The Ugly Truth About The Ibanez RGKP6 Kaoss Electric Guitar

If you were alive and going to small shows ten years ago, you might have noticed that once in a while there would be a band with a strange little device that made even stranger sounds. Most people would just shrug and thing that was odd. A gear-nut, such as my self, would then go online and find out what made that sound. The device is a Kaoss pad. It is made by Korg and get gained a lot of traction in Screamo/Metal scene (as well as others). Now they can be heard in much of todays pop music and EDM. This device has tons of filters and sounds built in and can be manipulated with a track pad. This makes it extremely intuitive, with as many variants as there are swipes of the finger. In the right hands, they can become a very expressive tool. It was only time that someone stuck one of these things on to a guitar. Thanks Oba... I mean, Ibanez.




The Guitar Makes Me Sad




These guitars are in the RG series, which means they are the second to last rung of the Ibanez ladder. They aren't anything to look at. They have one single coil sized humbucker in the bridge position. As far as traditional controls, it have a single volume knob. If this was all it has, I'd call it a California style set up, but it has a build it headphone amp. That's neat, but the controls are in a very awkward spot (at the back of the body) and includes some fizzy distortion built in. The body of the guitar is nothing to look at. It's listed as "Mahogany" but I have my doubts. The finish look like a thin coat of paint on top of bare wood. I like minimal aesthetics as much as the next guy, but this just looks cheap. Maybe some cost cutting due to fact that they are plugging a $150 effect into the body of the guitar.




The Whole Thing Says Gimmick




Don't get me wrong, I love innovation and weird sounds, but this is a little suspect. I don't know if this is an attempt to sell guitar to synth guys or sell synths to guitar guys. In reality most people who seriously want a Kaoss pad have the full sized Kaoss III. Guitar player have an abundance of choices when it comes to making weird sounds that don't involve buying a completely new guitar (that looks and probably feels like a cheap starter guitar). The Kaoss mini is a very interesting piece of gear on its own. It has a huge library of sounds, drum machine, built-in microphone, and real-time touch pad control. The question we have to ask out selves is, "Does a neat device warrant the purchase of a sub-par guitar?




I Kinda Want One




I'm not going to lie. At first thought I dismissed this thing faster than Fez after he has already said "good day.". But then I saw something. A video, that I almost dismissed just like the guitar. It was Rob Champman of You Tube fame, and they were review a Ibanez guitar. This is not something I'd normal watch. I'm not interested in Ibanez guitars. Not that they're all bed, but they aren't my cup of tea. The video description guaranteed that I'd want one if I watched the video till the end. Sure enough, I enjoy the video so much that I too want one. It seems more like an expensive toy than anything else. Something that guitarist break out when friends are over and they want to muck about. Think about when the last time a piece of gear made you laugh. That why this guitar exists.