Which Ibanez Iceman model should you buy in 2026? IC420MFM vs IC420 | In-depth Guitar Comparison

Описание: Today, we’re comparing two of the best Ibanez guitars out there – it’s the 2026 Ibanez Iceman IC420MFM up against the 2024 IC420!

Get an Iceman at Thomann: https://thmn.to/thoprod/633049?offid=...
At Sweetwater: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/zzgRg7

Let’s get this out of the way right now: both of these guitars are tremendous. They’re great fun, they sound amazing, and they’re top value for money as well (both are made in China and come in at under $1,000, with a decent gig bag included).

If you’re looking for an Iceman right now, they’re easily the two top choices to look at first – but they actually have a few key differences which might make you go for one over the other.

I’ve had the 2024 Ibanez Iceman IC420 since it came out, and I love it. Here, you get an Okoume body and neck with a standard poly finish, with a jatoba fingerboard. Sounds come from a pair of Ibanez's iconic Super 80 humbuckers (with the awesome Flying Fingers decal!).

The neck is a standard C shape – not too thin, not too chunky – with 22 medium frets, and the massive headstock is also an Iceman must. You also get Ibanez’s own Gibraltar Performer Bridge and Quik Change III tailpiece here, and all this will cost you $899/€655.

For the 2026 Iceman IC420MFM, most of the specs remain the same. However, this guitar also features a flame maple top, a maple fingerboard, and a super low gloss (basically a satin, almost nitro-feeling) finish – and all of these really impact on the guitar as an overall experience. You also pay more for the 2026 version, too, at $999/€749.

So the big question is: do these three major change constitute upgrades? And do they make the 2026 Iceman a better guitar than the already-excellent 2024 model? It’s time to find out!

In this video, I’ll play the two Iceman guitars for you in as many different genres and styles as I can, from country, folk and indie, to pop, rock, punk – and of course some downtuned heavy metal stuff too. I’ll also run through the similarities and differences between the guitars in detail, and give you my own opinions on which one I think is the better purchase if you’re in the market for one yourself.

Let me know which Iceman you prefer in the comments!

Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits:

00:00 Introduction and what we’re doing today
01:02 Specs and info
05:41 Today’s rig and plan

06:10 Clean tone reference chords
06:46 Clean tone samples (folk, country, pop, indie, blues, funk, etc.)
09:14 Indie and alt rock tones
11:59 Classic rock tones (AC/DC, Hendrix, Airbourne, etc.)
14:08 Hard rock tones
15:26 Alternative rock tones
16:07 Punk rock tones
17:00 Progressive and modern rock tones
17:50 Metal/chugging/heavy distortion tones

19:50 My thoughts
21:10 Looks and first impressions
22:09 Price
22:57 Build quality and hardware
23:51 Weight
24:48 Playability and neck
25:19 Sounds… they’re not the same!
26:58 Which guitar is better? Which should you buy?

My setup was as follows: I ran the two guitars into my Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 head, also using my Greer Lightspeed, Crazy Tube Circuits Heatseeker, Joyo Uzi, and my Revv G3 pedals for overdrive and heavy distortion sounds. The amp went from the Red Box AE+ DI out straight into my Zoom H6 recorder. That's it. No post-processing on the sounds was done.

Get all this gear at Thomann: https://thmn.to/thocf/jkhog8l06m
Get all this gear at Sweetwater: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/LXqdE0

---
Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Duck In The Alley – TrackTribe.

#Ibanez #IbanezGuitars #IbanezIceman #Iceman

Note: certain links in the description are affiliate links. If you click said links and purchase anything as a result, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help to support the channel. So, if you do that, thank you very much!

‪@IbanezOfficial‬
‪@IbanezGermany‬