Ibanez Adds An 8-String Guitar & Brings Back A 7-String [ Winter NAMM 2007 ]
United States
English
“More Is Better”
Anaheim, CA, 18 January 2007 — 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 will have a good number of guitars with more than 6-strings at their booth at the Anaheim NAMM musical instrument convention. On display will be a long-awaited 8-string, the RG2228BK, and the slender Ibanez S 7-string, the S7320BK, 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.
Anaheim, CA, 18 January 2007 — 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 will have a good number of guitars with more than 6-strings at their booth at the Anaheim NAMM musical instrument convention. On display will be a long-awaited 8-string, the RG2228BK, and the slender Ibanez S 7-string, the S7320BK, 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.
| Model No. | 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 |
| Model No. | 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 |
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