# Ibanez xv500 Review



## Jason (Jul 20, 2006)

Wow read the end of this review from harmonycentral.  If he hates Ibanez so much why did he buy one? or better yet customizing one?  


Price Paid: US $200 used 
Submitted 10/28/2003 at 10:55am by Uncle Bug 
Email: farfromtolerance<at>yahoo dot com 

Features: 4 
This guitar was made in the early to mid 1980s, as you can tell by its radical design and its nice 2 tone colors. The paint job is purple that fades to a pink, very 80s if you ask me. Has 2 humbucking pickups, I changed them out for Jacksons. The tremelo only goes lower, and not higher so you cant do the high bend thing which is probably why they didnt last, as that was the time for shredders who needed that option. I will be getting my paintjob redone, as the paint has started to shrink causin long cracks. locking tremelo system that the fine tuners seen to "walk" themselve off all the time. They should have just made it with a stop tailpiece, but that definately wouldnt have lasted with the meat head shredders. 

Sound: 7 
Sounds great now that I have replaced the pickups. The original ones just werent meatty enough for me. Definately not a guitar for ballads, but a great guitar for meatl. 

Action, Fit, & Finish: 1 
This guitars intonnation sucks. Everytime I get it set up correctly, it ends up warping itself out within a month or two. Like I said, the finish is shrinking, and it is not even 20 years lod yet. The weak headstock snapped where the tuning keys are, so I have has to have it fixed several times. 

Reliability/Durability: 1 
Not reliable, not dependable, yet. I plan on having this baby chromed dipped, put on a custom maple Ibanez neck and work in some active EMG pickups. The only thing this guitar was good for when it was original was a conversation piece. What kind of conversation can you get from a pink and purple guitar that has issues of headstock snapping, a tremelo that only divebombs, and a neck that continues to warp? "Nice guitar body man, is it your moms?" 

Customer Support: 1 
Do not like Ibanez as they mass produce piles of shit. Give some wood to a monkey and they could build a better guitar. Never had to deal with the company, and probably never will. 

Overall Rating: 1 
Ibanez should be burnt to the ground. Save your money and buy a Paul Reed Smith!!!!


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## Mastodon (Jul 20, 2006)

Is he talking about that one "Z" shaped guitar they made?


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## BinaryTox1n (Jul 20, 2006)

Mastodon said:


> Is he talking about that one "Z" shaped guitar they made?


yes,


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## D-EJ915 (Jul 21, 2006)

Oh man that thing's ugly, and I like stars, explorers and the "EX" shape esp puts out.


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## Dylan7620 (Jul 21, 2006)

.dude from homo-central. said:


> and it is not even 20 years *lod* yet. The weak headstock snapped where the tuning keys are, _*so I have has to have it *_fixed several times.


  i was almost taking this guy seriously but he lost it at lod. the next highlighted part just makes my brain hurt trying to read. does this guy talk like this?


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## bostjan (Jul 21, 2006)

I'd probably like it, because i play *meatl*! 

Cool find!


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## Jason (Jul 21, 2006)

Woohoo!! i finally got some erep first one in a goddamn month.. and that one was a neg..


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## metalfiend666 (Jul 21, 2006)

I've had major GAS for the XV500 for a few years. I nearly bought Donnie's one, but Leon just got in before me with the money. The guy writing that review is an idiot of the highest caliber. We have a special name for people like that here: Cock Jockey.


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## Mastodon (Jul 21, 2006)

Yeah I love that guitar.


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## Cyberi4n (Jul 25, 2006)

.jason. said:


> Customer Support: 1
> Do not like Ibanez as they mass produce piles of shit. Give some wood to a monkey and they could build a better guitar. Never had to deal with the company, and probably never will.



I love this - he rates the company 1 out of 10 for customer support, then goes on to say he's never had to deal with the company!?!!




.jason. said:


> Overall Rating: 1
> Ibanez should be burnt to the ground. Save your money and buy a Paul Reed Smith!!!!


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## Elysian (Jul 25, 2006)

how does a polyester finish shrink?


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## Pablo (Jul 25, 2006)

Well, intense heat followed by liquid nitrogen could probably make the finish shrink and crack... and liquid hydrogen could also explain why the neck needs adjustment... Seriously, what a load of crock!

Cheers

Eske


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## Chris (Jul 25, 2006)

Leon has one of those, used to be Donnie's.


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## Elysian (Jul 25, 2006)

Pablo said:


> Well, intense heat followed by liquid nitrogen could probably make the finish shrink and crack... and liquid hydrogen could also explain why the neck needs adjustment... Seriously, what a load of crock!
> Cheers
> Eske


so many variables i never think of!


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## dpm (Jul 25, 2006)

Wait until you start repairing. We see those liquid nitrogen cracks all the time  Not to mention those nasty Ibanez headstocks that spontaneously snap on a regular basis 
And remember kids, Jackson branded pickups sound great


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## Scott (Jul 25, 2006)

Man, that guitar is pimp as hell. I'd kill for that guitar in a lefty (Though if I hendrix'd it, no one would notice anyway )


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## Leon (Jul 25, 2006)

my mods are almost done, i just need a few more parts to come in, hopefully by the end of the month. i'll post'up when it's done


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## Pablo (Jul 26, 2006)

My God that thing looks awsome! Really friggin cool, if you ask me!


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## speedygeek (Sep 25, 2011)

The second guitar I ever had was one just like the one in the picture above. I was 15 at the time. I loved the guitar, but I hated it. Here was my experiences with it.

I'll start with the balance when wearing it. I like it just like in the picture above. Head pointing diagonally up to my left. But after playing maybe a half a song, for some reason the neck would end up pointing directly left, parallel to the floor, rather than diagonally up to my left. So I was always having to pull the damn thing back up to where it was comfortable. It was the only guitar of mine (out of 3 Washburn and 3 Ibanez) that ever did that.

Sound. It didn't really sound good in my opinion. It's kind of hard to explain. Not enough highs, too low of a tone.

Tremolo. Yeah, like stated above, it's not routered so you really can't pull back much at all. That wouldn't have been too much of a big deal but the tremolo was an Ibanez tremolo. I think I broke about four of the saddle blocks on that thing. This was back before the www so finding spare parts was impossible. So I had to have a machine shop make new ones. And since I was broke back then I could only afford to make one at a time, as they broke. They charged me $18 a piece. If it were a standard Floyd Rose tremolo then parts would have been extremely easy to get.

What I did like was the neck and the overall look of the guitar. As some have pointed out, it's awesome! The neck? I've never played a better neck. I have normal sized hands I guess. A lot of good guitar players I've known tend to have longer fingers to accommodate just about any guitar neck. This neck was thinner than any other I've played so it was very enjoyable to play, other than the points mentioned above.

Anyway, I didn't have it for long. I traded to a guy in school for a POS 70 Nova. Now I'm 37, I know a lot more about guitars and how to make them sound better and can afford them  I definitely want another just like it. I'd even settle for the blue one they made. I would have the body routered and throw a rose on it. I'd replace the pickups to get a better sound out of it. Then I would figure out a better placement for the strap buttons to take care of the balance issue.


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