I recently scored a 2007 Ibanez Apex 1, the predecessor to the Apex 100, via a trade-in at my shop. It was from our very own moderator DJ Pharaoh in fact. Just as with my prior experiences with older mahogany MIJ Ibanez 7s, it was a big winner and I decided to keep it for myself. The positive experience with that guitar had me interested in picking up the current model, the Apex100 TFB.
I thought the idea of a quality alder body Ibanez 7 was intriguing and I fancied the aesthetics of it. So I picked one up new from Musician's Friend. The first one that came in played ok and sounded excellent. The DiMarzio Blaze pickup is a nice compliment to alder, due to how bottom-heavy it is and how smooth the upper mids are. However, it buzzed like hell, had a few high frets, needed a neck shim, and wasn't really usable. So I returned the guitar to MF. Thinking perhaps it was just a dud, instead of doing a return I asked them to just send me another one. They did. It came in. The 2nd one was setup even worse.
I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that Ibanez, while having great looks and fast necks, will always let me down with their various issues (background: at this point I've owned over 40 Ibanez 7s). However, I really loved the tone and vibe of the Apex100, so I decided to call up Rich Harris from IbanezRules.com. I had heard a lot of good things about him and knew if anyone would have one thats good it would be him. Being the owner of guitar shop myself with my own areas of expertise, I felt like I was going to the right source to get a proper Ibanez.
I must have spent a good 2 hours on the phone with Rich. He was very direct and honest about the issues Ibanez has, and have always had, with factory setups, nuts not being properly radiused, fret issues, etc. He explained that its common, even for J-Customs, to need some work here and there. Now granted, you could argue that he is biased since he makes his money offering upgrades and pro setups to Ibanez guitars, but everything he said matched my ~15 years experience being in this perpetual love/hate relationship with Ibanez. We all know any guitar in this price range should be perfect right out of the box, but alas, I am a sucker for these things and wanted to make one work.
So I decided "what the hell" and I purchased the guitar from him. It arrived today. I held on to the 2nd Musicians Friend Apex so I could directly compare the two. I had done my own setup on the MF one to get it as good as it could be without further mods. I have to say the difference was really startling, Rich did a GREAT job. It plays and sounds much better, the bridge and nut had been properly radiused to match the frets, it wasnt buzzy even with crazy low action, really happy.
So in conclusion, I have no affiliation with Ibanez or Rich Harris, in fact you could say my business is in direct competion with his with our ESPs and similar brands that compete against Ibanez. However he deserves credit for his expertise, frankness, and superb professional work. Also his prices were very fair. I would never buy a new Ibanez from anyone else.
On to the pics! Sorry for the cell phone pics below, my good camera is at work. You'll see the Apex 1 and my RG1077XL pictured with the Apex100. Those are both great guitars, but different. The Apex 1 neck is a bit more D-shaped, has a glossy finish on the back, really deep menacing tone. The Apex100 neck is unfinished/satin, a bit thinner, and the sound is a bit more snappy but still plenty of bass. The RG1077XL has a thinner neck than either. I have a Crunch Lab/Liquifire in the Apex 1. The Crunch Lab 7 sounds great in it. The Liquifire 7 sounds like trash in it. Probably will put a BKP in there soon enough. The RG1077XL has white BKP Aftermaths in it. Seeing as they make single coil 7s now, I'll probably be replacing the Blaze Middle with a Trilogy soon enough.
I thought the idea of a quality alder body Ibanez 7 was intriguing and I fancied the aesthetics of it. So I picked one up new from Musician's Friend. The first one that came in played ok and sounded excellent. The DiMarzio Blaze pickup is a nice compliment to alder, due to how bottom-heavy it is and how smooth the upper mids are. However, it buzzed like hell, had a few high frets, needed a neck shim, and wasn't really usable. So I returned the guitar to MF. Thinking perhaps it was just a dud, instead of doing a return I asked them to just send me another one. They did. It came in. The 2nd one was setup even worse.
I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that Ibanez, while having great looks and fast necks, will always let me down with their various issues (background: at this point I've owned over 40 Ibanez 7s). However, I really loved the tone and vibe of the Apex100, so I decided to call up Rich Harris from IbanezRules.com. I had heard a lot of good things about him and knew if anyone would have one thats good it would be him. Being the owner of guitar shop myself with my own areas of expertise, I felt like I was going to the right source to get a proper Ibanez.
I must have spent a good 2 hours on the phone with Rich. He was very direct and honest about the issues Ibanez has, and have always had, with factory setups, nuts not being properly radiused, fret issues, etc. He explained that its common, even for J-Customs, to need some work here and there. Now granted, you could argue that he is biased since he makes his money offering upgrades and pro setups to Ibanez guitars, but everything he said matched my ~15 years experience being in this perpetual love/hate relationship with Ibanez. We all know any guitar in this price range should be perfect right out of the box, but alas, I am a sucker for these things and wanted to make one work.
So I decided "what the hell" and I purchased the guitar from him. It arrived today. I held on to the 2nd Musicians Friend Apex so I could directly compare the two. I had done my own setup on the MF one to get it as good as it could be without further mods. I have to say the difference was really startling, Rich did a GREAT job. It plays and sounds much better, the bridge and nut had been properly radiused to match the frets, it wasnt buzzy even with crazy low action, really happy.
So in conclusion, I have no affiliation with Ibanez or Rich Harris, in fact you could say my business is in direct competion with his with our ESPs and similar brands that compete against Ibanez. However he deserves credit for his expertise, frankness, and superb professional work. Also his prices were very fair. I would never buy a new Ibanez from anyone else.
On to the pics! Sorry for the cell phone pics below, my good camera is at work. You'll see the Apex 1 and my RG1077XL pictured with the Apex100. Those are both great guitars, but different. The Apex 1 neck is a bit more D-shaped, has a glossy finish on the back, really deep menacing tone. The Apex100 neck is unfinished/satin, a bit thinner, and the sound is a bit more snappy but still plenty of bass. The RG1077XL has a thinner neck than either. I have a Crunch Lab/Liquifire in the Apex 1. The Crunch Lab 7 sounds great in it. The Liquifire 7 sounds like trash in it. Probably will put a BKP in there soon enough. The RG1077XL has white BKP Aftermaths in it. Seeing as they make single coil 7s now, I'll probably be replacing the Blaze Middle with a Trilogy soon enough.
Congrads Nick! The read was good and very interesting regarding Rich's setup quality.
These APEX 100 NGD threads are killing me.... If only I had the cash to get one. Still remains #1 on my must get list.
