Ibanez S470

Ibanez S470, 2007 model Korea
22 jumbo frets wizard II neck
1 volume, 1 tone, 5-way selector switch.
H/S/H- Passive Pickups.
Bridge: Ibanez INF2
Middle: Ibanez INFS1
Neck: Ibanez INF1
Ibanez ZR tremolo system.
Cosmo black Hardware. Replaced control knobs for Nobease Lime Green knobs (I couldn't resist!)

Thin S-Series body in black, lightweight, very comfortable, well balanced and amazing tuning stability from the ZR bridge. Neck is very thin great for soloing and playing licks and riffs higher up on the neck.Very good for metal but caters for many different styles, very versatile. Awesome =D
ZR bridge is amazing while you may not be able to pull up as high on the bar as on a Floyd rose style tremolo, this trem stays in tune better, CAN produce a flutter effect (if you set it up correctly and in accordance to you String gauge and tuning) it flutters like a dream, plus big string bends don't make the other strings go out of tune. Don't get me wrong im not bashing the floyd rose system (i love it, a well set up Floyd Rose is great!) however i find the ZR system is better for me and my playing styles.

Suites my musical style very well, i play mainly heavy metal, my band play heavy/progressive metal (none of this hardcore/death crap lol)and it suits that just fine.
my main grip is that the pickups can be rather muddy on the low end (i am planning on replacing them with a set of Seymour Duncans in the future) which can be a pain during fast passages or licks, however the muddiness does not bother so much that i am in any hurry to replace my pickups.
Very full sound considering that the guitar is this thin! it sounds great, the bridge pickup is good for chunky rhythm playing and sounds goo for leads too, Middle pickup is bright and twangy i really like using this for any clean parts will definitely keep a hold of this pickup for use in another guitar! neck is good as well, although a bit too bassy for my tastes but handles lead parts well although i find i too bassy for fast runs and it sounds muddy, but once again its not so bad that an immediate replacement was needed.
I have had this guitar for about 10 months now. I had a s520ex before until it got stolen! so when replacing it my eye caught the s470 which features the same pickups + it had a middle single coil! and it was 60 pounds cheaper than my s520ex more or less the same spec too ( s520ex has white binding round the neck which is also a wizard II) so, yeah i like this one better far more versatile.

The guitar was set-up surprisingly well, i had to adjust the intonation slightly but other than that it was great! Action was nice and low, no buzzing and trem was set up well too. Pickups were usual, i don't hold any grudges towards pickup height etc as its down to the players preference on how they want it set up (i lowered the neck pup slightly)
Guitar was bought new was in great condition.

This guitar with withstand live playing i have used it live on quite a few occasions (my band hasn't had that many gigs) but i like to play hard and it has withstood quite a beating from me!
"Does the hardware seem like it will last?" HOPEFULLY!! lol, i joke yeah from what i have seen it looks very solid i rarely have to use the machine heads to tune as this beaut just stays in tune so well, yeah it feels solid, EXCEPT for one of the strap buttons (the top one)it does come loose every so often, but that is the only flaw i have noticed so far(once again no biggy i have a screwdriver set lol).
As i have said i have played gigs with this before and i havent had to change guitar midway through set, but that being said i do always take a back-up just in case, you never know when you may break a string and no double locking tremolo is 100% perfect (although this one is close haha)

never had to deal with customer service and hopefully never will.

I have been playing for 5/6 years, i own 3 other guitars (ibanez ic350, ic400 and a modified squire bullet) i am currently using a line 6 spider 3 amp plan to upgrade to a valve amp in the future (digital amps are great in my opinion but just don't cut it like a valve amp)
Like i said earlier in my review my other S-series was stolen so if it was nicked again i would definitely buy another one, this is my main gigging guitar and I love it, I cannot say enough good things about this guitar. The only thing i will change on it (other than the control knobs) is the pickups but as i said I'm in no great rush at the moment.
I am trying to use my Iceman guitars more live (purely because i feel i neglect them a bit too much compare to my S) but this is my go to guitar, it is great for the style of music i play.

If you are looking for a Superstrat style guitar be sure to try out an Ibanez S series guitar they are great light fast and great for a wide variety of music.

S470DX, after-market Seymour Duncan pickups fitted; Jeff Beck at the bridge and Pearly Gates in the neck position. ZR trem system, Wizard II
neck, 22 frets.

I play a variety of styles, jazz fusion, avant-garde, ambient, and this guitar is capable of great versatility in the sense of tone.
The guitar isn't noisy at all, the sound is very full and rich in my
opinion. I absolutely love this model, I first played a Sabre series
back in the 1980s, and found it fast and easy to play with a great tone. The main reason I went for this model is the ZR trem system. It is without doubt the best tremolo unit I have ever played, and I have tried most of the available competition over the years. It stays in tune better than any other trem when set up correctly, any use of left hand vibrato feels exactly as it would on a fixed bridge guitar; you really notice the difference when you play a standard Floyd Rose bridge system after the ZR trem. It is absolutely awesome, and will
take any amount of strenuous bar techniques you can think of without
showing any signs of fatigue. The trem arm holder can become loose after about four years, and in my case had weakened causing it to snap! I replaced this part though, and the trem unit is as good as it was when I bought it. The tone with the pickup configuration I have is
wonderful - I have always thought that the Jeff Beck Seymour Duncan had far more of the right character than most other pickups I have tried, it is so fat without being over the top, I would be suprised if anyone didn't love the way their playing sounds through it.

I don't think I have ever had an Ibanez that was well set up from the factory here in the U.K, and I have owned a few in the past. This shouldn't put you off though, they are not hard to set up and once they are, they play like a dream in most cases. There were no flaws to the guitar at all, I will have to mention the paint work though, as my right hand technique uses the little finger resting on the body of the guitar, and this has caused the paint to rub off right down to the wood, and none of my other guitars have this problem! Also, beneath the volume pot, there is a cresent shaped gap where the paint has again thinned right down to the wood from doing volume swells. The paint work quality is my only criticism.

I am going to gig this guitar in October, and have no concerns about reliability whatsoever. Strap buttons are solid, 5-way switch is still
working perfectly, and I would use it without backup and not worry
too much (always good to cover all eventualities though!).

The Ibanez website is very good for finding part numbers, but if you are in the U.K the only way you will get hold of replacement components is through a company called Headstock Distribution. Additionally, Headstock will not deal with individuals; you have to find a willing
Ibanez dealer to do the business for you. I ordered some new parts for the ZR trem system, and they came within a week and were not expensive.
Fitting them was difficult though!

I have been playing for 31 years. I have a studio setup, and use Guitar Rig 3, and a Behringer V-Amp Pro, I have plenty of other equipment, but I won't bore you by listing it, you can visit www.xurbatronics.co.uk if you want to know more.

If this guitar was stolen I would have to replace it, I am very attached to it because of the way it feels and plays, along with the
sheer versatility of the instrument.

I think that all guitars have a different character, and different idiosyncracies which make them what they are, so I do try not to compare too much, because diversity is a good thing in life and in music too. I will say that this guitar has the strongest character out of all the guitars I have owned, nothing else feels like this one,
whereas many full-floating trem system double humbucker guitars are
inherently comparable. If you want something unique, this is the one.

I can live with there 22 frets instead of 24, and to encompass another 2 frets would probably have negative ramifications to the S470. I do wonder why Ibanez didn't use the push in bar system they
have on their Lo-Pro trems - the bar screws into a thread which is
located on a hard plastic nut at the bottom of the trem arm holder.
Possibly there was a reason for the choice of screw-thread bar, but
I always preferred the push in system with the two plastic bushes, a
very snug fit, and much easier to change the bushes when
they wear and there is play between the trem arm and the block.
Changing the plastic nut on the ZR is not nearly as simple because of
the postage stamp sized area you have to work in - you can't even fit a box spanner in there! I still have to give this guitar a 9 overall though, it is so good.

I've had this 1992 Japanese built s470 for a number of years now. Mine is the Vampire Kiss translucent red finish, which is nice to look at, esp for a red. It features their ultrathin saber body (mahogany: thin at the sides and thick under the strings and pickups for tone). It has an H-S-H w/5-way setup and 22 frets on a silly thin and fast neck. Mine is a rare stoptail bridge, as opposed to the usual double locking tremelo. It's a pretty basic guitar, but it does everything very well.

I play a wide variety of music, from full on shred to more hippy type stuff. I also use a lot of jazz and blues. This thing is the perfect multitool. Well, it is now. The stock pickup splitting made sense, but didn't yield very good tones. I rewired the switch to make the middle setting an HH configuration, and setting 4 is now a coilsplit for the neck humbucker. With that mod, I can literally get any tone at the flip of a switch. It really sounds that good. Oh, I replaced the bridge pickup with a Dimarzio Tonezone, but the stock one was fine. I really like the stock neck pickup on this. I think it's an INF2. I replaced it with a Seymor Duncan, but kinda regret it.

I know people are scared of a lack of tone because these things are so thin and light, but it has the best tone of all my guitars, which include a couple of high end vintage Musicians and a hand built electric with a chambered body. This is the only guitar I own that I'm comfortable giving a 10 in this category. It's also the loudest by far when played unplugged.

My only complaint is that the thinness of the neck can cause wrist fatigue after hours of play. I had a jewel blue 1989 stoptail s470, and it had a slightly thicker version of the same neck, which i liked better.

I bought the guitar used, and it was in crappy shape like most used instruments. I cleaned it up well, installed some new pickups, threw on a fresh set of strings and set it up, and it was a dream. My departed jewel blue one came from an Ebay auction ready to play, but needed the 10s swapped out with 9s and a little lowering of the action. When set up right, the action is simply nothing on this neck! It's butter! Everyone freaks out when they first play it because the action is so low and fast.

These are basic guitars, but are well made. The finish is quite thick and durable, and you have to be asking for it if you chip it (I know). The neck is quartersawn maple, and is surprisingly solid despite being so thin.


I can find no flaws that came from the factory.

This thing is a tank. There have been incidents, and it always surprises me how tough it is. The only reason I gave it a 9 is because my Musicians are considerably heftier and are virtually indestructible. I've gigged with it and lately it's been my go-to guitar for any tone at any time. It's always in tune and the intonation and neck stays true, even when I've left it in its case for months.

I have gigged without a backup, although I always try to keep a backup handy for string breakage.

Dunno. I almost always get used gear.

I've been playing for about twenty years. I own mostly vintage gear. I'm really attached to this guitar. It's one of my three main guitars, and never gets put away. I constantly kick myself for parting with my blue one. These are the only two stoptail versions I've ever seen anywhere. It's a shame, cause this is the last guitar that should have a Floyd Rose. It's a much classier and more versatile instrument than a "whammy bar" would impart. If I find another anywhere for a reasonable price, I will definitely snatch it up. It's rarity, as well as it's bastardization by pushing the tremelo on us, gets it the 9 rating!

I can probably get a wider variety of tones out of my Musicians, but they have active electronics and multiple switches and controls. Finding a good tone on those takes minutes. With the little s470, I can dial in any useful tone, from tele to les paul, with the 5-way switch, and it'll end up ultimately sounding better than my Musicians.

My S470 is satin silver. Everyone here is familiar with the pickup configuration, etc.

This guitar suits all the styles I play. I play instrumental rock, hard rock, classical guitar, pseudo-jazz, and my own combination of styles.

I play it through a Digitech RP80 and a Zoom 505 directly into my soundcard and through my computer speakers. (I can hear all the purists grumbling now!)

This guitar isn't noisy whatsoever. There is a very nice sonic variety happening with this instrument. With some other guitars I don't even use my neck pickup because they can tend to be muddy, but I was pleasantly surprised with the S470's pickups. I like using the middle pickup or a combination of the top coil of the bridge with the middle for soloing. The neck pickup is also warm but nice and clear.

I like everything about this guitar and it's sound.

I bought this guitar used, so I can't comment on factory setup. The action is nice, low but not too low, no buzzing, no dead spots.

The satin silver finish is great, at first I thought that look wasn't really for me, but it's grown on me. Unfortunately there is a chip in the paint on the side where you can actually see the wood, due to a previous owner dropping it and the spot being sanded.

The frets, wood, and hardware are all great.

Yes, there's no reason you can't play live with this guitar. It stays in tune, and the hardware is solid.

This guitar has VERY solid-looking strap buttons, but I wouldn't use them live anyway. I never play live without straplocks, so I plan to install them on this guitar.

I wouldn't use it live without a backup obviously due to the locking trem. I never play without at least one backup.

N/A I purchased mine used.

I've been playing for about 16 years. I also own an Ibanez EX series, and Alvarez electric, and a Fender Squire Affinity series Tele.

I have no regrets whatsoever with buying this guitar, I got an amazing deal on it. I paid $200 AND got the original case with it.

I love everything about this guitar. The Wizard II neck is amazing, I finally see what everyone's been talking about, in all the reviews I've read about it. I also love the look of the guitar, and it's the most comfortable guitar I've ever played.

Before I researched this guitar, I was initially thinking of getting an RG320FM, but once I looked into the S470 and played it, I had to buy it. The only thing I wish this guitar had is a coil tap like the S470DXQM has. I plan on buying one of those in the future.

- jumbo frets. The S470 has 22.
- easy to use (=fast?) neck. The S470 is 43mm and only 19mm thick! This is was Ibanez is known for of course. A wizard II neck.
- reliable tremolo. This - and the better pickups - is why i choose this above the SAS models (which have medium frets, but do look good).

My model is the standard black. Easy to keep clean, and black never goes out of fashion.

No other special features, but these are the ones that matter.

Coming from a cheap Les Paul clone, this opens up a whole new world. Pick ups give a good range of sound. They are all usable.

Output is strong. For me (again, coming from a cheap learner) the response when the strings are plucked is a revelation. Finally that warm 'twang' my guitar teacher always used to get from his Gibson LP. I always thought i was doing something wrong.

Pickups not noisy at all.

I run this straight into a Hughes & Kettner Tour Reverb. I also have a BOSS ME-50 floor multi-effect unit. This works well with the S470.

My music style is mainly rock / blues / folk. Prefer anything with lots of finger picking. Not so much metal.

Factory set-up is with a very low action. Fret buzz on the low e-string is noticable when played hard. This is of course easy to fix.

Frest are neatly mounted and finished. No sharp edges.

Some roughness on some of the drilled holes on the the back of the guitar (around the head), but acceptable.

I will not be using it for gigging any time soon.

Overal very solid, but of course the neck would be the most vulnerable in case of knocks. The hardware appears solid, especially the tremolo.

Finish is fine.

Nothing yet.

Let me start this review by explaining why i got this guitar. I started out learning to play a few years back, and with a break of a year-and-a-half have this year (2006) started making some more serious progress. From the start i have used a very modest (=cheap) Les Paul copy (Stagg). My slow (or lack of) progress i have always blamed on my lack of skill, and i never blamed the guitar. But a visit to a large music store the other day (it never occured to me to try out some other guitars before 'i got good') opened up my eyes. Difficult barre chords are not so difficult - if you use a guitar with frets taller than a postage stamp. I discovered that tone is not only in the fingers - good pickups also help!

This seems obvious now, but i honestly thought it was my lack of skill and not enough practice & dedication.

So, now i wanted a guitar which improved on all the things my learner guitar was lacking. Also one which was more suited to my small hands (i am guy with girly hands: good for clean fingering, but not so good with wide & fat necks. Any chord where i use the thumb for the bass note was always a stretch. Usually resulting in a muted note).

Conclusion:
Excellent guitar. Easy to play, great sound, a super smooth tremolo. Factoring the reasonable price, this is great value.

You've probably been clued into the features by now on this guitar.I have but one gripe with the Zero Resistance tremelo: the piece that cradles the counter spring bar(for the zero return feature)is made of PLASTIC!!!!!! What were these guys thinking? I'm having a replacement piece machined from stainless steel. This very critical piece can break. I know, I've broken one already.

Sounds great. Everything from strat(positions 2 & 4)to full-on Rock.

I set up the instrument to my liking. Real easy. The intonation was quite a bit off.

Seems okey-dokey to me.

Ibanez was hesitant to send out a replacement part for the trem right away.

I've played for 41 years, both pro and semi-pro(weekend gigs).It's a great guitar, especially for the price. I use it and a hardtail strat for all my gigs.

I think it's a 2005 model made in Korea. It has 22 jumbo frets, tone and volume controls, and a 5-way pickup selector toggle (H/S/H). The pickups are INF1 (neck), INFS1 (middle), and INF2 (bridge). It has v nice looking greenish grey metallic finish. Best of all, it has the Zero-Resistance locking tremelo, which will take any Floyd Rose to the cleaners. It's very smooth (ball bearings, no knife edge), and even better - it has a zero point system. I can bend 5 strings up a full step each and the tremelo won't budge!!! It can also remain in perfect tune after breaking a string, even though this thing will never break strings since there are no sharp edges on the trem. This is all thanks to two additional springs in the tremelo to exert a counterpressure in the same direction as the strings to keep the trem in position even when the strings are applying more or less force than normal. This guitar is loaded.

I play mainly classic rock, metal, and Satriani (whatever category he is). It suits them all well. This guitar is practically an effects processor in itself. The five different pickup combinations along with the tone control can produce a very broad range of sounds, even through a crappy amp (I'm using a Crate GX-15). The bridge pickup produces a little more noise than I'd like, but it isn't out of the ordinary. There is also a bit of noise when switching pickups.

Very good action, perfectly set up, besides tuning. Everything else was fine. There is a wheel on the back to adjust the zero-point spring tension. Leave it where it is, as it is hard to find the proper tuning and tension at the same time again.

Good strap buttons, very thick finish. I've bumped walls a few times, no visible dings yet. Like a rock. If you brought a spare to a gig, it would only be for the (rare) instance that a string broke, in which case it only takes about 2 minutes to replace the string. The trem is to be thanked for that. One complaint - the nickel pickup ring tarnished where my hand had been resting after two days. The tremelo looks like the same material, but it still looks fine.

Never needed it.

I Have the 2003 Model with the "Flare Orange Flat" finish (only year they used that color). The Zero Resistance Trem. Mahogany body. Maple Wizzard ll neck (bolt on). Hum (infinity 1), Single (infinity s 1), Hum (infinity 2), pick up Config. 5 way selector switch. 22 Jumbo Frets. S special inlay. Rosewood fingerboard. 25.5 scale neck is 2mm thicker than the super-thin, super-flat. 1 tone, 1 volume knob.

I play all styles of music from Skynyrd to Megadeath and even Country.This guitar will handle it all!! I use a Line 6 Spider 2 amp with the floorboard control (w/wah and volume pedals) Can get any sound I want. The only problem with the Guitars sound is you may want to change the bridge pick up if you play alot of metal. I swaped mine out with a Seymour Duncan Humbucker. With that upgrade This is the best sounding guitar I've ever played.

As far as action, It was pretty close to what I like. Adjustments are made very easily for string hight, pick-up hight etc.. This guitar plays very fast. If you get it in your hands it just feels right and you can't help but Rock your ass off. Love the Mahogany body with maple neck. You get a les paul type sound with the neck pick-up, a strat style sound in the middle, and a killer solo Chunky bite with the bridge, Pos 2 and 4 is everything in between. The finish is flawless. Very thick coat, will last a lifetime. The guitar is very light (can barely tell It's on your shoulder).

I love this ZR Trem. It out performs the Floyd Rose hands down. Stays in tune And has no sharp edges to cut the strings!! you may need to put a little oil on it from time to time. All the hardware is solid as a rock. This has become my main guitar for gigs and recording. You get alot of those tasty harmonics like Zack Wylde, with little effort.
I take a backup on the road only because IF you break a string it takes about 4 minutes to swap out. But I hardly ever break a string. And when I do the thing somehow stays in tune to finish the song!!!

Ibanez support sucks!! I love their guitars but if you need help fast, forget it!!!

I've been playing for about 20 years. I have a Martin DCX1KE acoustic. A strat, A Ibanez RG series, Les Paul Standard, I use mostly Line 6 Amps, and a Marshall. I use a Zoom Mrs 1044CD Multi-track recorder for writing songs. My favorite thing about this guitar is it is so versitle and has a damn fast neck. If someone stole it I would buy another one just like it that day!!

I am not sure when it was made, but I bought it around 1997. It was made in Korea. 22 frets. Black Gloss. 1 volume, 1 tone, and a 5 way selector. Passive pickups.Two Humbuckers and 1 single coil Not sure about the wood. This guitar is a very thin, style strat guitar. Wizard 2 neck. Floyd rose tremolo.

This guitar sounds great. Especially for being a light guitar. It can cover almost any style. Not real bassy, or bright.

The s470 has one of the fastest necks that I have ever played.You can set the action super low. Even after years of playing, it kept it's new feel. It is very comfortable to play live. One exception is that it is pretty level balanced, so when you switch to lead from rhythm you have to cock the guitar first. Also, the bridge lies really flat, so it is hard to dig in on the top E for fast rhythms.
The micro tuners on the floyd has almost no travel.

Despite being one of the best guitars I have ever played, the trem system is terrible. This guitar never seemed to stay in tune. I abandoned using the whammy on this guitar completely. I could hardly
keep this guitar in tune. I found myself in many embarssing situations when jamming with people constantly waiting for me to tune my guitar. My current band told me not to bring this guitar anymore.That is probably why this guitar had absolutely no resale value. I got $100 for it and the case and bought an epiphone special 2.This overall is a quality guitar, but the tuning issues make it absoultly undependable and would not use it for a gig. If it was a hard back bridge, I would love this guitar.

Never had to use them.

I have been playing for about 17 years. I own a gibson flying v, and an epiphone special 2. I have owned a jcm 900, and a 5150. I am waiting for my Carvin mts to come in.

Mine was purchased in 2005 from American Musical Supply for $299 on a blowout deal. I figured I could deal with the gay looking purple finish for that type of discount. Thin mahogany body, with 22 frets on a Wizard II neck. These Wizard necks are just superb. Flat, wide and fast. Very reminiscent of the neck on my Jackson guitars. It's finished in satin, which is ......MUCH better than the painted necks I have on many of my guitars over the years. It has two "Inifinity" humbuckers and an Infinity single coil with a 5 way switch. The purple satin finish appears to hide sweat and grime pretty well.....I still carefully wipe this guitar down like I do with all of my others after use. Hardware is finished in black pearloid....very cool. The trem is Ibanez's own design. Basically it is a Floyd without the Fulcrum points. It apears that a shaft and bearings have replaced the fulcrum. I had wondered why no one has tried this for several years now. It looks like this MIGHT be a better system (no fulcrum means no fulcrum edge wearing....which hopefully will translate into more stable tuning). So far tuning stability is OK. If I hear the tuning start to go out I just tap the bar a little and the tuning snaps right back in. Ibanez has installed their own version of a Tremsetter on this guitar as well. The jury is still out on this. It helps stabilize the tuning a bit, but it feels very unnatural to me. I may end up yanking it.

The Infinity pickups sounded harsh to my ear, so I swapped them out for a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the Bridge, and an Air Zone in the neck. This made a HUGE improvement in the sound. I typically run my guitars straight into a Peavey Triple XXX, with a Wah pedal before the amp, and a delay pedal in the loop. Without the upgraded pickups I'd give the sound a 7. With the Dimarzio's in it gets a 9. Final score 8. You can really hear the difference with the mahogany body, although the sound thins out again due to the bolt-on neck. Man.....if this was neck through it would probably sound killer. Still.....it is the heaviest sounding bolt on I've heard in a while, thanks to the mahogany body. Palm mutes are good, more mid range than I'm used to hearing with a bolt on....and plenty of highs as expected. Not Les Paul punch by any stretch of the imagination....but damn nice for a mid range bolt-on.

The neck and frets are perfect. Man....I just love these Wizard necks! The body is perfect with the only disappointment being the cavity where the cable plugs in. The finish was all sticky inside that cavity. This bothered me, as it appeared as though it would become a dust magnet. I don't know if all of the S470's suffer from this problem or not. looks like the little Korean bastard who finished this forgot to sand the final finish AND the finish between coats.....maybe this was "overlooked" on pupose because they couldn't get in there easily (it's a very small cavity). Anyway, I applied just a tad bit of mineral spirits to a rag, and gently wiped the cavity. Some purple came of on the rag.........Hmmm........no clear coat! When I was done the cavity was substantially less sticky than before (but still a little sticky). I'm going to give it time to cure, then gently apply some rubbing compund to it to finish it off. I fully planned on sanding the gay looking purple finish off this guitar and refinishing it someday anyway, so this isn't too big of a deal. One more gripe. The trem arm screws into the tremelo like on the old Strat system. No matter how far you screw it in, it feels sloppy.....not tight like a floyd trem. This equates to noise when you are wanking on the bar in a high gain environment. This is the one feature I really dislike about this guitar. The trem arm is NOT pro grade......too bad......the rest of the guitar is.

Seems OK......I have my doubts about this new trem design. We shall see.......

Never dealt with them.....but I may call to yap at them about the cheesy trem arm in hope that they have an upgrade available. I'll update this board with my findings after I contact them.

Been playing about 20 years. I'm in one of the areas popular cover bands. Primarily rock and metal, from Neil Young through Metallica and Blink 182. I have collected and/or owned a LOT of guitars in the pst 20 years. This one measures up pretty good. Bought this one because I couldn't resist the price. IF LOST I'D BUY ANOTHER....BUT ONLY IF I COULD GET IT AT THE SALE PRICE. I love the thin mahogany body on the axe. FEATURE I HATE THE MOST IS THE CHEESY TREM ARM. If it shipped with better pickups it would be a pretty nice axe.

i have an orange ibanez S470 which has 22 frets. I was quite impressed with the standard pickups and have personally no reason to change them. It is also equipped with the super smooth ZR trem, which goes very well with the nice sleek body and the wizard 2 neck. the pickups are in a HSH configuration, which i don't really like because i find the middle pickup sometimes gets in the way of my pick. It has 1 volume knob and 1 tone knob. the hard ware is sort of a black chrome and i like it. there were no extras with the guitar.

the sound is awsome and you can get any sound you want you out of it. as i said the stock pickups are good enough me at the moment but i might change them in the near future with some di'marzios. I use a boss ME-50 and a peavy combo which go well together. i mostly play rock, such as yngwie or randy rhoads and the guitar suits that style very well. so a thumbs up for sound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the standard set up was fine and the action was just to my taste. the pickups were all alined very neatly. the trem wasn't as smooth as it was ment to be but a bit of oil and some hard use sorted the problem. the paint contains no flaws and everything was in the proper place.

this guitar will most definetly withstand live playing and the hardware is built to last. the strap buttons are solid and would forget about taking a backup guitar to a gig. the paint is thickly slapped on so it will definetly last.

never dealt with ibanez

this guitar was a fab buy and would certainly buy it again. if anybody stole it i would go and buy another one straight away. my favourite feature is either the wizard neck or the new ZR trem. i also own an old black and red marlin guitar (which is supposed to be quite rare). i am also thinking about buying a jackson RR5 in the black and white pinstripes finish. but i would never think to replace my trusty S470.

I own the ibanez s470ol which was manufactured in 1994 i believe looking at the catalogue from that year. it's a 22 fretter with the same features as are mentioned here by other reviewers.

When i bought the thing it sounded GREAT i mean so so fat and warm.

the guitar was set up at the factory like a dream for all i know but unfortunately my dealer screwed with it and ruined what could have been a beautiful guitar. unfortunately i was the mug to buy it.

this guitar is so useless to play live because if you ever snap a string it will give you a heart attack. The thing takes HOURS to set up and stay solid. The actual build is fantastic in that the guitar feels really tough, but with regard to tuning and intonation - the thing feels as if its on a knife edge.:)

ever try to find a dealer near you??!

i've been playing years and this thing is a piece of sh++. i loved it the minute i played it but the amount of hours i have spent just tuning it and intonating it and wondering why it's not playing right has driven me to hate the bastard. note to ibanez - dont EVER make intonation this difficult ever again. I would like to extend my hand in a welcoming gesture to the guy who sold me this and then kick him square in the knackers.

2004 Ibanez S470 made in Korea. 22 frets, slim Saber body, H/S/H Powersound pickup config with 5-way switching (tapped in pos. 2 and 4), one volume and one tone. Mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood board with jumbo frets and little wavy inlays, locking nut, and the ZR tremolo with a ball-bearing pivot and return-to-zero system. All hardware is Cosmo black, so they call it. The color is a putrid-yet-sparkly satin color Ibanez calls Deep Voilet flat. It's very ugly and initially threatening to the player's masculinity, but grows on ya after a while. A little.

The first thing I did was remove the zero-point system thingie from the trem. It was easy and took about 30 seconds. I normally play big, fat, heavy mahogany guitars with hard tails. I bought this specifically as a shredder, and the last thing I wanted was the zero-point system killing my stupid 80s guitar tricks. No, I wanted this thing to flutter like a butterfly with a head full of acid and scream like a cat with its tail in a meat grinder.

Stock, there's not much to write home about. The Powersound pickups aren't horrible but they certainly aren't good. I replaced the offending components with a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge, and a Breed neck in the...neck. That gave this little axe the extra juice in the flesh balloon that I was after. I left the center pickup alone. I didn't buy the guitar for single-coil sounds - I have a Strat for that.

It's pretty much exactly what you expect from a thin-necked, trem-equipped guitar. A little thin-sounding, a bit light in the chunk /thunk department, and with pretty lousy natural sustain. But for shredding, its great. Harmonics pop out everywhere (even unplugged), it is articulate for speedy single-note runs, the playability is excellent, and then there's the ZR trem...wow, what a trem. Flutters like mad, dive bombs and other stupid whammy tricks are easy fare, and the smoothness and tuning stability is absolutely unbeatable. There are also no knife edges to wear out.

What can I say, it's a great shredder and that is what I bought it for. For the electric guitar world in general, I'll rate it a 6 (and that's being pretty nice), but for a shredder I'll give it a 10. Let's see, that makes...

Korea does great work these days. By and large, the fit and finish are excellent. The paint is ugly but well applied, the neck pocket is super-tight, the inlays are perfectly clean with no filler, the woods are of great quality, and the hardware is all very good high-quality stuff. The only problem? The trem doesn't sit centered in the route. It makes no difference, as the string alignment over the pickups and neck is fine, but it looks a little cheap. Apparently, the route itself is off center but the trem is properly aligned. It could be worse, but in this day and age I'd expect it to be cleaner.

Everything is solid and of good quality. In spite of the slim body, I'm sure it could take a pretty rigorous beating and regular gigging with no problems. Ibanez has a pretty good reputation here.

I won't rate it since I haven't dealt with them, but I'm willing to bet they are about as reponsive as Catherine Zeta-Jones being picked up by...you. Don't kid yourself, that's not very responsive. They say on guitar hang tag that they consider themselves a small, family-atmosphere company. Mmm-Hmm, and last night I was visited by a matzo ball and a potato pancake with a message from God.

For what it is and what I bought it for (a shredder), I can't help but rate it highly. I would definitely buy another, but only if I could get it for the same price. I think the original price on these was around $450-500 street, which for me personally is too much to pay for a guitar just to mess around with when I want to forget about my balding scalp, protruding belly, and hairy back and revisit the the 80s for a while. I have several truly great USA guitars that will always be my main guitars, and I don't expect this one to equal them, but it is a great shreddder.

S1675FM Prestige. (The only differences between the S1675 and S470 are cosmetic. They have the same neck and hardware.) ZR trem bridge, wizard 2 neck, torquoise trans burst FM finish, mahogany woodgrain headstock with pearloid "Ibanez Prestige" logo, pearloid inlay at 12th fret, bound fingerboard and headstock.

I pretty much only play rock, and occasionally a bit of blues so Im not one whos gonna dis the quality of the pu's. Ive been playing for ten years and even though Ive had usa strats and les pauls, I cant complain about the sounds this guitar offers. Ok it might not sustain like a les paul, but to be honest who gives a shit.It does the job. Has to be mentioned that The only time I use effects is in a sequencer when Im recording. So when Ime playing and jamming I actually forget that Ive got nothing going on to help the sound. Now that says something about the sound right there!

Straight off the rack this guitar replaced my notion that a les pauls neck is the most comfortable around. Not any more mr les paul.This is quite simply the most comfortable neck I have ever played on. Nuff said. Mine's the flame top torquoise trans burst model and the finish is beautiful, no flaws, nothing.

Slim, sexy and solid as a rock. That mahogany body really makes you think the guitar was designed just for you, and of course it helps create a pretty damned good overall tone as well.

Never needed them. Sign of a good factory set-up as far as Im concerned.

I've been playing this guitar in the recording studio and live now for about a year. I have quite simply never had a problem with it. The ZR trem unit hasn't gone out of tune (and I do give it some abuse), the neck is the smoothest I've ever played, the pu's are perfectly adequate for 99 percent of guitar genres, (dont listen to the connosiors, they're just perfectionists and the audience generally aren't, and the guitar looks great. I'me getting another one soon as backup. Couldn't reccomend this axe highly enough. Well worth its cost.

1996 model, S-series body is thinner than current models, HSH pickup arrangement with AH2 bridge, AH1 neck, AS1 middle... Floyd bridge, locking nut, 5 way switch, master volume and tone controls.

My wife says it's purple, but I prefer to think of it as it royal blue...

This is supposed to be a shredder, but if you block the trem and lower the pickups slightly out of their optimal range, it becomes one SWEET sounding guitar with tonal textures you might expect from a jazz guitar. I traded for it intending just to have fun, but stumbled upon the pickup settings by accident and I went off in a totally different tangent with it. I've never gone back...

I don't have any idea how it came from the factory and I adjusted the action after blocking the trem anyway. It sets up well and the frets and fretboard don't cause any buzzes. The paint and woodwork seem first rate. I'll give it a high score for the possibility of how it can be set up.

I only play and record at home, so my guitars aren't put through any duress, but this Ibanez seems well enough made that I'd gig with it if I still gigged at all.

For the 3 months I've had it, it hasn't given me the first problem and it IS an 8 year old guitar with all original parts, so I guess it deserves a high score for reliability.

No experience, but I've heard horror stories of people trying to deal with Hoshino.

I've played for 35 years, just as a hobby. I play mostly country and blues with some Southern rock or oldies thrown in. This Ibanez gets used mostly as a strumming rhythm guitar, background tones for other guitars that play leads. Otherwise, it just gets used for fun because it's so easy to play. I liked it enough to buy another new S Series Ibanez with HSS pickups.

i think it was made in about 94 but im not sure as i got it about 2 years ago of a guy from a band called cephas. it has ah1 an ah2 hums an a as1 single. it has 1 volume an 1 tone an a 5 way switch. everything about it plays and feals great the trem holds tuning for months and the neck feels smooth and fast.

this guitar has managed to support every style of music i have thrown at it. i used to play mainly punk and you were able to get that beautifull raw sound out of it especialy when run through my pro co rat. now i mainly use it for emo an funk styles which it handles perfectly. an the single coil makes a great pickup for reggae and ska sounds. and it also handles blues like a dream if this guitar leads itself to anything its blues.

this axe is ultra thin so it sits nicely against your body and has a beautifull low action for those fast solo's. the paint on the guitar is a couple of mm's thick i kno this due to 1 chip that it had from being dropped on the edge of a stage by its privious owner. the pics have a tendency to unscrew but keep an eye on them and its great.

this guitar has never failed me tho i wouldnt gig without a backup because of the floyde rose trem. and the paint jobs tuff as anything.

this guitar is the best axe i have ever played i dunno what u would of got if i didnt buy this an if it got nicked i would go out an replace it straight away tho as the newer model dosnt have the same pic ups i would proberly put in a couple of breeds an a fast track 1

H-S-H config, Floyd Rose bridge, locking nut, 5 way switching, master volume and tone controls, all the rest mentioned above.

I hate the Floyd Rose bridge and blocked it immediately, so I won't count off just because that's my taste, but with sonic qualities this guitar produces, I'll knock off a point because it deserves dual volume and tone controls.

Incredible variance on 5 switch settings without even touching a tone knob. In general, the humbuckers are articulate and slightly brighter than most in the market. The single coil is a great match, being slightly fatter than the center pickup on my Strats.

This guitar is 5 years old and was very well kept. It was mint when I traded for it. I can't comment on the factory setup for this guitar, but I recently bought another Ibanez new and was very satisfied with the setup I received. Somebody is checking things out before they leave. Paint and neck fitting are first rate. Some people complain about the hardware quality of Ibanez guitars, but I don't see why.

I don't gig, just record at home, but if I did gig, I'd never go without a backup, regardless how dependable I thought a guitar was.

I would certainly perform with this guitar if I did it regularly.

No experience, but I've heard stories that Hoshino is hard to communicate with. I don't think I'd try - just go to second market suppliers for parts and not frustrate myself.

This isn't the style of guitar for everyone, but the tonal capabilities will make lots of people who wouldn't look at a shredder guitar stand up and take notice. With the blocked trem, this is worth a LOT more than the price you'd pay for it.

2003 Ibanez S470 BK. Made in Korea. 22 Frets. Pickups are PSNDs in H - S - H configuration. Body is mohogany with maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. The finish on the BK is glossy black, not the flat finish on the S470s. Bridge is the new ZR trem by ibanez. Neck is the Wizard II. Has the wavy line inlays.

I play everything from blues to metal, and so far it's fitting the bill perfectly. The S series is somewhere in between a traditional strat and a total thrash guitar like the RG series. The pickups are ok for stock pickups. They sound better than i thought they would. I mostly play through a V-Amp, and with the 3 pickups, can get a variety of tones. You can get a really nice chunky, slightly overdriven blues sound ala Clapton on the Bluesbreaker album by using the neck humbucker through a clean amp. For pure clean tones the single coil is good. And of course you can get some really nice metal tones on the bridge humbucker. Overall, this guitar sounds great in general. This is my first mohogany guitar, and I can see why people like it, it sounds great.

This guitar was made in Korea, and they did a damn good job. No sloppy work here.

The Wizard II neck is very nice, very fast.

It has the new Floyd Rose-style ZR trem from ibanez, and it rocks! I've never been a big fan of the FR, but this one is nice. Stays in tune for a long time, you really got to work to untune it. It's a lot smoother and more sensitive because it doesn't have a knife-edge. Also, you can do double bends and double-stops without knocking one string out of tune.

Time will tell. Been rock solid so far.

Havn't dealt with Ibanez

Overall, for the money, this guitar is a great deal. It's a very versatile guitar and has some unique tones. I've been playing for about 10 years and have owned a few guitars, my best being a Robin Ranger Custom ($2000 guitar), and the S470 stands up well to it. I really like the thin 'Hog body, it sounds great.

If it were stolen i would go and buy another one pronto. I wish you could get this guitar in a flat black finish instead of glossy. All the other colors are the nice semi-flat finish. If i had the extra money to spend I might spring for the S470DX QM next time for the really nice finish.

Reviewed: 2003 Ibanez model S470, with the deep violet finish, Korean made, I think. It's got a modified strat shape, with the guts accessed through the bottom like a Gibson.
I got a killer deal on this - $325, brand new from Guitar Center, because my local store isn't going to carry the model any longer. Oh well, their loss, my gain. Their mistake. It was their last one, but in absolutely perfect condition. I barely had to adjust the setup at all. Not a scratch on it either. Only thing is, it's not the color I wanted. It's sort of a weird metallic violet/dark blue, depending on the light. Not as bad as it could've been though. The finish is solid, and fingerprint resistant even.
I'd wanted an S470 ever since I saw one over 10 years ago - I thought the thin sleek body was just darn sex-ay. When I saw the new ones with the ZR bridge, especially the ones with the cool "flare orange" finish, I figured it was time to finally get it.
Well, they apparently stopped making the flare orange finish, so I guess maybe it wasn't popular anyway.
This thing has some serious weight - don't let the skinny body full you. You can tell it's mahogany ! The back of the neck sports a satin clear finish, which is the best IMO, and the fingerboard plays unbelievably fast. I had an RG4xx or RG5xx about 10 years ago, I didn't really care for the feel of it all that much.
The fretboard was like a 2 x 4 with speed bumps. This neck is also wide, but it seems to accomodate my hand better for some reason. Maybe because they're not trying to squeeze 24 frets on it. I dunno. It just plays really well, without being too wide or the frets being too big.
This guitar practically plays itself. It is, by far, the "fastest" and easiest playing guitar I have ever owned. Period. I love it ! I got the biggest sh*t eating grin on my face when I got it home and started really playing it. Now I know why all the Major guitar "shredders" and virtuosos play on Wizard and Wizard II necks. This one is a Wizard II.
The new Zero Resistance "tremolo" (I hate that, it's a vibrato, not a tremolo, bridge, -Gee, thanks for creating the eternal confusion on this, Leo !) is sweet. It has a hipshot type "return to zero" mechanism in the back of the guitar where the block is that helps it return to pitch better than a stock Floyd, but even better is that Ibanez has done away with the 2 point fulcrum, which despite usually being case-hardened steel would eventually wear away, with a horizontal hinge type of assembly. It's one of those things that make luthiers slap their foreheads and go, "why didn't I think of that ?".
It might not feel exactly quite as "responsive" as a traditional Floyd Rose to some people, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It feels just fine, I think.
Pickup config is standard humbucker/single coil/humbucker.
If Ibanez offered a choice of HSH or HSS, I'm not really sure which I'd go for - I used to feel that a neck humbucker is just useless mud, but this one sounds really nice for clean, mellow jazz, so I'm not sure which I'd prefer now, honestly.
Some models of this guitar, according to Ibanez, also feature piezo pickups, but I've never seen this anywhere. Ah well, that's what I have my Parker for.
The input jack is very nicely placed on the face of the body at a slight angle, which keeps the cord out of the way yet easily accessible for switching guitars or cables. When you plug in there's a very definite solid "click", and you can tell right there and then that this guitar is very well built.

I play a number of styles, ranging from progressive rock to heavy rock to jazz and fusion, so this guitar suits me very well - for the most part, it is versatile enough that it will very likely be my new main axe, and I could easily use it 75% of the time or more.
I play through a rack setup, a slightly modified Digitech 2112 (with the 2120 chip mod, and some NOS tubes to replace those mushy, lifeless budget Sovteks that it ships with), then through a Mesa 20/20 tube power amp and into my Marshall 1960 4x12 cabinet. The stock sounds on the 2112 pretty much bite, which is a shame because it has the capability to be one badass sounding amp !
The pickups, a HSH type configuration, are not bad at all. They're not fantastic either, but, I manage to pull some very nice harmonics out of the bridge PU. It definitely has some character, in that tt sounds a little more like my Les Paul than my Parker P38, probably due to the mahogany body though. . The neck PU is very good when playing clean and doing some Wes Montgomery/Joe Pass style jazz, and with the right amp settings (your mileage WILL vary), it does a nice impersonation of a semi-hollow. What this guitar can't do, of course, is a good strat impersonation, outside of using the middle single coil pickup. That's very good for those nasal kind of tones, but for a screaming, biting, Hendrix or SRV kind of sound, well, I may look into getting some DiMarzios where I can split the coils. I love DiMarzio Evolutions - thank you Steve Vai !
Lastly, the acoustic tone of this guitar is fantastic, often a good indicator of whether a guitar is going to sound good amplified or not (but not always - Les Paul's sound tinny to me unplugged)
This guitar is the best sounding, acoustically, of any guitar I've heard with the possible exception of my parker, but then, Parkers have an acoustic chamber in them, so that's cheating ! :-)

The guitar required no real setup from me, it played like a dream right off the rack. I tested every string and fret for dead spots before I bought it, and found nothing off. Everything is extremely solid, unbelievably so for the money I paid for it. The S470 will last a lifetime, I have no doubt.
The only problem is with the bottom (heavy) E-string, if you don't finger it carefully, and depress it from directly above, it tends to slide off the fingerboard rather easily, and of course you lose your note. This is a little bit annoying, but not too hard to rectify with a little improvement in playing technique.
I'm not going to comment on pickup height, that's just silly and easily adjustable. Suffice it to say they're fine.

It may be thin, but it's built like a tank. I think it could take anything I throw at it.
The best word to describe it is "solid".
The new ZR bridge has the ability to remain in tune should a E, B, or G string break, so it actually has more dependability than your usual Floyd Rose equipped shredder. I hope not to have to test that out too often though.

No idea.
Unlikely I'd go to Ibanez anyway, I usually work on my own guitars, unless it's something really major.
Warranty is 1 year.

I've been playing for 25 years, I've currently got a Les Paul Studio from '90, a Parker P38, some Yamaha acoustics, and I play through a modified Digitech 2112/Mesa 20/20 and Marshall 4x12 cabinet.
I have an extremely flexible setup, tonewise, and that tends to really showcase a guitar's versatility - or lack thereof.
If I lost this axe or it got stolen, I'd have to get another. Maybe I'd hunt for one with the orange finish, although the pewter looks pretty cool too. I used to have a Japanese made Fender strat, the HRR model with the Floyd, humbucker, etc, it was nice at first but soon refused to stay in tune, the frets wore badly, and though I like strats, I decided it was time to get a guitar that had always intrigued me. I also like the fact that it doesn't have binding around the fingerboard, I hate that.
Two things would make it the perfect guitar: split-coil humbuckers, (easy enough to remedy), and piezo pickups built into the body or bridge somewhere for those acoustic tones. But I'm extremely happy with this guitar.

Bought in 2003, Korean made. 22 jumbo frets, 1 tone, 1 volume, 5 ways selector. H, S ,H config. Ibanez made pickups. Mahogany body, rosewood fret board, stunning. Strat like body style, but much nicer. Floyd-rose stylt bridge 'ZR tremolo'. Locking tuners. Thin neck. No extras came with guitar.

Moving on from a tele squire to this is a big change in sound quality. First off you've got the bridge and neck humbuckers. I would say the bridge pickup is the weaker of the two. Unless you have it completely over-driven it can sound a bit ordinary. Certainly no les paul growl here - im planning on changing it soon. The neck pickup is obviously bassier, but you can get a good clean sound out of it if you want - good for ratm, although I prefer to solo on the bridge pickup, simply because of its extra bite. The single coil is acually not bad. You wont be getting your telecaster twang so much as a clean rich sound. Keep it clean though, -ideal for stairway. Most of the time I play it through a pod xt and into a pair of speakers. Using this you can get most sounds, but you will come up short on your highway to hell solo. All in all very good for the price. There doesn't seem to be a section for playability, the most important the thing here, so ill add it here. Brilliant. The neck is brilliant. Smooth, brilliant to move over. I keep going into shops looking for a second guitar, but there's nothing. Strats are slightly cumbersom by comparison, les pauls, also lacking slighly in finess, although it does make some back up with the feel good factor. Rating this as playability and sound together.

Intonation not quite in, and its a bitch to fix with old floyd sitting there. Pickups arn't at perfect angle now, but i think they were fine when i got it. No flays anywhere on the guitar, beutifully put together. Frets perfect, pickup switch great still, controls still with a good weight behind them - feel like they'll last. Great effort!

I have no reason to doubt it for a live gig. I've had no cutting out or any variation in sound coming out of it. It seems to be built to last. It doesnt seem the lightest guitar so id recomend strap locks - though ive never dropped while playing like a twat. I'd always have a backup with this guitar, and any guitar with a floyd rose, sue to the fact that it takes about 4/5 minutes to change a string - mind you it wont EVER go out of tune. I only use the tuning pegs to tune once a month or so (the rest of the time you use the fine tuners on the bridge). But if strig breakages wern't an issue I'd use it without a backup. Strangly, and largly due the the fact that the strings get clamped in the the bridge, the strings that have broken most are the high E and the D string!?! A bit strange, but since string breakages are rare, i dont really care!

Never used it

I've been playing for 8 years now, im nineteen and this guitar is great. Probably if im thinking with my head id go for a similarly priced Ibanez RG. The floyd is better I think. But the S470 looks better, plays brilliantly, and really rocks. Mine's bright orange so it looks stunning. It is currently my only eletric guitar. I am son to buy a gibson les paul studio, and im going to buy the same bridge pickup as joe satriani so the ibanez. With those to and the pod, theres nothing else you will EVER need. Of course an SG looks interesting, so does that new PRS soapbar...

NA

The most versitile guitar on the planet! The pickups sound fine, but I did replace my neck and bridge pu. I put a Dimarzio PAF PRO in the neck and a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge. GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY!! Hold on to your damn guitar boyz, because with this pickup configuration, it's totally amazing. OH MY GOD, THE TONE!!!!!!!!!! With an all mahagany body, in the neck it's as good as ANY Les Paul, and in the bridge, it's a brutal force of shred-city!!! Of course my Marshall helps!

Flawless

Perfect! This guitar is rock solid!

Everyone know that customer support at Ibanez sucks shit! I have played Ibanez now since the mid 80's, and I have never had any luck with their support. Their guitars rule the world, but their support blows! I have tried to call, left messages, and i have NEVER had a call back. Of course, it was questions about their other guitars, and not about ones I had. If the support was there, Ibanez may just sell more guitars, and they'd be the best out there, IMO of course.

I own this S470, and a slew of RGs. It is a great guitar. If it were stolen, I'd go buy two. One to play and the other to dig the theif a grave with!

Umm.. well.. A lot of people have already said what is to be said about the S470s features, but id like to point out the ZR locking trem and the supersleek body.. Neat.

I play progressive metal and so far ive been all about gibsons. And when i decided to check out a superstrat kind of axe i dodnt want to spend to much money or buy some cheapass crapguitar (Squier and such) so the S470 stood out as a very good compromise. The first thing that came to my attention was the fizziness of the bridge pickup. Now remember that my main axes so far have been gibsons and I got no real experience with anything but Les Pauls and SGs... But like i said. Through my Marshall DSL100 it sounded a bit fizzy. Not bad, but not so meaty as i would like to. The cleansound on the other hand with the middle and or the upper p.up was really suprising! Still not exactly "great" but more than enough omph an nuance for anything live! It is very versatile and for its price id say that it really keeps its promises, but ill still change the p.ups for DiMarzios. Id this was any other guitar but an Ibanez id go for Gibson or Seymoure Duncan P.ups but i feel that the DiMarzios are more "correct"... I know its dumb but.. you know.. um.. no you dont, right? well nevermind.. Ill get DiMarzios.

So far ive never used any other effect but wahwah. But when playing this i feel its ok to just try anything! Im going buckethead-vai-batshit-insane with it. Never had som much fun in my life although its quite a strain on the rest of my band when i never stop widdling about in all the exotic modes i know as fast as i can when i use so much effects that nodbody can hear what im playing anyway... But hey... Verses and chorus are just wasted time between solos!

I though Les Pauls and SGs had good action. And i still do. But ill never think of any gibson as "fast" again... Goddammit i can really blast out notes at a million miles per hour on this muckerfother! The gibsons definetly have a lot more sustain, but i dont really feel like doing gary moore on this anyway.. The factory set up was OK, but i cant help but tweaking my guitars ever so slightly no matter how close to perfect they might be when i get them. Im glad nobody saw me when i tried to work out how everything on the trem worked and so on. I was mostly poking the guitar at ramdon with a screwdriver for fifteen minutes before i took it to a tech and got him to show me what all this tech-nuh-logye works. Ill crap my pants when i try to change the pickups. The guitar is not that hi-tekkurumashi, but my brain is set at lo-tech..

Cant really say anything about the durability or the reliability of the wiring, but its not noisy or loose so far... and if it happens it does not really bother me much. It always feels good when you buy some really cool or really high quality replacement-stuff for your guitar!

Finish?

Cool flat, flaked orange, but not by far as beautiful as my LP honeyburst grade AAA flametop. But cool. just cool. I dont think it will last for ages, but for this price i dont care... I recon ill get an S1620 soon anyway...

Otherwise there is nothing worth mentioning.. Great shit for low cash.

No clue...

But ill have a backup since its a locking trem and if i break a string ill need a backup since its impossible to change and tune a new string during a gig. but i like to show off my collection anyway...

No clue

I own A Marshall DSL100 with a 1960 4x12 cab. A crybaby wah and thats it. My other guitars are LPs and SGs and some acoustics.

If it was lost id definetly get a new one. Maybe a top of the range since i now know that its such great value.

I Love it. You should go get one.

I bought it new, so probably made in 2003, Where I don't know, probably Korea. 22 frets, rosewood fretboard, maple neck (i think) body wood, don't know. Finish is nice, kinda a purpleish/blue color. Has 3 p/u's, HSH config. 5 way switch, which works like this, first position; bridge hb, second position; inside half of hb and middle single coil, 3rd position; single coil, 4th position; inside half of neck hb and single coil, 5th position; neck hb. These pickups are what Ib. calls "Powersound" (Not bad, but not great.)I have read some of the reviews below, and it seems this guitar has come in many different configurations over the years, so if you buy an older one it may not be anything like this one. The tremelo system on this guitar is what they call"Z-something or other" I can find no information at the Ib. site explaining this thing. Altho not to hard to figure out, I guess it is so new they have not updated site yet. It is a locking system on the order of FR type. It works great, keeps the guitar in tune after some serious trem action.

My style is a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothing. Position 1 is very mid rangey HB sounding (good) Pos 2 is sorta strat sounding (good) Pos 3 is Single coil sounding (good, but not as good as my strat, in that it hasn't that bellish ringing quality) pos 3 nice thin sorta stratie sounding of the same position, Pos 4 bassy necky sounding (good) A lot of variety here, but I bet it would sound better with a pickup upgrade, and give even more variety.

Pickups were a little low, but everything was right for my taste, no flaws, no scratches in finish. I love the neck feel. Everything on this guitar is very good quality, even the pickups, for the price I paid for this guitar

Very solid guitar should last a lifetime. I took it to the job last week. It was wonderful to play live.

Been playing music since 1959. I am not a guitar player per se, but a musician. I play a little bit of a lot of instruments, as opposed to a lot of one instrument. Played professionally for 25 years then I got too old, so now I just play in Church on sundays, and in my studio. I am more into producing and recording these day. My overall impression of this guitar, comparing it to the ones I own and have played (Strat, Tele, SG, Omen 06, lp copy, G3, double fat strat)
A very nice solid guitar for the price. It has a good variety of sounds altho none really great, they are usefull. It is light on the shoulder, nice to hold and easy to play. With an upgrade in pickups this guitar would be a great one. I would recommend this guitar to anyone wanting a medium priced versital guitar. My personal favorite sound on this guitar is the first position, bridge hb, a great midrangey, honkey, clear, bright hb sound.

year unknown looks like new,bought used at gc.made in japan at ibanez custom shop.nothing like of the rack stuff..although very expensive.has a very very thin laminate of flamed maple on mahogany body,with drk aqua blue/greenburst finnish,custom made inlay at 21 fret[22 fret model]bound rosewood wizzard neck hi med wde fret wire blk chrome lo profile floyd rose,5 way p.u switch,real abalone cats eye inlays,some kind of Q TYPE P.U S .

the set up was good off the get-go but i still tweaked it to my taste.guitar doesnt seem to like heavy strings it seems best with 09-46 set.stock p.u sounded a bit mid heavy and very powerful but not to muddy.still I put in reissue gibson paf plus pickups in sounds amazing!for anything from texas blues to satch to ej to eddie I cant ask for more. havent hhad any problems with the black chrome and as for the plastic covers on the back not being countersunk,it would haave looked nice but if you look carfully,if they were they would not clear the tremblock or switch/pot assemblie.

guitar is flawless ,finnish is great hardware great there is nothing I don"t like about this guitar.,fully shielded internals,best neck Ive had.I have been playing for around 37 years and have had more than 150 guitars ,this is in the top 10 and the best for shred stuff made.

only possible danger point is sharply pitched joint at point where neck joins headstock .treat it like a set neck gibson and it shoud be fine [no gig bags,hardshell only]I have a simular customshop model allmost like this that hopefully i can get before someone else snags it up also only used it through marshalls so cant comment on its tone through other amp brands clean or dirty it sounds great .

have not needed it yet......

SEE ABOVE. UNFORTUNATELY I DON"T THINK IT WILL BE EASY TO REPLACE.I LOVE IT AND WISH I HAD MORE WITH SOME DIFFERENT PU CONFIGERATIONS 3SINGLE COILS 2 HUMBUCKERS ETC ETC... KOREAN MADE ARE NOTHING LIKE IT.ALL THE JAPANESE ONES SEEM PRETTY GOOD.

korea, HSH, black

the bridge was a floyd rose, very not good at all trem system, so i replaced it. I filled the void with zebra wood and implemented a schaller bridge. this bridge is awesome and is hundreds times better then the floyd rose.

the neck is awesome

with the new bridge i got a better sound, but i could have been the fact that it says in tune now. I mainly play on the neck pu. i play doom melodic rock (ie: kyuss, neurosis, isis, yob)
im buying new humbucker for this guitar soon, probably replacing the bridge pickup

there is a buzz on E A D G strings and its pissing me off, im getting a new nut, and a tune up, it will go away.

never had this happen befor everything else is great i love the shape and feel of the guitar, it would be awesome if ibanez did a cream inlay around the entire body.

no problums with reliability or durability

i like this guitar but it defenity needs some work if you want it to be "great", i definitly suggest replacing the bride with a schaller soild bridge you will not be dissapointed.