In the words of Dime “ tune this MF’r somebody” Seriously I think Ola nailed the X shape it’s like he took all the best X shapes and blended them together.
The quotes, holy shit 🤣 "this issss ... one of those red ones" "let's check out the neck pickup" 5 seconds later: "yes, it definitely does the neck pickup-thing" "it's literally the line 6 of output jacks design" Also: Lets do an Ibanez review. I haven't seen an Ibanez on your channel so far.
When it comes to tuning stability a few things come to mind, from this video. You seem to have a rather aggressive attack. If the strings are a slightly thinner gauge then you are used to, and slightly higher action as well, it will feel out of tune. If you just opened the package and started playing without giving the guitar time to adjust to the room's temperature and humidity, that could be a factor as well. Because it'll keep changing and adjusting for a few hours. Wood may not affect tone, but it certainly does behave rather moodily.
I find it strange that people don't use right-angle cables by default. Unless, you play a strat with the goofy front jack plate, or an ultra modern guitar with some recessed jack on the back of the guitar, a right-angle cable is a better option for pretty much any guitar.
I also hate the output jack placement Even more so because of the precedent set with the solar V with the output jack on the back of the lower wing. Why solar decided to put the output jack on the inside of the lower horn is beyond me, even having it on the front like an SG would've been better
I think I will still be picking one up as the ergonomics for the right arm look perfect! Grew up playing classical (getting into metal now) and the one and only thing that drives me crazy about my schecter Omen Elite is I can’t rest my elbow properly. Only thing that is a drag is that jack placement.
Your reviews are great and make me think so much more about the quality of a guitar, so I want to know if you could do an episode on any Ibanez guitars. I want a professionals opinion on them.
There is honestly ZERO reasons why any guitar above 200 eu/USD to not have locking tuners on it. It's not like they cost 200 like back when they just got released. Today you can find gotohs for 50 usd/eu, and other brands are even cheaper. Especially on a reverse headstock guitar like this. That said, as a owner of a solar guitar (and yes, with locking tuners lol) what i love about them is the neck and the frets. The neck is neither too chonky not too thin and the super jumbo frets really make a difference in slides bends and vibratos, it almost feels like you're playing a scalloped neck since they're so chonky. What i love the least (at least on my guitar) is the really cheap electronic components that they used. After a month of intense playing, the volume pot started crackling and the 5 way switch started to feel a bit too loose (and yes, i did use a contact cleaner on the crackling pot, it didn't work, it was just a bad pot). And the pots are mini pots, not full sized 500k ohm ones. Not that it makes a big difference, but you'd expect full sized pots on a 1200 eu instruments.
I have literally never had a guitar with locking tuners, and honestly don't care at all. Maybe there's something to having to do some work to change strings on a guitar you care about.
@@keithferris9574trust me. Once you'll get a guitar with locking tuners, you'll never look back. Until then, yeah, you're used to the standard ones. But once you go locking and restring literally takes 3 minutes, it's a game changer. Not to mention if you live gig like i do and a string breaks and you're not John Petrucci that has 10 guitars but just a backup one.
@@davidepannone6021 bullshit,I have them on one of my guitars and I’m not running put to replace the Grover’s on any of my others,there no “game changer” and doesn’t stay in tune any better of different from any other guitar I have without them,but if you believe it good for you
Looks sweet. I really wish some manufacturers would start putting stratocaster style output jacks on guitars, where they come out of the front at a slight angle. Not a huge fan of strats, but those output jacks seem like they keep things out of the way really well.
I have an old 80s Ibanez X-series with a similar body shape and i love how comfy it is to sit with. I Saw Ola playing one of these in a video the other day and got curious. I think I found a shiny new replacement for my old worn out workhorse. Shame about the output jack though, might wait to see if they do a second run that fixes that while i'm saving up.
I’d hang onto the old Ibanez if I were you, maybe retire it to studio or a couch guitar, those old X series Ibanez are far better than most 1000 dollar guitars you get now a days. Most companies have stepped up their mid level guitars, but some companies like Ibanez and 90s MiJ Jacksons were quietly making excellent affordable guitars way back then. I have a Destroyer II I’ll finish rebuilding one of these days.
@@brandonjackson5865 oh I have no plans to get rid of her, in fact I just sunk in some new pickups and knob pots last week to replace the groddy old crackly ones. practically all new electronics plus some Grover Locking tuners for extra measure. Shes got more life in her than ever. What I want is something similar but a little more comfy, as the ibanez isnt perfect in that regard, a set-in neck, and maybe some extra gadgets and gizmos to play with like coil taps or maybe even a Floyd Rose.
@@johnosfirewalker8517 no doubt , I gave about 200 around 97 for my old Destroyer and they sell for 800 to 1000 now. I didn’t like the factory red color on it and took it apart a few months after I bought it to repaint and rebuild it, it’s been in various stages of restomod ever since, I wish I’d left it alone now lol
@@brandonjackson5865 I have a black one but I saw the red ones in an ad in an old magazine. I kinda dig it with the red fretboard and all. Has an 80s glam flare that'd be a good match with my Gio strat.
The nice thing about the tooling mark in the fretboard is that its ebony, meaning you can use a small drop of starbond black CA glue and a small needle file to fix it. If you don't have black CA glue you can gently sand with the grain using 400 grit sandpaper over the tool mark to fill the hole and add a drop of water-thin CA glue, although it will take a bit more filing and sanding after to get it looking good. Thanks for the review, Glenn.
🤩 wow wow!!! Oh sweet sweet tinkled strings!! A guitar that comes often, a dream 💭 thing and looks like 👍 it can walk up and call a rock party 🎉 out of air!!! Jeez thanks 😊
as a songwriter, I use the guitars that work for me in the studio; my 2009 Schecter devil custom, which can be found online via reverb, or eBay, for less than 1k, is my go to. because it stays in tune. its neck feels great, and the intonation is spot on. last year, I traded a lefty Angel of Deth V for a lefty les Paul tribute, and I have been fighting that fucker since day one... the slash pickups were shit, so I dropped in Phat cats- I mean P-90's in a humbucker hole... ok. now it sounds great, but the fucking intonation is maxed on the tune-o-matic, so I'm dumping another 200 in a hipshot with more range to intonate. the pots were noisy, so I bought new LEFT handed CTS 500k pots- yeah, fuck off Gibson- every single other guitar I own, the knobs turn one way for lefties, but not you assholes.... ugh...if it wasn't for the fact I've wanted to own a LP since is was 14 years old- and I'm fucking OLD now- id have Monterey Pop'ed this fucker by now... chose the guitar that works for your situation... if its on the road, pick one that can be hammered with sweat, beer, dropped constantly, and still be reliable. if its for fucking about, pick what feels best in your hands. if its for tracking guitars.... DON'T USE A FUCKING GIBSON, unless you're willing to become a fucking luthier, and invest in making their product playable.... oh, and before I forget.. FUCK YOU GLENN... with love.
I recently bought my own northern mauler and it kicks ass! Thank you for bringing the old chainsaw tone back and making this beautiful pedal 🤘 - great video glenn!
Glen, thoughts on how much clarity matters in a pickup? Like in a "garbage in, garbage out" way? I've had a few really cheap ceramic humbuckers and they just muddy up the sound, even using good amp sims and IRs. I like playing Blackgaze nowadays, and I'm starting to prefer single coils for the clarity. A video comparing singlecoils vs humbuckers in the same guita would be cool, I'm pretty confident emg makes humbucker sized singlecoils. I know your can you play metal on a tele video had something similiar, but I haven't seen that in ages... Probably gonna have to rewatch that soon.
If guitar pickups don't matter, are you suggesting Seymour Duncan/Dimarzio/EMG have made a name in the metal music industry by selling snake oil equipment? Genuine question really, I just wanted to understand your perspective better
It's so much more convinient to change the speakers to fine tune your tone. Whenever I buy a new guitar I always buy a new 2x12 or 4x12 cab with it and then start experimenting with different speaker sets. I usually go through 5-6 sets to get the sound I want from that guitar. It's abit cumbersome to have 4-5 speaker cabs live on stage to match them to the guitar I'm playing per song but so worth it. I don't know how else I could have different guitars sound different through the same rig.
You are a metal channel and you are absolutely right about pick ups being irrelevant at high gain. But I tend to play multiple genres and like to just enjoy the sound of the pick ups clean with no effects. In a mix you can’t tell my three guitars apart on high gain, but they sound different clean, one has double p90s, one is a single coil tele and I have an HSH Ibanez. But clean, you really hear the difference. Of course I tend to prefer a more 12 o clock EQ as well. Thanks for what you do Glenn. You make that thing squeal.
I have that exact same guitar! The jack placement is definitely a little annoying but other than that, it's a solid instrument. Great stuff as always Glenn.
There are only 22 frets and the toggle is in an awkward place. If I could get a customised Solar X I'd move the toggle nearer to the volume and tone knobs and I'd have 24 frets. They're the only design changes I'd likely make but if I was offered a stock one with a Floyd Rose I definitely would not turn it down. Oh yeah! That output jack is in an awkward spot too! Totally agree with you on that Glenn.
Our guitarist uses a Solar but a different model. Same color though. Sais it's one of the best guitars he ever played. Then he bought a 100 euro Telecaster from Thomann and switched 🤣.
I would not put the jack on the front (ruins the look) but in the middle of the top horn, like on a Rhoads. Another thing to note is that the case is included in the price. That is not the case for other (even more expensive) Solar models. That makes this a really good deal pricewise, even if locking tuners are missing.
Remember that Mustaine V you deemed very expensive? Check this - Kirk Hammett "Greeny” Les Paul Standard costs just $3,199.00. And Kirk Hammett "Greeny" 1959 Les Paul Standard costs $19,999.00. So for the equivalent of only 1 "1959 greeny" you could buy 16 copies of this type X you showed us today.
I really need to get one of these. I grew up with only a Dean ML to learn on, so I'm extremely used to playing that shape in classical position. Normal position feels uncomfortable to me, and nothing sits in classical position as perfectly as the ML shape. V's almost do, but that extra bottom "horn" on the ML shape props the neck up perfectly even if you sit with your legs wide. That output location is a bit of an issue, but I already have and use a right angle cable anyway, luckily! haha
I'm a 50-year old rock metal guy who got rid of the pointy guitars when I cut my hair. I miss that shape more than I miss my hair - surprisingly comfy to play when sitting down. Hmmm I want another pointy guitar!!!!!!! (Would want locking tuners though)
Don't know about just for Metal/Prog usage; I'm a lot more of Punk/Goth, and I'm contemplating buying the Solar X straight away, if we can get any (or anything at all), these days, in post-Brexit Britain.
It's really interesting that since your crusade to convince people that hi gain sound boils down to your speaker(s), I have seen more and more youtube videos proclaiming this to be true. Prior to you taking up this cause it was all about anything but speakers, good on you, your message is getting out there (the dead giveaway is when they start parroting your take) and for that you should be congratulated...
Solar do offer locking tuners on the Evertune and Floyd Rose versions of the X. This one is the $999 USD which looks to be a base version. I don't consider them standard at this price point from my experience anyway. The only guitar I own that does have them is my Solar 1.6, but I have Ibanez and LTD that cost more that don't have them. The Ibanez is a brand new RG421 as well.
Well you said the guitar should look cool, if the output jack were in the front, it would look worse? maybe one of those recessed ones on the other side of the horn would work?
GLEEEEEEEEEN. I totally agree with the tone is in the speaker thing. I read a study about vitamin supplements, were patients if they took one supplement(didn't matter which one)had no effect in relation to the control group. But the group that took all of the supplements did see some actual changes. Now that brings me to my proposal: Take one speaker. Do two recordings of the same thing each one of them with a different cab, different Wood, the guitars is made out of different kind of wood, different humbucker, different player and so on. I would really love to see if it makes a difference.
Yooooo Glen. Remember when you said that you'd happily pay more money for locking tuners? The X1.6C has an Evertune bridge AND locking tuners for the low low price of $1299.
Unfortunately that Jack positioning would be a dealbreaker for me. Seems like a sick guitar, but that kind of thing drives me nuts. Move the Jack, add some locking nuts, and its a sale.
Hi Glenn, maybe I lost some episodes but how did we come from pickups partially matters as they act on the sound as filters on the EQ (not largely as an EQ or a speaker), to pickups don’t fuckin matter? Best from Italy :)
I kinda wish the output jack was in the upper horn. I don't know how difficult that would be manufacturing-wise but it would be nice and out of the way.
Great video! I don't really understand why Solar has the basically the same guitar with a Floyd Rose 1000 and locking tuners for almost $200 less. Which I would much prefer.
Hey glen, quick question for you or anyone else that has an answer. I know wood doesn’t effect tone at all but, does the type of wood effect resonance? Or is that in the body shape?
A couple of builders in the '80s tested and measured what Glenn has, and yet enough people still don't listen to Glenn. It was one Japanese brand and a smaller American brand that did their treats separately, and I remember that greater surface area = greater resonance. But I'm not sure that that resonance would translate to an electrified tone. It might just have to do with how the guitar feels to play.
