And the winner is...

The Ibanez in repose.

...the Ibanez. And in the end, the epic battle wasn't even close.

When I finally got to Guitar Center, I went right for the JP50. It was still there, which was surprising, especially since it they knocked $100 off the price for a Christmas sale (yes, it's not even Thanksgiving yet and we have Christmas guitar sales). So the JP came in with a $100 advantage from the start.

After handing over my Telecaster for an appraisal, I grabbed the JP and tried to find a place to plug it in and try it out. The Christmas sale was obviously working for them, because it was packed. Ideally I would've liked to play it through the same amp I played the Ibanez through, but someone was already there. I sat in front of a bank of Peavey Vypyrs and plugged in. After getting the hang of the built-in tuner, I started tuning it up. It took forever, and it gave me flashbacks to my Strat before I locked down the tremolo. Not good. First minus point for the JP.

Of course, the guy behind me thought he was the only person in the building and was blasting his guitar through what I believe was a Line 6 Pod HD, so I couldn't hear a damn thing. It sounded bad, too - I don't know if it's the player or the Pod, but let's just say I won't be trying one of those things out. Ever. I ended up moving to a line of Vox amps but the only one that was on was an AC4TV tube amp. I plugged in anyway and it sounded OK, but it didn't have the kind of gain a guitar like the JP needs. Still, I cycled through the pickups and it wasn't bad. Not the best pickups, but not shabby either. I still think the ones in the Schecter Omen 6 I played were nicer. Not to mention the ones in the Ibanez I played last week. Another minus point for the JP.

Then, I had the salesman get me the Ibanez so I can compare the two side-by-side. I plugged the JP into a Marshall MG30 (nice amp, by the way) while the salesman grabbed the Ibanez. It sounded OK and played pretty well. Although the bar wasn't in the tremolo, I tried to move it by hand to see if it would knock out of tune, and it did. Another minus point.

The Ibanez finally arrived and I switched guitars. The second I picked it up, I knew it was over. It felt so much better. Then I plugged it in. It sounded so much better. And it was still in tune from when I played it last weekend (I don't think anyone played it because they had it high up on the wall, out of reach). I looked at my wife and said, "This is the one."

The JP50 was a nice guitar, but it couldn't compete with the Ibanez. The RG looked better, felt better, played better and sounded better. Plus, I just didn't trust the non-locking tremolo on the JP. I've been burned by them too many times.

So the Short List winner is the Ibanez RG4EXQM1. I've never named guitars before (I never really got into that), but I think I will name this one "Triumph." Not only does it commemorate its victory over a slew of contenders, it's also a name of a great motorcycle company.

On another positive note, I didn't get raped in the trade-in, either. I got about what I expected on a sale, which means I was able to walk out of Guitar Center with the Ibanez, a hardshell case, a strap, a new set of Dean Markleys and some picks, and all I had to pay out of pocket was 27 cents. Nice.