So I got this guitar the other day. And before I got it I had trouble finding very much information on it. So I kind of made a promise to myself that once I had it I would do my best to write an in depth review of this instrument and it’s features. So here goes…
First off let me say that this is the only Iceman I’ve ever owned or played so I don’t know how it stacks up against the rest of them. I’m not sure how the sustain or craftsmanship compares to the other models that have giving this guitar its reputation.
The Story
For my band I needed to have a guitar dropped down 5 half steps, I am too fond of my other guitars to perform this butcherization to them, as we know with a floating tremolo its not so easy to drastically change tunings, you pretty much need a dedicated guitar. So I went looking for a moderately priced big bassy electric to turn into a beast. I found this through-neck Iceman with a whammy to be a pretty great option. At $800 it was just pricey enough to possibly be a legitimate instrument. Yet inexpensive enough to where I was willing to take a chance on it.
The Good
The neck on this thing is seriously wonderful. 24 Giant frets and some pretty nice inlay work. As soon as I picked it up I was very pleased with the playability of this instrument. Its easily as playable as any of my other guitars. Despite being painted, the neck is smooth and fast, it doesn’t seem to stick to my hands like several of the painted Gibson necks I have played.
The Pickups are DiMarzio Evolutions… They seem well balanced with the instrument. I like the sound very much. The harmonics just pop out at you, in a good way.
The rosewood fingerboard isn’t bad, the inlay work looks pretty decent. No complaints there.
It comes with a case, which is invaluable since this guitar is almost impossible to find a case for from what I hear.
I think it looks pretty awesome, I like the headstock and the Oreo pickups are pretty rad as well.
Its quite heavy and has a through neck which should help its sustain a bit. But not heavy enough to make it uncomfortable for me.
The tuners are smooth and precise enough.
Despite the unusual shape I find it comfortable to play while sitting or standing.
The Bad
The guitar is made in Indonesia, this fact sadly shows in the quality of the craftsmanship quite a bit. The bindings are less than perfect, the paint underneath the back plate is peeled, chipped and thin. The screws holding the trem springs in place appear to be inserted at weird arbitrary angles.
The tremolo was not setup very well when it arrived, I had a few very tiny screws just fall off of it and down onto the carpet which was frustrating.
The case that it comes in feels a little flimbsy. But still very usable.
I’m not super fond of the bridge, I would prefer an Edge-Zero or Edge-Pro. But as far as functionality this bridge has worked fine for me. Other than the screws falling out.
None of it is horrible, but for a similar price you can get J-Craft Prestige that is completely flawless. Why couldn’t this guitar have been J-Made?
Includes (Mine came with the following items):
- Wrenches for changing strings and setting up the bridge
- A hard case (with keys)
- An instruction Manual
- An extra tremolo spring
- A pretty lame 1/4inch guitar patch cable (6ft?)
- D’Addario Strings (9-42)
I think that’s everything it came with. I will take another look when I get it back from my technician.
Conclusions
If I were a rockstar, I probably wouldn’t play a guitar this poorly crafted. Which leads me to believe that Sam Totman does not actually play his Signature guitar. I don’t know if he does or not… It certainly is a player’s guitar, it plays great, it sounds great. It looks great from a distance. But it does seem to be less quality than other Ibanezes in the same price range.
I really can’t stress enough how nice the neck feels on this guitar. Its a dream to play. From the moment I picked it up it felt comfortable to me. And it sounds great too. So I mean those two things alone make it a worthwhile instrument. Just don’t expect the same quality you’d see in the prestige series.
Geoffiological Super Rating System (GSRS)
- Craftsmanship 7.5/10
- Playability 9/10
- Soundz 9/10
- StarPower 10/10
Entries (RSS)
August 4th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
What else does it come with aswell as the case?
August 4th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Yeah I was meaning to add that. Good suggestion. I’ll put it in the post.
August 15th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I bought one in the end, thanks for the info before hand.
It’s really great, although i see what you mean about the craftsmanship. I also own a Yamaha sg2000, and the build quality is so much better on the yamaha.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:51 am
Although the guitar is poorly made from the factory, can it be sorted out reletively simply?
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Sorted out? The guitar plays fine. The “Defects” a term I will use loosely since its a fine guitar, are purely cosmetic. I have purchased two of these now and both seemed to play and sound fine. I’m not really sure what you mean by sort out though.
September 7th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Ah finally I find a review for this thing. Its the only one I have seen. First off id like to say thanks for the in depth and informative review.
I’m thinking about buying one in a month or two. And it seems like the only defect is the craftsmanship. And if you gave it a 7.5 it can’t be that bad
so my question is do you think that $800 is a fair price for the guitar you get or do you think that it should have been lower?
September 7th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Hoss: I would say that the worth is kind of relative to how much you like the Iceman. $800 is a fair price for this guitar. And that most brands wouldn’t produce a much better guitar for $800.
However the Japanese made RG1570 and others that are in a similar price range are much nicer guitars for the money. But they are obviously a different guitar. So if you want specifically an Iceman with Evos I would say that this price is more than worth it. But if you’re just after an incredible instrument I would go for an RG1570. Musicians Friend’s September catalog has them for $749 even though their website says $899.
But I definitely don’t think that the SMT1 is a bad deal. I have purchased 2 of them, so that’s a pretty good indication that I feel they are decent.
September 7th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
oh yeah one other question, do you know if it comes in any other color than white? that is all i see on the net.
September 7th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
White is the only colour it comes in at the moment. Sam himself plays a white one so I guess it makes sense.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:19 am
How do you find the STM1 evo pickups with the distortion? Are they clean for solos? I heard that they are good on les pauls?
September 9th, 2008 at 2:26 am
I think the Evolutions balance well with the body of the guitar. The Neck pickup is really nice and warm and the bridge does scream quite well. These pickups really cut through a mix as well which can be nice.
I have them on my RG1570 and they are very responsive for leads and rhythms. Pickups are kind of an apples and oranges thing though, everyone has differn’t taste in tone. I mainly play them distorted but they sound pretty good clean too. This guitar actually has a pretty good bluesy tone with some subtle overdrive, which I really dig. I don’t play a lot of technical shred but a lot of the shredders I do know swear by these pickups. I mostly like them because the harmonics are very lively. And I love doing squeels and whammy tricks.
If they sound good on a Les Paul then they probably sound good on the Iceman since they are both big heavy through necks. Anyways the Evolution is pretty legendary so there are a lot of guides out there who know more than I do that could probably help you better. Either way they are quality pickups and they sound good to me.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:12 am
Well I have Gibson Explorer with SD 59-JB pickups, the 59 is awsome and clean but buffy with overdrive. JB sustain is excellent but the volume is low generally.
I saw the Ibanez STM1 which is quite similar to the Gibson shape but I feared the painted neck from the start as you mentioned (I hate sticky necks). I heard that the Evolution pickups are used by Steve Vai and Herman Li also but I never tried them.
Did you try producing a tone similar to Gary Moore with those pickups?
The other thing how do you find the whammy bar ? durable or wacky?
If the whammy is good and the pickups are too. I guess that I will go for STM1 and lubricate my hands. hahahaha
September 9th, 2008 at 11:32 am
The evolutions are definitely powerful with quite a bit of sustain. Probably the best way to hear them would be to listen to vai since he uses a lot of tonal variety in his music. Dragonforce isn’t big on changing their tone so it doesn’t really showcase what the pickups sound like.
Yeah the neck on the STM1 is way less sticky than the painted Gibsons I have played. I’m not sure why, I guess they just use a better finish or something.
As far as the Gary Moore this is concerned defiantly I think something similar could be produced with this guitar. But I’m by far a tonal authority. So with a grain of salt do take my oppinions.
The whammy bar seems functional. As far as floating trems go I prefer the Edge Pro or ZR, but this has given me no problems so far.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Hey what kind of trem is in it? Also I heard that it goes out of tune very easily.. is that true?
September 25th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
It stays in tune fine, the people who claim floating trems can’t stay in tune generally have them setup wrong. Much like any other double locking floating system it can be a pain to setup, but once its setup its good to go.
As stated in the review it has an Edge III tremolo.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Hi.. great review, there is not a lot of reviews on these elsewhere on the net, you appear second in google. Can you confirm if your included item list is complete? I want to buy one like this and at the store where I saw one sometimes they “forget” to give stuff with their guitars. I want to make sure I don’t get ripped off… Thanks.. and I’ll let you know when I get mine
September 27th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
also… I just saw a video of one guy trying it out on youtube and the volume goes down for like 1 second when he changes pickups… can anyone tell me if the guitar does that?
September 28th, 2008 at 4:30 am
To my knowledge the included items list is complete. Unless there is something mine didn’t show up with. But yeah that’s everything I received with both of them.
When switching pickups I have had no volume issues.
Yeah when you get yours feel free to let me know how it works out. I mean it is what it is, there are probably better guitars out there, but its a pretty rad guitar if you ask me. I love the neck on this thing, it plays like a dream.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 am
Where did you purchase this? Gonna buy this in a month or so.. Don’t wanna go for an online sale..
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I purchased mine from two small local and licensed Ibanez dealers. You probably won’t be able to actually go into a store and find one of these sitting on the shelf. Because its kind of a “special” item, but any licensed Ibanez shop should be able to order you one.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Hey… a very usefull review, thanks a ton!! I have one comment though:
* it’s not really fair to compare this guitar to other $800 guitar, it’s not manufactured in the US which means that when you buy it, you are actually paying for it’s shipping across the world, customs and other taxes as well… for me, I live in the middle east and it price here is around $650-$700…
I am expecting to get mine within 3 days, I’ll post my comment on it when I try it out.
Thanks again
October 10th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Well to be fair the guitars I was comparing it too are also imports and subject to worldwide shipping and taxes and customs in America. The comparing it to whatever amount of money is obviously relative to where you live. Here it is an $800 guitar. And I compare it to other $800 guitars that I can buy here.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Ok, im going to order it at guitar center
but i have had a guy tell me that it does not come with a case, where exactly did you order it at
October 14th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
It comes with a case. It just doesn’t say it does. I ordered it from two different local shops and both of them came with cases. Every one I’ve seen comes with a case, but several websites don’t bother to mention it comes with one. I wouldn’t worry about it, I’m pretty much positive that they all come with cases.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
hmm i may try somewhere ells besides guitar center then
the guy i was talking to was a manager of one of the stores in dallas, he checked the inventori. said that they dont offer them with the guitar, meh, aint to big of a deal though
i could allways buy the case seperate,
How much do you think the ICT100C case would cost?
October 14th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I would find a shop somewhere that is a licensed dealer. It definitely comes with a case and if they won’t give you one with it they are ripping you off. Cases are hard to find for these and the case it comes with is form fitting and decent. Definitely not something I would want to pass up.
October 15th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Well, I have received my STM1 2 days ago and here is what I think:
1. Shape: Extremely awsome, very unique although I would prefer if the inlays are a little more bigger…
2. Finish: Not so good… the pickup selector knob has a manufacturing defect (it looks melted from one side!!!), and the location of the strap knob is in the back of the guitar!!! really annoying and uncomfortable for me to play it standing due to the strap wierd position.
3. Playability: Ahhh… Here comes the good stuff, it’s a whole new experience for me. The frets are not too smooth compared to my 1998 Les Paul but for some reason I have exceeded my usual bpm on this guitar… really comfy to play & has a good touch the best part for me that it’s easy to play on fast tempo at the higher fretsclose to the neck.
4. Sound: Adorable and magnificant…. Can’t describe it enough. If you like metal, this guitar was made to make you cause some nasty damage. If you like to play on clean channels, it has a really pure and kinda blues tone into it… very very nice on both pickups.
If it got stolen from me I would hunt the stealer down, take out the pickups, beat him to death with the guitar and then I will buy a new one and put the old pickups on my Les Paul
All in all… top notch guitar, I love it and it’s an excellent way to spend a 800$ and get your money worth but keep in mind you are actually paying for design and the pickups more than anything else.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Yeah my opinion exactly, If you like the Evos and the Iceman body then this guitar is a great deal, I swear the frets are like super jumbos, I’ve not played a guitar before with such comfortable higher frets.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:32 pm
agree agree agree
I have a passion for the Iceman shape and have an IC300 – just got my STM1 and the difference has freaked me – the thru neck mahogany body gives excellent sustain and resonance [basewood sounds like cardboard to me now] – Evo pick-ups, WOW! can anyone think of a better pick-up designed for metal? – must admit I was daunted by the thought of jumbo frets at first but what a surprise, they take a lot of the hard work out of the twiddly bits
– not had much experience with locking nut floating trem systems before – mine came well set up [no loose bits and perfect intonation] and stays sooooo well in tune after numerous whammy dives – lower gauge strings [9-42] than I’ve been use to [regular 10's] combined with a recommendation of using a thinner plectrum [thankz Sam] I can now play and sound stuff I couldn’t prior, even the painted neck dosnt give any grease or sticky problems [my IC300 neck is perfect - ask me mates]
bad points
Indonesia – must admit I went ballastic when I first saw that not only on the outer cardboard box but also on the headstock [no disrespect to Indonesia - but I wasn't expecting that - as mentioned earlier, I doubt Sam Totman's hasn't had a custom shop pimp my ride job on his:-)
]
removal of base plates revealed flakey internal routing finishing paint job and screw issues but soon cleaned up, anyway it [she - oops my passion] looks cooler with the trem springs exposed [not wishing to sound like a pervert
Anyway for £500 GBP inc hardcase [rugged] and all allen keys, spare spring, manual etc and shipping, I’m V V V happy 5 star smiley happy bunny – could go on for hours but then I fear we would need to start a therapy group
one last thing – you can get lazy – she almost plays herself
November 15th, 2008 at 12:47 am
How long did it take to arrive from when you first placed the order?
January 1st, 2009 at 5:30 am
I just bought one of these, and so far I’m quite impressed.
The factory didn’t do a good job setting it up at all, so I had to spend a few hours fixing up the tremolo and intonation, but I’d probably have spent as much time investigating the setup even if it was perfect, so no complaints there. Here’s my contribution to this awesome review (thanks, Geoffio):
Bad Stuff:
The only complaint I have with this guitar is that the craftsmanship is decidedly less than stellar. It’s nothing to pitch a fit about, though (I didn’t even notice until I took off the trem panel to find some flaky paint and unappealingly routed wood), and it’s not like anyone is going to spend that much time staring into the trem cavity anyway. Literally, the only BAD thing about this guitar is its internal routing/painting, and in all the areas that are meant to be beautiful (the outside of it), this guitar is incredibly sexy.
Good Stuff:
Ah, where to begin?
The first thing I noticed when I looked at this guitar was that it is very shiny, and much more beautiful than pictures convey. From top to bottom, the STM1 is a work of art, and there’s just something magical about its look that makes you want to gaze longingly at it. The only way this guitar could look any cooler is if the angled block inlays were to be backlit with neon blue LEDs (oh, what a sight that would be). The finish is lovely, the oreo-style pickups look awesome, and the twelfth fret has a neat little turquoise stone set in the middle of the inlay that reflects light wonderfully. Best of all, the guitar is white, which is amazing not only because it looks badass, but because fingerprints are really difficult to spot! The fretboard on this thing is great, too. The twenty-four frets are massive, lending themselves to effortless use, and the action is smooth and pleasant.
Equally impressive to the STM1’s aesthetics is its sonic prowess. The DiMarzio Evolution pickups provide a great set of sounds that work exceptionally both distorted and clean. The bridge pickup has a very pronounced cry and absolutely cuts through the air like a dagger while the neck pickup has a very comforting, warm, soothing quality to it that has a very bluesy tone. At the moment, I find myself using the former for my heavily distorted metal escapades and the latter to get a thick, buttery, clean sound. You simply can’t go wrong with this guitar’s sound. The neck-through construction provides ample sustain, and the STM1 just has a nice, unique range that gives it a special place among guitars.
It seems that I’ve run out of things to talk about, so I might as well blather on about the tremolo for a bit. It’s an Edge III double-locking trem-system, and to be honest, I don’t have any idea how well it stacks up against other comparable setups. This is the first whammy-equipped guitar I have ever laid my hands on, and I’ve had no critical problems with it so far. It took me a long time to set up, but once I did that, everything was A-okay.
Overall, it is my opinion that this guitar is pretty damn cool. Awesome sound, awesome look. What’s not to like?
Hope this sub-review helps,
- pilesofnoodles
March 29th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Yeah i just recently got an STM1. it came set up and played just fine. one day i changed the tuning a bit and the bridge was not even with the body of the guitar, i adjusted it just as the manual said but the 12 fret on the G string just bezzed and didn’t create much of a sound. any advice?
April 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
When sam plays he does not actually play it, when i saw them live he used it for heroes of our time then his old iceman for the rest of it. He also recorded most of the album with Herman Li’s guitars
December 27th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Hello!
I’m considering the STM1 or the regular Ibanez ICT700. I hate unbalanced guitars, and I have a question: is the STM1 neck heavy when you play standing with a strap?
Thank you for an answer, because I haven’t been able to find that out at all.
December 27th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
@Paul
The guitar is well balanced. Its surprizingly comfortable with the strap, but body contour works well, every guitar is setup to sit at a slightly different angle on the strap, but unlike a Jackson V or many Deans or something this is definitely not neck heavy. If there are any balance issues, they certainly are not extreme.
December 28th, 2009 at 7:36 am
@Geoffio
Thank you for your answer. No doubt you must be having tons of fun on this little demon, I’d love to play one live. Rock on!
December 28th, 2009 at 11:05 am
@Paul
I’m actually selling one STM1 if you’re interested. Don’t know your location or anything. But hit me up at geoffio@geoffio.com if you want one of mine. They are in mint condition and setup by my professional technicians.
December 31st, 2009 at 7:33 am
@Geoffio
I sent you an email. If you have any samples of yourself playing the STM1 on some tracks, I’d love to hear them too. Hope to hear from you soon.
December 31st, 2009 at 9:28 am
Has anyone noticed Sam also has a black STM1? oooooooooooooooo
also went to see Dragonforce recently – took my STM1 with me and both Sam & Herman signed it – also earlier on in the year I was at a Steve Vai masterclass workshop where he signed it first – Vai, Li, & Totman signed – what’s that gotta be worth?
January 2nd, 2010 at 1:58 am
Who cares who signed your guitar? Does it play any better? No. You just ruined the aesthetics of the guitar by defacing it with signatures…It’s worth less!
January 4th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Can the RG1570 still be had these days for under $800?
January 4th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Hey great review, three questions for ya!
Yo mentioned you have evos on your 1570 were they hard to install? im thinking about doing it!
Do you know how REAL original floyd roses fit on ibanez rg 1570’s?
or even if they can.
and finally the STM1 has an edge 3 ive heard this is a truley AWFUL bridge and that is my main turn off from the guitar, as well as a painted neck
if possible reply to the email adress i left
many many thanks!
January 4th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
ahh sorry to be a pain, weirdly i noticed your part of the ibanez forum.
due to time ( i need a quick awnser ) and cannot be bothered with ”forum bullies”. and messing around could you find out if you can put an original floyd rose on an ibanez rg1570?
i would be very appreciative.
with work and such i do not have time to regularly check the forum, but i can check my mail frequently! cheers
January 5th, 2010 at 2:09 am
@Lewis I’m not sure if you can fit an original floyd in without routing, I wouldn’t know why you would even want to. The Edge pro is way better that the original floyd IMO.
Evos are easy to put in, I had a technician do it, but its a pretty simple procedure a half hour of study could easily explain.
@royj, sadly probably not.
March 22nd, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Theres a video, on the ultra beatdown dvd where herman and sam are recording. Sams holding his iceman and herman goes ”do you want to use one of my guitars for the solo?”.
sam replies ”…yeah”. so to be fair, im not sure he does record with it. He plays it live though, as well as his modded black iceman.