NGD: They put these at the top of the pile..

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All w/ the same amp settings/mic'ing.

Can't really say any of them play better than the others (cuz ^^) but they do each have their own thing going on tone-wise..difference's probably come down to the body/neck wood's & the pup's...

 

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And last but not least ....the humble GIO...

Plays like a champ ..shreds like the rest ..keeps up w/ the big boys & sound-wise about as different from the other's as the Prestige's are from each other ..or the Premiums are from the Prestige's.. :bigthumb:

 

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Epic tune w/ an Epic axe... :bigthumb:

 

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And some GIO budget EPIC-ness..

 

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..and with the S Premium which as we all know comes in just behind the Prestige as far as tone, playability, hardware, construction etc is concerned.... ( cuz it's made in Indonesia, not Japan. Wot a huge difference that makes :lmao

But thankfully is still miles ahead of the cheap & humble GIO (also Indo...but cheep) :bigthumb:

Of course, fingers have nothing to do w/ anything :lmao:

 

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Some swamp rockin' :bigthumb:

 

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And w/ the A5 Hot Grinder in the neck :bigthumb:

 

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Checking it out through my Orange SuperCrush 100W SS head/V30 cab....bridge pup/ballad.

 

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I moved stuff around a bit. Had my Cicognani Brutus Live 30W head (2 x 5881's) sitting on my Emi Legend GB128 1x12 cab in the far corner of the room and as a result I hardly play or record w/ it which is a crying shame cuz it sounds fantastic & is a great/fun amp to play.

On the other hand I have my Vox NT50 head /1x12 cab right next to me and while it sounds great and has it's uses I don't really play it that much so I switched them around... also got my Orange CR 120 2x12 combo off the top of the stacked oversized 1x12's I had it on top of ( yeah, ridiculous) and onto the floor in some space I miraculously made for it across the room (laugh2 My Orange Supercrush head is now where the CR120 used to be on top of the oversized 1x12's. Anyway..I'm really happy w/ the way everything is now (though my back isn't )

Gave the Brutus a go w/ the new axe..

Sweet!

 

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Same thing with the Lead 2 channel. More than any of my other amp's this Brutus does the UK (JCM800/SLO - Ld. Ch1) / US (Boogie/5150) thing best...lead 2 is more compressed, smoother, gainier, darker thicker..while Lead 1 is super dynamic, brighter w more bite/incredible harmonic overtones...it's got some SLO in there as well :bigthumb:

 

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30 frets vs. the rest :bigthumb:

 

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Gotta say...30 frets are fun to play around with...but my intonation's a bit off & I'm not keen to tackle that job myself...it gets kinds weird & warbly on the highest ones and I still dont have the finger-strength to dig in enough to shred all the way up at the top there. Tapping is probably the easiest to manage provided I use just the single-finger on my right hand - & it's easier to slide not tap (unfortunately 7 not 8 finger tapping is pretty much impossible..there just is'nt enough space to put all those fingers..which is a shame cuz I bet it would sound mega-cool blazing around at light speed all the way up there )


EDIT: forgot the video :laugh2:

 

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Gotta say...I like most Ibanez stock pup's Folk ***** about them all the time but almost all of them actually sound pretty sweet. Single coils & humbuckers both.

I think this one (SA) has the new Quantum bridge (ceramic) & the RG above has an Infinity (A5) and they both sound pretty killer. The "Hot Grinder's" in my new Sabre take the cake...absolutely fantastic pup's (imo).

 

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Neoclassical ballad w/ my AMT Stonehead 50W solid state head (Emi Legend GB128 1x12 cab)...no shredding, just tasteful restraint...

It's awesome how this pickup goes into that awesome harmonic feedback that I love w/ extended notes/bends even when playing slowly & softly (& tastefully)..

 

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Next up I'll do the "unrestrained" version (w/ little to no tasteful restraint).

Now that might be challenging seeing how this is an acoustic ballad, but here's hoping I can still fill it w/ (7 not 8 ) finger tapping, arps, shred, divebombs and the like cuz this amp has just the right kind of compression for all that stuff as I've demonstrated before..

....I mean, why should ballads always be slow??

 

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V2 ....Track does'nt really lend itself too well to all-out shredding & divebombs/whammy trix (I tried....but I lost the tastefulness..).

So instead I went w/ a bunch of (tasteful yet unrestrained) robot tapping/sliding & squeelies.. :bigthumb:

Bridge pup.

I mean, there's a couple of ways to approach guitar playing imo..the first is w/ a stick up your arse (and gaping @ a crappy theory book spread-eagled out in front of you) & the second is to have fun and do w/e the hell you feel like doing :bigthumb:

 

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And more uptempo power/neoclassical fun w/ my S1070 & Randall T2 ...Tone Zone ridge.. :bigthumb:

 

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....same thing w/ my Brutus Live 30W head/ Emi Legend GB128 1x12..

 

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...same axe (DMZ Air Norton neck) w/ my Orange Super Crush 100 & my 1x12 w/ an Electro Harmonix driver.

Kinda woofy/muddy but I dig it...

 

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W/ my BC Rich Ironbird Pro Series (EMG 89R br)

^^ For that all-important 'active vs. passive' comparison :bigthumb: