Thursday, May 22, 2014

Observation about Ibanez Headstocks

So I'm going to let the proverbial cat partially/mostly out of the bag and state that for my blue Stratocaster build I'm going with a neck that has an 'Ibanez' style headstock. I'm actually debating getting 2 necks, and just seeing which one works better and then I'd have a 2nd neck for another project, but we'll see how that turns out...

Anyway - as I was looking at some Ibanez headstocks out there I started to notice a peculiar difference between different version. Obviously they come in 'straight' (think Stratocaster style)  and angled/tilt-back, but that aside I started to notice a pattern in regards to the 'CheckMark' Ibanez Logo

Look at these:
6 String - S Series
6 String - RG Series
6 String - RG Series
Notice how for all these 6 string versions, the logo starts between the 2nd and 3rd Tuning peg and points at the 2nd (Starting from the left / Low E). Next let's look at the 7 strings

7 String - RG Series
 
7 String Universe

Obviously the headstock is longer with the extra tuning peg etc, but again here they have it lined up between the 2nd and 3rd tuning peg, pointing at the 2nd, while the line going to the tip of the headstock is obviously longer. Nice and consistent right? Right - until Mr. Satriani comes along..






Wait what? These are 6 strings, but start between the 1st and 2nd tuning peg (closer to the 2nd).
Maybe it has something to do with the fact there is no truss-rod cover on the JS Series, but while it's a 'small' difference - probably half an inch / 1cm close to the nut - I think it looks a LOT better. I'm guessing Joe is quite the stickler for details because why would they move the decal over by half an inch if they didn't really have to?

Anyway - why am I talking about any of this? While some will cry blasphemy, it looks like I will be needing a nice Ibanez Logo for my new neck. It's still being made, but will look 'somewhat' like this (but better ;) )


Graphite Neck
It's going to be a Moses Graphite, with custom inlays and everything... I'm guessing if I get a nice 7 string logo I can place it like the JS headstock and simply cut off the excess..