Ibanez ICHI00 - Overview and Best Prices

Ibanez ICHI00 Review
Add to Compare
FIND IT ON:
Sweetwater logoMusician's Friend logo
  • 1 Prices - New from $699.99 >
  • From Ibanez's 2023 ICHI series
  • Ichika Nito Signature
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 25.5"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Nyatoh body
  • Roasted Maple neck
  • Rosewood fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: ICHI-S (Single Coil/Passive)
  • Middle pickup: ICHI-S (Single Coil/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: ICHI-S (Single Coil/Passive)
  • 1 volume and 1 tone Bell knobs
  • 5-way Switch
  • T106 bridge
  • Wizard C Bolt-On neck
  • 22 Medium frets
  • Gotoh MG-T locking machine heads tuners
  • Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
Ibanez ICHI00 Specifications
Ibanez ICHI00
General
Brand: Ibanez
Year: 2023
Configuration: SSS
Strings: 6
Made in: Indonesia
Series: ICHI
Colors: White
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Type: Solid Body
Body Material: Nyatoh
Bridge: T106
Neck
Neck Joint: Bolt-On
Tuners: Gotoh MG-T locking machine heads
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck Material: Roasted Maple
Decoration: White dot inlay
Scale Size: 25.5"
Shape: Wizard C
Thickness: 1st Fret: 0.827'' (21mm) - 12th Fret: 0.866'' (22mm)
Frets: 22 Medium
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Nut: Plastic
Nut Width: 41mm (1.614'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickups: ICHI-S (Single Coil / Passive)
Middle Pickup: ICHI-S (Single Coil / Passive)
Neck Pickup: ICHI-S (Single Coil / Passive)
Switch: 5
Knobs: Bell
Volume Controls: 1
Tone Controls: 1
Hardware
Strap Lock: No
Hardware Color: Chrome
Show Diagram
Ibanez ICHI00 pickups switch selector and push knobs diagram
Ibanez ICHI00's switch options

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 70
Sound 66
Build quality 64
Value for money 72
Overall Score 67
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Ibanez ICHI00
  • Locking Tuners
  • Expensive Wood
  • Tremolo
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No High-Quality Nut
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $700, which means that the Ibanez ICHI00 is within the average price asked for this kind of guitar. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Tremolo bridge that are made in Indonesia.

SET PRICE ALERT

These are affiliate links. We may earn a fee if you purchase after clicking. These prices are prone to error. Make sure you're buying the right product after clicking on a link from our site. We are not liable if you buy the wrong product after following these links. As an Amazon Associate site we earn from qualifying purchases.

User Reviews & Feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Weight

Vote

Tuning stability

Vote

Neck speed (thickness)

Vote

Neck access to high frets

Vote

Neck profile shape

Vote

Fret edges

Vote

Pickups noise

Vote

Pickups power

Vote
No Reviews Yet

Often Compared With

Explore All From Ibanez >

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Ibanez ICHI00's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Beginner Friendliness

The Ibanez ICHI00 meets 6 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's a good guitar to start with as a complete beginner. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Ibanez ICHI00
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Locking tuners
  • Tall frets
  • Narrow nut
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Short scale

Videos

ICHI00 - Ichika Nito Signature Guitar | Ibanez
IBANEZ ICHI00 - ICHIKA NITO SIGNATURE
Ibanez ICHI00 in Vintage White : The BEST Talman for Sparkling Clean Sound!
I Play My New Signature Guitar
I have to say goodbye to this guitar but...
Ibanez ICHI00 Ichika Nito สวยงามน่าจับจอง
"i miss you" on Ichika Nito Signature Guitar - Ibanez Talman ICHI00
Ibanez ICHI00 Ichika Nito Signature Talman | $699 of versatile offset goodness! Review & Demo
Ichika Nito - Arpeggio | Electric Guitar Cover
Unboxing an Ibanez ICHI100-VWH Ichika Nito signature guitar. #shorts #ibanez #unboxing

Playability

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Ibanez ICHI00's 25.5" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Ibanez ICHI00 Scale Length Comparison
Ibanez ICHI00's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is the same scale length used in Stratocaster guitars, and it's one of the main reasons they have such a bright sound. It's considered a long scale when compared to most non-baritone guitars.

Since the distance between bridge and nut is relatively long, you'll need to give the strings more tension to get them in tune. This higher tension will allow for a couple of things. First, you can get a lower action (get the strings closer to the fretboard) because the strings won't 'wiggle' too much when pluck and won't cause fret buzz. This can allow you to use lower tunings without increasing your string gauge, and it will make it easier to press down the strings fast.

However, the frets will also have a wider separation between each other, which can make it harder to play, especially if you got small hands. The higher tension will also make the strings feel stiffer, so bending will require more strength.

More with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Ibanez ICHI00 Neck Profile
Ibanez ICHI00's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

The Ibanez ICHI00's neck thickness is approximately 0.827'' (21mm) at the first fret, and 0.866'' (22mm) at the twelfth.

These measurements were taken either from the official Ibanez website, or, in case this information wasn't provided, by researching multiple online marketplaces and forums where owners of this model have posted their measurements.

It has a Wizard type neck. This is a neck profile invented by Ibanez in the 90s and perfected throughout the years. It's thinner than the C profile that most people like. It's not as thin as their 'Super Wizard' version, so it's a good option if you like thin necks, but like to have a bit of thickness for resting your hand while playing.

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Ibanez ICHI00 has a 12" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Ibanez ICHI00 Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Ibanez ICHI00's fretboard radius compared to others

This is the same radius that Gibson uses in most of their guitars. When compare to the other popular radius of Fender Stratocasters, you can see that it's a lot flatter. Guitars with this radius are usually made to bring a good balance between single-note and chord playing.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Ibanez ICHI00 has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Nut Width

Ibanez ICHI00 Nut Width
Ibanez ICHI00 Nut Width

The Ibanez ICHI00 has a nut width of 41mm (1.614''). This is considered a narrow width for a 6-string guitar. This means that this guitar will have a narrower string separation at the nut, which will affect your fretting hand.

If you are a player with big hands, you might find it difficult to play chords without muting strings. However, this is good for players who have smaller hands, as it will allow them to reach each string more easily at the nut.

Frets

The Ibanez ICHI00 has 22 frets. Even though 24 frets has become really popular, there's still a good reason to get fewer frets; the pickup at the neck position will be further away from the bridge. This makes the neck pickup achieve a warmer tone. You might want this if you're playing Jazz or similar genres.

However, if you don't care about the warmer neck pickup, more frets will always be better. It's always nice to have the option to play higher notes if you want to.

It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.

More with the same amount of frets:

Fret Size

Ibanez ICHI00 Fret Size Comparison
Ibanez ICHI00's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Ibanez ICHI00's frets are Medium size. With medium frets, you can feel the fretboard more than with jumbo frets, but it's still easier to press the strings cleanly than with small frets; notes might change their pitch just slightly if you press hard on the fret. Also, if you need to do some fret leveling after years of playing, you'll have some room to sand them down without having to replace them.

More with the same type of frets:

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 70
Chord Playability 70
Solo Playability 70
Playability 70

Tone

Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.

Wood

Nyatoh wood pattern used for guitar building
Nyatoh Body
Roasted Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Roasted Maple Neck
Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood Fretboard

Nyatoh Body: It's a wood type found mainly in Indonesia. It's fairly hard and durable and is becoming popular for building guitars because it isn't expensive.

Roasted Maple Neck: Similar to simple Maple, but even stronger, darker, and more stable to temperature changes. This is thanks to the treatment process that consists in using high temperatures to drain the water, sugar, and resins from the wood.

Rosewood Fretboard: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.

More made with the same wood:

Pickups

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with pickups from one of the top brands. This doesn't mean you will get bad pickups, but you might want to consider a pickup upgrade after some time.

These are passive pickups, so you can expect a rounder sound and a moderade level of output.

The Ibanez ICHI00's configuration is SSS. This is the pickup configuration made famous by the Stratocaster. It gives you beautiful clean tones, but also a vintage-sounding distortion. This pickup combination will sound chimey, but you might be surprised at the warmness that you can get from a single-coil at the neck position on a 22-fret guitar. The disadvantage of this configuration is the hum noise that single-coils produce due to their nature.

Versatility

It gives you a good amount of tone options with its 5-way switch. You can use it to choose at least 5 different pickup combinations.

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with more options for coil split or coil tapping. This makes it less versatile than some competitors.

What music genre is it good for?

As a 6 strings, Solid Body guitar with SSS configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Funk or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.

Sound Score

Pickups 70
Sustain 55
Versatility 70
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 66

Build Quality

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Ibanez ICHI00 is made in Indonesia. Many people prefer the quality of an Indonesian guitar over a Chinese. Respectable brands like Epiphone, Ibanez and Schecter are building in this country because of the great quality and lower price. Some people like to compare them to the ones built in Japan during the 80s, when Japanese guitar makers made a name for themselves.

Still, remember that we're taking about Ibanez here, which is a brand with good renown. They know how to use cheap labor in this country without sacrificing too much quality. So you shouldn't end up receiving a useless or ugly instrument.

Bridge

T106: This type of bridge allows you to change the pitch of the notes by pulling the bridge with the attached bar, which gives you better versatility. Also, since the bridge is not fixed to the guitar body, the bridge will move as you bend the strings. So you'll have to increase the distance of your bends to reach the same tension (note) compared to a fixed bridge. This allows you to perform smoother bends but will also make you slower. Finally, remember that this type of bridge requires a bit more maintenance than fixed ones, especially when changing strings.

More with the same type of bridge:

Tuners

The Ibanez ICHI00 comes with locking tuners, which helps with tuning stability and makes changing strings a lot faster and easier. As long as they're high quality, these are the best tuning machines you can have. The only disadvantage is that they are a bit heavier than normal tuners.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Ibanez ICHI00 has a Plastic nut. This is a low-quality nut that you might want to consider upgrading soon. Bone and TUSQ nuts are the best for guitars with a fixed or simple tremolo bridge.

Neck Joint

The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.

This guitar has a Bolt-On neck joint. Even though this type of neck was looked down upon for a long time, nowadays bolt-on necks are well built and provide just as much sustain as any other join method. First of all, it's cheap to make because it consists of simply 4 bolts that attach the neck to the body. And you can travel with the guitar more easily, swap out the neck if you damage it, or upgrade to a more comfortable neck later on.

More with the same build:

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 56
Features 65
Quality Control 70
Build Quality 64