To talk about Ibanez is to talk about rock. That barely known Japanese company that started out copying the designs of the eternal guitar giants (you know who I mean) has, since the late ’70s and through the ’80s, never stopped fighting to establish its name on the podium of metal guitar makers. And boy, has it succeeded. Since then, it has never stopped innovating, especially in building guitars with ultra-comfortable neck designs and electronics geared toward producing rock and metal of every caliber. But at the same time, many of us love the designs of the past, especially when their look and sound recall great stars we have admired.
So, think of Phil Collen or Adrian Smith, for example, and voilà: Ibanez puts a reissue of the Destroyer in our hands. Let’s see whether this machine, freshly released from the X series, is a vintage product for the nostalgic or whether it incorporates new elements.
Unboxing
After opening the box, we find an attractive rectangular Tolex case, in pure vintage style. This is welcome, because finding cases that suit the design we’re about to behold is quite difficult, not to mention expensive.
Finally, we open the case and find the classic Destroyer design: a mahogany body (the first models were korina and basswood, and later ones ash—totally opposite in sonic response) with an Explorer silhouette, but more angular, which gives it a more aggressive look. The finish is “Metallic Gray Sunburst,” a glossy gray fade, graduating in from black edges. The electronics follow the dual-humbucker neck/bridge configuration, with two volume pots and one tone pot. The scale length is 25.5", and it has a rosewood fretboard with white rectangular and abalone inlays, 22 jumbo frets and white binding.
On the other hand, we have a Wizard II neck with neck-through construction, made of five pieces of maple and walnut. This is a novelty that breaks with the old construction model, since the original featured bolt-on or glued-in necks. That said, in Ibanez’s most recent high-end series we find this type of multi-piece neck, which is proving to be quite sturdy. And when it comes to neck research, this brand has no equal (especially when it comes to speed).
As for the headstock, it is the typical Ibanez one with six tuners in a row and a chrome logo to match the hardware. Something typical of mid-to-high-end guitars is reflected here: the finish on the front of the headstock matches the body (Metal Gray Sunburst).
Electronics
As we mentioned, the electronics consist of two passive humbucker pickups, just like in the old days. What’s surprising is the model; while they are DiMarzio, they are not Super Distortions, the model that for a long time was fitted in the bridge position. These are D Activator X pickups, whose magnets are arranged in a continuous bar (this has advantages regarding string spacing at the bridge, since with a continuous magnet there is no distinction between Fender/Floyd Rose spacing and others). They are ceramic-magnet pickups with extremely high output (around 500 mV for the bridge, 300 mV for the neck), recently released, and are something like the mighty X2N but with a wider frequency opening (as opposed to the dynamic ones, like the Breed) and with trimmed highs. All of this leads me to think that, with a mahogany body, this little beauty is going to sound really deep and powerful.
The pickup selector is the typical three-position type. There are no additional switches allowing new circuit configurations, nor push-pull pots. However, given the sound this guitar is after, I haven’t found more positions necessary. In any case, if you want to increase versatility, the pickups are four-conductor wired, so you can always grab the soldering iron, buy a push-pull pot (a 500K is recommended) and in a short time you’ll achieve that purpose.
Worth noting is the pickup surround, a faithful reflection of the original, except that in this edition the finish is chrome.
Hardware
Here, too, I noticed some differences from the original Destroyer model and its later version, the Destroyer II.
To begin with, the bridge is a contemporary-design Ibanez Gibraltar Custom. It is a fixed saddle system, with string-through-body stringing that is really stable. It is made of brass, and like the rest of the hardware, its finish is chrome.
That said, it doesn’t follow any of the old schemes, since those were fitted with Kahler-style bridges, or fixed tune-o-matics, in pure Gibson style.
As for the tuners, they are not locking, but they are smooth and seem quite solid. We’ll soon find out what they can withstand and how long they can hold intonation.
Hands on the Neck: Action and Stability
On guitars with radical, angular body designs, the first thing I evaluate is whether there is a balance between looks and comfort. If a guitar, however attractive, won’t let itself be played, better to move on.
This one proved satisfactory in terms of neck/body balance, whether we play seated or standing with a strap, although it gains quite a bit more in the latter position, mostly because it lets us tilt the guitar and keep the elbow from bumping against the lower bout of the body, with the resulting increase in comfort.
The neck is really comfortable, although with this guitar I find the same as with all those that have a glossy neck finish, that is, with a lot of luster: the friction coefficient is high, with the resulting “braking” when we move quickly along the neck.
I decided to compare this guitar’s cutaway with that of a Gibson Explorer, since the design is similar. Truly, access to the highest frets on the Ibanez is a piece of cake, quite a bit easier than on the Gibson, given the lower cutaway and the neck-through design.
If you’re like me, preferring to use the bridge as a reference point when playing, and you favor that bridge being a fixed string-through-body type, this guitar is a relief. Why? Often the pieces that make up the tension point of a fixed bridge (especially tune-o-matic) have somewhat sharp edges, which results in an uncomfortable feel. This bridge, however, has saddles that are a joy to the touch.
As for the fretboard, I have to mention that, perhaps because this guitar came from a display, I find it a little rough; nothing a cleaning with lemon oil can’t fix, since it’s rosewood. Setting that aside, the neck-fretboard combination is comfortable and lends itself quite well to speed, with a flat-radius fretboard that lets you keep the strings quite close to it. That makes it a delight to run up and down the neck at full speed. The Wizard II neck, with those 22 frets on a 25.5" scale, moves us a bit away from the Gibson concept, but that is a matter of taste and subject to greater subjectivity.
What can be said about stability? A point in its favor: no tremolo. That, combined with the quality of the bridge and decent tuners, makes this guitar really resist going out of tune, even when attacking the strings hard. After an hour and a half playing in standard tuning, I noticed the third string was slightly out. Considering I had just tried the guitar with the factory setup, and took only a couple of minutes to tune, it’s quite a feat that the margin of error is so small.
This reminds us of another matter: playing live. While the guitar has a radical design, typical of rockers and metalheads, adding good tuning stability and the most savage pickups gives us the perfect cocktail for live work, for the shrewd longhair.
To wrap up this section, I must admit that if you’re used to traditional Explorers, this instrument might feel strange (not necessarily uncomfortable), especially because of the longer scale length, thinner neck and easier access to the highest frets, not to mention the type of construction. In short: the only things it has in common with an Explorer are the similar body shape, 22 frets and two humbuckers.
Sound
Neck-through neck, string-through-body and a mahogany body? That’s what we call a more-than-predictable long sustain. We plugged the guitar into the Spider Valve 212, already reviewed at ISP.
We start with the clean channel, with flat EQ.
Let’s begin with the bridge pickup. Surprise! Passive pickups at 500 mV and they don’t break up on the clean channel? Here I understood DiMarzio’s intentions after checking the specifications I mentioned earlier: to design an X2N, but with a touch less gain, rolling off the high frequencies and making the frequency spectrum more open. That way the sound doesn’t “crackle” from excess gain and treble, something I expect to notice more emphatically once we load on distortion. Even attacking hard, it doesn’t clip. Arpeggios sound very clean and, as I say, it never spikes.
The moment has come. Let’s arm ourselves for war. Insane distortion channel, which in the case of this digital Boogie simulation is the densest. We raise the presence level, turn up the volume, and... Well, one thing is clear to me: it is not at all advisable to do this fresh out of the hairdresser. The sound is dark, deep, tight, powerful and rich in harmonics. A tone and resonance very much typical of mahogany, and with this pickup... a true metal-making machine. After working through a variety of material, my conclusion is that the point of this guitar, especially in the bridge position, is heavy riffs, without that diminishing its abilities in other kinds of playing (solos, arpeggios, tapping techniques, etc.). And of course, no dynamics to speak of. Full frequency opening.
The neck pickup has a similar sound, very thick, but at the same time sweet, with gain similar to a PAF Pro, and it lends itself well to soloing, especially with lead and crunch type distortion. A creamy sound, without overdoing the lows. Very rock.
The truth is that the master tone pot adds versatility, but this guitar has to be squeezed to make it shine to enrich the already dark sound. So I see it, in a way, as dispensable.
I liked these pickups for what was mentioned above: we get close to the bite of an X2N, but just when it’s about to cross the tone edge, as English speakers would say, we stop. Good balance.
We have something pending: sustain. This beauty can hold notes tight until Judgment Day. Playing heavily pushed bends along the fretboard made that very clear to me.
Lastly, I wanted to check an adjustment noted in DiMarzio’s specifications. Apparently the neck and bridge pickups are designed to match perfectly in terms of volume. And indeed: with equal impedance on the volume pots (in our case, 500K) and equal level settings, when switching between the neck and the bridge pickup, they are at the same volume. A point in favor for live use, although obviously this might not please many guitarists since, once again, it is a subjective matter.
Conclusion
Certainly, this guitar proves that not all reissues of legendary guitars by their respective manufacturers have to faithfully follow the original manufacturing scheme (as far as possible), and that they can incorporate modern elements. That favors those who go for vintage designs but with a preference for contemporary sound.
What can be said about the price? €879 is a figure that starts to cross the barrier of the mid-range. And what do we get for that amount? Neck-through construction, an exclusive Destroyer design, supercharged DiMarzio pickups, a robust bridge, stability, sustain, balanced weight, easy feel and perfect access to all the frets. The return of a classic, with a modern voice. Not bad, right?