What happens when you take a super classic instrument style, redesign it with modern appointments, and have it built buy some of the most innovative guitar builders in the world? No, I’m not talking about the Wes Hauch PT-7. Today, I’m talking about the Ibanez ARZ6UC Prestige. This guitar comes loaded with a bunch of killer features for the modern guitarist that we aren’t used to seeing on Les Paul style guitars.

Let’s see if it’s as great as it seems!

Features:

– Mahogany Body

– Maple Top

– ARZ 3pc Maple/Mahogany Set-In Neck

– Bound Ebony Fretboard

– 24 Jumbo Frets w/ Prestige Fret Edge Treatment

– Tight-Tune Bridge and Tailpiece

– Graph Tech Nut

–  25″ Scale

– 12″ Radius

– Bare Knuckle Nailbomb Pickups

Along with the super sleek FR6UC, the ARZ6UC is part of the Uppercut series that Ibanez has delivered us. This series features scatterwound Bare Knuckle Pickups, as well as some other specs not normally seen on Prestiges.

This guitar is visually set apart from the rest of the ARZ line by going with a Satin Black finish, Ebony fretboard, and no inlays. It screams metal, but manages to stay classy.

The 25″ scale and 12″ radius make this guitar a rhythm machine. It’s neck is a bit thinner than a Les Paul, but not quite what you’d find on some of the other Ibanez Prestige guitars. The guitar is on the heavier side for an Ibanez, due to the big mahogany body, but it’s quite comfortable to hold and play for extended periods of time.

Let’s talk about how it sounds, because that’s the most interesting part.

Tone:

Unplugged, the ARZ Uppercut sounds warm, fat, and resonant, just like a Les Paul. When you plug it in, the real fun begins.

The Mahogany body’s fat low end is balanced with the brightness of a thick maple top.  The tone that the Nailbomb creates has a really fat bottom as well and is much tighter than what I’m used to having on a Les Paul. Overall, the guitar’s wood and electronics come together to make a massive rhythm guitar sound. Big bottom and a subtle high end is how I would describe it.

The 25″ scale can often limit the ability to downtune comfortably, but the pickups can handle it really well. They are very articulate and organic under a lot of gain. The pickups fair pretty well for crunchy tones also, but probably wouldn’t be my first choice for playing bluesy styles.

Clean tones are actually pretty great. They aren’t super bright and glassy like I prefer, but they have a nice, well rounded warmth to them.

I would say the best applications for these would be hard rock and metal styles, not necessarily extreme metal styles.

Build Quality:

At the risk of redundancy, the Ibanez Prestige line is generally pretty perfect by the time it gets into your hands.

The binding and finish are done very well and the woods are of a really high grade. All of the Prestige hardware is made by Gotoh, so it’s actually really high quality despite it being ‘Stock Ibanez Hardware’.

Four Words: Prestige Fret Edge Treatment.

Ibanez pretty much sets the bar as far as how production fretwork should be done. Always smooth. Always perfect.

Final Verdict:

The Ibanez ARZ6UC is the perfect example of a modern classic. It takes all of the great things about the Les Paul, and introduces it to the modern guitarist by adding some different appointments.

This guitar is pretty much the ultimate high gain rhythm machine for hard rock and metal. I really wouldn’t mind having one as a studio workhorse.

 

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Don’t forget! We are authorized Ibanez dealers and can set you up with a ARZ6UC or any other current Ibanez model. Not to mention, our Free Guitar Enhancement Package ensures that you get a perfect guitar with an insane setup every time.

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This article was written by Zac Buras, our editor located in Louisiana.

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