Ibanez Iceman vs Epiphone Les Paul | Which is the ultimate rock 'n' roll machine?! Guitar shootout

Today we’re comparing the 2024 Ibanez Iceman IC420 and the Epiphone Les Paul!

Get the Iceman IC420-ABM at Thomann: https://thmn.to/thoprod/576908?offid=...
At Sweetwater: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/m5qVqM

Get a similar Epiphone Les Paul at Thomann: https://thmn.to/thoprod/482229?offid=...
At Sweetwater: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/LXqdY0

Despite looking radically different on first glance, these two guitars actually have numerous similarities, and they also come in at comparable price points – in early 2024, the Iceman will set you back around $749/€699, and you’ll find Epiphone Les Pauls for the same, slightly more, or slightly less.

What this means is that if you’re looking for a new dual-humbucker guitar in 2024, the Iceman and a Les Paul of some kind should both be on your shortlist to try out!

The two guitars really do share numerous features: two humbuckers with volume and tone controls for each, a similar bridge/stopbar tailpiece operation, and Les Paul-esque necks. Both have a nice chunk to them, and both have 22 frets (medium on the Iceman, medium jumbo on the LP), a 24.75” scale length, a 12” fingerboard radius and a 43mm nut, along with an angled headstock.

The differences are that the Epiphone’s neck is mahogany, with a rosewood board, while the Ibanez is an Okoume/jatoba mix. The LP also has a mahogany body and a flame maple top, while the Iceman has an Okoume body. Finally, the pickups are different: you get Epiphone humbuckers in the Les Paul, while the Iceman is rocking a pair of Ibanez's iconic Super 80 humbuckers (with the awesome Flying Fingers decal!)

So, is the Iceman really just a Les Paul with a crazy body shape? That’s what we’re going to find out! In this video, I put the two guitars through their paces in as many musical styles as I can. That means everything from country, folk and indie, to pop, rock, punk – and of course some downtuned heavy stuff too! Let me know which guitar you prefer in the comments.

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

00:00 Hello!
00:14 Introduction and what we’re doing today
01:55 Ibanez Iceman specs and info
05:39 Epiphone Les Paul specs and info
08:10 Today’s rig and plan

Clean Sounds
08:45 Clean tone reference chords on all pickup settings
09:18 Poppy barre chords
09:48 Grungey droning arpeggios
10:05 Country ballad arpeggios
10:18 Funk rhythms
10:32 Blues progression
10:53 Ringing open indie pop chords
11:20 Indie arpeggios

Light & Medium Gain Overdrive Sounds
11:39 Upbeat indie barre chords
12:03 Choppy barre chords
12:21 Fat indie rock rhythm chords
12:51 Kings Of Leon inspired riff
13:06 Southern rock picked arpeggios
13:26 Indie octave chords
13:51 Driving rock riff
14:06 Groovy classic rock riff
14:27 Hendrix inspired riff
14:44 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff
15:02 Quacky rock riff
15:11 Airbourne inspired rock riff

Higher Gain Drive sounds
15:23 Van Halen inspired rock riff
15:42 Glam rock riff
16:03 80s rock riff
16:23 Classic hard rock riff
16:40 Melodic hard rock lead
17:01 Alternative rock riff
17:24 Green Day inspired punk rock riff
17:51 Pop punk melodic lead riff
18:08 Pop metal riff
18:18 Slayer inspired riff
18:28 Progressive rock riff (Drop D tuning)
18:44 Modern rock palm-muted chords (Drop D)
19:08 Rage Against The Machine inspired groovy riff (Drop D)

Heavy Distortion Sounds (all in Drop D)
19:25 Metal chugging riff
19:42 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang
19:54 Hardcore punk riff
20:08 Rammstein inspired industrial metal riff
20:22 Hardcore punk breakdown
20:34 Heavy metal lead sound
20:49 Classic heavy metal/sludge riff

21:30 My thoughts
22:28 Looks
23:45 Price
24:38 Build quality and hardware
25:58 Weight
27:00 Playability and necks
28:04 Sounds and pickups discussion
29:48 Which guitar is better, and which should you buy?
31:07 Which of the two guitars would I buy (again)?

My setup was as follows: I ran the two guitars into my Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 head, also using my Greer Lightspeed and my Revv G3 pedals for overdrive and heavy distortion sounds. The amp went from the Red Box DI straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. 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 #Epiphone #LesPaul #EpiphoneGuitars #EpiphoneLesPaul

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
‪@OfficialEpiphone‬
‪@gibsonguitar‬