Yvette Young has been busy. In addition to lending her chops to James Gunn's Superman last year, making music to help emo kids go to sleep, and releasing her very own signature pedal, the Walrus Audio Qi Etherealizer, Young has also been chipping away at perfecting a new signature Ibanez Talman.
This is far from the virtuoso's first rodeo in spec'ing a signature guitar. She has been teaming up with Ibanez since at least 2020, precisely when the brand announced her first signature model, the Slime Green Sparkle YY10 electric guitar.
This was followed by the Orange Cream Sparkle YY20 just a year later, which sports a more Tele-style functional setup.
In an interview with Guitar World last year, Young confessed that this upcoming model is “her main instrument right now – I just love the pickups,” and teased that it “it may or may not be coming out.”
Indeed, in a recent interview with Guitar.com, Young confirmed its release and gave a closer look at the new Pink Sparkle-finished signature model, equipped with P-90 pickups – a first for the guitarist.
“We went through the YY10, which had the Strat-style pickups, and then I went through the Tele-style pickups” she explains. “And now I don’t know why I’m so late to the P-90 game. I am kind of kicking myself because these are just so chunky.
“I feel like I’ve been into a lot of heavier stuff lately, kind of leaning into the more grungy sludgy stuff, a lot of fuzz tones, a lot of overdrive and things like that.”
As for which pickup brand Young decided to opt for, she reveals that, “These are Wilkinsons. I tried out so many different P-90s from all these companies, and these Wilkinsons just knocked it out of them. I did a blind test, too. I didn't even know what I was trying.”
Aside from the P-90s and finish, other specs that we can expect from the final model – whose official release date hasn't been announced yet – include “special art inlays” and a rosewood fingerboard.
“I’m just over the moon to release this guitar, because I think, tonally, it’s really where I’m at right now. The Pink Sparkle is a tribute to my first guitar that I ever got, sent by Ibanez,” she concludes.
In more recent news, Young revealed what it was like to record guitar for the Superman movie – and the gear she used during the whole process.
