too. It’ s perfect for the kind of music that I do, because I play the metal with Megadeth, but I also have my solo stuff and the fusion stuff and the guitar is ready for that task as well. So, whenever I change“ hats”, as we said before, the guitar is ready to change with me.
[ CG ] The recessed“ tilt-in” jack is a really clever idea. Was that your idea?
[ Kiko ] Actually, it was a suggestion from Ibanez and I liked it. We were trying to find something a little bit different, without being super weird. It’ s basically an“ S” model, but with a thicker body to get the sound we wanted, and then they had the idea for the jack.
[ CG ] The guitar ships with 10-46 gauge strings on it, and I saw that you’ re using the NYXL’ s. What do you prefer about NYXL 10-46s?
[ Kiko ] I love the NYXL strings. The intonation is perfect and they are very, very reliable. I can play the whole show without having to re-tune, even when using the tremolo. They are just really reliable with the combination between D’ Addario and Ibanez. 10-46 is what I play normally. In the Megadeth shows we play while tuned a whole step down, so then I use 10- 52. But when we were deciding on what type of strings to use for the signature model I put 10-46 on. Maybe 20 years ago I used a. 009, but I prefer the sound of the. 010 now. For fast picking I feel more tension on the strings and it feels more accurate to me, which can sometimes be a problem when I switch to the Megadeth sets with the strings tuned a whole step down. When I’ m doing the fast picking parts it can feel like the strings are a little bit looser, but I don’ t want to go to the 11, mostly because I want to save my arm( laughs), from the tendonitis problem. I’ ve been playing with
the guitar slung a bit lower than before, and it isn’ t as good for your arm to play with the guitar lower. It looks nice in the pictures, but it’ s not super healthy to play the kind of solos that I have to play while having the guitar really low.
[ CG ] That gets us to your signature DiMarzio pickups. I saw that the neck pickup is based, at least in part, on a PAF Pro. How did you end up working with DiMarzio, and what is the development history of your pickups?
[ Kiko ] I met Steve Blucher( DiMarzio pickup designer) a long time ago. I did my first solo album in 2004: No Gravity, and then another one in 2006: Universo Inverso, which is more of a Fusion / Brazilian / Jazz album, and Steve Blucher was into that kind of music. He was sending some gear to me back then.
I was using the PAF 36 th Anniversary model, and when it came for my Ibanez signature model, I asked him,“ Can you do something like that for me? You know my music. I need to play the Metal stuff, but I need to be able to do the Fusion stuff too.” And he developed the Kiko signature pickup for me. It is kind of based on the PAF, and if you’ re playing in a metal band it will work great, but if you compare my pickups to Dave Mustaine’ s active pickups, it’ s completely different. His pickup is made for metal, and it’ s hard to play anything else.
With my DiMarzio’ s, even if you don’ t have that much output and you add more gain in the amp, it will sound great and clear and have more control. If you don’ t put a lot of distortion on
your amp or your pedal, then you will have the fusion sound if you want. And that’ s what Steve developed. My DiMarzio signature pickups for my Ibanez signature model.
[ CG ] Tell us about your relationship with DV Mark Amps.
[ Kiko ] I’ m using the DV Mark Multi-amp now. I’ m working with it at home and setting up all of my sounds, and then I’ ll bring it on the road with Megadeth. I love Marco De Virgiliis, and it’ s great gear.
[ CG ] How did you end up doing the Great Guitar Escape camp with Paul Gilbert? Did he reach out and invite you to come teach and play at his camp with Mimi Fox, Andy Timmons, and Bumblefoot?
[ Kiko ] Yeah, it was an amazing time. I met Paul years ago in Japan and we went to have some blowfish for dinner. Then I met him some other times through the years. I was lucky and blessed that he invited me. I’ m a big fan of Andy Timmons and Bumblefoot as well. It was great to see Mimi Fox playing. I love to listen and see a real jazz player. Her improvisations were so amazing. And I just love guitar camps in general. It was the first time that I’ ve done a guitar camp in the United States. I’ ve done a few others in Europe, like in Germany with Greg Howe, and one in Italy with Allan Holdsworth that was great. But this was the first time in the U. S. and it was great! I’ m a big fan of Paul Gilbert. I grew up listening and observing him, and I learned a lot of stuff from him, like fast runs and scales. My teacher back in Brazil was more into the fusion stuff, back when I was 18 or 19 years old. He wasn’ t really into the fast runs. I watched a lot of the guitar videos, and Paul Gilbert was a big part of that learning process. So it was great to be at the guitar camp with him, and also with Andy Timmons.
I also love to be around the guitar players and all of the kids, and just the whole vibe of the camp. I hope that I’ m invited to do that a lot more!
22 Jul � Aug 2017 CollectibleGuitar. com