Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Some day, when I get industrious enough about it, I'm going to try to mod my cube so that I can have a footswitch that will also turn the delay/reverb on and off. Maybe figure out a way to switch between the modeling voices too. That would be ultimate on that little amp.

Exactly my thoughts, but... this amp is not made for gigging, tbh. I agree with John. I would've gone for the Rectifier, but I don't mess with tubes lol. I have zero experience with them... but I'm getting into it, so maybe one day.

Checking out one of the guitars today. Stoked.

PS. I might get the footswitch later, just for the ease of mind.

I have my eye on an Ibanez S520EX going for $500. Features Infinity 1 & 2 pickups. The bridge is rumored to be not great, but the neck pickup gets a lot praise. Basswood body/mahogany solid top.

I'm a big fan of Ibanez; I own four Ibanez RG guitars right now. I've owned 6.

That said, there's some stuff you should know. I made some mistakes in my purchasing decisions over the years (recently rectified).

First thing: the stock Ibanez pickups (Infinity) suck. People who tell you otherwise simply haven't heard an Ibanez with a different pickup installed, so they don't know any better. So when considering an Ibanez, consider the cost of getting the pickups replaced. If you have the cash I strongly recommend it. I have the pickups replaced on all my Ibanez guitars now before I even play them for the first time. It's just part of my buying process now.

(Note on pickups: everyone has their own tastes. I used to favor the Dimarzio's, in particular the PAF Pro, the Evolutions, the Steve's Special and the Air Norton. I've used them all. But recently I got turned onto the Seymore Duncan pickups and I like those a lot better)

Second thing: If you aren't going to use the whammy bar a lot then don't get a floating tremolo. Floating trems are a pain to tune, obviously. Ibanez trems stay in tune, but you will rue the day you bought one if you have any aspirations of retuning your guitar frequently. I've come to enjoy playing a fixed bridge Ibanez due to the fact that I can retune it in a snap for different songs (even something simple like going standard to drop D only takes a second). Ibanez makes some kick ass fixed bridge guitars:



Third thing: if feel and sustain are important to you, I strongly recommend a neck-through guitar. I played for 15 years without ever playing on a neck-through designed Ibanez (I don't count Les Pauls; they're like playing a tree trunk). OMG - it's a totally different world witha neck through. I am never going back.

Recently I was chatting with a guy about guitars and gear and he had never played on a neck-through either. So I let him play on mine for a few minutes. He was amazed. The feel of a neck-through is awesome. You can feel every note the whole way down the body. They sustain better too and, IMO, they just have better overall tone. And Ibanez makes some neck-through guitars (the fixed-bridge, neck-through combo is killer)


Anyway, some food for thought. At a minimum I'd look at having the pickups replaced after you get an Ibanez.

^^ Yep, I agree with you. And thanks for the tips. Sustain is very important, imo. I kinda like melodic solos and I want the note [bent or not] to be held for as long as possible [a la Spinal Tap].

So, I ended up getting the Lado and it turned out to be... great. I really liked the feel. Combined with the Cube, I got some nice tones and the effects are a blast. The distortion models take some time to tweak, but they're not bad at all.

So yea..

Thats some good info. My Paul has infanitly more sustain than my Strat.
I have looked into some of the simi custom neck through guitars. And done a lot of research as well. Someday when I have more dollars than sense. I am going to buy one, just for kicks.

You don't have to buy em. Just go try one out at the store. Play around with it a little then tell the salesman it's not what you're looking for.