NGD Ibanez RG2560ZEX.

[Piing]

I finally have a guitar is perfect on all aspects! Plays and feels flawless like a J-Custom, and this piece of wood has resonant mojo. Even the Dimarzio/IBZ pickups have great tone with the Axe-FX III, so I may not consider swapping them unless I am victim of some irrational gas-whim. Pleasantly surprised with the mid pup for clean and crunchy.

I've always been a fan of the Lo-Pro edge, but once removing the ZPS3 stabilizer from the Edge Zero it feels and flutters like the Lo-Pro. And it is so easy to attach/remove that it is very handy when needing a guitar with fixed-bridge behavior (adjacent strings do not go out of tune when bending)

The RG2560ZEX was made by FujiGen in small quantities to sell exclusively in Japan, so it is probably built with special care.

When someone says that certain guitar is amazing, or that it is the best guitar he's ever played, I always wonder what guitars he has owned, to put his view into context. So, I will enumerate some of the Super-Strats that I've purchased in attempts to replace my old and worn-out #1: a RG550LTD. All these were great guitars, but I sold them and kept using the RG550LTD for different particular reasons

Ibanez Prestige S5470Q RBB - Dead note

Ibanez J-Custom RG8550MZ BBE - Dead Note


Ibanez JS2450 - The pickups squealed like pigs at the slaughter in the nearby of any speaker. Dimarzio tech recognized that hot glue between the poles was missing inside. I was too pissed-off to fix them myself (they totally ruined my first rehearsal with a band) and didn't bind with this guitar.


Charvel Pro-Mod DK24 HSS - No mojo at the particular piece of wood I got.

Ibanez JEM777 30th Anniversary - This one was perfect, except for the infantile aesthetics. But I told my wife that I could make profit reselling it, and I had to keep my word


* Edit: the JEM777 30th Anniversary was not perfect. The squared neck joint is a pain in the ass to access the upper frets lower strings. Nothing like the AANJ

* 2nd edit: I forgot to add the Suhr Modern Satin! Sold because it also had a damned dead note. Why is it that the first solo you practice with a cursed new guitar always has a crucial note that has to be sustained with the dead note?

 

[Justincase]

Those are great necks...identical specs to my 2010 10th anniversary prestige. I dont care much for the ibz pickups tho. That's a good looking axe... congratulations.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Congratulations, Man! You've certainly paid your dues with less than stellar guitars. I don't know a secret to avoiding dead notes other than Vigier's 90/10 neck and companies like Flaxwood and Aristides avoiding wood, but I feel like looking for dead notes and rejecting ones that don't pass should be part of the QC process for every guitar.

 

[Andy Eagle]

Glad you have found something you like.

 

[Andy Eagle]

Congratulations, Man! You've certainly paid your dues with less than stellar guitars. I don't know a secret to avoiding dead notes other than Vigier's 90/10 neck and companies like Flaxwood and Aristides avoiding wood, but I feel like looking for dead notes and rejecting ones that don't pass should be part of the QC process for every guitar.

Trouble is there is a bit of note variation in almost all guitars so where to draw the line ? Also this would result in a very high reject rate of finished guitars as there is no real way to be sure before it is finished . It would more than double the price if manufactures actually rejected all of them. It is easy to check for, just sit and play every note acoustically and be your own quality control. Also don't forget that guitars only start sounding their best when you play them often and all over the neck. If you asked me what body wood is least likely to have issues? I would say hands down Basswood.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Trouble is there is a bit of note variation in almost all guitars so where to draw the line ? Also this would result in a very high reject rate of finished guitars as there is no real way to be sure before it is finished . It would more than double the price if manufactures actually rejected all of them. It is easy to check for, just sit and play every note acoustically and be your own quality control. Also don't forget that guitars only start sounding their best when you play them often and all over the neck. If you asked me what body wood is least likely to have issues? I would say hands down Basswood.

I'm thinking not necessarily about notes that just sustain less long than others; I think that's something a lot of us can live with. The thing that gets me is when notes just completely die, where essentially you have an unusable fret on your guitar.

But thank you for the advice about Basswood. It's only from you that I've heard that the body is the problem; folklore online points to the truss rod as the usual problem.

I have a checklist of things when shopping for a guitar, and it's definitely something that makes me only want to buy in person, even if it means a long journey!

As for the cost going up in my scenario, I've thought for a long time that guitars should be QC'd far better than they are now, and that the price should be higher. You make sure every guitar has good fretwork, etc... An industry truly set up to support guitarists, not to place roadblocks and greater expense at every turn. The unfortunate thing is, in the world of guitars, QC itself is a freakin' luxury.

 

[Andy Eagle]

A physically loose truss rod with air around it certainly won't help but the core problem is the two main pieces of wood are incompatible. I blame the body because it's mostly a problem of maple necked guitars and maple necks hardly vary in a way as to be the unpredictable factor. Were as most body woods commonly vary by over 50% in mass just over a few pieces. Also outliers can work really well. High end builders (small volume £5k + ) work around it by being ultra selective with wood . Rejecting anything outside a very narrow known area. Obviously any volume builder can't really do this and are more likely just to act retrospectively if stuff comes back.

 

[State of Epicicity]

High end builders (small volume £5k + ) work around it by being ultra selective with wood . Rejecting anything outside a very narrow known area.

What are they looking for in this regard, and what are they rejecting? This seems the most elusive thing to understand for am someone who is not a luthier.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Wait, I guess what you’re saying is the answer there is consistency of mass, having mass that is consistent throughout the body, or as consistent as you can find. And when there’s a big difference in the mass of different sections of the same body, it yields bad resonances with the neck, cancelling out particular frequencies. Am I understanding that right?

If so, how does one measure or estimate mass on a body? Just by knocking on different sections of it to hear of they make the same pitch?

 

[Piing]

Wait, I guess what you’re saying is the answer there is consistency of mass, having mass that is consistent throughout the body, or as consistent as you can find. And when there’s a big difference in the mass of different sections of the same body, it yields bad resonances with the neck, cancelling out particular frequencies. Am I understanding that right?

If so, how does one measure or estimate mass on a body? Just by knocking on different sections of it to hear of they make the same pitch?

I've found an interesting research paper that I will read this weekend:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233653803_Investigating_Dead_Spots_of_Electric_Guitars

BTW, I googled dead notes and had a dejavu

 

[Andy Eagle]

I've found an interesting research paper that I will read this weekend:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233653803_Investigating_Dead_Spots_of_Electric_Guitars

BTW, I googled dead notes and had a dejavu

This agrees entirely with what I said above . The two pieces need to work together .It is stated from the perspective of the neck being the issue but this is the wrong way of looking at it . As I state above the necks hardly vary and the wild fluctuations are in the body. So don't expect to find a neck swap to fix the issue because it not going to be different enough .

 

[Piing]

So don't expect to find a neck swap to fix the issue because it not going to be different enough .

So don't expect to find a neck swap to fix the issue because it not going to be different enough .

That is true. Neck swap doesn't fix it

 

[Andy Eagle]

What are they looking for in this regard, and what are they rejecting? This seems the most elusive thing to understand for am someone who is not a luthier.

Say if you are building a Strat; rosewood /alder if you stick between a narrow known weight for the unloaded body alder has such bland grain the results will be practically the same. Certainly predictable enough to avoid dead spots. A builder with experience will know the parameters he/she likes for their particular designs. Very heavy guitars almost always work in this respect, they sustain too well (little or no interaction with the body) sound bright (unless they are naturally oil filled then they are dull). Nobody likes them since the 70s though . The lighter woods that are technically hardwoods are the most interactive but any clashing frequencies here is disastrous . If you find one that works it will be fantastic ,a good example would be Joe Bonamassa's 51 Nocaster with a paf in the neck.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Very heavy guitars almost always work in this respect, they sustain too well (little or no interaction with the body) sound bright (unless they are naturally oil filled then they are dull). Nobody likes them since the 70s though .

The best sounding guitar I’ve had was a Washburn P3, their 90s answer to a Les Paul; the body was made of sapele, and it weighed approximately six hundred pounds.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Now this is interesting that basswood generally helps to avoid dead notes, since it is so light and soft, which makes it an exception to the rule of heavier guitars being less prone.

I love what you wrote about heavy woods leading to less interaction, brighter, and stronger tone. That’s a cool mental model to use in a very general way to approach tone.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Trouble is there is a bit of note variation in almost all guitars so where to draw the line ? Also this would result in a very high reject rate of finished guitars as there is no real way to be sure before it is finished . It would more than double the price if manufactures actually rejected all of them. It is easy to check for, just sit and play every note acoustically and be your own quality control. Also don't forget that guitars only start sounding their best when you play them often and all over the neck. If you asked me what body wood is least likely to have issues? I would say hands down Basswood.

What is it about basswood that makes it least likely to cause dead notes?

 

[mr_fender]

Basswood is very uniform and consistent, so it's more predictable.

 

[Andy Eagle]

Basswood is very uniform and consistent, so it's more predictable.

View attachment 112894

This and it is pretty flat response tonally . It's only issues are it is very soft and looks bad unless it is a paint finish. Modern 2K finish it pretty much essential on this to give it durability. Trem posts need careful attention in the rout to make sure there is enough support. Neck plates must not be overtightened. It sounds very good and works fine as long at you take these things in to account.