Ibanez 540S-SH Saber

Metallic Red, Made in Bensalem, Pa. 22 frets, 5 way selector, IBZ pick-ups, Locking tuners, Wizard Neck.

When I found this guitar in a shop 6 years ago, I could not believe the quality. I like the Gary Moore sound of electric blues and the neck and pick-ups just blends perfectly and sounds every bit as good as a Les Paul and is much lighter.

The action of this guitar when I first played it reminded me of what it must feel like to play a quality instrument, like a Stradavarious. I like super low action to the point of near buzzing and this quitar handles this challenge flawlessly.

No problems here. I plug it in and it plays every time. I have 2 vintage guitars, Hamer Special and 74 Telecaster and both those guitars give me problems with the electronic connections from the plug in. I can depend on this guitar wholeheartedly and I would rely on it without having a backup of equal value.

Never bothered with Customer Support.

I have played over 23 years, dabbled semi-pro momentarirly. As noted before, I have a vintage Tele and Hamer. I cannot get the reliability from those guitars as I can from this one. I never wanted a Japanese guitar nor a Floyd Rose, but once I felt the action and resonance in this guitar I was spellbound. I would definitely find another guitar identical to this if stolen. I have a Peavey Duece and Crate Taxi amp set up through a Boss ME 50 multi-effects and I am able to produce and kind of variable sound with this guitar. I do not want too many people to know about this guitar because I feel that it has something to offer personally to me. I never thought that I could part with my other 2 vintage guitars, but in comparison to this one I don't enjoy playing them as much. The IBZ pickup sounds perfect. If anyone has any valuable info about this guitar, please contact me.

mine's a 1989 assembled in usa. 22 frets solid mahog body, maple neck ebony fretboard w/abalone oval inlays. 5 way switch, 1vol 1 tone. its a hum single single config of the stock ibanez [dimarzio made] pickups. it used to be black, but the paint started to chip due to many gigs played and overall playing time, so i chipped it off and now it's natural mahog with a lemon oil finish. this is an extremely thin strat style body, while it loks very similar to the current S models, the density of the wood in mine immdiately signals a differnt class of instrument. bridge is ibaez edge floyd rose, one of the best flodys ive ever played it never causes string breaks, the tuners are the stock ibanez high end tuner of the day. i believe the sale of this guitar is the normal strat style 25.5"

suits me fine, this guitar came with me through my days of banging out hardcore tunes in the late 80s to playing in hippie type blues bands in the 90s, and now im having another go at it for use in a funk/jazz context. i used it with my marshall 1/2 stack for years and it always sounded great for any rock styles, as soon as i have the frets dressed and the action set imma be plugging it into my twin. guitar has never had any problem with noise, and isnt espeically noisy in single coil modes either. this guitar can make make any sound you want. the neck is probably the best thing about it, 43mm at the nut and not a whole lot wider at the 12th, combined with a very thin profile it makes it buttah for me to grab chords where my thumb plays notes on the E or the A string. only dislike i could even think if is i kinda wish it was a hardtail, but whatever the floyd works fine.

there were no flaws in this guitar and it was orig setup well. i abused this thing for years but now it does need a new setup, 14 years later! hehe

durability with this guitar is a big issue, with the neck being so thin, cracks in the neck are common. i have recently been looking for a good condition version of this guitar on ebay and so many of them have cracks behind the nut. if you get one of these/have one, be careful!!!!

ibanez is impossible to get ahold of. and they wont help you get replacement parts, so watch that neck!

ive been playing guitar since 1987. i also play an am standard strat. i got this guitar back in the day because it played so easily and now after many years of changing and honing my style ive returned to it. if you are looking for an S series, get your hands on a pre all access neck joint model and if possible a pre 1991 american assembled model inspecific.

-year- not sure, early 90's
-frets-22
-body-solid, very thin, light.
-controls- 5 way selector, 1 volume, 1 tone. The switchers in the original was a bad one (jap made) so i had a bronze switch put in, works fine now.
-pickups- H_S_H configuration. When i bought this guitar (used) some one had dicked around with the wiring, so i had to take it into the tech, he wired it so when on 2 and 4 positions the humbuckers would use only one coil to give it a strat sound. I am finding problems with volume when switched to those postions. Pickups do sound a little dry, gonna get new ones(when i get the money)
-make of pickups- ibanez, stock pickups (not very good)
-passive electronics-
-woods- dont know, dont really care, neck is not round (at least on my model (all are custom made) still, its great. Very thin, wide, comfortable, plays great.
-finish- normal metallic paint, green. dont care too much about paint. there is a small mistake in the paint on mine, nothing to big.(a little darker than the rest, i.e. too many coats)
-body style- strat looking, thin
-bridge style- japanese locking trem system.
-tuners- locking. I have noticed that on all my ibanez guitars that the strings slip on the tuners a lot, annoying
-neck- flat

only complaint with features is the pickups.

-style- great for pretty much anything, very versitial. I play almost every type of music you can think of. write my own stuff. and it suits me just fine. plays great(the best i've ever played(and i've played lots of guitars) especailly versitial with the modification i had done to it (pickups)
-amps and effects used with it-use a fender amp, various mods and effects, wah. Works for any type of music, you just have to be able to tweak EQ and other knobs on effects and amp. just play around (applies for any guitar)
-Noisy?- not at all, only complaint is that level is changed when pickups are switched (can be fixed with lots of work i.e. pickup height and windings)
-Rich/full sound?- not really, i blame the pickups
-music style- only one that it is not good for is de-tuned music (locking trem)

only complaint on whole guitar is those sucky pickups!

-action and other things on factory settings- dont know, bought it used

-withstand live playing- sure, as long as you dont dick around, or bang the crap out of it. just dont break a string, since it is a floating trem system, all strings are effected by a broken string or tuning adjustment.
-hardware- of course it will last, its an ibanez. just dont treat it like crap
-finish- it will last, just dont dick around
-strap buttons- best ive used, no need for strap locks
-dependability- yes and no, would use it live, but with a backup ready
-use it at gig without a backup- hell no!

bought it used

-length of playing-6 years
-other gear- ibanez AX-220 w/EMG 81's (guitar), Fender Stage 160 (gonna upgrade to 4x10 deville soon),
effects in order of setup- morley steve vai contour 2 wah, MXR m-151 doubleshot distortion, Boss AC-2 acoustic simulator, Boss DC-3 digital dimension (best chorus ever), Boss BF-3 (flanger) Boss DD-6 digital delay
-if stolen or lost, would buy something else?- maybe, maybe not. its hard to say. on one hand, its awesome playability, on the other its expensive to get all work done, and put new pickups in.
-wish it had- BETTER PICKUPS!
-anything else- great guitar, highly recommended. normally sell for $500, if you can find one for under that much, GO WITH IT! only advice with it, is LEARN HOW TO USE LOCKING TREM SYSTEM FIRST! before you do anything else, take it into a guitar instructor, store, or tech and ask how to do intunation, replace strings, etc...

This boys and girls is the patron grandmother of all the S models, built in Ibanez's US factory in Pa. in the late 80's (probably 1988). One IBZ (actually made by DiMarzio) single coil and one IBZ humbucker only further enhanced by individual switches for each pickup (three way on the humbucker for coil tap). 22 Fret wizard maple neck with rosewood fretboard, slimline mahogany superstrat contoured body and finished off with an original edge trem. Unlike modern models it actually has a heel and neckplate as opposed to the all-access neck joint adopted in the 90's.

Overall gets a 9 as the pickup selectors give it a wider range of useable sounds than a more modern S-type. Not so much for quantity but quality.

This thing brings me out in goosebumps, when plugged into my Flex II (see other review). The single coil has the familiar "straty" tone which is mellowed somewhat by the innate warmth of the body wood (no ice-pick in the ear job). Roll back the treble, switch to Jazz Clean.....perfection <COUGH> what am I saying!

Conversely dial in a Modern High Gain or Recto patch and it turns into a complete beast. The bridge humbucker is equally at home doing heavy palm-muted crunch or banshee soloing. Again the body wood and pickups stop the sound from being too sterile or brittle. Go easy on the gain and it will reward you with a warm singing blues voice.

From Jazz to full-on Metal it can do the lot! I especially love using it with a Modern High Gain patch with the treble rolled off a little for a James Murphy'esque wail.

Whoever set her up did a good job. But after nearly 15 years of wear and tear you expect to find a bit of rust and flaky paint. Still doesn't stop it playing like a dream though. The biggest revelation was the neck, has to be one of the nicest I've played on any Ibanez. Needs a professional setup and a fret dress in the near future but I'm not complaining.

Oh yes, someone has airbrushed it as well <GRIN>

Firstly I never gig without a backup (hence another has been bought via Ebay from Germany). It has lasted this long with only a couple of dings, these things are built like tanks! Nuff' said.

Never had to deal with 'em!

Compared to more modern models, this thing is in a different class. So good in fact that I have bought another from Ebay as a backup. If you are after a superstrat style guitar but with a more vintage character than this is the beast for you. If you are thinking of a modern S model, its good as a basis but I would put aside a bit of money for replacement pickups.

I just wish Ibanez made them with 24 fret necks tho'......<sigh>