Une erreur est malheureusement survenue, veuillez réessayer ultérieurement svp.
r
...a solid bond, right from the start!
foreword: i'm a most satisfied owner of an Ibanez Q52PE, "sister" piece with with nyatoh body, pale moon ebony (veneer) top, Jescar Evo Gold stainless (straight) frets, and a quasi-chunky neck with 14" radius ebony fretboard – comparison's included free-of-charge in my experience.
I chose this QX52B-WK because it's so similar: same hardware, pickups, wiring scheme, pots and switches in the very exact places, just pitch (matte) black - and yet so different, for body is okoume, frets are stainless steel (non-gold-hued) uniformly slanted by 8º, neck a thinner thing, again with an ebony fretboard but (flatter) radius-ed at 20".
my choice and purchase inevitably leads to an exercise in discovery: for feel, and sound, and playability, will the different wood of each body amount to a most different tone palette?
or, if any such difference may be noticeable, will it come from the body wood vibration properties, or won't it result from how its fretboard will be fingered, instead, as the 8° slanted frets mean you'll spread your force differently?
it goes without saying, but it's worth mentioning, that i've worked to match their respective setup as closely as possible, for any comparison to be of some significance.
for those interested in the guitar i'm describing for review, the physical execution of each part, the whole assembly, and the finishing, is simply flawless: tightest tolerance in neck-to-body fit, perfectly centered strings across fretboard and pickup poles, an overall finish that pictures fail to portray in its depth and complexity... which is by far not the norm, for instruments in this price range.
we've fared beyond the segment quality standards, here (and in fretwork, too, considering that QX52B-WK does not belong to Ibanez made-in-Japan Prestige range, but originates from Indonesia).
to readers considering headless alternatives: i've owned a Strandberg Boden, bought new from factory in 2020 – both older Q52PE and this QX52B-WK feel just as lightweight, but somewhat more solid and mechanically tougher, to me: strings can be locked in tighter, easily trimmed for safety of fingertips, easily removed for maintenance without hiccup or gimmick in putting them on again... these are instruments that seem to me more resistant to minor contacts with other surfaces, and more resilient to the rigor of the road.
Influenced by the "famous brands syndrome", i had originally thought of swapping the factory pickups even before the guitar was delivered – then i grew to love them for their great versatility in tone: they cover the full spectrum of my taste from squeaky-clean to fully-loaded, with as many shades of spark, or grit, or distortion in between, which i realised at the first insertion of her signal in my audio chain.
my left hand doesn't feel ashamed by the slanted frets, or the thinner neck: if at all possible, this geometry seems to exert less strain on my tendons, with fingers going where they have to without any guesswork... don't let your eyes fool you, you'll learn to fly in minutes – in my case, stance from classical guitar studies lead to neck pointing upward, thumb invisible from behind neck, which this guitar seconds in full.
now this is a summer of heat records, this of 2026 - and definitely not the best climate to try and set all geometry adjustments to neck and strings and saddles: the extreme swing of temperature and humidity simply won't help any young instrument as it doesn't help any young tree – and yet.
my QX52B-WK swiftly reacts to the tiniest changes in truss-rod tension (which i always and only perform after having fully unwound all strings) – this, and changes in saddles height, rewarded me with a different sounding instrument from the one that came out of the box.
setup is one most subjectively personal art, balanced between wish and possibility – in this case a flatter, less extreme break angle of strings between vibrating length, saddles and tuners, let harmonics resonate with more bloom and sustain (tuned to standard E with fresh Daddario XSE 10-46).
QX52B-WK happens to be my seventh headless guitar in order of appearance, and the one indeed most surprising for its price / performance ratio, with undisputable quality in fretwork and finishing... no, wait, there actually was one glitch: the screw of one strap-holder button wasn't seated as firmly as the other two, so i re-tightened it manually – and it won't keep me from calling this piece a best-buy meant to last, and one i'd shop again for more than gladly, if in need to.
if you've read until here from top, it's time to comparing tone: setup of each as closely matched as possible – because QX52B-WK has a thicker slab of ebony glued over a thinner neck, compared to Q52P that's the exact opposite, at which string saddles height barely differs, this QX seem to sound thicker to my ear, a tad more authoritative, in that low-mid register gracing all metal-derived sub-genres first and foremost.
i got here with the intention to keep one of them two at home, the other one where i spend my working week, in order to be able to play more – and now i'm back to square A: how will i choose which one to keep at home, and which one at work, when i'm so in love with both? they're so similar, and yet so different, though equally charming in look, and rewarding in feel, playability, and sound!
I chose this QX52B-WK because it's so similar: same hardware, pickups, wiring scheme, pots and switches in the very exact places, just pitch (matte) black - and yet so different, for body is okoume, frets are stainless steel (non-gold-hued) uniformly slanted by 8º, neck a thinner thing, again with an ebony fretboard but (flatter) radius-ed at 20".
my choice and purchase inevitably leads to an exercise in discovery: for feel, and sound, and playability, will the different wood of each body amount to a most different tone palette?
or, if any such difference may be noticeable, will it come from the body wood vibration properties, or won't it result from how its fretboard will be fingered, instead, as the 8° slanted frets mean you'll spread your force differently?
it goes without saying, but it's worth mentioning, that i've worked to match their respective setup as closely as possible, for any comparison to be of some significance.
for those interested in the guitar i'm describing for review, the physical execution of each part, the whole assembly, and the finishing, is simply flawless: tightest tolerance in neck-to-body fit, perfectly centered strings across fretboard and pickup poles, an overall finish that pictures fail to portray in its depth and complexity... which is by far not the norm, for instruments in this price range.
we've fared beyond the segment quality standards, here (and in fretwork, too, considering that QX52B-WK does not belong to Ibanez made-in-Japan Prestige range, but originates from Indonesia).
to readers considering headless alternatives: i've owned a Strandberg Boden, bought new from factory in 2020 – both older Q52PE and this QX52B-WK feel just as lightweight, but somewhat more solid and mechanically tougher, to me: strings can be locked in tighter, easily trimmed for safety of fingertips, easily removed for maintenance without hiccup or gimmick in putting them on again... these are instruments that seem to me more resistant to minor contacts with other surfaces, and more resilient to the rigor of the road.
Influenced by the "famous brands syndrome", i had originally thought of swapping the factory pickups even before the guitar was delivered – then i grew to love them for their great versatility in tone: they cover the full spectrum of my taste from squeaky-clean to fully-loaded, with as many shades of spark, or grit, or distortion in between, which i realised at the first insertion of her signal in my audio chain.
my left hand doesn't feel ashamed by the slanted frets, or the thinner neck: if at all possible, this geometry seems to exert less strain on my tendons, with fingers going where they have to without any guesswork... don't let your eyes fool you, you'll learn to fly in minutes – in my case, stance from classical guitar studies lead to neck pointing upward, thumb invisible from behind neck, which this guitar seconds in full.
now this is a summer of heat records, this of 2026 - and definitely not the best climate to try and set all geometry adjustments to neck and strings and saddles: the extreme swing of temperature and humidity simply won't help any young instrument as it doesn't help any young tree – and yet.
my QX52B-WK swiftly reacts to the tiniest changes in truss-rod tension (which i always and only perform after having fully unwound all strings) – this, and changes in saddles height, rewarded me with a different sounding instrument from the one that came out of the box.
setup is one most subjectively personal art, balanced between wish and possibility – in this case a flatter, less extreme break angle of strings between vibrating length, saddles and tuners, let harmonics resonate with more bloom and sustain (tuned to standard E with fresh Daddario XSE 10-46).
QX52B-WK happens to be my seventh headless guitar in order of appearance, and the one indeed most surprising for its price / performance ratio, with undisputable quality in fretwork and finishing... no, wait, there actually was one glitch: the screw of one strap-holder button wasn't seated as firmly as the other two, so i re-tightened it manually – and it won't keep me from calling this piece a best-buy meant to last, and one i'd shop again for more than gladly, if in need to.
if you've read until here from top, it's time to comparing tone: setup of each as closely matched as possible – because QX52B-WK has a thicker slab of ebony glued over a thinner neck, compared to Q52P that's the exact opposite, at which string saddles height barely differs, this QX seem to sound thicker to my ear, a tad more authoritative, in that low-mid register gracing all metal-derived sub-genres first and foremost.
i got here with the intention to keep one of them two at home, the other one where i spend my working week, in order to be able to play more – and now i'm back to square A: how will i choose which one to keep at home, and which one at work, when i'm so in love with both? they're so similar, and yet so different, though equally charming in look, and rewarding in feel, playability, and sound!
1
0
Signaler l'évaluation