Ibanez Q54 Headless, Black Flat

Ibanez Q54 Headless, Black Flat Overview

As guitarists contiune to push the boundaries of technique & musicality and instrument technology improves, the demands of many modern players has begun to shift. Ibanez’s answer to these new demands is the fantastic Q (short for Quest) series of headless guitars. Instead of altering a current model to be headless, Ibanez created a brand new instrument where every unique element was carefully chosen to create a truly harmonious design.

Outstanding Tone

Laying the tonal foundation for the Ibanez Q54 is its sculpted Nyatoh body, which is coated in a sophisticated Black Flat finish. Featuring ergonomic top & back curves, the Q54’s body shape provides a truly comfortable playing experience. Tonally, Nyatoh is very similar to Mahogany, with the strident mids, smooth highs and singing sustain that’d you’d expect.

The Q54’s body has the advantage of being compact and lightweight whilst remaining sonically rich and resonant, due to its solid, non-chambered construction.

Enhancing the Q54’s natural voice are a trio of custom-designed pickups, which includes two crisp R1 single-coils and a punchy Q58 humbucker. Ibanez have specially tailored the R1 & Q58 for use within headless guitars, giving them an inspiring sonic character that’s balanced across the entire frequency range. These pickups deliver powerful, clear low-end, bright, chiming highs and exceptional note separation - every note within a chord structure is present and well-defined. Because of their tonal balance and low noise performance, these pickups make an excellent pairing with both analogue and digital effects.

Sonic Chameleon

Within the Ibanez Q54, a universe of tones are at your fingertips thanks to the superb dyna-MIX9 switching system with Alter Switch. The dyna-MIX9 switching system gives you instant access to, as the name suggests, 9 distinct tones - 5 with the Alter Switch off and 4 more with it engaged.

These alternate pickup configurations can transform the R1 single-coils from a parallel to a series connection and provide you with new pickup combinations to experiment with. Two modes even simulate a neck humbucking sound by combining two single coils in series,

Ultimate Playing Comfort

Ibanez have bestowed the Q54 with a gorgeous 3 piece Roasted Maple & Bubinga neck, which plays every bit as good as it looks. The neck features the Wizard C profile, a well-balanced shape that can suit a wide variety of playing techniques and styles.

The Wizard C neck profile is one of the most versatile that Ibanez have ever created, it isn’t too flat, too thin or too thick. It’s a lovely balance that’s both agile and robust enough to nicely fill the hand. The Maple/Bubinga neck has also been carefully heat-treated, which improves resonance whilst giving it incredible durability and stability.

The crowning jewel of the Q54’s neck is the luxurious Roasted Birdseye Maple fretboard, which is topped with 24 Jescar EVO gold frets. Jescar are one of the top fret manufacturers out there and their EVO Gold fretwire features an elegant appearance, many years of durability and a smooth action that’s perfect for players that love note bending.

Premium Hardware

Ibanez have kitted out the Q54 with top-notch hardware and components, cementing its stance as a pro-grade instrument that can be relied upon for frequent live and studio use. The custom string lock is a highlight, with its ultra-simple and streamlined one-piece design that requires far less maintenance. An advantage of this string lock compared to others is how easy it makes string changes and allows you to keep using your favourite string gauge & brand - no special strings required.

The onboard Mono Tune bridges give you a very wide intonation range, which is key if you tend to drop tune your guitar. The saddles make adjusting the string height a breeze and, because they use less material, improve resonance and individual string vibration.

Free Gig Bag

As well as high-performance electric guitar, Ibanez also throw in a gig bag that’s made from highly durable materials. This free gig bag is a fantastic way to store or transport your Ibanez Q54 to your next rehearsal, gig or recording session.

Whilst the Q and the QX sub-series will certainly strike an interest with headless fans, their versatility of the series is sure to convert more traditional players over. Whether you’re a headless player already or not, if you prize supreme playing comfort, expression and bold tone, we highly recommend picking up an Ibanez Q series.