In this Google+ Hangout I present to you my newest guitar – an Ibanez RG4EX1 Quilted Maple in Bright Translucent Blue!  I’ll make a thorough initial review of its features and qualities, from look and feel, to technical specs, to sound.

I didn’t buy this guitar from a store, but rather from an ebay seller.  In the hangout I am sharing with you the story and the experience of how originally wanted an Ibanez RG470FM, but once I saw this guitar I just had to have it.  I also share how the original deal with a different seller fell through, and then how I managed to make a good deal and buy this beautiful instrument from the ebay seller!

After that we plug this beast in and see how it sounds with various presets, including clean, distortion, and other specific effects. During this, we go through how it behaves in different pickup combinations.  Note: this guitar has three pickups – two humbuckers on the bridge and neck positions and one single coil between them — for ultimate tonal control.

I also share with you the setup adjustments that I’ve made to the Ibanez – more specifically, adjustments to the tremolo system, the truss-rod, etc. I’ve also made some adjustments to the pickup height and you can clearly hear how that affects the sound!

We then check out how the tremolo behaves, testing whether it will go off tune after some dive bombs and such. I am also showing the specifics of the tone knob.

Something interesting: one of the great things about this guitar is the presence of feedback. You can definitely hear this around minute 45 of the hangout, when I do some Satriani type tremolo wanking. The feedback is just coming at you. 🙂

At the end I jam a little bit and go through some things that I’ve been working on in terms of guitar technique and skills.

Again, here is the link for the hangout of the Ibanez RG4EX1.

Purchase your very own Ibanez RG using this link.