I tried it out at the NAMM show. *But first, my disclaimer - yes, I am biased. *
*That being said, I tried the guitar with nothing in mind because I didn't know what to expect. *I just knew that I really liked the neck, pickups and knob placement on Ibanez JPMs. *The EB JPM has a similar neck although the shape has changed a bit I believe. *It is still sleek and fast and has an unfinished feel which I liked. *The pickups sounded very similar to the Ibanez JPMs, only maybe a bit hotter in the
bridge pickup. *That is not for certain though, because I was playing on an unfamiliar amp. *The knob placement is basically the same and I still love the 3-way
toggle switch. *The piezo sound was great and very versatile since you can play magnetic and piezo together like a Parker. *The new non-locking tremelo is the biggest difference, and has probably been the number one question about the new guitar. *It has a flat plate across the back of it for comfort and it is rear-routed for pull-ups. *I used it for standard vibrato stuff and it stayed in tune just fine. *The bar is also a pull-out type like the Lo-pros. *I did not do any dive-bombs with it so I cannot say how it stays in tune under extreme use. *The guitar also has a scooped out area where your forearm rests. *It's just there for comfort and didn't seem to affect me one way or the other.
The only thing that doesn't appeal to me about the guitar is the headstock, but that's because I like Ibanez and Parker headstocks. *The colors and options are plentiful which I think is a good thing. *The Mystic Dream signature color is an excellent flip from purple to green. *All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with the guitar because the of the 3 things I mentioned previously that are most important to me: neck, pickups and knob/switch placement. *I should mention that I played the 7-string as well and was very impressed. *The neck on them is fantastic and I noticed people visiting the booth seemed to be more impressed with the 7-strings than the 6. *That could be because 7's are the current rage, but I don't think so. *Some really good guitarists sat down and played them and were really impressed.
Hope this helps!
