Did Tim Henson just tease the arrival of his first Japanese-made Ibanez signature guitars – and a new 8-string? (2024)

Polyphia guitarist Tim Henson has teased what appears to be a new Ice White finish option for his signature Ibanez TOD10 electric guitar – not to mention a new eight-string variant of his trademark build. However, it’s led fans to speculate whether it hails the arrival of something much bigger.

Both instruments appear in Polyphia’s Ernie Ball Big Sound video – the first in a new series of luxuriously-shot and produced artist sessions by the renowned string firm.

The clip looks and sounds great, but it’s Henson’s now ice-white TOD model, complete with striking black hardware for a direct inversion of its ebony fretboard and Tree of Death inlay, that catches the eye.

The TOD10 guitar first launched in 2022 alongside co-guitarist Scott LePage’s KRYS10, and it was given a long-craved-for seven-string release earlier this year.

In the new video, both guitars are put through their paces, with a wall of Marshall stacks behind them as they weave their way through the licks and grooves of Genesis, Neurotica, and Chimera.

Most intriguingly of all, the latter track sees Henson playing an eight-string version of the new-look white TOD build – which, to be clear, looks notably different to the stalled Tim Henson eight-string signature we previously reported.

As such it has left fans asking questions about the possibility of production runs for the featured instruments and debating whether this is a simple expansion of the Indonesian-made TOD10’s finish options, or perhaps evidence of the much-rumored Japanese Henson signature build, the Prestige TOD100.

Henson reportedly told a fan that the eventual TOD100 production model would be offered in white and others have speculated over a late 2024 arrival for the Japanese run. However, we should stress that while an exciting prospect, this is currently little more than Reddit gossip and is in no way confirmed by either Henson or Ibanez.

We’ll have to wait to know for certain then, but in the meantime the clip has plenty else to keep us entertained, with plenty of wah-lathered moments and whammy bar (and pedal) tricks across the video.

Of course, this isn't the first time a Polyphia guitarist has been seen rocking a crisp white axe. LePage has recently teased a frosty and sharp-looking Ibanez Xiphos, having touted an all-black model alongside Steve Vai in the music video for Ego Death.

Meanwhile, work on the next Polyphia album is well underway with Henson’s favorite guitarist heavily involved, and an interesting array of guests being teased and confirmed by the band.

The two guitarists have also given players their top tips for getting to grips with modeling amps as they talk through the biggest problems they faced when going digital for the first time.