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“It ticks all the boxes for modern guitar players”: Tom Quayle on his slick Ibanez TQM1

The legato expert shares three highlights from his signature axe.

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Armed with exquisite legato licks and a wealth of jazz knowledge, Tom Quayle has established himself as a key figure in the fusion scene. So it wasn’t a huge surprise that Ibanez reached out to him two years ago – when the brand was working on the AZ series – to float the idea of a signature model. The discussion eventually culminated in the gorgeous Ibanez Tom Quayle TQM1. We recently sat down with Quayle to find out more about this guitar, and he shared his three favourite features.

Roasted maple neck

The first TQM1 feature that Quayle highlights is its roasted maple neck, which he describes as “so nice to play”. Quayle went on to explain details of the neck: “It’s a super skinny neck [with a] very flat fretboard and radius. It plays itself, but it’s almost too easy to play. It [also] has a nice radius for legato playing. [The guitar has a] much thicker neck than an RG, [and] I find my thumb doesn’t tire as quickly.”

Two-way switching

The second feature Quayle picks on is the two-way wiring switch on board the guitar. This control rewires the neck and middle Seymour Duncan Hyperion single-coils in series, effectively giving you a thicker tone. “You can go from a single-coil guitar [to] amazing jazz tones”, said Quayle.

Gotoh T1802 tremolo bridge

This bridge not only satisfies vibrato needs but also contributes to rock-solid tuning stability. “[It has] titanium saddles and a two-point floating system [that] works well to keep the guitar in tune. [It’s great] for all of your vibrato needs – you can go as crazy on this thing as you want and it will still stay in tune.”

Watch the video above for the full rundown.

Check out our other interview with Tom Quayle here.

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