Review

Back in the late '80s, when Munky and Head had yet to graduate from short trousers to long shorts, Ibanez and Steve Vai designed the first commercial seven-string with the Universe UV7. The Japanese giant stuck with the format when everyone else hid theirs in the attic, and at the top end of the product range, nobody does it better. No pressure on the RG1527, then.

We’ve played the RG in a million incarnations, but it’s a watertight design for speedy techniques, even if this Ultra neck can’t quite motor like the ‘Wizard’ profile. Cynics argue that seven-string players all sound the same, but the strongest argument for the RG1527 is that it offers massive tonal versatility.

Drop a step and the bite of the V87 bridge unit stops you sounding turgid; tune back up and you can isolate the inner coils of each humbucker for a glassy rock ’n’ roll punch. A jack of all trades, then, even if it doesn’t quite match the depth and muscle of the EMG brigade.

Next: Ibanez RG1527 Prestige verdict