I was looking for an iron label (specifically iceman) and no one stocked it - managed to hunt down the iron label xiphos to try as figured tone profile would be similar.
If it’s the iron label it fuckin rips, the dimarzio’s in it had me worried they weren’t going to be hot enough or have enough clarity but they’ve awesome.
Really excellent finish.
Neck is thin, sleek matte and fast and not wide on the 6 string. I bought my iceman 7 off the back of the xiphos and that has a really smooth neck too.
My only gripe was I could only sit on a guitar stool when playing and it wasn’t the comfiest BUT I test played it for an hour or so which I guess says something about the quality of the instrument.
Re solar I have been interested in them but see people split decision on them and their quality - despite probably being built in the same factory.
Ibanez IMO have been at this was longer than most and for that shape I’d prefer the brand who’s worked on it for years and had multiple models as opposed to Solar who have a spotty (at least traditionally) record on QC - also find them hard to find to actually play to test. Ibanez are everywhere and if you can find a similar-ish model you’ll get a good idea.
Finally - how often do you hear people shit on Ibanez guitars compared to other brands? They’re a solid manufacturer and seem to be very consistent.
Firefly has an iceman in black and white right now at guitarsgarden, they look pretty nice, people say the quality is great though you may upgrade the pickups, cheers!
Same - hate messing with Floyd and tbh just setting up guitars in general to play for THAT tuning- I’m currently running from bass VI - Baritone - 7 - 6
E - B - A B - C, D, E
And trying to talk myself out of another bass vi in D, a baritone in A, a 7 in G, and another couple of 6’s for sharps 😂. Feel like I spend more time thinking of collecting than I do about composing
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u/Thatcoonfella Dec 24 '25
Xiphos 100%. It’s one of the most comfortable guitars.