Journey’s Neal Schon has never been shy about flaunting his extensive guitar collection on Instagram, but his latest share — a nine-string Ibanez — might just be the most jaw-dropping addition yet. According to Schon, this isn’t a recent acquisition. Instead, the guitar has been in his possession for years, thanks to memorabilia collector Alan Rosen, who secured it long before eight- and nine-string models became more common.
“Decided to pick up my nine-string beast that Alan Rosen picked up for me many years ago before they had eight- and nine-string guitars,” Schon explained. “This was one that came from the Ibanez Japan Custom Shop. I need to change the strings as they’ve been sitting for a while.”
The instrument features hot rail humbuckers and a fixed bridge (because, as Schon jokes, “what psychopath puts a Floyd Rose on a nine-string?”). He’s planning to string it up with a heavy-duty set: 9-11-16-24-34-44-54-64-74, giving the guitar a massive tonal range.
Schon shared three clips, including a “meditative nine-string extravaganza” that even earned a nod of approval from Testament’s Alex Skolnick. While his phone microphone struggled with the guitar’s subterranean low end, the videos captured Schon effortlessly shredding across octaves.
Schon’s nine-string may not mark a new direction into djent territory, but it shows the 71-year-old guitarist still thrives on exploring new sonic frontiers. Whether the Ibanez beast makes its way onto a Journey record remains to be seen (I’m guessing it’s a hard “no”), but for now, fans can enjoy watching Schon having fun with what is arguably one of the wildest guitars in his arsenal.
While it’s not exactly what Schon is playing in the below videos, you can get your own 9-string Ibanez right here (and check out all our Ibanez coverage here).
