Ibanez Introduces The RG2228GK 8-String Guitar and S7320BK 7-String Guitar

Click image for closeup Click image for closeup

Asked why he wanted the 7-String Universe that ignited two very different trends in 7-string guitars, Steve Vai answered tongue-in-cheek: "More is better."

Tongue-in-cheek or not, Ibanez seems to have taken Vai's comment with complete seriousness as the company had a good number of guitars with more than 6-strings at their booth at the Anaheim NAMM musical instrument convention. On display was the long-awaited 8-string, the RG2228BK, and the slender Ibanez S 7-string, which has been absent from the Ibanez roster since 2000 and been subject to many calls for its return.

The 8-string RG2228GK lists for $1999.99. The 7-string S7320BK lists for $933.32

Background
Steve Vai and Ibanez introduced the first wave of 7-string guitars in 1990 with the Universe model. There was nothing new about 7-string guitars, jazzers had used hollow body 7-strings since the '40s, but a solid-body 7-string with a double-locking tremolo and thin neck designed for rock was very close to revolutionary. At the time the Universe guitars were used as "shred machines," and when shred, metal, and progressive rock forms were swept from the scene by grunge and alternative, interest in the 7-string guitar plummeted, and the Universe was discontinued for several years.



New forms of metal spearheaded by Korn as well as Fear Factory and Limp Bizkit had a different use for the Universe 7-string, this time as a more rhythm oriented, low-end crunch provider, and by the late '90s the 7-string was back in the Ibanez lineup. Demand for an 8-string guitar was spurred primarily by the Swedish band, Meshuggah, which has been using Ibanez 7- and custom 8-string models for several years.

RG2228GK
Neck: 5pc Wizard 8 Prestige Neck
Body: Basswood
Frets: Jumbo
Neck Pickup: EMG 808
Bridge Pickup: EMG 808
Bridge: Fixed Edge III-8
List Price: $1,999.99 Including Hardshell Case

S7320BK
Neck: 5pc Wizard II-7
Body: Mahogany
Frets: Jumbo
Neck Pickup: IBZ AH1-7
Bridge Pickup: IBZ AH2-7
Bridge: ZR Zero Resistance Double-Locking tremolo
List Price: $933.32

For more information, visit their web site at www.ibanez.com.