Ibanez Universe

[jazzman]

Just put new strings on mine. So, I've been thinkin' about it. I've had it for 10 years or so. Every now and then I put new strings on it and play it at home constantly. It's pretty much an "at home" guitar for me. I changed the pickups and it now has a Tone Zone 7 bridge and an Air Norton neck.

I guess I just want to know who else has the same. And if so, any changes? or stock. Also curious on thoughts of playability. The neck is great! Just want some opinions. Anyone like the stock pickups? I used to.

[jazzman]

Re: Ibanez Universe

Oh yeah, I've also been thinkin' bout some Bartolini's.

[blindmuddy]

Re: Ibanez Universe

I got one recently and was surprised to see how nice it is. I got it mainly for recording some stuff for a freind but I like it much more than I expected to. It's stock too as far as I know.
Chris

[jazzman]

Re: Ibanez Universe

It is a nice guitar.

[diablomozart]

Re: Ibanez Universe

mine has an emg 707 put in it by the previous owner...don't particularly care for the tone myself...but i don't have the bucks to buy a new pickguard and pickup right now...here's a link to a track i cut with it... Torquestra-Glide
...sorry for the rough pic, but it's the only one i have at the time...d.m.

[shredmonster]

Re: Ibanez Universe

I had a Jem. I think Ibanez guitars sound best in more of a high gain hi processed environment.
The Jem felt "cheap" to be quite honest.
I much prefer the tone of lots of other guitars over Ibanez.
Had a killer neck though and easy access to the 24th fret. Neck was extremely fast.

[pro-fusion]

Re: Ibanez Universe

I have an RG7620 at the moment, and I had a UV7BK (black and green) Universe back when they first came out. From my experience, the Universe and the related RGs are the only 7-strings out there that are great for shredders. Everyone else's sevens seem to be geared for rhythm chuggers--tree-trunk necks, 22 frets, fixed-bridges, etc. I am thinking about getting one of the old LTD neck-thru sevens--either the M-307 or MH-307--to try in comparison, but I haven't gotten around to that yet. I know that Jeff Loomis uses an MH-307, and since he's a massively talented shredder, that's a guitar worth checking out.

I'd love to get a custom-shop Jackson or Conklin seven, but I'm just fresh out of spending money at the moment...

My 7620 has the stock neck pickup, but I put a Blaze Custom in the bridge. The Custom is not the kind of heavily scooped pickup the normal Blaze is, but more like what a seven-string Super Distortion might be. Great for lead playing, but not as much high-end as an Evo-7, from what I've read. My 7620 is a bit harsh-sounding on the high-end compared to other RG/JEM/Universe guitars I've played, so the somewhat rounder highs of the Blaze Custom are better for that guitar.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: Ibanez Universe

"--tree-trunk necks, 22 frets, fixed-bridges, etc"

The exact features I prefer in a guitar for playing lead!

[toejam]

Re: Ibanez Universe

[ QUOTE ]
I have an RG7620 at the moment

[/ QUOTE ]
I had one of those... nice guitar. You know the stock pickups are not Blaze, right? They're some kind of custom DiMarzio that Ibanez calls the "New 7". I thought they were pretty nice sounding.

[jazzman]

Re: Ibanez Universe

I'd like to hear those pickups. The Tone Zone I put in the bridge helped, but I'm still not extremely happy. It kinda sucks, the Universe is one of my best playing guitars but also is one of the worst sounding ones I own.

[hippietim]

Re: Ibanez Universe

jazzman - I had one of the first Universes when they came out. It played great but sounded like ass. I've had a few other basswood Ibanez's along the way and they almost all sounded like ass. I thought basswood was the root of all evil - turns out that's not the case. I've got a couple basswood guitars that sound great.

I was aprehensive before I got my white JEM - but if is quite different than any other Ibanez I'd had before! The body is alder and the hardware is better. When I had Floyd Rose retrofit it with a Speedloader it sounded even better - that Ibanez lo-pro was a piece of crap.

So I guess I'm really wondering about one of these Universes. I'm thinking it might be a good basic platform. I'd like to get one and try upgrading it - new pickups, new bridge, etc. I've been looking around for a reasonably priced beater for a while.

[pro-fusion]

Re: Ibanez Universe

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have an RG7620 at the moment

[/ QUOTE ]
I had one of those... nice guitar. You know the stock pickups are not Blaze, right? They're some kind of custom DiMarzio that Ibanez calls the "New 7". I thought they were pretty nice sounding.

[/ QUOTE ]

The New 7 bridge pickup was ok, but I prefer the Blaze Custom in my guitar. The New 7 neck pickup kicks ass, though! Way better than the Blaze neck that I tried out in that guitar. The New 7's are certainly decent for a stock pickup. The newer Ibanez RG1527s have 7-string versions of Ibanez's own V7 and V8 pickups, however, which supposedly sound like ass. I haven't heard them, but I rather like the 6-string versions of those pickups in my RG620x. That guitar, however, has an amazing resonance to it--I suspect any pickups would sound good in that one.

[pro-fusion]

Re: Ibanez Universe

[ QUOTE ]
jazzman - I had one of the first Universes when they came out. It played great but sounded like ass. I've had a few other basswood Ibanez's along the way and they almost all sounded like ass. I thought basswood was the root of all evil - turns out that's not the case. I've got a couple basswood guitars that sound great.

I was aprehensive before I got my white JEM - but if is quite different than any other Ibanez I'd had before! The body is alder and the hardware is better. When I had Floyd Rose retrofit it with a Speedloader it sounded even better - that Ibanez lo-pro was a piece of crap.

So I guess I'm really wondering about one of these Universes. I'm thinking it might be a good basic platform. I'd like to get one and try upgrading it - new pickups, new bridge, etc. I've been looking around for a reasonably priced beater for a while.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's funny, I've never played two basswood Ibanezes that sounded the same. My 7620 sounds radically different from my 620x--the 620x has a very resonant, full-bodied sound, while the 7620 is a bit harsh. Basswood guitars in general seem to be all over the map that way, not just Ibanezes.

If you want to try a non-basswood Ibanez seven, there are a couple of mahogany-bodied models out there: the K7 Korn sig model, which I reject just on principle, the RG8527, which is a J-Custom model that you have to import direct from Japan, and the late lamented RG2027x model, which is the holy grail of Ibanez sevens.

The 2027x has mahogany body, Prestige 7 neck, and the piezo-equipped Double Edge bridge. I'd love to get one, but they were only made for a couple of years, and nice used ones command pretty high prices (more than most used Universes go for, except for the swirl jobs)

[pro-fusion]

Re: Ibanez Universe

[ QUOTE ]
"--tree-trunk necks, 22 frets, fixed-bridges, etc"

The exact features I prefer in a guitar for playing lead!

[/ QUOTE ]

What are you, some kind of old fart blues musician??? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[jazzman]

Re: Ibanez Universe

I thought about a new bridge. I also thought about a new body too. It plays killer but sounds horrid. I would love to hear what one of Vai's sounds like. It would be funny if those sucked too.