The 2021 Q Series is Ibanez’s first foray into headless guitars. They are modern instruments for modern players, with ergonomic designs and versatile electronics. Depending on your preferences you can choose between SSS, HSS or HH pickup options. And with a variety of striking colours and finishes, the Q Series is one of the most interesting releases this year. For an even more modern feel, there are also 7-string and slanted fret variants.
The woods have been carefully selected to create a balanced tone, with a Nyatoh body for rich mid-range and tight low-end, and a Roasted Maple neck for brightness and clarity. The neck is a satin-finished “Wizard C” shape, very familiar to Ibanez players for its very thin shape and fast playability.
The pickups are designed in-house by Ibanez for the Q Series, delivering excellent clarity and balance. For additional versatility it also features an innovative “Dyna-MIX9” switching system, which can alter between single coils and humbuckers.
Slash – the guitarist perhaps more synonymous with the Les Paul than any other. So when he collaborated with Gibson in 2020 to release his line of signature Les Pauls, it only made sense. Well this year he’s done it again, with a signature line made by Epiphone, bringing his guitars to a more affordable market. The Epiphone Slash Les Pauls boast top end specs and a variety of stunning flamed Maple finishes, from Anaconda Burst to Appetite Burst – modelled after his number one Les Paul. They also come with custom hard cases.
The guitars feature the iconic combination of Mahogany body, AAA flamed Maple cap, and Mahogany neck. It also includes a bound Indian Laurel fretboard, and classic Tune-O-Matic bridge and Stop Bar tailpiece construction for excellent intonation and a true Les Paul tone and feel. This lays the perfect foundation for Slash’s custom specs.
The neck is Slash’s Custom C-Shape, which is thinner that a traditional Les Paul, offering more comfort in hand and faster playability. He has also ensured that his signature guitars feature the highest quality electronics, with premium CTS potentiometers and Orange Drop capacitors for high fidelity sound. The guitars also include the excellent Epiphone Custom ProBucker pickups, which are voiced to emulate the revered PAF pickups of the late 50s. They are slightly overwound to give a little bit more output and grit, for the signature Slash sound.
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