Official: New 24-fret JS on the way!

[Petie]

So I happened to interview Joe today and he told me some very interesting stuff, such as:

Satriani: ...Then for the solo we used the prototype Ibanez JS24, which is a 24-fret model I’ve got coming out, which has a very thick, heavy sound.

I Heart Guitar: What more can you tell us about the JS24?

Satriani: It’s a really cool thing. I’ve always liked the idea of having those frets up there but I never wanted to move the humbucking pickup. That’s always been the problem because the humbucking neck pickup really only works where Gibson stuck it on the Les Paul. To me, that’s the spot, and once you start moving it back towards the bridge it starts to become horrible-sounding. Other guitars that have had the 24 frets and they move that pickup, it’s like, you may as well get rid of it, you know? So I was determined to solve this. And what saved us was the DiMarzio Pro Track. Ibanez got this thing right up against the last fret. It’s amazing how they were able to do it. It’s got a little bit more generous cutaway to the body so you can get up there and play up there. We’re still experimenting with the bridge pickup. I’m thinking it might be a Norton, one of the pickups I designed along with the FRED and the Mo’Jo with DiMarzio. Steve Blucher at DiMarzio is a wizard, so when I say I designed the pickups, that’s a euphemism for me requesting something (laughs). I say “Steve, can you just give me something that goes, like, ‘KKRRR-RURRRR’?” and he goes “Okay. Gimmie a couple of days.”

Full interview here:

http://www.iheartguitarblog.com/2009...-satriani.html

[Paul_R]

Whoa! Thanks for the information Petie! I can't wait to try one of these out.

[southpaw_lefty]

Very cool indeed! Thanks for that.

[GLG421]

Awesome. Better start fattening up my penny jar to send to Rich.

[IbanezFreak777]

So how about a competition...

its time jemsite had a comp.....

[skins345669]

want.

[nuno]

"...I’m thinking it might be a Norton, one of the pickups I designed along with the FRED and the Mo’Jo with DiMarzio..."

wow, i didn't know Joe designed the Norton, too. it's about my fave bridge pickup, along with the Air Zone.

[smooth55]

Very cool...can't wait to see some pics of it...

[satchmo72]

Dittoe on the WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rastachild]

wow, i never thought this would happen, but i'm glad joe fixed the issue with the neck pickup. i don't know if i'd go as far as saying the neck pickup on a standard 24 fret guitar is 'useless', but it definitely doesn't sound as sweet as the neck on a standard 22 fret guitar (imo). if he's managed to find out a way to fix that, then that could be revolutionary, in a small sort of way.

[stratoskier]

Yeah, I've pretty much become a 22-fret only guy for the last few years -- mainly because I think it sounds better, and I can generally come up with some workaround for grabbing those highest notes.

Awhile back I thought about trying to mod one of my 24-fret RTs by replacing the neck hummer with a single coil and moving it closer to the neck. But to match the placement of a standard 22-fretter, you pretty much have to put the pup all the way up against the 24th fret wire, minus the overhang. That wouldn't leave anything for the fret wire to hang onto -- that is, the slot would lay right at the end of the fretboard. So if they really moved the pup right where it needs to be, they must have come up with some kind of technical solution to that problem.

One way to do it might be to have a plate that attached to the end of the neck+fretboard, with the top of the plate being of the right dimensions and arc to serve as the fret itself. But I'll bet they came up with something a bit more elegant than that.

[Petie]

Originally Posted by IbanezFreak777

So how about a competition...

its time jemsite had a comp.....

Good call. Can I win it, since I was the first to tell everyone about it? It's only fair.

[Jack Secret]

Wonder if this was one of Rich's NAMM secrets.

[Petie]

Originally Posted by Jack Secret

Wonder if this was one of Rich's NAMM secrets.

I wondered that too. If it's as far along in development as Joe says, they could quite easily at least show one at NAMM and say "This Norton might not be the 100% final pickup but otherwise, this is it."

[Rich]

First I've heard of it. I'm wonderring how you heard anything about it to know to ask?