Ibanez APEX20 Black 2014 James 'Munky' Shaffer Korn Signature Electric Guitar

This is an Ibanez APEX20 7 String electric guitar in Black finish. Made in Indonesia in 2014, this guitar is a signature model from James ‘Munky’ Shaffer of Korn. Indeed, the entire APEX series is a line of signature 7-strings which grew from the original K7 signature, released in 2001. The APEX20 is a more affordable version of the ‘full fat’ APEX200 which was also released in 2014. Naturally featuring a bolt-on construction, this guitar comprises a Basswood body, 3pc Maple neck & 24 fret Rosewood fingerboard. Black hardware is fitted including a Gibraltar Standard II-7 hardtail string-thru bridge & sealed tuning machines. A pair of Dimarzio Blaze passive ceramic pickups are installed, with a humbucker in the bridge & single-coil in the neck. These are wired to a 3-way blade switch & master volume control.

The Maple neck plays very well, with the APEX profile feeling reminiscent of the traditional Ibanez Wizard whilst providing a little bit more substance to grasp. It’s certainly not a thick neck, but there is enough material to inspire confidence when chord playing & riffing. The lightly flattened area to the centre rear of the neck encourages ergonomic thumb positioning across the fingerboard. The Rosewood of the fretboard feels luxurious and provides a smooth & durable playing surface to explore, and with Jumbo frets and nicely flat 15.75” radius, lead techniques like bending & vibrato are very well accommodated.

Amplified, the pair of DiMarzio Blaze pickups deliver thick, crushing tones, perfect for the heavy nu-metal tones that Korn are known for. The humbucker in the bridge is powerful, and saturates into a rich distortion when you crank the gain. The neck is round & smooth, and works very well for the clean sections of the set. The controls are kept as simple as possible- with just a 3-way blade switch & master volume there is nothing to distract from your playing, yet there is still plenty of scope for adjusting your sound.