
I do own this guitar and I would say the clean tones were slightly distorted and also there was a very tiny bit fret buzz when I didn't make any changes to it. Then I adjusted the bridge height and the gap between the pickup and strings. It sounds great now and no fret buzz anymore but I absolutely hate it's tremolo/whammy bar. I blocked it. The guitar definitely gives a monstrous tone. I play it with a Boss ME 25 Processor I love playing it
ive got this guitar i love it, i customized mine i moved the strap pin and took out the tone knob and put the pickup switch where the tone knob was and put a new input jack where the pickup switch was.
This review made me want this guitar I was so happy with it I purchased 2. Don't get to play as much like I would like but, still sounds metal when I need it to.
ive had mine for about 2 months now and i swear its an awesome guitar, so easy to play really fast, its just an amazing guitar, i like it better in black though, thats the color of mine
love this, gt mine when they first came out. only time i tune is when i change strings r like once a month, pickups great, actin great, range f tones great, paint awesome, playability great, only problem i have is that tremol bar does get stuck b/w knobs but small problem. even heavy strings and dwntuned is great
I have Dimarzio Dactivator and I love them. I think that they sound a lot different from this video.They don't have that cloudy electric sound that a lot of cheaper pickups have. They have a really good clean sound but they don't lose their clarity with distortion, you can still hear each note. I think that they are good for any kind of music, but especially good for rock/metal. I have never used a active pickup, so I dont know how much they sound like an active pickup. Give them a try!
me too, as soon as possible just picked it up yesterday because it had good looks. When I started too play o god. This instrument is just one with me. Playing fast combined with low chucking riffs. Just fucking good instrument. Even clean it's nice even I didn't checked that out so well.
And in one thing the Xiphos rocks. IT HAS NECK THROUGH! Also wood on this babe is mahagony, WRMG is Alder. Some says Alder is best wood for metal. Crispy, crunchy attacking sound (maybe better for thrash, black metal). Mahagony is deeper, warmer (best for death metal I think). Some people says that the most work lays on pickups and amp and wood is not so important, not sure about this. I love also neck and back of neck on Xiphos.
i have had this guitar for about half a year now. and all the problems that u r stating, r not happening to mine. so this guitar is great and definitely worth the price and its amazing i always have great fun with it every time i play it and if its a tone problem then i've got the crappy line 6 spider 3 witch has a horrible tone but it still sound great.
@punkdude1994 glad to hear i helped. yeah, some time ago Ibanez had a Prestige with EMGs but they removed it, sadly. i was pissed when i heard about it. but these new RGA's with EMGs make up for it pretty much, IMO. beautiful guitars. if i didn't already have an EMG-equipped RG, i'd get one of them. but if i want a new guitar, it needs to be a different guitar than i have already so i'm going with the Xiphos.
@TheOmalley666 Idk if you're talking about the playing or the sound but I feel that way about the guitar sound,. I'm definetely going to look into getting this guitar.
i am in love with this guitar, i got to play one today, theres only one word for it-PERFECT, but when this guy said he was gonna play metal i wasnt expecting some like 80s shred licks, i want some real fuckin metal, the guitarist from necrophagist uses this guitar, and they are fuckin metal
also it would be awesome if it had the same paintjob as the warbeast, black with like the red stripes on the side, also they would need to make the xiphos neck and fretboard darker maybe an ebony fretboard and if it had an original floyd rose lol that would be awesome aswell!! but the xiphos is allready fuckin great!
Actually when i first started playing with Floyds (although this isnt a floyd) it was very hard to get used to for me. actually i also think its easier to NOT cut off the ball and just feed the string through the tuner and cut it off at the end of the bridge. message for more details if you want them.
@Aoimusha412 yeah i agree they're a different sound than the EMG 81. i think they're actually based off of the EMG 85s. if you put an 85 in the bridge, you'll get something like the Xiphos' sound. especially in a mahogany body.
idk why people say that edge 3 breaks to easily i have an rg5ex1 and ive had it for about 7 months and its never failed me on anything and stays in tune perfectly i ordered the xiphos 2 weeks ago i cnat wait till it gets here!!! its gonna be fuckin great everything on this guitar is great these things are jsut as good as emg's just get a heavy distortion pedal i recomend the line 6 uber metal distortion pedal its the best distortion you will ever find trust me on this!
@HANIAK9 cant you seen the resemblence? the massive chunk missing from the bottom (which is the bit that makes it an X shape) the horn has been reshaped and theres a cutaway for higher fret acccess
@TheMetalHeaD256 after alot of research , the pickups in the end i am going for are the EMG 81/85 s , anyway thanks for replying , i will maybe get the xiphos but have EMGs installed on him , since i like the guitar , and alot of people tell that it plays great and the neck is smooth :P
wow when he started the solo with the bridge pickup i was like "do you even play guitar"? until he got a little further and then i was like "oh ok nice" lolz
many people talk crap about this guitar and i can't understand why?i mean check out its specs.mahogany body/wizard neck(thru body)/D-activator pickupsedge III tremolo.most guitars with such specs cost more than 1500$ while this only costs 650-900$
I kick myself for not having purchased a Xiphos when Ibanez WAS offering the black finish. I would have loved to get one; swap the bridge for an Original Floyd Rose; swap the pickups for EMG-81s; swap the tuners for Gotohs; and swap the strap buttons for Schallers. That would've been a SHRED MACHINE!!! Oh, well; maybe Ibanez will bring back the black finish sometime in the future... maybe with a trem better than the Edge III (Edge IV?).
I'm probably going to get this. I'd love to get a Stealth (Chuck Schuldiner ftw!), but it only has one pickup, and you just can't get much tonal range out of that.
well, the edge III isn't that bad, I'm not saying is the best trem, but I have no problems with it, I started having tuning problems when I bought the guitar, but now that it has been setup properly, im not having more problems, so I think that with a good setup, it can be solved, and yes, the xiphos is a great guitar
it is definetly the X that markes the spot ! and im happy to have it .... but im having a big time trouble with my Xiphos the string block holders keep breaking :s and having a tuning stability ...im no luthier but i think that it sounds like the problem comes from the tremolo ?? or does it not ??
@TheMetalHeaD256 thanks alot for this suggestion , i dont know ibanez had guitars with emg's :) , anyway this guitar fits what i want in a guitar , thanks alot ! gonna get this one if i found it in the store :D
well i have a two guitars with the edge III system and its fantastic just as good as any guitar ive played with original floyd rose and it stays in tune beautifully, but you should definetly try it for yourself
tommorrow im ordering mine chameleon blue!! fuckin beautiful!! cant wait to play my deathmetal riffs on that! so does everyone agree the xiphos will look good in transparent black???
thanks ! The Xiphos is awsome and all , but it is too bad that the trem problems haven't yet been neutralized , maybe in the next ibanez XPT generation ^^ who knows... ! and Yeah I ordered a JW !! still one week to wait for it !! ( with a customed Trem :) ) :D
I would make sure it's not counterfeit. Ibanez has a counterfeit warning out right now. Even if it's used, it would have to be in pretty rough shape for that price.
tinny sound is cos of new strings. the tremelo not not great but its not shit for all the crazy stuff i do with it. the pick ups are acctually amazingly good.
the edge III's made out of diecast. i had an RG5EX1 and with normal use i practically demolished it. haha. i'm pretty sure an Original Floyd will fit in the route but some work may be necessary to put in new studs.
i always wondered, why are reverse headstocks considered more "metal" than non reverse? they do look pretty cool with jackson type headstocks, but fander style or ibanez, which are pretty streight to guide the strings straight to the tuners, they look kind of weird...
well these are the d activators the have the sound and feel of actives pickups like emg but are passive . I dont know its your choice both of them should be ok , but it'd problebly go with Emg's man.
@NotSoClose001 doesnt the pickups lack bass ? , this guitar is perfect , but ive got very negative reviews about its pickups , i am the type that loves EMG pickups
For those considering buying one of these things (now my comment may be obsolete since there's a newer model out than this): There's a known problem to the balancing of the Xiphos body. When hanging on the strap, it will tip toward the head, thus making it hard to play without constantly counterbalancing the neck with the left hand. There's videos on youtube however that show how to reposition the strap pins so that the balancing problem disappears. Otherwise a really nice guitar! Rock on...
I do own this guitar and I would say the clean tones were slightly distorted and also there was a very tiny bit fret buzz when I didn't make any changes to it. Then I adjusted the bridge height and the gap between the pickup and strings. It sounds great now and no fret buzz anymore but I absolutely hate it's tremolo/whammy bar. I blocked it. The guitar definitely gives a monstrous tone. I play it with a Boss ME 25 Processor I love playing it
this is probably my favorite ibanez it its so fun the play it sounds amazing i recommend it to any metal player
ive got this guitar i love it, i customized mine i moved the strap pin and took out the tone knob and put the pickup switch where the tone knob was and put a new input jack where the pickup switch was.
Besides Dimebag Darrell's squeals, 2:53 was probably the most bad ass thing I've heard anyone do with natural harmonics
This review made me want this guitar I was so happy with it I purchased 2. Don't get to play as much like I would like but, still sounds metal when I need it to.
ive had mine for about 2 months now and i swear its an awesome guitar, so easy to play really fast, its just an amazing guitar, i like it better in black though, thats the color of mine
love this, gt mine when they first came out. only time i tune is when i change strings r like once a month, pickups great, actin great, range f tones great, paint awesome, playability great, only problem i have is that tremol bar does get stuck b/w knobs but small problem. even heavy strings and dwntuned is great
i love the sound on that guitar, plus it looks sick! i want this thing so bad!
I have Dimarzio Dactivator and I love them. I think that they sound a lot different from this video.They don't have that cloudy electric sound that a lot of cheaper pickups have. They have a really good clean sound but they don't lose their clarity with distortion, you can still hear each note. I think that they are good for any kind of music, but especially good for rock/metal. I have never used a active pickup, so I dont know how much they sound like an active pickup. Give them a try!
me too, as soon as possible just picked it up yesterday because it had good looks.
When I started too play o god. This instrument is just one with me. Playing fast combined with low chucking riffs. Just fucking good instrument.
Even clean it's nice even I didn't checked that out so well.
the bar comes with it
both stealth and xiphos are amazing so whatever you get will be worth the money
Holy fuck this is the best i've seen Paul play! those divebombs and harmonics were crazy. and that clean run sound like a very storytelling ballad.
i like the new xiphos that they came out with.
it has one double and one single pickup and 27frets, it look awesome
Me too!
You get as a christmas present like me?
AWESOME GUITAR
im in love with this guitar
And in one thing the Xiphos rocks. IT HAS NECK THROUGH! Also wood on this babe is mahagony, WRMG is Alder. Some says Alder is best wood for metal. Crispy, crunchy attacking sound (maybe better for thrash, black metal). Mahagony is deeper, warmer (best for death metal I think). Some people says that the most work lays on pickups and amp and wood is not so important, not sure about this. I love also neck and back of neck on Xiphos.
He's soo right about the colors. Im Glad Ibanez offers it in white and Black now
i have had this guitar for about half a year now. and all the problems that u r stating, r not happening to mine. so this guitar is great and definitely worth the price and its amazing i always have great fun with it every time i play it and if its a tone problem then i've got the crappy line 6 spider 3 witch has a horrible tone but it still sound great.
@punkdude1994 glad to hear i helped.
yeah, some time ago Ibanez had a Prestige with EMGs but they removed it, sadly. i was pissed when i heard about it. but these new RGA's with EMGs make up for it pretty much, IMO. beautiful guitars.
if i didn't already have an EMG-equipped RG, i'd get one of them. but if i want a new guitar, it needs to be a different guitar than i have already so i'm going with the Xiphos.
yeah my friend just got one and he is having a FR put in eventually.
Everytime I see Paul to a guitar review I'm surprised to see him shred like he does. He's really good
@TheOmalley666
Idk if you're talking about the playing or the sound but I feel that way about the guitar sound,. I'm definetely going to look into getting this guitar.
i friggin love that guitar
Damn that's some amazing playing :D Lovin' the guitar, found exactly the same but used for only 300 pounds.
i am in love with this guitar, i got to play one today, theres only one word for it-PERFECT, but when this guy said he was gonna play metal i wasnt expecting some like 80s shred licks, i want some real fuckin metal, the guitarist from necrophagist uses this guitar, and they are fuckin metal
dude, i want paul's job. seriously, he's the luckiest man alive. and he kicks some major ass at guitar.
also it would be awesome if it had the same paintjob as the warbeast, black with like the red stripes on the side, also they would need to make the xiphos neck and fretboard darker maybe an ebony fretboard and if it had an original floyd rose lol that would be awesome aswell!!
but the xiphos is allready fuckin great!
Actually when i first started playing with Floyds (although this isnt a floyd) it was very hard to get used to for me. actually i also think its easier to NOT cut off the ball and just feed the string through the tuner and cut it off at the end of the bridge. message for more details if you want them.
I got one of these as a blemish item for $400 tax included! It only had a few fingerprints under the finish and it plays just fine
They have it in black now. Now it's pure marshall metal.
this makes me want one even more
@Aoimusha412 yeah i agree they're a different sound than the EMG 81. i think they're actually based off of the EMG 85s. if you put an 85 in the bridge, you'll get something like the Xiphos' sound. especially in a mahogany body.
idk why people say that edge 3 breaks to easily i have an rg5ex1 and ive had it for about 7 months and its never failed me on anything and stays in tune perfectly
i ordered the xiphos 2 weeks ago i cnat wait till it gets here!!!
its gonna be fuckin great
everything on this guitar is great
these things are jsut as good as emg's just get a heavy distortion pedal
i recomend the line 6 uber metal distortion pedal
its the best distortion you will ever find trust me on this!
@HANIAK9 cant you seen the resemblence? the massive chunk missing from the bottom (which is the bit that makes it an X shape) the horn has been reshaped and theres a cutaway for higher fret acccess
@TheMetalHeaD256 after alot of research , the pickups in the end i am going for are the EMG 81/85 s , anyway thanks for replying , i will maybe get the xiphos but have EMGs installed on him , since i like the guitar , and alot of people tell that it plays great and the neck is smooth :P
it doesnt suck its really awesome u just gotta make sure that its set right, this guitar is fucking awesome dont hesitate to buy it im serious
Fuck yes Micks my guitar hero and he NEEDS this guitar with his original setups and the seven inlay
awesome guitar, and i want tabs to what he was playing man. My computer lags to much to see what hes doin.
i got a double neck version of this guitar ! no jokes ! it sounds awesome !
Damn man. I want to learn everything you played here!
@TCRos15 Whenever it comes to reviewing guitars, he's usually the only one I'll watch.
do you know what would be the coolest thing ever!!!
if the xiphos came in transparent black that would be fuckin great i love the xiphos!!!
@tenhundredkills yes its called the xpt700fx its string through, has different paint though
this is a better demo of the d activators than the gw d activator demo
wow when he started the solo with the bridge pickup i was like "do you even play guitar"? until he got a little further and then i was like "oh ok nice" lolz
many people talk crap about this guitar and i can't understand why?i mean check out its specs.mahogany body/wizard neck(thru body)/D-activator pickupsedge III tremolo.most guitars with such specs cost more than 1500$ while this only costs 650-900$
I kick myself for not having purchased a Xiphos when Ibanez WAS offering the black finish. I would have loved to get one; swap the bridge for an Original Floyd Rose; swap the pickups for EMG-81s; swap the tuners for Gotohs; and swap the strap buttons for Schallers. That would've been a SHRED MACHINE!!! Oh, well; maybe Ibanez will bring back the black finish sometime in the future... maybe with a trem better than the Edge III (Edge IV?).
Jesus I love these guitars... my second favoruite only to the Jackson Kellys.
even though I don't like the guy (sounds like a flamer) these videos are the best for guitar reviews and he does them well
BEautiful guitar Just like the B.C. rich stealth
@tenhundredkills yes, a non trem version and also a 7 strings without trem
the edge III-fantastic for dive bombing and pulling up ...for about six weeks.
I'm probably going to get this. I'd love to get a Stealth (Chuck Schuldiner ftw!), but it only has one pickup, and you just can't get much tonal range out of that.
well, the edge III isn't that bad, I'm not saying is the best trem, but I have no problems with it, I started having tuning problems when I bought the guitar, but now that it has been setup properly, im not having more problems, so I think that with a good setup, it can be solved, and yes, the xiphos is a great guitar
Ordering mine tomorrow. Red Chameleon and everything. :P
Great playing!
same except insted of a edge 3 its got a fixed bridge and the extra string
This guitar is great, but the Ibanez ICT700 (Iceman) is my favorite guitar.
@GR1PTAPE That's why you should always go for the Edge Pro.
it really does , :( to the next flawless xiphos !! :D
i played one of these the other day it's fucking great for the price the d activators SCREAM
it is definetly the X that markes the spot ! and im happy to have it .... but im having a big time trouble with my Xiphos the string block holders keep breaking :s and having a tuning stability ...im no luthier but i think that it sounds like the problem comes from the tremolo ?? or does it not ??
@TheMetalHeaD256 thanks alot for this suggestion , i dont know ibanez had guitars with emg's :) , anyway this guitar fits what i want in a guitar , thanks alot ! gonna get this one if i found it in the store :D
you should listen to engage the knot. i got this guitar. he knows what he is talking about
3:32 - 3:37
OH MY GOD i fucking watched that bit 29 times!!! that is fucking GORGEOUS !!!
well i have a two guitars with the edge III system and its fantastic just as good as any guitar ive played with original floyd rose and it stays in tune beautifully, but you should definetly try it for yourself
I Got The Same Guitar
Even Red Chameleon IT IS AMAZING!
HOLY CRAP! hes freaking good! lol
how much does one of these pups set you back?
tommorrow im ordering mine chameleon blue!!
fuckin beautiful!!
cant wait to play my deathmetal riffs on that!
so does everyone agree the xiphos will look good in transparent black???
@RedShogun13 the sound man, the Harmonic whammybar scream thing :P
sameee dudeee I'm so getting one
thanks ! The Xiphos is awsome and all , but it is too bad that the trem problems haven't yet been neutralized , maybe in the next ibanez XPT generation ^^ who knows... ! and Yeah I ordered a JW !! still one week to wait for it !! ( with a customed Trem :) ) :D
I would make sure it's not counterfeit. Ibanez has a counterfeit warning out right now. Even if it's used, it would have to be in pretty rough shape for that price.
does the xiphos come with the tremelo bar? or did he put that in
i wanna buy a stealth or xiphos
chuck Schuldiner wit hthe stealth is awsome
i agree with this guy in every single way this guitar is amazin i have too :D
Paul is a damn good guitarist
Ya I have a RG 320FM ( like orange yellow ) with egde III witch is pretty sweet lol/m/
tinny sound is cos of new strings. the tremelo not not great but its not shit for all the crazy stuff i do with it. the pick ups are acctually amazingly good.
Those riffs sound very Megadeth...great sounding guitar.
he's a great guitarist^^
Heya. Did anybody tried to change Edge III for OFR? I read it is possible without any special changes. Thanks for the answer.
the edge III's made out of diecast. i had an RG5EX1 and with normal use i practically demolished it. haha. i'm pretty sure an Original Floyd will fit in the route but some work may be necessary to put in new studs.
I just got my black Xiphos in today
hes really good
Blue ,cause its changes blue to green ... ( there both pretty sweet i wouldent witch one to pick haha )
Im pretty sure you could get a original edge pro to fit in there it would be wayy better.
i always wondered, why are reverse headstocks considered more "metal" than non reverse?
they do look pretty cool with jackson type headstocks, but fander style or ibanez, which are pretty streight to guide the strings straight to the tuners, they look kind of weird...
well these are the d activators the have the sound and feel of actives pickups like emg but are passive . I dont know its your choice both of them should be ok , but it'd problebly go with Emg's man.
@TheRitzyRedneck im pretty sure you can just that the strings you use should be thick(:
Both Ibanez and BC Rich was before Jackson with these shape...
@GR1PTAPE tighten the locking nuts, mine has never gone out of tune
i'm getting one of those tomorow! :D
They still have black in stores, but it has been discontinued (no idea why).
you have made a very great decision
Theres nothing wrong with this guitar, Dimarzio makes great pickups, if people are going to whine about it, turn your gain up and eq your amp correct.
@NotSoClose001 doesnt the pickups lack bass ? , this guitar is perfect , but ive got very negative reviews about its pickups , i am the type that loves EMG pickups
Indonesia, but from review people like craftmenship on this guitar. Maybe u get some custom USA or Japan models too...
fucking awesome guitar...wanna have one
God damn, at least he can play it. Ive seen some guitar magizine writers try to demonstrate a guitar and then play a style not at all right for it.
yeah thats right, akira takasakis x shapesstar esp, the bcrich stealth and teh jackson warrior, its kinda wird tbh