Ibanez Signature Guitars 2025: The New Artists
Ibanez have always been very strong in the signature guitars game. Ever since they won the vote of confidence from the world’s top shredders in the 80s (Vai, Satch, Gilbert and Petrucci all swore by Ibanez back then, three of whom still do), they’ve held a roster of international talent that is particularly impressive.
They aren’t just endorsees, either: these players all have their own signature guitar. Now, at guitarguitar we carry as many of these guitars as we possibly can, because we love them and because they are always really popular with you folks! Now, today I want to look at a few with you, but I feel like we’ve covered some of the more famous ones pretty well already: for example, please check out my Definitive Story of the Ibanez JEM blog, in which I talk directly with Steve Vai himself about the genesis of his famous axe.
There are other, equally excellent signature guitars from Ibanez that are worth checking out, so let me shine a light on a few of those today. These are all either new this year or within the last two or three years. Check them out and see if they resonate with what you look for in a guitar!
The Guitars at a Glance
Ibanez Tim Henson TOD10N & TOD10
Ibanez Manuel Gardner Fernandes MGFM10
Ibanez Tim Henson TOD10N & TOD10
I’ll start with Polyphia’s Tim Henson. He is probably the lead guitarist with the most hype surrounding him right now: I even noticed his name credited in Hans Zimmer’s new F1 movie soundtrack!
Tim has a few signature instruments with Ibanez, but I’ve started with the Tree of Death because it was the runaway success story of last year. A thinline, nylon string electro-acoustic? That’s pretty niche, before you get to the ‘tree of death’ inlay. Nevertheless, the guitar sold massively well, and in fact maybe identified an area of the market that has been under-utilised recently.
Tim’s TOD10N guitar is mostly about the plugged-in nylon tones, since the body is built more for comfort and portability than for traditional tonal richness. That said, it’s a very moreish instrument to play, and when paired with a nice acoustic amplifier, it really comes alive.
Of course, Henson is most notably an electric guitarist, and so he also has a recent signature electric, which I believe is his third with Ibanez. Also called the TOD10 (no ‘N’ for nylon this time), this is a fairly understated superstrat - apart from the reappearance of that inlay - with some top quality performance features and hardware. The main draw here would be the Fluence Tim Henson pickups, which offer extra tonal selections via a push/pull knob in addition to the 5-way selector.
There’s also the ebony board, stainless steel frets and a Gotoh tremolo bridge to enjoy here, and a relatively subtle choice of metallic finishes.
Ibanez Manuel Gardner Fernandes MGFM10
Manuel Gardner Fernandes is a German prog metal player who has built up a huge fanbase on YouTube. His band Unprocessed are beginning to make waves on the prog scene (is it fair to call them ‘Polyphia with vocals’?) so we may be hearing a lot more from this guy in the future!
His signature Ibanez model - the MGFM10 - is a gorgeous headless number, in keeping with Prog’s affinity for decapitated axes. His very cool pick & fingers style makes as much use of clean tones and percussion as it does with traditional distorted leads.
Luca Mantovanelli LM1
Luca Mantovanelli - of Jam Track Central fame - has based his signature guitar on Ibanez’s AZ style. This has become a very popular vibe with technical players who don’t want anything too ‘pointy’, as the AZ guitars still offer lots of player-centric performance features. Luca’s guitar - shown here in Luna White - befits a player who straddles styles, by being capable of them all without leaning too hard into any particular genre.
The lovely Ibanez LM1 features Seymour Duncan Fortuna pickups, a Gotoh tremolo, and a compound radius fingerboard with stainless steel frets over a roasted maple, Oval C-shaped neck. Tasty and tasteful!
Ichika Nito ICHI00
Japanese internet wonder Ichika Nito has a style and approach to playing that simultaneously feels familiar and utterly new. His blissful music is very ‘now’, evoking video game soundtracks as much as it does current players like Tosin Abasi and Manuel Gardner Fernandes. There’s also a touch of the drum n bass in there!
In order to cover so much ground, Nito needs very specific guitar equipment. His headless Ibanez ICH10 has been around for a couple of years, and now it is joined by the Ibanez ICHI00. This model is based on the classic Ibanez Talman body style, and interestingly, sports a trio of single coil pickups, alongside a traditional strat-style tremolo.
Ichika Nito is an extremely specific player (and a wonderful one) but his signature guitar is suitable for all players and all styles.
Tom Quayle TQM2
Tom Quayle may well be a familiar face to you, either from the various instore events we’ve held with him over the years, or from his Lick Library tuition courses. He’s a stellar player, and his signature Ibanez guitars reflect the need of a highly technical musician.
The Ibanez TQM2 is a superstrat style guitar with a lovely figured maple top. It has an H-S-S pickup configuration, with Ibanez-made units supplying the tone. An ‘alter’ switch allows additional tonal options, for a total of 9 choices. Versatile!
Paul Gilbert FRM350 Fireman
I know this blog is focused on newer Ibanez signature artists, but I think we can make an exception for Paul Gilbert! An Ibanez man since the 80s, Paul has had a large number of eccentric signature guitars, including many with famously phoney painted-on F-holes!
Today’s guitar though, is the dependably weird Fireman, which is (more or less) an upside down Iceman model. See what they did there? Amazingly, the design still survives well when turned on its head, looking elegantly odd but in no way ‘wrong’. This version - the Ibanez FRM350, dials in a very cool black and gold colourway, not unlike a Gibson tuxedo.
As this is a Paul Gilbert guitar, it is built to shred hard, and has a set of Paul’s preferred DiMarzio Air Classic humbuckers fitted. Stand out from the crowd, but in a pretty cool way, with the Fireman!
The Future of Guitar
Many of the players featured in this blog today represent the future of guitar. Interestingly, not many of them are in traditional bands, but all of them are proving to be influential nonetheless. Has YouTube levelled the playing field? Is it skewing the reality of what is and what isn’t popular? I don’t know the answers, but Ibanez are certainly doubling down on this new era of player.
Then again, that’s what Ibanez have always done, right back to the early days when they signed Gilbert, Vai, Satriani and the other ‘upstarts’ who shook up the game world back in the day. Here’s to Ibanez being a continually future-forward brand.
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