I just purchased an EGEN8, which sounds great, but the neck and high action sucks. I wanted something with a similar finish and look of the EGEN8, but with lower/faster action, so I gave the S770PB a spin. The first thing that impressed me in the store was the low action with minimal buzz. I bought it on the spot. However, when I got it home, I noticed that the neck pup lacked the punch and clarity of the EGEN8, but I was going to swap the nick pup on the 770 anyway with a PAF Pro. After doing this, I still noticed a lack of volume and punch, even with the PAF Pro, which I've had great luck with on my RG's. I'm thinking the lack of punch was attributed to the Popular Burl top, as opposed to the maple top on the EGEN. I just ordered a Dimarzio Super2, which is practically the same thing as a D-Activator, with it's accentuated highs and higher output. Since I play at least 95% of my distortion solos in the neck pup, ala Di Meola and McLaughlin, it's imperative that I have a punchy neck pup to evade muddiness. I guess the lesson I learned here is to make sure there's a maple top to go with the mahogany back and sides. Luckily, I haven't expereinced any problems with my GB10 and GB200. The GB series archtops are the most awesome guitars in the Ibanez line, in my opinion. George Benson and Pat Methany may not be a Metal player's example of shredders, but with the super-complex Jazz/Bebop chops those guys have - who cares?!?