From left to right: Ibanez RG470, Ibanez RG550, Ibanez PJS Custom, Niphen custom hardtail

1995 Ibanez Rg470BK

The first guitar I ever bought myself. It is a MIK model, although I was lucky enough to get an MIJ Wizard neck on it rather than the MIK Wizard II.

Over the years it has had some upgrades. It currently has an original Ibanez Edge trem. This has replaced the rubbish LO-TRS II tremolo that the guitar came with.

The trem cavity has also been routed out so I can fit a EVH D-Tuna comfortably. Now one day I have to get myself a Tremol-no so I can make proper use of it.

It also has an EMG 81 – SA – 85 pickup combo. With the EMG 18 volt mod these sound amazing, clean or dirty.

This is currently tuned to E standard.

Ibanez PJS Custom (Project GT-R)

This isn’t strictly an Ibanez, but a custom my Dad (hence the initials) and I build around an RG Wizard neck. I also refer to it as Project GT-R because the body is painted in Bayside Blue, a colour exclusively found on R34 Nissan Skyline GT-Rs. One of my favourite cars of all time.

The body is somewhat styled of an Ibanez RG with a Steve Vai JEM monkey grip. It is constructed of American Alder, and is a bit thicker than the standard Ibanez RG body. the edges are also rounded off.

The neck is an Ibanez Wizard II neck from a 1994 RG470. I bought this because I thought it was the same as my RG470 guitar’s neck. It was how I discovered that it in fact had a MIJ Wizard. Maple construction and rosewood fretboard.

The tremolo is a Gotoh licensed Floyd Rose, arguably the best Floyd Rose derivative alongside the Ibanez Edge. Hands down the best trem arm design out there. It also has an EVH D-Tuna, and a Floyd Upgrades Big Block brass sustain block upgrade.

This guitar sports an EMG 81 – 89 combo. Very versatile combination. The 89 provides a great single coil neck pickup sound without the hum when engaged.

This is tuned to E standard, and the guitar can play any style.

2007 Ibanez RG550RFR (20th Anniversary special)

What can I say? This guitar is amazing! I always loved the Road Flare Red finish on the old RG550s but could find one. When the 20th Anniversary RG550s were announced I knew I just had to get one.

The neck is amazing, original Wizard profile with the Prestige build quality, plus titanium rod reinforcement. This neck should never warp.

I hadn’t played a maple fretboard guitar extensively for many years, and it didn’t take long to become my favourite fretboard timber.

Basswood body isn’t too bad, it sings quite well. I prefer Alder for the body, but hey then this guitar wouldn’t be a RG550.

Original Edge trem is a joy to use, as I said earlier along with the Gotoh these are my favourite trems.

I’ve  replaced the stock humbuckers with a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge, and DiMarzio PAF Pro in the neck.

This guitar is also tuned to E standard.

Niphen custom hardtail

Niphen is a combination of my wife’s and my name.It is a guitar I built from a Saga kit guitar. It’s based on a PRS body, with a bolt on 24 3/4″ scale neck.

It has a basswood body, and a maple neck with rosewood fretboard. For such a cheap guitar the neck is quite nice, although the frets are a little small for my liking. I prefer my medium jumbo frets over vintage frets.

I painted this guitar myself, and unfortunately the clear coat hasn’t reacted the best with the colour, and as a result things like leaving the guitar on a guitar rack, and the strap, etc have left marks on it. The paint job wasn’t the greatest either. I think I’ll buy some nicely figured timber and get my Dad to make a nice new body that we can stain it.

The clear coat on the neck has also gone bad, so I think I’ll sand it back at some point and tung oil it.

I dropped some Mighty Mite Motherbucker pickups into this guitar, and they are very hot and heavy pickups. Great for heavy music. Droped D riffs sound particularly tasty on this little thing. I’ve since performed the half-air mod to the bridge pickup, which has opened up the tone a bit, and dropped the output slightly. It sounds great.

This guitar is usually in standard or drop D tuning.

2008 Ibanez GA5TCE classical guitar

See review for this guitar here.

1991 Yamaha CG40A classical guitar

My first ever guitar. I received this for Christmas back in 1991. This guitar has kept amazingly well considering it’s age, and the fact that it is a cheap student guitar. Yamaha certainly know something about building great quality guitars on a budget.

I have no real clue as to the construction of this old gal, but I think it’s a laminated Spruce top, with Mahogany back and side, and a Mahogany neck. The bridge and fretboard are made out of Rosewood.

Over the years I have modified the nut and bridge piece so the action on this is quite low. It plays quite nicely, it’s just a pity that with my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome it really hurts to play this guitar for more than 15 minutes.

This guitar is typically tuned to standard, although sometimes I will muck around in alternate tunings.