# Ibanez - Why you no make Xiphos?!



## HANIAK (May 5, 2017)

Hey guys!

Just wanted to ask if anyone knows why Ibanez stopped producing the Xiphos models... ?
I'm getting super-tired of the regular super-strat shapes (not to mention the other shapes) and am more and more into the extreme shapes such as Jackson Warrior and the Ibanez Xiphos.
Anyone feeling the same? Where did the death/thrash-metal-heads go? 
Only progressive/djent-heads, now?! 

So... anyone sharing the same feeling?
When do you think Ibanez will come up with Xiphos 707 again?

Cheers!


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## GuitarBizarre (May 5, 2017)

The models were unpopular, mainly because of bridge choices. 

They won't come back until a big endorsee wants one.


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## HANIAK (May 5, 2017)

Yeah, that's what I thought... what a shame...


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## MaxOfMetal (May 5, 2017)

They hit the market with too many of them in the first two years and by the time they became popular there were so many on the used market that people weren't buying the new ones. Not too long after three highly visible, popular artists who championed the Xiphos left either thier popular bands, Ibanez, or both. 

I don't think lack of choices had anything to do with the issue. It was available in 8 colors, fixed bridge or trem, 6 string or 7 string, three different pricing tiers, and multiple limited editions including a double neck. It was saturation not drought that helped kill the Xiphos.


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## Unleash The Fury (May 6, 2017)

I too have been recently gassing for xiphos/warrior guitars. Theres some good ones on the used market though. Though i see more red chameleo. Than blue and id rather have the blue. 

Theres some out there that are in excellent shape. The thing with pointy guitars is its almost inevitable that your going to bump into a ceiling or wall! But like i said theres some out there that dont have any chips or dings you just gotta look. I want the blue/green one, just gotta keep waiting around til i find a good one i guess.

Neck thru FTW


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## lewis (May 6, 2017)

they are pretty stupid imo.
Everyone loves them and everyone wants them. Their Ironlabel range seems the perfect lineup to add a new xiphos too and these days they have their own Gibraltar bridges etc which are much much better than the weird TOM style thing the old ones shipped with.

I would snap up a EMG equipped, neck through, Gibraltar bridged, Iron Label Xiphos, in an instant.


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## MaxOfMetal (May 6, 2017)

They already tried an Iron Label Xiphos, it sold decently, but not enough.


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## lewis (May 6, 2017)

MaxOfMetal said:


> They already tried an Iron Label Xiphos, it sold decently, but not enough.



i dont want a damn floyd though


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## MaxOfMetal (May 6, 2017)

Then get an XPT300FX and mod it a bit, since you don't like the bridge on the XPT700FX.


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## Unleash The Fury (May 6, 2017)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Then get an XPT300FX and mod it a bit, since you don't like the bridge on the XPT700FX.



I too dont want the floyd. And the 300 has a bolt on. I prefer the neck thru. At least the bolt on isnt a fender block type though...


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## GuitarBizarre (May 6, 2017)

And therein lies the crux of the problem.

You don't want Ibanez to make a cool production guitar that piques your interest.

You don't even want to look at Ibanez's range and say "that's a cool guitar, I should go down to my local shop and try it out, see if it's something cool enough to save for"

You want a made-to-measure, custom shop instrument, and you want to pay a production model price for it because having someone actually make it for you is too expensive.

That makes you, flat out, not actually an Ibanez customer, and unlikely to ever become one. So why should they care? Get a thousand people to demand that guitar on all the big guitar forums, and maybe they'll care, but short of that? They don't owe you ..... They made the guitar with a floyd. Don't like it? Block it.

"BUT WAIT!" I hear you cry.... what about those short custom runs they do for the japanese shops! Surely they will make a Xiphos with my preferences!

Well what about them? They're expensive. They're paid for in advance. They're ALREADY SOLD TO CUSTOMERS before Ibanez even lifts a finger. Not to mention Ibanez aren't prepared to modify them very much in any case - find me a fan-fret short-run JDM Ibanez. You can't. Because Ibanez won't invest a ton of money into tooling, jigs, and design, just to make a fanned fret J-Custom in a shop that has never made a fanned fret guitar. 

And guess what? They've never made a Xiphos either. 

Now granted, if you can get 10 or 20 people together who want to drop J-Custom level coin on your dream Xiphos, then I'm Ibanez might entertain you. 

But you'll have to pay that money, and you'll have to be prepared to make a compromise, because those 10 or 20 people are *NOT* going to agree on everything YOU want in a guitar.

Until then, sorry dude, but I have no sympathy whatsoever for the fact that you wanted something, someone said "this is really close to that" and then you didn't actually want it.


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## Unleash The Fury (May 6, 2017)

GuitarBizarre said:


> And therein lies the crux of the problem.
> 
> You don't want Ibanez to make a cool production guitar that piques your interest.
> 
> ...



Whoa WHOA!! Someone peed in your honeycombs?? 

Do you work for Ibanez by any chance? Haha

First off, no im not an Ibanez customer to begin with. I never played one i liked, mainly due to their paper thin/ plywood necks. But this is a model that I am currently into (I am a late comer to pointy X shape models but thats what i happen to be interested in, at the moment). 

Secondly, i have never seen one in person. So playing one at my local guitar shop is out of the question. Granted, i wasnt looking for one a couple years ago when the MAY have had one in stock; but i didnt care then. I dont care a whole lot now either. As i said, ive never meshed with Ibanez guitars, i would consider buying one strictly because it looks cool.............which goes without saying, that i definitly wouldnt pay big money for a guitar only because it looks cool so yes, i would literally have to find the perfect one for me to consider buying it; and the perfect one includes the overall fit and finish. It would have to be in great shape. No large noticeable chips or dings. It would have to be a neck thru, AND it would have to be a color i want. 

Yes its a tall order, and i do not expect Ibanez to care. However you seem to care more about my non-situation more than both Ibanez and myself. 

If your comment was directed at the OP and not me, then i apologize!


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## MaxOfMetal (May 7, 2017)

Have you guys tried an XPT700FX? The bridge actually feels just like a traditional fixed bridge, and not like a regular TOM because it's recessed into the top of the guitar. It doesn't sit relatively high like on a Les Paul. It looks big an intimidating, but a lot of the size comes from them enlarging the intonation range to accommodate lower tunings. 

This pic sort of helps:





Compare that to a Gibraltar Standard:


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## Unleash The Fury (May 7, 2017)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Have you guys tried an XPT700FX? The bridge actually feels just like a traditional fixed bridge, and not like a regular TOM because it's recessed into the top of the guitar. It doesn't sit relatively high like on a Les Paul. It looks big an intimidating, but a lot of the size comes from them enlarging the intonation range to accommodate lower tunings.
> 
> This pic sort of helps:
> 
> ...



Theres a sharp lookin (no pun intended ) xtp700 in excellent shape for sale but its got the floyd. I got my eyes open.

Correction: i didnt see the FX on the end of the name........ So no i dont think ive seen those


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## MaxOfMetal (May 7, 2017)

The FX, for fixed bridge, came out a year after the original XPT700 and ran from 2008 to 2009. You don't see them as much, but they do pop up on Reverb and eBay.


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## HANIAK (May 7, 2017)

Yeah, you guys in the USA have better chances and options on the used market... here in Europe I can't seem to find a used 7 string Xiphos, which I'd buy in a heart beat!


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## Unleash The Fury (May 7, 2017)

HANIAK said:


> Yeah, you guys in the USA have better chances and options on the used market... here in Europe I can't seem to find a used 7 string Xiphos, which I'd buy in a heart beat!



You mean better chances as far as what exactly? Dont you have guitar stores and the internet?


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## Rawkmann (May 7, 2017)

I agree the Xiphos was certainly a cool as hell design, but did anybody else have serious neck dive problems with theirs? My cousin bought one when they were first released, hardly played it live, and sold it because the neck dive was ridiculous.


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## _MonSTeR_ (May 7, 2017)

Unleash The Fury said:


> You mean better chances as far as what exactly? Dont you have guitar stores and the internet?



I don't think so many ever ended up in Europe, and with the changes to the CITES regulations and the EU implementation of rules affecting shipping of guitars with rosewood boards means that a lot of non-EU sellers won't ship here at the moment...

I'd always have liked to see a Japanese Prestige level Xiphos, the trouble is even though I'd like to have seen one, I don't think I'd have bought one. And therein lies the trouble...


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## gunch (May 7, 2017)

700 level X series indos were actually low key good


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## Unleash The Fury (May 7, 2017)

Rawkmann said:


> I agree the Xiphos was certainly a cool as hell design, but did anybody else have serious neck dive problems with theirs? My cousin bought one when they were first released, hardly played it live, and sold it because the neck dive was ridiculous.



Was the neck dive associated with the neck weight or the strap button placement? I would think that even with the heaviest neck, that it wouldnt dive as long as the strap button was placed in the right spot to evenly distribute the weight. 

Like my Epiphone SG Prophecy is one of my best guitars, but the strap button placement causes the neck to dive if im not holding it up.


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## Bloody_Inferno (May 8, 2017)

Unleash The Fury said:


> Was the neck dive associated with the neck weight or the strap button placement?



The pre 2010 (non pronounced bevels) models all neck dived due to the strap button placed on the edge of the upper wing. 2 of my Xiphos guitars (700 and 700FX) were modded and placed the button perpendicular to the low E string, lower in the body. That fixed all the neck dive issues.

Ibanez has addressed the issue and moved the button lower down the wing on all 2010 models and onwards.


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## Edika (May 8, 2017)

I tried to find one of these when they came out. I don't know if these ever came to Europe but I only saw one of them once in an used ebay auction. I they were available in the EU they sold out really quickly!




MaxOfMetal said:


> They already tried an Iron Label Xiphos, it sold decently, but not enough.


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## MaxOfMetal (May 8, 2017)

Edika said:


> I they were available in the EU they sold out really quickly!



...or so badly that retailers didn't bother stocking them significantly. 

Things were stacked against that guitar pretty bad. A model of a dying shape, part of a new and untested series at a price folks were skeptical about.

Another guitar ahead of its time.


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## Miek (May 8, 2017)

MaxOfMetal said:


> ...or so badly that retailers didn't bother stocking them significantly.
> 
> Things were stacked against that guitar pretty bad. A model of a dying shape, part of a new and untested series at a price folks were skeptical about.
> 
> Another guitar ahead of its time.



Which is too bad cuz they really nailed the design for an extreme shape with the xiphos.


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## MaxOfMetal (May 9, 2017)

Miek said:


> Which is too bad cuz they really nailed the design for an extreme shape with the xiphos.





I'm not one for extreme shapes but I loved my 707.


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## M3CHK1LLA (May 9, 2017)

one of my favorite shapes of all time...i currently own 3.

i was bidding on one of the models i don't own and lost...


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## lewis (May 9, 2017)

looking at the Xiphos again, and seeing that headstock and comparing it with modern builds. Does anyone else think it would look awesome as a headless design now?


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## KnightBrolaire (May 9, 2017)

lewis said:


> looking at the Xiphos again, and seeing that headstock and comparing it with modern builds. Does anyone else think it would look awesome as a headless design now?



bond built a headless extreme shape 8 string.


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## Blytheryn (May 9, 2017)

KnightBrolaire said:


> bond built a headless extreme shape 8 string.



That top looks like Ed Gein's lamp.


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## lewis (May 9, 2017)

KnightBrolaire said:


> bond built a headless extreme shape 8 string.



funny you posted that. Last week I watched the Arnold review of this on youtube. Shame that high e rolls of the fretboard too easily aye?
Big design flaw.


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## KnightBrolaire (May 9, 2017)

lewis said:


> funny you posted that. Last week I watched the Arnold review of this on youtube. Shame that high e rolls of the fretboard too easily aye?
> Big design flaw.



yeah I've heard bond is pretty hit or miss with his stuff. guess if I want a weird guitar like a headless V or explorer I'm building it myself lol


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## MaxOfMetal (May 9, 2017)

That Bond.  On so many levels.


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## Edika (May 9, 2017)

MaxOfMetal said:


> ...or so badly that retailers didn't bother stocking them significantly.
> 
> Things were stacked against that guitar pretty bad. A model of a dying shape, part of a new and untested series at a price folks were skeptical about.
> 
> Another guitar ahead of its time.



I guess you're right, as they were priced quite high in comparison to other Iron Label models and close to other mid range guitars that had more traction.

Especially with the reputation the Iron Label had, and still has I believe, there wouldn't be too many taking the plunge and getting it. It is a very very nice looking guitar aesthetically at least.

I remember Gear Gods reviewed it and gave it an excellent score but quite a few people voiced their skepticism on their review.


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## Dredg (May 16, 2017)

I would have loved to own a Xiphos...

...but they didn't offer a lefty.


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