In this video I finally clear up the mystery behind the red “guitar that can’t be played” that you guys keep asking me about. It’s an unofficial Ibanez USA Custom Shop build made from real USA Custom Shop parts (body and neck) that were literally supposed to be destroyed when the LA shop shut down. My friend Frank Pasquale built it after learning directly from Mike Lippy (the former Ibanez USA master builder who worked with guys like Petrucci, Satriani, and likely Vai), and it was finished by Pat Wilkins—so yeah, the pedigree is real even if the guitar isn’t “official.” I talk through what makes this thing such a brutal, stripped-down riff machine: single EMG 81, an original Floyd Rose (not a Lo-Pro), super thin sanded neck, and action that’s insanely low. It’s also special to me because my dad bought it for me as a college graduation gift, and I’ve used it in playthroughs like Hate Eternal and Defeated Sanity. Then I compare it to my newer Ibanez RG565 (Vampire Kiss) that my wife and friends surprised me with. It’s a killer axe, but I did have to level the frets to get it as low as I like, and I’m not in love with the stock pickups—eventually I’ll mod it. If you want the full backstory, I included an excerpt from my podcast with Frank where we dig into how these parts got “rescued” and turned into a real-deal shredder. Stay brutal.