Guitar diaries ep.2: Ibanez EX370

 Today I'm taking care of my second guitar ever and my very first Ibanez.

She's been my mine guitar from 93 to 96 and her actual role is being "my metal strat".

What is a "Metal Strat"? To me it is a Strat guitar that can deliver both stratty/signlecoilous tones and high gain metal one. Just like thoose '80 strats with the black headstock!

The worst thing of this guitar was pickups, but it takes me dacades to understand it.

So I searched the used/lowend market for options. A decent classic single coil that works well with humbuckers and 2 humbuckers that split well..

I choosed a Duncan designed for the bridge. I love this pickup, it is a clone of the Duncan Distortion and works really well. If you dont like it is either not your cup of tea or it has the wrong distance from the strings.

And obviously it split well.

I did my  homework and found that entiwstle pickup are decent and offer a wide range of choice, included modern and high output pickups.

I chosed the HVX for the neck, becaouse it is hot and it is raccomended for the splitting job, and the X62N, that has a classic 60 tone but with an output stay with humbuckers. The HVX is very bassy but without being muddy.

So the guitar now has a very interesting range of tones.

How's the neck? Not stratty at all. it is small and very rounded like a perfect half circle and the fretboard is narrower that the classic Ibanez neck. The frets are small for my test, main drawback for this neck. No tmy actual favorite but it is a nice options to have. I also covered the shark inlays with a fretboard sticket to give it a more clasical look.

The guitar is turning 30 years and ufficially vintage this month so the neck is super stable and also has a very strong yellow acer now.

What's needed? Her very first fret polish is very long due. Maybe some check to the wires.

Guitar diaries ep.1: Jackson Kelly KE3R

 Today i'm dedicating some quality time to my Jackson Kelly 3.

She spents most of the time on his big case since it not so pratical to handle and she has been a "work in progress" to find a new identity for years.

She's the only guitar that has seen live action on a stage, being my main and almost only guitar in that years.

When the bridge duncan designed humbucker died i switch to Ibanez SZ and never looked back.

I tried some EMG because of the plastic cover look but never liked it and i didnt have the experience to understand why.

Recently i upgraded tu an ibanez quantum on the bridge, i pickup that i like a lot and i started likeing what i hear agian.

Today i'm comparing with my Ibby S with the same bridge pickup. What  i've found is that the S has a very warm tone and the Kelly is more on the treble side, more glassy. I think that the poplar wood of the body is making the difference.

I'm ok with that since you should not want all your guitars to sound the same, so same pickup with different result is ok.

I think this trebles richness is the main reason for the EMG fail.

Problem is that it still have the EMG on the neck. Also the soldering on the EMG failed today so some work is due anyway.

I need to make a decision for a pickup on that position.

Rational is: this is a fairly simple guitar, no tone control, simple 3 way switch with no splitting. I plan to keep its soul raw and simple, so i shuld find a good match for the bridge pickup. Usually you have 2 macro options: a creamy lead pickup or a more acustic one. I have some spare for the second option an di really dont know what should sound good here i i lean toward the first option: do i need to compensate the midrange on the neck. Altrough the neck joint isnt real that comfortable. Access is good at 20 fret, accettable at 22 but is a no go on 24 fret. The last to fret are almost aestical.

Is this guitar going for surgery today or i need to wait to find the right pickup?