FLATV1-BK Josh Smith Signature

FLATV1-BK (Black) Prestige Josh Smith Signature. Made in Japan.

Josh Smith needs no introduction, everyone who is even remotely familiar with the guitar world knows him. An incomparable wizard on the guitar who has made a name for himself by being (to put it mildly) very specific with his equipment. One of the few guitarists on the planet who sounds like himself, like Josh, whatever style he plays. And there are many different styles he plays.

The FLATV1 is basically based on Ibanez's successful AZ series but Josh has changed so much that there isn't much AZ left. Neck profile, body shape, electronics, hardware etc etc, Josh has changed basically everything to get everything the way he wants it. By and large, only the wood in the neck, S-Tech roasted maple, remains from the regular AZ and the bridge from the AZS.

Not quite true, the fantastic craftsmanship of the AZ Prestige series remains as well. Let's start with the neck and work our way down.

The neck is, as I said, made of 1-bit S-Tech roasted maple, an extremely stable wood that is completely insensitive to changes in humidity. A dream to travel with when setup changes. The neck profile is completely new and custom made to Josh's wishes.
The profile is called FLATV and is a soft V profile with a noticeably thicker neck than what AZ used to be, not boatneck fat, but substantial. The fretboard is also S-Tech roasted maple. The side markings are luminescent Luminlay side dots.

The tuning screws are traditional castle tuning screws from Gotoh. The only ibanez that exists with such tuning screws. Totally to Josh's liking and taste. The band bars are medium size and made of regular nickel, so not stainless like on all other AZs. Totally up to Josh's liking and taste that too. Regular bands have a warmer sound than stainless.

The pickups are custom made by Seymour Duncan for Josh and are called FLATV1. The neck pickup is a traditional T-style neck pickup with marginal output. The bridge pickup is wound with different types of Alnico magnets to create the sound Josh has become known for, both bright and fat at the same time.

Incredibly versatile pickups.

The body is a "slab body", meaning no arm or belly cuts, like a traditional T-style guitar. It is made of ash and has a very thin varnish.

The neck is screwed into the body with a FLATV joint heel, which is a heel attachment without chamfers or angles. Everything to preserve the sound and feel of a traditional T-style guitar. The stand is a further development of Gotoh's fantastic In-Tune stand, the best intoning T-style stand on the market.

The titanium saddles have intonation-compensated grooves that prevent the string from moving laterally. They are also depth-compensated so that the saddles can sit straight but still follow the radius of the fingerboard, all to get an optimal and even string pressure over the saddles.

• FLATV S-Tech Roasted Maple neck.
• Ash body.
• S-Tech Roasted Maple fretboard.
• Oil-impregnated Bone nut
• Black dot inlays.
• Medium frets.
• Prestige fret edge treatment.
• 21 frets.
• Seymour Duncan® FLATV1 Custom (S) neck pickup.
• Seymour Duncan® FLATV1 Custom (S) bridge pickup.
• Steel pickup plate.
• Gotoh® F1803 bridge. String spacing: 10.5mm.
• FLATV Neck Joint heel. • Strings: D'Addario EXL110 (010-046).
• Hard shell case included.

The neck:

• 648mm/25.5" scale.
• Width at saddle: 42mm.
• Width at 22 bands: 58mm.
• Thickness at first band: 22mm.
• Thickness at 12 bands: 24.5mm.
• Radius: 250mmR.