Ibanez Iceman 400 Electric Guitar
August 7, 2007 by Jo Minor
The Ibanez Iceman 400 electric is an icon in the history of rock music guitars. The Iceman has an incredibly unique presence, with a body shape like no other. Retailing for $733.32, it is made of mahogany, that heavy resonant wood used in the finest of electric guitars. Another high quality detail is the set neck, which is one of the best features for increasing the sustain in your guitar.
The history of the Ibanez Iceman 400 electric guitar goes back to the 70’s. Rock music had been through the formative years of the sixties, and was now coming into its own as a serious genre of music. Rock music requires liberal use of electric guitars, of course, good and loud! At the time, there were a few guitars to choose from that were suitable.
Probably the best guitar of the time for rock music was the Gibson Les Paul, with its high output humbucker pickups and super resonant mahogany body. There was only one small problem. The LP was sort of square looking for the new generation of metallic musicians with their screaming solos. Make no mistake - the Les Paul has remained a mainstay in the arsenal of rock music weapons. Still, many rockers were looking for something a little more up to date and modernistic in design.
Another factor that played in the development of the Ibanez Iceman is that Ibanez, a Japanese company, had been marketing American copy guitars for a while, and had some lawsuit threats because of it. Their lower costs of production along with their attention to detail and quality had provided guitars that were of the same quality as the high dollar American ones, but at a lot lower price tag.
Because of the growth of the rock music industry, along with Ibanez’ new desire to create a guitar uniquely theirs, and uniquely Japanese, too, the Ibanez designers met with Japanese factory officials. Together, they created the Iceman design. (By the way, Ibanez is not a Japanese name. It is a Spanish guitar name that was bought out in the thirties.)
Some of the guitarists who used these early Iceman guitars were Paul Stanley of KISS and Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band. A newer player often associated with the Iceman is Daron Malakian of System of a Down. The original Iceman was in production from 1975 to 1983 in various forms. One form that the Iceman shape has been used in widely is in bass guitars.
Advantages: The pickups and mahogany body of the Ibanez Iceman 400 electric guitar yield great harmonics and a good tone. The clean is clear and good, and the distortion is really nice. The shape actually gives the guitar so much sustain that it has been favorably compared to the Gibson Les Paul and SG guitars. The neck is sleek and playable, although not as thin as that of other Ibanez models. While the neck is a bit fat at the upper frets, the heel is smooth and the upper frets are accessible.
The body is well balanced when it sits on your lap. It makes a good rhythm guitar, but do not stop there. It is also very versatile for many types of music, such as jazz.
Disadvantages: The Ibanez Iceman 400 electric guitar does not have any type of whammy bar. That and the fact that the neck is pretty wide means that it is generally considered not really designed for rock lead solos. Being made of mahogany, and having a long, unusual shape, the Iceman is really a rather heavy guitar.
Also, being a shiny black, it shows scratches really bad. If you invest in a case for it, you will protect it from a lot of those scratches, but you will find that it does not fit in a lot of standard electric guitar cases. A suggested case that is cool looking, too, is the Coffin Case Universal bass case, either model 300B or 300W.
It probably will need adjusting from a guitar tech, as it sometimes has issues with fret buzz right out of the box. Also, keep in mind that it has only 22 frets. Many guitarists really like having those last two frets for a total of 24.
Specs:
- Mahogany body in unique Iceman shape
- 3-piece maple set neck
- Wide D profile neck
- 22 medium frets
- Bound rosewood fingerboard
- Ibanez AH1 humbucker pickup at the neck
- Ibanez AH2 humbucker pickup at the bridge
- Two tone control knobs
- Two volume control knobs
Here is an eBay review of the Ibanez Iceman IC400 that gives a lot of details about the players who made it famous.
Here is another review of this classic among rock guitars.
And here is a link that takes you to a picture and description of a case that will work for the Ibanez Iceman 400 electric guitar. Remember that it won’t fit in a standard electric guitar case.
Comments
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I just bought one for my self used at a near by guitar center.
No Bullshit, the stock pick ups awesome for leads but OK for rythem work, not metal enough for me but i’m still having a hard time deciding to replace them
The body is pretty well balanced like the review said and pretty much les paulish. a little better feel if you ask me.
String buzz def a huge issue mine buzzes just a little more then tolerable after a set up… but i think it was the best the guitar tech could do.
all and all still and amazing buy.