Ibanez 260M

This guitar was built in Korea. The blue haze finish is much better looking in person than in the photos. The body is light and the shape is comfortable. The guitar balances nicely when hanging from a strap.

The SA260M has a mahogany body and a maple fingerboard. The SA260FM has a mahogany body with a flamed maple top and a rosewood fingerboard. I own one of each model.

The guitar has two single coils and one humbucker pickup (S/S/H). The five-way switch enables me to quickly switch between the various configurations. The first position enables the humbucker. Pulling up the volume knob splits the humbucker. The remaining switch positions follow the traditional Strat configurations.

The SAT Pro tremolo bridge is nice. The default configuration comes with three springs. Tuning the guitar can be slow. I???ve read adding the forth spring (which is included) is easy and helps stabilize the strings better when tuning.

I play the guitar through a Vox AD15VT amp and use Dean Markley Blue Steel electric guitar strings (reg .010-.046). The sound is bright and clear. Each string is crisp and clear.

When the five way switch is the second position, the humbucker in the bridge position is split and the middle single coil pickup is activated. The guitar has a Fender Strat-like ???quack??? that sounds great clean with a little chorus and reverb.

I have a SA260FM with a stock humbucker. For the SA260M I wanted something different, so I dropped in a DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100. I like it very much. <g>

I mostly play classic rock??? Led Zeppelin, Styx, Boston, Tom Petty, etc. and a few modern bands such as Counting Crows, Hootie and the Blowfish, etc.

The 3 piece SA neck is thin, more like a Jackson than a Gibson or a Fender. The SA260M neck feels a little thicker than the SA260FM neck. The SA260M frets feel tacky when bending strings. I???m not sure why. The SA260FM feels smoother. Both guitars are strung with Dean Markley Blue Steel electric guitar strings (reg .010-.046).

Out of the box, the bridge was grossly misaligned. I gave the guitar to my local guitar shop and asked them to set it up properly. I???m still not thrilled with the action and overall feel of the neck.

I bought the guitar for Christmas 2008. The bridge was wacked out of place, but everything else is working great.

This is my third Ibanez. In addition, I have a Jackson Dinky and a B. C. Rich Bich. Because of the issues described above, I prefer the SA250FM over the SA260M.