Ibanez introduces new guitars and basses for 2023.
FRH10N Acoustic
New for 2023, Ibanez has introduced their new FRN10H acoustic guitar. This new offering from Ibanez looks familiar in that it shares a common lineage with the TOD10N, Tim Henson’s signature model unveiled in October of last year. The FRN10H features a 50mm body depth, making it quite a bit thinner than most conventional acoustic instruments. The body is comprised of a solid Sitka Spruce top, and Sapele back and sides, while the neck is made of Nyatoh and capped with a Walnut fretboard.
- 22 frets
- FRH body solid Sitka Spruce top
- Sapele back & sides
- Body depth: 50/50mm at neck joint/body end
- C shape Nyatoh neck
- Walnut fretboard & bridge
- 46mm width nut Bone nut & saddle
- Gold Classical tuners
- Ibanez T-bar Undersaddle pickup
- Ibanez Custom Electronics
- D'Addario EXP45 strings
- Fan Bracing for FRH
- 46mm width nut / 400R fretboard radius
- Side Sound Port
- Finishes: Brown Sunburst Flat, Natural Flat
LIST PRICE: $749.99. ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: $499.99.
SML721 Electric
New for 2023, Ibanez has unveiled the new SML721, part of the new Axe Design Lab series. This new instrument is based on the venerable S body shape with several features that make it an exciting, modern interpretation of the S. The central defining feature of this guitar is the use of what Ibanez refers to as “light” multi-scale. Visually, this presents as the first fret being parallel with the nut, with the frets gradually tilting inward as one moved further up the neck. The purpose of this design is not to facilitate drop tuning as it is with other multi-scale designs, but to deliver better string-to-string tension and improved playability in standard tuning. The guitar is also equipped with the same Q58 humbuckers found on the Q series as well as the Dyna-MIX10 switching system, making this model highly versatile from a tonal standpoint. Other notable features include a Rosewood fretboard, Luminescent side dot inlays, Gotoh MG-T locking machine heads, and an eye-capturing Rose Gold Chameleon finish.
- Wizard 5pc Maple/Walnut neck
- 25.5" scale at 6th string, 25" scale at 1st string
- Nyatoh body
- Rosewood fretboard w/Off-set white dot inlay
- Jumbo JESCAR EVO gold frets
- Q58 (H) neck pickup
- Q58 (H) bridge pickup
- Dyna-MIX10 switching system w/Alter Switch
- Mono-rail bridge
- Gold hardware
- Gotoh MG-T locking machine heads
- Luminescent side dot inlay
- Finish: Rose Gold Chameleon
LIST PRICE: $1,333.32. ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: $999.99.
RGDMS8 Electric
New for 2023, Ibanez has unveiled the RGDMS8, part of the new Axe Design Lab series. Created with the extended-range enthusiast in mind, this new RGD combines features like 25.5”-27.2” multi-scale construction, Fishman Fluence pickups, and an 8-string design. This combination offers not only an exceptional range but also outstanding drop-tuning potential. The guitar also sports an undeniably modern appearance because of the multi-scale neck, white pickup covers, and Classic Silver Metallic finish; a sharp combination not easily missed on stage. Other important features on this model include a Fishman Fluence voicing switch, coil-tap switch, and Gotoh MG-T locking machine heads.
- Wizard III-8 for Multi Scale 5pc Maple/Walnut neck
- 27.2" scale at 8th string, 25.5" scale at 1st string
- Nyatoh body
- Macassar Ebony fretboard w/White Step off-set dot inlay
- Jumbo frets
- Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker (H) neck pickup
- Fishman Fluence Modern Humbucker (H) bridge pickup
- Coil-tap switch
- Fishman Fluence Voicing switch
- Mono-rail bridge
- Gotoh MG-T locking machine heads
- Finish: Classic Silver Metallic
LIST PRICE: $1,653.32. ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: $1,199.99.
EHB1005F Bass
New for 2023, Ibanez has introduced the latest addition to its EHB lineup of headless basses, the EHB1005F. This bass shares a largely similar feature set with that of the EHB1000 series. It’s equipped with a chambered AmericanBasswood body, a Roasted Maple/Walnut neck, Bartolini BH2 pickups, luminescent side dots, and a Vari-Mid three-band EQ. However, the instrument is the first-ever fretless EHB. This bass is not only unique in its function, but it’s also one of the more unique-looking EHBs. This distinctive look comes from the combination of a blue Richlite fretboard and a brand-new Arctic Ocean Matte finish. Each component plays off the other, creating an uncommon and attention-grabbing aesthetic. This new design combines the modern features and benefits of the EHB series with the artistic dynamics and expressive nature of the fretless bass.
- EHB5 5pc Roasted Maple/Walnut neck w/Graphite reinforcement rods
- American Basswood body
- Richlite Blue Canyon fretboard
- Bartolini BH2 neck pickup
- Bartolini BH2 bridge pickup
- Vari-mid 3-band EQ
- EQ bypass switch (passive tone control on treble pot)
- MR5HS bridge (18mm string spacing)
- Black hardware
- Ibanez custom headpieces
- Schaller S-Locks strap lock pins
- Luminescent side dot inlay
- Chambered body
- Scooped cut on back of body
- Gig bag included
- Finish: Arctic Ocean Matte
LIST: $1,791.10. ESTIMATED STREET PRICE: $1,299.99.
For more information, please visit ibanez.com.
Beginner
Beginner
- Develop a better sense of muting with both hands.
- Understand to play within a rhythmic pocket.
- Learn what it takes to riff like James Hetfield.
Open-string notes are arguably the most magical sounding notes available on the guitar. However, there are times when those are precisely the notes we don’t want to hear. We might only want to hear the strings directly beneath our fingers. That’s where muting comes in. It’s equal parts sleight-of-hand magic and surgical precision, but mostly it’s just the result of a clever approach to technique.
What is Palm Muting?
The most common style of muting is palm muting, where you place the side of your palm against the string close to the bridge to achieve a more chunky, percussive sound. One of the absolute masters of palm muting is Metallica’s James Hetfield. In this video below, check out how tight he is with the muting.
The fretting hand has some muting responsibilities as well. It’s in charge of keeping things clean on the fretboard and allow the picking hand to make larger motions if necessary. That will be our focus here. I want to show you how to keep your strumming hand moving while preventing any unnecessary noises—or pollution.
The funkiest rhythm players—Prince, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Nile Rodgers, Al McKay, Jimmy Nolan, Cory Wong—know all about this. Jazzers like Wes Montgomery and George Benson use fretting-hand muting extensively in their brilliant octave work as well.
The basics of the technique amount to laying the portions of your fingers that you’re not using across the remaining strings in order to keep them quiet. Not silent. Just quieter. You’ll hear a percussive attack across the string in addition to the notes that are being played.
Ex. 1 is a deceptively tricky technique that looks and sounds way easier than it really is. Even when you’re playing single notes, all the strings are being strummed the entire time. Take a listen.
Ex. 2 consists of our utilitarian A minor blues (A–C–D–Eb–E–G) scale. While this will be played one note at a time, we’re strumming all the strings so that we hear the intended note as well as a strong percussive sound alongside it. This makes for a big tone and, by constantly strumming alternating up and down strokes, it allows you to stay firmly in the rhythmic pocket. It’s almost like organic quantizing: You can’t play out of time because the strumming hand always chugs along in time with the basic groove, be it an eighth-note shuffle, a 16th-note funk—whatever. First, let’s hear the scale being picked one string at a time.
Ex. 3 features the blues scale with each note played as consecutive 16th-notes using alternate strumming. This is the most basic form of this technique. Practice this ascending as well as descending through the scale. Focusing on one pair or even a single string can be helpful in clean execution.
The purpose behind using this method of muting is to make your notes have more authority: Own what you play. It also allows your playing, whether melodic or rhythmic, to sit in a serious pocket. The same groove that you infuse in your best chordal rhythm playing is injected into single-note or octave playing too.
Ex. 4 features the lead part playing octaves on the 5th and 3rd strings. How many times have you heard this? Think: Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Foo Fighters—it’s a long list.
Another classic use of this technique can be found in the Michael Jackson hit “Billie Jean.” The driving octaves playing the 5 of the chord make for an effective part where the song goes to the IVm chord (Ex. 5). Once you get the hang of using this muting technique, your drummer friends will see you as much more of a rhythmic ally.
The quarter-note comping over a Bb blues in Ex. 6 features most of the strings being muted via the fretting hand while the strumming hand focuses on laying down a strong backbeat rhythm. You can use not only your fretting-hand’s fingers but also your thumb over the top to mute the 6th string. Remember to lean into beats 2 and 4. This works with an overdriven blues tone or on steel-string acoustic when going for more of a hot club jazz manouche vibe.
Hopefully you’re grasping the many uses and contexts in which this valuable, yet surprisingly under-utilized, technique can be employed. It takes practice to get it right but it pays you back in major dividends. Other players will be looking at your amp and pedalboard to see how you get such an amazing tone—but it’s your fingers, as usual, that hold the secret.
What started in Sacha Dunable's two-car garage has now expanded to include a dozen riff maniacs building impeccable riff machines. Join PG's Chris Kies to go inside these guitar junkies' L.A.-based shop.
Dig into this inside view of the Dunable guitars shop in Los Angeles, conducted by PG’s own Chris Kies and namesake builder Sacha Dunable. It’s a major step up from the two-car garage where the company started in 2012! Dunable grew from making one-off guitars for Sacha and his fellow Intronaut guitarist, Dave Timnick, by generating word-of-mouth about the instrument’s easy playability and biting rock tone. “Before I know it, I was getting orders for guitars,” Dunable says.
Our tour starts in the tonewood storage room: mahogany, limba, maple—mahogany primarily for guitar necks and maple primarily for bass necks. Fretboards are ebony. For bodies, it’s mahogany, limba, and swamp ash. Watch a run of bodies for Dunable’s Gnarwhal model in the saw shop (check out the stunning buckeye burl wood for tops) and eyeball the varieties of raw ebony for fretboards. In the CNC shop, you’ll see how to design a custom guitar and then observe one of Dunable’s two CNC machines in operation. “It’s about the consistency, not the speed,” Dunable assures.
Also, you’ll see that all the final cut and trim work is done by hand, as is the artful sanding. (You’ll eyeball a Yeti being smoothed.) In the neck area, Dunable explains the various scale lengths on the company’s instruments, and how some of their production-run necks are farmed out to Grover Jackson’s Tennessee shop. Frets? Dunable’s come from respected fret-wire company Jescar, and they’re typically nickel extra jumbos. After the necks are glued in place, it’s time for paint prep: removing minor blemishes, etc. A gel wood sealer is part of Dunable’s finishing process, “so you can really feel the wood grain and hear the wood resonate,” Sacha explains. He displays a fresh black rainbow sparkle finish with nitro lacquer and a rose-gold over swamp ash, which really lets the wood grain show. Also, get a look at a beautifully finished Dunable Minotaur, plus a rare 9-string Yeti (with doubled treble strings).
In the assembly shop, it’s time to check out Dunable’s own pickups. They’re double-wax-potted by hand (unless requested otherwise). Some Cave Bear pickups are displayed—the latest in the company’s 10-humbucker line. And the last step is final assembly for Dunable’s roughly 50 guitars shipped per month, and includes custom setup if requested. As the video concludes, Dunable talks about his Southeast Asia-made, lower-priced DE Series, which are setup, tested, and quality checked at the L.A. shop before leaving for stores and individual owners.