The Xiphos is one of the models in the Ibanez Iron Label series of guitars, models with more extreme shapes and execution. Guitars for guitarists looking for anything but the traditional, guitars for Heavy Metal that stand out and take their place.
Xiphos speaks a very clear language about what it is built to be used for, optimized in every detail to be a full-fledged "take no prisoner" metal machine.
With a look dripping with attitude that demands its place, powerful 'in your face' pickups and an extremely easy-to-play neck, it lets all your riffs come out just the way you intended them to.
If you want noting to stand in your way on your quest for low tuned world domination this is the weapon for you. But it would work just as well even if you thought "that one is obviously for me and my stupid disco band", a little attitude doesn't hurt there either.
The guitar is equipped with DiMarzio D Activator pickups. D Aktivator is a hot mic with a straight EQ curve that makes it cut through and hold together even with very distorted sounds, perfect for hard riffing and fly-handed soloing.
The neck is an Ibanez Wizard III neck, the Wizard III is a slightly thicker version of the popular Wizard profile, also a slightly rounder and softer profile. It also has a radius of 400mm instead of the Wizard neck's 430mm.
The neck is a 5-piece neck-thru construction (that the neck continues through the whole body) and reinforced with KTS titanium reinforcement, two titanium rods that lie parallel to the support bar so that the neck becomes less sensitive to climate changes and less prone to moving or twisting on himself.
An extremely powerful and durable construction. The rest of the body (the wings on the side of the neck piece) is made of mahogany, a very beautiful type of wood that goes for the slightly warmer and more mellow tone in terms of sound. The treble is a little softly rounded, but without losing clarity and separation. It has a pleasant hump in the middle register which makes the sound when playing a melody/solo become fat and singing with long sustain.
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5-pc Wizard III Maple/Walnut neck-thru with KTS™ TITANIUM rods.
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Mahogany wing body.
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Ebony fretboard.
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Jumbo frets.
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Edge Zero II tremolo.
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DiMarzio® D Activator™ neck pickup.
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DiMarzio® D Activator™ bridge pickup.
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Black hardware.
- Gig bag included.
The neck:
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Scale: 648mm/25.5".
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Width at the saddle: 43mm.
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Width at last strap: 58mm.
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Thickness at 1 strap: 19mm.
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Thickness at 12 bands: 21mm.
- Radius: 400mmR.