After two years of research and development, Ibanez and Bernth have drawn back the curtain on a high-performance signature guitar that the Austrian virtuoso promises will make you a better player – and by the sounds of it, it might even make you a better person, too.
“For two years, I worked side by side with Ibanez to design an instrument that actually solves the problems holding guitarists back,” writes Bernth, announcing the launch (initial run limited edition, more to follow) on his Instagram account.
And woah! This is music to our ears. Goodbye, ruinous procrastination. It’s time to cancel the BetterHelp subscription. Into the sea with those bum notes. Hello, prosperity, international acclaim, and the respect and awe of our fellow musicians.
But wait. Hold up. He’s talking performance, playability, tone, y’know, the fundamentals of what we look for from our electric guitars, and the Ibanez BER10 hits the sweet spots on all three.
And it hits all the sweet spots for long-time Ibanez fans, too, the BER10 presenting as this classy hybrid of the much-loved RG Series and the slightly more grown-up (i.e. less explicitly shred) AZ range.
There is a lot to like here. It looks cool, all black, with the matte finish, the reverse shark tooth inlays on the ebony fingerboard. Okay the Ibanez six-in-line headstock is more AZ, and therefore a little less aggressively shaped, but it’s still an all-timer in terms of shape. With the Gotoh T1502 tremolo system, the Gotoh MG-T locking tuners, a Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut, the hardware is on-point.
“This isn’t just another guitar – it’s a tool built to push your playing further, cleaner, and faster from day one,” says Bernth. And if you’re one of the multitudes who follow his six-string adventures online (and/or IRL), you might be able to claim some of the credit for the design, with the Oval C roasted maple neck supposedly “shaped by feedback” from thousands of Bernth’s fanbase.
Jumbo stainless steel frets will give this a bit more zip under the fingers. Luminlay glow-in-the-dark side markers aid navigation. The sculpting of the heel opens up all 24 frets for action.
Ibanez has been doing the Lord’s work with its Dyna-Mix switching systems, presenting today’s players with so many core tones you almost wish the guitar had presets, and this new signature whip for the former Belphegor guitarist is built in this spirit, with a pair of multi-voice signature Fishman humbuckers that are served by a five-way switching system and a push/pull alternative voicing switch on the tone control.
This works a little like the Alt toggle on an Dyna-Mix Ibanez guitar, giving you nine core tones. Bernth's Fishman’s have been voiced for “crushing distortion and modern cleans”.
As for the vital statistics, we have a solid alder body, a bolt-on neck, a 25.5” scale length and 12” fingerboard radius. If you are wondering just how svelte that Oval C neck is, Ibanez is good enough to supply the details, with the neck measuring 20.5mm at the first fret, 22.5mm at the 12th.
This is a signature model but it’s one that anyone could make their own. Bernth’s logo is on the back of the headstock, and that’s that. You do you.
But you best do it quick. As mentioned above, this initial run is a limited edition, priced $1,699 street. For more details, head over to Ibanez. Price includes a padded gig bag.
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