Ibanez makes guitars suited for basically every style you can think of. Pat Metheny, George Benson, and John Scofield, three of the most respected jazz cats around, all play Ibanez and have signature models. However, those are definitely not the only guitars they make. This is probably because their RG and S bodies are inspired by Vai's JEM and Satch's JS lines, and tons of metalheads/shredheads use their guitars. NONE of them are what I would call high quality guitars although most have more or less been exactly the 2-300 worth that they cost. People seem to think of Ibanez as metal-y guitars made for crazy amounts of gain. The guitars I have come across have replicated Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Taylor, Gretsch and Paul Reed Smith in both electric and acoustic versions. I suggest you either get a good priced used MIJ Ibanez or save up for one. The prestige guitars are good, but anything non MIJ will be considered a mid level guitar or lower. I can’t stress enough how much more valuable it is to buy a used Ibanez instead of new. Obviously, I don't think Gibsons and PRSs are worse quality - there are tons of players I love who use these guitars. Ibanez guitar quality has sadly gone down since the year 2000. Personally, I've hated every Gibson or PRS I've ever played, but I've been used a different neck profile my whole playing life (the only guitar I had for a decade was an Ibanez JS1000). Great guitar players aren't necessarily knowledgeable about guitars - they probably learned on one or two personal axes, and because of how much they played, other types of guitars just don't feel good. Am I wrong about this? Just curious as to what the overall guitar community thinks.Įdit - thanks for all the answers everyone! I feel a little more confident in my choices now :) But I always thought Ibanez guitars were fairly respectable? Not the highest quality on the market by any means, but still good for at least hobbyists. He taught professionally for a number of years so I don't doubt his knowledge either. Playing-wise, I view him almost as a mentor to me since he's very skilled. Now, this buddy of mine is pretty damn good with guitars.
He said a similar thing about mine (though more carefully worded), also an Ibanez, but not a junker. When we were done he said it "played well, at least for an Ibanez."
Pulled it out to play just for a few minutes - just for kicks. Prestige models come with an additional treatment process called ‘S-Tech’ which is designed to further improve neck stability.I was gigging with a friend the other day, and he found a spare Ibanez guitar in the back closet while poking around (the kind that gets put back there and forgotten about till years later because it's worth the same as a Costco box set). It’s a one-piece maple neck or nothing.Īll models have the typical roasted neck treatment. One of the staples of the AZ line is the roasted maple neck. There are a number of signature models available so some of the specs will differ from the core line. How does the Ibanez AZ shape up?īoth of the Ibanez AZ’s that I own are prestige models built in Japan so they are on the higher end of the price spectrum.
The result was the Ibanez AZ series – a very different feeling guitar to what most players might expect from this brand. There was some back and forth, many prototypes and adjustments. So, Ibanez went on to ask these session players – “what would you change?” That question was something along the lines of: “why don’t you all just play RG’s or something similar?”
The AZ was born out of a question that was asked to a bunch of popular session players such as Martin Miller and Tom Quayle. And whenever the typical new releases at NAMM came around, these models seemed to receive very little focus from Ibanez. Now, while Ibanez has done models that do appeal to some blues and jazz players, they didn’t appeal to everyone. Originally based on the Steve Vai JEM signature series that launched in 1987, the RG has become one of the best selling super strats on the market. Ibanez have been a mainstay of the metal world for years now. Check Today’s Price The AZ presents a departure from what most have come to expect from Ibanez