If you've followed my blog you know I simply LOVE a good maple neck.. so no surprise when I want a 'heavier' guitar (in tone , not weight) than a Strat (as much as I am a Strat Fanboy) I really wanted a Maple neck, which when you look at 'Metal' Guitars is... well quite uncommon...
I really was digging a blue guitar still, after my failed quest for that matte blue stratocaster body, and especially watching Al Joseph's custom Ibanez 7 string (those things are SWEET even though nowadays he's moved on to Kiesel it seems like) but what did I find as a 'guitar center exclusive'? a MAPLE neck version of a nice budget Ibanez.. I liked how it had a nice carved top instead of flat, pale maple neck, matte blue body, all good! Only nitpicky thing is the reverse headstock that I don't really care for. Frets were a little rough too so I needed to do some touchup work there including a full setup since well you know.. Guitar Center..
The 'flame maple' though seems.. well.. photocopied or printed on.. it just doesn't have any depth to it.. and it could be because the matte paint color, but I would NOT be surprised if that literally is just painted on...
Pickups sound 'ok' - will probably consider some DiMarzios in the future but it plays very nice!
Here's some stock images with some I tried to take to show the different coloring.
