This article will provide a breakdown of the Jet King Guitar series, made by Ibanez, along with an Ibanez Jet King review of the guitar series. The Ibanez Jet King Guitar is the name for a series of electric guitars made by the Ibanez Company. The Jet King series are considered a modern remake or version of the Ibanez Rhythm Maker. The Jet Kings are often compared to the Fender Jazzmaster, which are also a modernization of an older guitar set. The Ibanez company is a Japanese guitar brand owned by guitar manufacturer, Hoshino Gakki, and are seen as the first Japanese musical instrument company to make a significant impact in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, and they are also the first brand of guitars to mass produce the seven-string guitar. The home base of Ibanez Guitars is in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. The following offers a description of each set of guitar in the Jet King series.
Ibanez Jet King 1:
The initial series of guitars were detailed with the following pickups: Neck Pickup, featuring a Powersound PSND1 Humbucker and a Bridge Pickup, which featured a Powersound PSND2 Humbucker. The one series had a different customized body compared to later versions that was not duplicated. The smaller upper horn and the tuners on the guitar were three to a side. The guitar came in butterscotch yellow and black-red sunburst.
Ibanez Jet King 2:
The second set of Jet Kings were essentially an upgrade of the original. The machine heads were only featured on one side instead of both, and the body was altered to its current shape. The first edition of this series discontinued, making the Jet King 2 the most collectible of all the ranges due to the small amount that were manufactured. The guitar frame is finished in brown sunburst with a tortoise pick guard, and boasts two Ibanez Super 58 pickups for the neck and bridge. The second set of Jet King models were made from 2003 to 2004, roughly a year, and featured a one-piece maple bolt-on neck with rosewood fingerboard, with the body made of mahogany.
After the first edition of this second series was discontinued, Ibanez released the second and most popular of the Jet Kings, finished in both black and white colors and red and white. This model only had a single Super 58 pickup for the neck and a single Axis pickup for the bridge, but kept the three-piece neck, which is one of the stand out features for most Ibanez guitars. The Ibanez Super 58 pickup produced a nice vintage sound while the Axis created a brighter and more aggressive sound. Other features include a one volume knob, one tone knob, "rocker switches" used for coil splitting to add versatility, a fixed Full Tune III bridge and a string-thru body construction. Some owners of the guitar claim it can imitate a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender Jazzmaster.
Ibanez Jet King 3:
The Ibanez Company decided to go retro with this series. Though the mahogany body was kept, the rocker coil splits were left off. The Jet King 3 boasts two P-90 style soapbar pickups and the IBZ HFS1 and HFS2. The colors offered are Roadster Orange Metallic and Bluestone. Colors available in limited editions include Turquoise and Red Bean.
Ibanez Jet King 4:
This model was released at the same time as the 3 series, and maintained the retro theme. This set displayed a Bigsby-style tremolo and two humbuckers, along with an ACH3 neck pickup and an ACH4 bridge pickup.
These series of guitars are unrivaled when it comes to the dependability of the sound quality they create. The comfort is also fantastic, as the fit around the neck prevents the feeling of being weighted down and cramped, thus relieving the sense of feeling tired.