Ibanez TQMS1 Tom Quayle Signature Guitar, Rosewood Fretboard, Celeste Blue

Player's Perspective

Tom Quayle is from a breed of virtuosic guitar players who combine just the right amounts of high-speed shred wizardry with the utmost taste, understated style, and class. His older Ibanez TQM1 signature guitar exemplified him perfectly, and this new TQMS1 in a gorgeous Celeste Blue finish with tortoiseshell pickguard does exactly that as well.

The TQMS1 is based off of the relatively new AZS series, which are an amazing take on the vintage "T"-style guitar with a modern twist.

Quayle's signature model comes with a 12" radius for fast playability, which makes the familiar C profile neck shape feel on par with other "Classic" boutique offerings with its roasted maple neck back and stainless steel frets, and pairs nicely with the rosewood fretboard for some really sweet warmth. The awesome Seymour Duncan pickup combination of the mini-humbucker neck and T-style Alnico II Pro bridge covers a lot of ground, and both pickups stay amazingly articulate even under high gain whilst still retaining the old-school "T" vibe when played through clean and low-gain settings. The versatility of the dyna-MIX switching also allows the neck pickup to act as both a humbucker and a traditional single-coil in the "combination" positions depending on your preference and the situation.

Lastly, Ibanez did something genius with the TQMS1's bridge configuration - they retained the metal mounting plate for the bridge pickup that gives a "T"-style guitar its signature "twang", but combined it with a Gotoh tremolo bridge as a completely separate component adjacent to the plate for the best of both worlds.

Even if you don't play anything like Tom Quayle - or maybe you do! - the TQMS1, with its universally good looks and excellent versatility, is sure to serve you well.

Item Specifics

The S-TECH special roasted treatment increases the wood's stability, durability, water resistance and tolerance of temperature changes. The neck is sealed with an oil finish which helps make it feel similar to a well-played guitar neck. Rosewood fretboard provides a well-balanced solid tone with a focused mid range. The Maple top sonically enriches the response for picking and the Alder body delivers a well-balanced bright tone, enriched resonance and sustain.

The Magic Touch-mini™ pickup in the neck position offers iconic tonal clarity for which this style of guitar is known, yet with extra body and articulation. The output level is also carefully configured to perfectly match the bridge pickup. The Alnico II Pro™ Custom pickup in bridge position offers up an ample supply of clarity and twang, while also delivering a nice mid-range bark. The steel pickup plate is a critical component that helps generate that quintessential "Twangy" tone, for which this style guitar is known. Additionally, the dyna-MIX5 switching system with Alter Switch adds a sound variation to fit so many different kinds of playing styles.

GOTOH® MAGNUM LOCK® machine heads have an established reputation for tuning stability. The T1802 tremolo bridge features machined titanium saddles and a machined steel tremolo block for a quick response, thick lows and rich highs. The 10.5mm string spacing allows for easy picking across strings and its snap-in construction makes it easy to load a tremolo arm. While the AZ series features a recessed bridge cavity for fluid and dynamic tremolo action, this model has a non-recessed bridge cavity. The direct contact between bridge plate and the guitar body provides better resonance and helps facilitate subtle nuances in playing dynamics.