Ibanez SA160

I bought mine brand wen around 94. Mines Korean made metallic blue. Mahogany body with 22 fret bolt on neck. It sould be noted that most Ibanez bolt on built in the last 15 years or so have an interesting heel that makes them play like a neck through. I scalloped the fingerboard because I thought the frets were a little small for me and I put graphite sabbles on because the high E string started beaking after a while. I also put a couple of Duncan picups ing mine and blocked the trem so it can only be pulled up, and the guitar never goes out of tune this way when you snap a string.

I play metal blues and classic rock. I've owned a couple of high end Ibanez with locking double locking trem in the past. I've found that Ibanez tremelo hardware is total crap compared to the hardware on my Jacksons and ESP's. I like the Ibanez neck a lot and usuall don't use the trem so I play this guita often. I usually play through a Marshall TSL stack. Mine sound great. in bothe the bridge and neck positions.

Factory was OK, I just ajusted mine a little. I set my guitars up myself. This guitar is one of the easiest guitar tp set up, all you need an allen wrench to set the action and a couple to set the intonation.

I have had problems with the input jack a few times in the past. Blue lock-tight should fix that.
Great paint job, no scratches on mine yet and I play it often.

I've hear Ibanez is a bitch to work with unless you just purchased your guitar brand new withen the last 6 months.

I've been playing since 1981. I started on a Les Paul copy and went to a Kramer Pacer in 86. Shortly afterwars switched to Jacksons. In the early 90's Ibanez stared making their neck more like Jacksons. If you want a nice metal/rock guitar and don't want to deal with a tremelo this may be a guitar worth checking out.
I have absolutly no tuning problems with mine althought I usualldon't have the trem bar on, but when I do this guitar still stays pretty much in tune.

Check other reviews for exact details but what grabbed my eye was sexy quilted maple look, contour-carved look, recessed input jack, 5 selector pup switch for S/S/H and cool SAT30 bridge with trem. Read on . . .

It sounds right on for overdriven metal, tasty blues and spacey clean sound -- what more can you ask for?

Okay, I bought this on-the-spot after a 15-min jam with a Marshall amp at Guitar Center. It was used and looked it with enuff dings and dents to get the on-the-road, stupid-punk-teenager abuse, vintage wannabe a rocker award. But the used price was sweet. It played and sounded HUGE!

This axe new or used shows solid build and dependability.

I have been playing since 1967 and this was an easy buy for me as it had great action, good neck feel, and really played and sounded awesome, even for one abused little puppy. I own 12 (or more) axes, 3 basses some Fender, Yamaha, Ibanez, Agile, Samick, Tokai, Electra, Kay, ZZRyder, Rogue and the like . . . This Ibanez SA160 Quilted maple Amber axe I gladly "stole" for $125 tax included and walked right out the store with no gig bag but proud to show it off. I have the feeling this may be my new "go to" axe for awhile as it is already beat up a bit but roars like an angry wildcat!

Bought mine (used)a few months ago as a back-up. Amber version, 22 frets, Korean made. Beautiful quilted top. Pictures don't do justice to the look and colour of this guitar. Very solid lacquer, no scratches, no flaws, even when used. Comfortable thin neck,(not that thin like f.a. a S470) kind of a strat shape mahogany body, 5 way switch HSS. Only one control for treble, would like another one, just like my strat. But i'll live with that. It has a tremelo wich i blocked. I don't use it and this way it keeps my guitar better in tune.

The former owner was a pro-musician and changed the stock-pu's for a set of EMG's. (81-SA-SA) Can't tell about the sound with stock-pu's, but with the EMG's it sounds very powerfull, yet dead quiet (NO HUMM!!)and even usable for a clean sound. A bit more output than the Kinmans in my strat and a bit 'darker'. Makes a great versatile backup for me. I play in a coverband, (70's, etc. until now, all kinds of music, except for metal)I use an American strat with Kinman pu's or this Ibanez into a Boss GT6, into a Fender HotRodDeluxe.
(no effectloop, no 4 cable method etc. just straight into the amp)It does the trick for me. Can get all the sounds i want. (

When bought used, it came with 12's flatwound. (setup was used for powercords..) Put 10's on it, had to raise the neck a little, blocked the trem and replaced the inputjacket. This guitar is flawless, great fretwork and the stock tuners stay pretty well in tune. No need to replace them. This guitar can compete with guitars twice or three times the price.

If you take care of your gear, any guitar will withstand live playing. I believe that there is no need for backup with this guitar, but i take no risk. Also, whe do some songs with an altered tuning, or sometimes i need that extra bit of power from a HB. Therefor, i always take 2 guitars out on a gig.

No experience!

I'm into playing for some 15 years now. I own an American Strat, and a Yamaha LJXC-6 acoustic jumbo. Great guitar, great sound!
275 euro for this guitar with a set of EMG's, i would replace it in a heartbeat! I love the versatility of this guitar, a shame that it came with only one tone-knob. The EMG81 is great for leads, it cuts trough anything.

I have an oil/satin finish mahogany "weathered brown" model. Finish was near perfect with one tiny glossy spot. The body is made of two pieces almost invisible in their joinery at the pickup jack. It is a stunning guitar, and astonishing for the cloeseout price. Which is why it gets a 10.

The electronics are adequate, the neck is fast, and it just feels good. It's a guitar that wants to be played.

Sound is sweet and bluesy to hard metal with the diverse S-S-H. The singles pick up all kinds of junk (motors, lights, etc.), but the 5-position switch lets you have a number of hum-bucking options. Mahogany sustain means you can hit a note and go grab a sandwich. I love the sound, but it's not in the range of a custom guitar costing 20 times as much... why that would be surprising to some people is rather odd.

Fantastic set-up! By far the best factory set-up I've seen. I tweaked it here and there just for fun, and ended up bringing it right back to where it was originally. Low, fast and buttery.

I don't gig, but I have a buddy who wouldn't hesitate to bring this on stage.

I am giving this a 10 based on value. It is comparable to much more expensive guitars, and really just feels good to play.

The origional finnish was a glossy black. Silver hardware. Non-locking tuners. No included accessories. Twenty-two frets. Volume, Tone, 5-way selector. S/S/H configuration. The best feature of this guitar is the neck. Very thin and fast. If you do anything to this guitar, do not destroy the neck. do not paint it, re-finnish it, sand it, ect. It is to fast and good a feature to chance ruining.

I purchased this guitar a bit over two years ago, and am writing this review as an experienced owner of this product. I have been playing guitar for over four years. I have a very eclectic taste in music, therefore, I play from a variety of very different genres. I use a Fender Stage 160 (2 channel/ 2x12") Amp, and a collection of effects pedals. Like almost all guitars, you will eventually have to tweak little things in order to tailor it perfectly to your hands when you get it home from the store. With this particular guitar, the first thing I did was remove the factory strings, lower the action, and put Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings on. After a few months, I replaced the humbucker with a Seymor Duncan "Dimebucker." This helped the sound greatly. Hardly any feedback, as opposed to small but annoying ammounts before the switch, and a much deeper tone. While I had it gutted, I figured I would replace all of the wiring and electronic connections to assure durability. If you want a great sound, I would reccomend replacing some if not all of the pickups on this guitar. Lately I have been dissapointed with the bridge, only because I would rather have a Floyd Rose for certain sounds I have begun to experiment with.

The action on this guitar would be perfectly fitted for a beginning guitar player, but not a guitar enthusiast or someone who has been playing for a number of years. I personally have my own obsessive-compulsive guitar settings/tweaks. I lowered the action, like I mentioned earlier. The guitar was very solid. You cannot really understand how something works untill you take it apart and reassemble it, so I chose to do just that. I removed everything from the body to paint it. The neck was surprisingly held on very sturdily, as was everything else. The bridge gave me no problems, however I did alter the settings a bit for good measure. This guitar was basically flawless as far as condition. The wiring was very well completed, all covers, rings, ect. fit perfectly.

This guitar has served me well on many occasions in live situations. I would not worry about technical difficulties caused by this guitar on stage. I have only ever had small problems, but all have been caused by exterior sources such as pedals, amps, ect. The strap button on the front has given me no problems, however, the button on the butt of the guitar strangely loosened itself. I left it on, but drilled a new hole just above it for a locking strap device to be completely sure. This also affords unlimmited combinations of strap usage. I personally never use a guitar on a gig without a backup, but if I absoloutly had to, I would feel comfortable with this guitar flying solo. Keep in mind the fact that I have made numerous alterations to important aspects of this guitar. It is for those reasons only that I feel ultimately comfortable with this guitar on stage.

The only repairs this guitar has experienced were administered by me, so I have never had any severe horror stories in that department. I have never had to contact Ibanez, but I feel that they most likely employ the same quality with customer issues as they do with their guitar creations.

As I said before, I have been playing for over four years. I own several guitars including basses and guitars of all kinds. 12 string acoustics, 12 string electrics, acoustic basses, electric basses, ect. They are all different brands. In my opinion, no guitar has ever made every kind of guitar perfectly. There is usually only one that can be considered their masterpiece, therefore, I try to find the best of the best for which ever specific type I am looking to purchase. If this guitar were stolen or lost, I would be dissapointed in the loss of time and money I spent to make it what it is today, but I would probably not buy this again, however I would buy an Ibanez.

Features:
SA160 BL

SA neck (Sangria, Rosewood fingerboard)
3pc. Maple Neck Material, bolted
Mahogany Body (small, the whole thing weighs close to nothing)
22 Medium frets
SAT30 bridge
H-S-S: all stock pickups
dot inlays
chrome hardware

Theres nothing out of the ordinary here. What I like about the trem system is its easy and reliable. Its not as easy to put the strings out of tune as with some floating bridges. The SA line was new in 2005 along with the SZ, based on the S series.

The SA neck is miraculous. It is the single best thing about this guitar. Its rediculously thin and makes technical playing rediculously easy.

My two problems with the guitar: 24 frets would have been ideal. And playing a guitar that uses .9s (.9-.42) is not something that I find especially useful. The smaller gauge means less output, less sustain and they dont last as long.

I'll play anything - blues, rock, harder rock, metal (black, melodic death), neo-classical stylings, and especially 'guitar rock', such as Vai. So really a huge range.

The playability will mean most people interperet this guitar as a dream shredder for the masses
amps used - crate, marshall amps, ranging from 15w to 100w.
effects - dunlop jimi hendrix wah wah, zoom 505II, various boss distortion pedals that I borrowed and didnt return.
slightly noisy on all settings.
non descript sound. not rich by any means, not bright either. versatile tho.


details:
When I picked up this guitar it was my first 'serious' or 'semi serious' instrument. My previous guitar was made by Y*m*ha and was firewood. It was absolutely unuseable after 2 years. Going to music school in the next year however Im looking for something much more serious than this.

I instantly liked the feel and especially the playability of it.

The sound is non-descript. The mahogany body doesnt give as much lower end punch as you might hope. Theres plenty of mids (which I dont care for), but the overall sound is 'rounded' and 'stale'. The redeeming aspect of it is its versatility, especially playing through a clean amp.

So i'll give it a 2 for sound: versatile instrument but lighter string gauge and stock pickups dont give much bite. Overly rounded, stale sound with no life to it. From a tone point of view not for any sort of expressive playing or rock playing where you need hotter leads, unless you arent afraid to use some sort of digital modelling. I almost always used the zoom, because it vastly improved the sound.

factory set action is probably the lowest I've seen, which is great for fast and fluid playing.

Intonation however needed some tweaking. Not to mention, the saddles were skew --/\-\ (???), and bizzarre to adjust. I did need to adjust the spring tension in the back. These types of adjustments are incredibly straitforward with Ibanez instruments, as you probably know.

The neck was well bolted ;).... haha. the finish was good. If you choose to use the little notch to place your picks when your on a stage or in a jam session, expect to get many, many scratches on that one area (between the fretboard and pickup is the notch). frankly that doesnt bother me, but some people see a scratch or burr and get squeemish.

Other hardware - the switch, nobs, machine heads, are great.

overall I'd say 7.
were this not an Ibanez and easy to adjust certain things about it, the score here would be much lower.

I used the guitar at a few small shows, no problems there. I wouldnt dream of using it at a big show. Reliabilty decent, overall.
The hardware will last. But its of a better quality than the sound of the instruement.
The finish is starting to wear off in some parts. Thats to be expected, given this isnt a high-end instruemtn and how much I play guitar. (yngvie jr)

Again, im looking for a new instrument. I suspect this one would last another 4-5 years before I lament its passing. Decent reliability, but 3 for durability.

If you were selling this, you probably wouldn't want to give a lifetime warranty :)

I have not dealt with customer service. What I hear however is its best to contact dealers about any problems or questions.

If this were stolen or lost I wouldnt worry too much about it. As I stated Im looking for another instrument. It would speed that process up a bit.

The best thing about it is the feel and playability.
The worst is the sound.

Overall I'd reccommend this as a decent entry level guitar. Its reasonably reliable. But once you reach a certain level you would definitely want to move on to something else... What I do strongly reccommend is you look at the higher end SA guitars, with fitted necks and such like.

I have thought about putting dimarzios in there but theres no point putting top pickups in a bottom end guitar, is there?
When I bought it, it was priced cheaper than the Ibanez models that are 'officially' entry level, for some reason.

The one I have is a 2002 model (not too sure). Black and same as everybody else.

Amazing harmonics on the bridge pup when distorted-similar to my SG Special. The neck pup sounds ok. Reminiscent to my Am Standard Strat neck pup with a more pronounced mid range. But I will replace the neck pup eventually because the staggered pole pieces have overly accentuated the A,D,G and B strings and there's a noticeable drop in output when plucking high string E. I rarely use the middle pup so I will leave that alone. You can get a huge variety of sounds from these babies as is-ranging from hard rock sg to twangy strat.

My only gripe is when it comes to adjusting the neck and mid pup heights. They only go so far and the adjustment is different from nearly every other guitar. That said, you get pretty limited adjustment from these and have a pretty "set" sound.

Excellent set up and finish out of the box. Again, neck and mid pups have limited adjustment capabilities. The selection switch seems a little loose and is a tad noisy when switching.

The tremolo gives me no problems (not like my old RG).

As for the neck, read: IBANEZ HAS THE BEST NECKS IN THE BUSINESS!!!

Great for this price range.

NA

Playing 10 years on and off. Have a bunch of other guitars in the $1000 price range Gibson specials and Am Standard Strat, Epi Elite LP Custom (excellent guitar).

Love the price, playability, finish and the excellent neck! I also love that since this isn't so expensive I can hot rod it as much as I want and it'll kick serious ass. Judging from the incredible sound unplugged, I think this will really sing with better pups.

Not too happy about the neck and mid pick ups sound and adjustment limitations. Need something with a more balanced tone.

Chose this because of the look. I had an old RG which I sold and I've moved from metal to more rock and blues and when I chanced on this guitar I had to have it. It's basically a more mellow, mature RG to me.

Wish this came with a hardtail since I hate tremolos.

Conclusion:

This can be "every man's guitar." It can suit a huge variety of music and styles. This is a guitar you grow with. As is, its amazing for the price. Pretty awesome, actually.

Everything standard, read the above reviews. Tuners need to be replaced after a couple years of heavy playing though, keep that in mind. Other than that very nice for a intermediate range guitar.

When i bought this guitar, i loved the sound. After improving my skills over the years though, i've come to realize that the stock pickups flat out suck. They have no power. On clean, the sound is VERY quiet. Feeding it through a distortion pedal helps. I'm replacing the pickups with some EMGs this week though, because i love everything else about the guitar.

Okay on the whole. Action needs adjusting after a little while but that's standard. The mahogany on the neck seems to have developed some white stripes, which is really weird.

Tuners getting a little weak, but otherwise great!

So, i got ripped off by L&M when i bought this, however i hold no grudges as it was probably my own fault for doing no research. I love everything about the guitar except for the pickups, which I'm changing to EMGs this weekend. Seriously, a great intermediate guitar for the price. Besides it's so much cheaper to buy a guitar like this when you're learning and then put in some asskicking pickups when you get better. The EMGs are running me a solid $280 though, so beware.

This is standard Korean made 80's shredder style axe with an HSS pickup configuration, 5-way switching and Wilkinson style tremolo system. The body is royal blue and made of mahogany. Decent looking sealed tuners and a nice fast neck. I personally like the HSS pickup configuration because it is so veristile. I was looking for a backup axe for gigs. My main axe in a 1992 American Floyd Rose Classic Stratocaster with the same HSS configuration that I have giged with and used for 13 years and it was starting to get a little rough around the edges. I figured that a cheap Korean guitar would be cheap but maybe a decent backup and I thouht the mahagony body was a good enough starting point and that anything else I could fix later..ie: pickups, tuners etcs.

Priority #1 for me is tuning stability. Nothing will stop the phone from ringing quicker that an out-of-tune sounding guitar. I can take bad sounding pickups because if you roll off the tone and volume a little, that will usually make an even terrible sounding axe usable. This axe can barely make it through a scale without drifting out of tune. The combination of cheap sealed tuners, floating bridge and a poorly cut nut make this thing unusable on a gig. The pickups are terrible. The neck pickup is hard and brittle. The pickup can barely be lowered because of the way it is mounted in the guitar. All 3 pickups are highly microphonic. I had guessed this would be the case before I got it so after I confirmed what I suspected would be the case, I put on a set of Sperzels and locked the floating bridge down since I don't need the tremolo. I also put a Dimarzio HS-2 in the neck. That cleared up my main complaints about the guitar. It now stays in tune fairly well except the nut still causes problems even with "guitar grease" in the slots. The HS-2 made a huge difference. It now sounds warm, dark and fat in the neck position which I use a lot. The stock humbucker is usable with the tone rolled off and the volume backed down a little. Since 50% of my opinion of a guitar's features is based on tuning stability I have to give it a five. Since I think they are justified in putting cheap pickups in a cheap guitar I can't really deduct for that and it does have the HSS configuration which is all I can really ask for.

I play comtemporary jazz/funk in a band so I need to get that ( or try to get that) Larry Carlton, Mike Stern kind of sound as well as a decent funk sound and a good sustaining lead sound to cop horn solos. Since I also like to play Van Halen and other rock stuff on the side, I like the basic 80's strat style with a HSS pickup config. I play through a trademark 60 which is a great amp for playing in clubs, again very versitile. I also use some delay, reverb, chorus and a Boss SD-1 for pushing the clean channel of my amp. I save the "Marshall" channel for rock jams. This guitar is brittle and noisy. Every tiny sound you make is amplified. The stock pickups are very trebely and thin. Other than the feel of this guitar, there is not much I like about it and I ended up buying a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster w/ HSS. My old Strat is now my backup up. The new Strat sounds beautiful. It is perfect. The SA160 is now a lab guitar. Any set-up changes I'm thinking about, I do to the SA160 first as practice so I don't mess up my Strats. I've actually gotten excellent results with this approach.

This thing has an amazing unplugged tone. The set-up was actually pretty good. The neck is probaby one of the easiest and most comfortable necks I have ever played. The picks were way too high and could not be adjusted down because they were attached to a tall piece of plastic that was part of the pickup itself. This caused the axe to sound rank and microphonic. The nut was cut terribly. I could see the jagged edges in both the front and back of the nut. The body and neck on this thing are great. The neck was beautifully done and the action was super low with little or no buzz. The body was light and super comfortable. As I said, unplugged, this guitar sounds and feels great.

This guitar is unfit for any kind of professional work except mayby a grunge kind of thing where the tuning is not important and everything is cranked up so nuance is not a factor either. Not only would I not gig with this guitar, I wouldn't use it as a backup. That being said, oddly enough it seems built rather well. If the thing sounded good and stayed in tune, I would probably gig with it because it is solid enough.

Have not dealt with them.

I've been playing 23 years or so. I've owned Les Pauls, Flying Vs, Strats, Kramers, Charvels. I now own 2 HSS Strats, and an American Fat Tele. I bought this online based on the mahagony body and some of the reviews in the forum. I just needed a backup and over estimated my ability make a cheap guitar usable and under estimated the cost to do so. I've already put about $110 dollars into this guitar with the tuners and pickup and it's a little better but now it's now a $339 dollar guitar instead of a $229 guitar which is what i purchased it for. There are probably a lot better options available for $340.

If this were lost or stolen, i wouldn't notice until I waned to make an adjustment to one of my Strats and would look to test on this axe first.

bought this brand new last year april as a practice guitar. i use a RG550 for clubs n gigs. It is koeran made and black with 22 fret rosewood neck. s-s-h configuration with a 5 way selector and one volume n one tone pot. basically i de-did the most of the guitar as i loved the neck and body but was not too confident with the electronics n parts. i installed planet waves locking tuners. changed the 5 way selector to ernie ball. Got a guitar luther to remove the existing tremolo bridge n installed a fender two fulcrum bridge which included graptech saddles n nuts. the neck has a dimarzio chopper, mid is a virtual vintage dimarzio and recently changed the bridge from a dimarzio paf pro to dimarzio breed. i give a 6 for the original electronics n parts but now a 10 with my modified guitar.

the guitar blows with all this new parts. i laid to rest my rg 550 (which has a sd 59 at neck, sd single staggered mid and sd jb at bridge). this guitar kicks ass now. strings seldom break with graptech and i can play blues to metal with the dimarzios. basically i play in clubs so music ranges from top40s to rock to r n b n dance and this guitar can do it all. the neck n the weight of the body really impressed me. basically this guitar goes thru my boss me-33 and a volume pedal and the clubs' end accordingly.

i got my guitar tech to re-do the action n intonation although the th original was pretty ok. the guitar looks expensive and was surprised of the price , maybe due to it was korean made.

i only have one guitar for gigging as it is pretty inconvenient for me to bring along two guitars. i trust this guitar completely and gig it withour back-up. even the strap-buttons were changed to dunlops just for precaution sake although the original ones were pretty good.

no comment never dealt with em. have used rg550s, JS1000 and a few more ibanezs and never had a problem with reliablity.

been playing abt 11 yrs and owns an rg 550 (former main guitar ) and a yamaha pacifica 112m for practice at home now. if it was stolen i would most probably buy it again but the re-mod cost me abt the same price as the guitar. as mentioned i re-did it coz i was impressed by the neck n body. this was the only model that has a neck pretty similar to my former js1000.

Don't know the year, but it was made in Korea. 22 Frets, 5-Way switch, 1 tone and 1 volume knob. SSH, with some Ibanez pickups that I plan to change once I get the money. It's made of Ash, and it's got a tri-fade burst (Black-Red-Wood). I give it a 9 because of the single tone knob.

I am rhythm guitarist in a rock band. It buzzes A LITTLE on the single coils. The humbuckers give it a darker, fuller sound, while the singles have a brighter, strat-like tone. This guitar can go from Metal to Funk with ease. I love the sound it has. I give it a 10.

It came set up almost perfectly when I bought it. I had to set the intonation, and had to lower the action a tiny bit. I haven't noticed any other flaws yet. I give it a 9.

I've only had it for a month, so I'm not quite sure how it holds up.

Never dealt with them.

I give it an overall 10.

2004 Model in a Sunburst finish on Ash.
Beautiful to look at and even sweeter to play. My friend made a Strat himself called the "Blue Marvel" and it was a Suoer-Strat model just like the configuration of the SA160 I bought. They both sounded great. I wish I would have pickup one of these up 18 months ago, I would have saved lots of money. I had bought 2 Teles and 4 Strats of various configurations and now I find the SA160 is what I wanted all along.

All 5 positions are pleasing to my ears. I run it through a Blues Junior with the following effects:
Boss CH-1<Boss BF-2(coming soon)<Boss DS-1<Boss SD-1<Dunlop Cry Baby Wah. Ash is an interesting would and one I find ideal for this kind of guitar.

All it needs is a minor nut fili and the dges smoothed on the frets. The luthuir didn't have time to do that at the store as I bout this SA160AH and the AX220QM as soon as they got out of the boxes basically. I'm bringing them back in when he's less busy after the Christmas rush when he's more busy selling guitars that repairing them because of volume.

I always have to have a backup. I hope to never need it but this does happen. So I believe on should be prepared.

I'm very happy with the quality and value of Ibanez guitars. Both of mine are Made in Korea, and both were built well.

I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

I'd suggest trying Ibanez in the store on both a tube and solid-state amp and let your ears decide what's best for you. There are many good guitars out the. Just play'em first then fall in with the paintjob later.

I have the Orange quilt top SA160. You already know the features. I think for the money you cant expect more than what you get here. I have to give it a 10.

I run my SA through a Line 6 spider 210 or my toneworks PX4 pandoras box (get one if you dont have one). I play alot of Metallica and metal but I like blues and more complicated slow pieces occasionally. The humbucker sounds nice and cruchy and the single neck pickup can produce nice warm blues sounds. Another 10.

Another 10. I dont know about the rest of you but mine has been great since I bought it. I bought it with one ding on the back. Saved me some good money.

I dont play live but I do play EVERYDAY. I have tightened the bolt on neck screws once or twice but other than that no problems. I have to give it a 10 again because I think this is a great guitar,but like I said I dont play live..

Havent dealt with them.

Ok here it goes. I want everyone to know what a great guitar this guitar is. I have been playing for about 6 years. Taking it very seriously. I own 9 guitars. I have 2 big amps and 2 practice amps. I own a 900 dollar ESP LTD KH 602. I still go back to the Ibanez alot. I have owned the SA for about 3 years. I play every guitar I can get my hands on and I cant say enough about the SA 160. If it were stolen I would buy another in a second. If you are thinking about buying this guitar, dont think any longer...GET IT

I bought this baby in 2002, I don't know when it was made
22 frets, solid top made in Korea.1 volume and 1 tone controls, switch 5 position, 1 humbucker in bridge and 2 singles satin finish.

I like the variety of sounds that I can get from this baby. Good for metal and clean sounds.
If you use a fat strings you could get more deeper sounds looking for extreme distortion.

Set up from factory, really nice. Ready to be played.

All the hardware looks strong. And a really very light weight as to be playing for 5 hours running on the stage.

I never used it.

I have this guitar for around 2 years. It's one of my favorites withing my sg. Both are great to play music that I like. Hardcore, nu-metal..

S-S-H Koran made, all the specs other people have listed. Nothing different from what other people mentioned except my concern over the bridge.

I did not want a Floyd ROse bridge and while this doesn't have one, the design of the bridge is still a 2 point floating trem with the lateral stability problems a Floyd gives. It's not as bad as a Floyd to tune, but it does take more work than I anticipated. Not a big deal, but not a Fender vintage bridge duplicate either.

My biggest gripe about the features on any guitar is that I always feel every pickup should have it's own tone control.

Very versatile, plays anything once you get used to the manipulation of switch and knob.

Extrelely pleasing except for the pickup adjustments. They were screechy and too bright, being raised almost within 1/8" of the strings. Fortunately, there was room to lower them and the result was very good. The neck is warm, but articulate, the middle a little ballsier than a Strat, and the humbucker on the bridge has some twang, but is very strong. I could see playing rhythm on the neck or middle and just switching to the bridge for leads without even considering a move of the tone knob.

The paint and neck fit are first rate.

It's new, but my experience with other Ibanez guitars has been good. Everything seems solid and although I don't gig, I would with this guitar.

I've heard horror stories, but I have no experience with Hoshino myself. Considering those stories, if I needed something out of warranty, I think I'd just go to a second market supplier and not frustrate myself.

I'm very happy with the guitar overall. I got rid of a Fender Hyw 1 Fat Strat, prefering the tones of the Ibanez over it. I wish it had tonal controls for each pickup, like a Strat, but otherwise, everything works well and it's a good value for the money.

Made in Korea, 22 frets, candy apple red, volume and tone knobs, s-s-h pickup config., maple neck with mahongany bod, strat body, standard tremelo. I'm not sure what kind of tuners it has.

This guitar can play anything. i play mostly metal, punk, hardcore, emo and it does it all perfectly. I play it through a Peavey special 212 and it sounds pretty damn good. the bridge pickup is very hot but kinda has a flat tone when played clean. they neck pickup is also has nice acoustic sound clean and is good for solos with loads of distortion. i never use the middle single coil, it's just along for the ride. this guitar has a very bright sound on the bridge pickup which sucks for clean stuff. on the other hand when you crank up the distortion it sounds really GOOD. loads of harmonics.

i've had this guitar for about 2 years and i can't remember how good the factory setup was. i have the action very low and the strings barely buzz at all. very nice.

the guitar seems pretty sturdy but i would take care of it because its so light and would be easy to fuck it up. just take care of it and it will last forever.

havent had to deal with them.

This is my only guitar at the moment. If it were stolen i would buy something different just because i want something new for my next guitar.

I bought this used, so I have no idea how old it is. It has a bit of a ding on the top (which my arm covers when I am playing), so I got it cheap ($150). It's candy apple red and even with the ding and the small scratches, it's still a nice guitar. I'm not sure what the body is made out of, but I think it's mahogany. It's thin around the edges and thicker in the center. As a victim of the recent economic downturn, I had to sell off most of my gear last year and decided to just start buying inexpensive guitars for a while, since I am once again gainfully employed. It's an S-S-H configuation, 5 way switch, master volume and tone and has the standard whammy bar (not Floyd Rose), which I don't use anyway. I wnated something with a humbucker and am more comfortable with a Strat style body/set-up, so this seemed like a logical place to start. The guy that sold it to me tossed in a gig bag, so for the price, I'm really happy with it.

It doesn't sound bad at all, though the single coils are a little thin compared to my US vintage 62 Strat. I play a little of everything from country to metal, so yeah, it suits my style. It's really very quiet, even on the single coils. With the band, I play through a Digitech RP300A (sometimes just my Keeley modded TS9, awesome pedal that it is) into my 65 Fender Deluxe Reverb. At home, I play through a Roland Cube 30 amp, and if you are looking for a neat little practice amp, check out a Cube 30, which is a very cool little amp. Playing through an effects processor like the Digitech can really alter the output of the guitar and change the color of the sound, unless you are on a very clean pre-set. However, when I play it clean through the RP300 or the clean channel of the Cube, it sounds nice. Not great, but nice. For 150 scooters, I got a really nice guitar, and I think the sticker on a new one is about $330, which makes it a very good guitar for the price. Go check one out for yourself.

I got it used, so I can't comment on the factory set-up, but it was set to my liking when I got it. Pickup height seems about right, and overall, it seems to be a well made guitar. The neck is a bit flatter and wider than my Strat, but the neck is nice and straight, the action is really sweet and the medium frets are set perfectly. The body is nice and has a nice sustain. This guitar is exactly what I was looking for, which was something just a little bit different from my Strat, and it was a steal. If I had not found this one, I would have bought a new one. I am constantly amazed at the amount of high quality inexpensive guitars that are available today, and this is a quality instrument for a great price.

I have only had it a month, but it seems solid enough. Everything on the guitar seems to be well made and of good quality. It's lighter than my Strat, and the neck feel is different, but I really like playing it. The top has a ding on it, but the finish has not broken, chipped off or anything like that, so it seems tough enough. Strap buttons seem very solid and while I don't gig much, I would gig w/o a back-up. It's nice to have another guitar though, even if you just break a string.

I have no experince with Ibanez since I bought this used.

I am a former drummer, though I still fill in if our drummer is absent or late, and only got serious with the guitar in the last 5-6 years, though I did monkey around with it for a while. I have a '62 US vintage Strat, a '65 Deluxe Reverb, a Digitech RP300A effects processor, a Keeley modded Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer (Robert Keeley puts out a hell of a product I might add, so check him out) and a Roland Cube 30 practice amp. I had to let go of some other gear last year due to some financial pressures, including a 50's Classic MIM Strat, a 50's Classic MIM Tele (both GREAT guitars, btw), a Deluxe Powerhouse Strat, a Rickenbacker 320 and an Epi Goth Les Paul and EB-0 bass. It broke my heart, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I like most everything about this guitar, hate nothing, and if it was lost or stolen, I might buy another one, or maybe an S470 Ibanez. I would buy one of every kind of guitar made if I could afford it, so don't go by me, LOL. Seriously, I tend to gravitate more toward Strats, but this guitar gives me a slightly different feel and sound. I wanted a new toy to play with and I got a nice one at a great price. I like it a lot and if you only have about 300 bucks to spend on a new guitar, you can't go wrong with an Ibanez SA160. Good luck with whatever you buy.

I got this screaming guitar from a little music store in Stratford Ont. A solid 22 frets, this guitar makes solos childsplay,and the neck takes control of the sound. The Tuners lock comfortably, and are VERY reliable. The Volume and Tone are just about the best in its class. 10.

INCREDIBLE sound. Nothing gets screwed up or goes berserk. I play rock and rock only, therefore this guitar's sound sums it up. It has optional fat sound, and about every guitar sound imaginable. The fat sound is my favorite, for if you play it hard, it submits a medium setting distortion. 10 again.

This guitar not only rocks, but you can move your hand just about anywhere and can give your hand a comfy feeling to boot. The fit is perfect, and kinda relates to a strat, or tele. The pickups are incredible, having five of them, you can do any style of music with a flick of the switch.

This guitar is solid. You can bang it around on amps, and drums and so on, and no dings or dents. Poifect strength, and better yet it isn't heavy, or to light, but is comfortable standing or sitting. Banging it around doesn't screw up the sound, and it rarely dings up. Nuff said!

I have been playing since i was 5. Now i'm only 11, but who says i can't play live? I have a Peavey 1972 amp, and a zoom pedal, and i'd recommend the zoom to anyone. If it were stolen or lost, of course i'd take mug shots, and beat the living crap out of him. I'd buy it again. Everything to love, nothing to hate. Try one out today!

I bought this guitar from a friend. it's about 2 1/2 or 3 years old now. I LOVE this guitar. It is the older model with the older tremelo but the same pickups. There are so many features that are great on this beast the only thing I would replace is the tremelo. But that really isent a problem.

I play so many styles of music that I need a guitar that can handle everything, so I don't have to carry a les paul, Strat, and a jackson everywhere I go. and switch guitars between every song or two. That's where this guitar comes in. I play through a Peavey Transtube 212 EFX(awesome amp for solid state). I don't use the neck pickup much, I use it in the bridge/middle position for rythems(using the tone and volume to control differant aspects of the sound. My brigde pickup I use for leads and solos. cranking the volume and the tone can cut through the muddiest mix and put my solo on top so at least I can be heard well. this guitar is the best. I may upgrade the pickups later but see no real reason to now.

as I said earlier this guitar is about 2 1/2 or 3 years old and has never needed a setup. Other than the setup at the factory. The only thing was the intonation on the G string. i fixed that my self in about 1 minute. It still plays perfectly, like new. I even went to my music store and played a brand new SA160. Mine was just as good if not better(I prefer a broken in instrument over new feel)
There is one small dent that you can only see in a glare. I have dropped this thing quite a few times and still needed no setup or visit to my local repair man. No quilted maple top or burst paint job ar any fancy junk. just solid black beauty.

I have giged heavy with this thing, and it has always been right there. The only thing that has been replaced was the strap buttons. The last ones pulled out, But it was only cause my friend tried screwing them tighter and ended up stripping the inside. but I wanted strap loks anyway. I would gig without a backup with this beast. I have before.

Never had any problems to deal with them. But if they are as good at customer support as they are with they quality of their instruments, it must be unbeleivable

I would buy a new one if anything happens to this one. I wish it had a EDGE tremelo but I'm buying another ibanez with one. Buy it, you wont regret it especially for 350.00 new

I bought this guitar about a year ago in Mississippi, and i origianlly wanted to look at some gibsons. After playing both i thought this was a better choice. Yeah, the gibson was overall a nicer guitar, but not by a lot, and then the fact that it costs over 1000$ more didn't help...haha.... so i really think this is a good guitar considering the price. I don't care for the pickups at the neck, so 90% of the time i leave it set on the bridge pickups.
what attracted me to it first was the looks. The one i got was like a charcoal gray. beautiful....really made it look hardcore....and its got the same body shape as a strat(hate fenders)...but hey....

The neck pickups are very noisy, but it disappears with a lot of distortion. I do like the bridge pickups a lot they put out a descent sound clean or dirty. The ibanez is ALRIGHT for clean sounds. Just make sure you dont crank the tone all the way up, because its really bright. Distortion is where it shines.

No complaints. Everything was put together right.

This guitars take'n a beating, and it only has one scrath on it.
The strap buttons are solid. The only problem i had with it is that the plug-in for the chord comes loose often.

Very good service.

Nothing really special about the guitar. Nothing really bad about it either. If you can't afford a Les Paul, PRS, Epiphone, or even a B.C. Rich.....dont settle for a fender!!!!! get the ibanez!!!!!
hahaha... you really cant go wrong.....nice axe

ibanez sa160,made in 2003, black, standerd everything

this guitar is great i love to play ska and punk music and this guitar sounds great with both, if u set it for only the single pick-ups it soundes great for ska but a bit more deeper the nmy old guitar that was and eipihone les paul special 2, and with just the double pick-up going it sounds great for punk or rock or and distorted music

the action is great most people told me for a guitar to stay in tune with a wammy bar u need a floyd rose bridge but this stays in tune great and its not a big ass bridge like the floyd rose its nice and small

reliability is great

great guitar

Not gonna waste space for this, everyhing has been said already. I would just add this - if it had fixed bridge, it would have been perfect. All tremolo designs, even high end ones in the market, are pure garbage.

I think you can play anything through this baby. Many different sounds can be extracted. I use it with Kustom Tube 12 and Ibanez Tube Screamer TS808, and sound melts like a butter! I had RG270 before, could not wait to get rid of Floyd Rose Trem. This one suits me just right.

Setup - excellent! I just had to lock tremolo bridge by tightening screws holding the springs all the way - and no more tunning problems! Paint job is really amazing, except inside the hole around the cable connector.

Yes, yes and yes. It will probably last forever.

Never dealt with them yet, don't think I ever will.

I've been playing for more than 10 years, but not very often and usually at home. This is the best guitar I have ever tried.

Tip: lock the tremolo as soon as you buy the guitar by tightening two spring hold screws under the plastic cover at the back of the guitar. Prepare to be amazed.

Made in 2000 in Korea this SA160 was bought from Mansons Guitars in Exeter, UK. Its standard SA but I have upgraded the pick ups. In the Bridge position I put a Dimarzio PAF Pro and 2 Dimarzio FS-1's for the Middle and Neck positions.

Due to the pick up change it is now a peach - the lead sound is every bit as full on as you would need for a blistering solo and knock it back to the combination of neck/middle/bridge is soon turns into a smooth but chunky dare I say it strat like sound. Perfect for me.

I cant fault it here, obviously it is not a JS or Jem777 type finish, but for its target market it is great, no blemishes or marks.

Ideal for live playing, thats why I bought it, quick string changes can happen. the tuning is stable, even when I drop the E to D for the odd song, and even if it wears, it can only add character and could be refinished should I want to but no, this is ideal for live work, not expensive, does the job. Now there's the million dollar question - gig without a back up? Yup! ever since I ditched Floyd Rose Trems I have that luxury!

Never needed it.

I run it through a Line 6 Flextone II and its a great combination, all the elements and sensible prices, when I get that elusive deal, I'll consider giving it a golden coat! Seriously, if your thinking of buying one and torn between say a Yam or Strat, go buy the Ibanez its the industry standard.

2002/03 model, red, reall y nice color and finish
2 single coil and 1 humbuckers
neck is very nice, extremly thin, and the action is low, maybe a little too low, but u can't hear the buzz when u trun the amp up
the neck and weight won me over though

i play everythin and anythin, the sound is brighter than i thought, i wish the humbucker delievered a bit of a richer (gibson, epiphone) sound but itz alright
i play it simply through a fender frontman 25r

the action is extremly low, thatz all i'll say, nope, had it for a few days, no flaws at all

lookz very studry
but i've only had for few days

if stolen, i'd probably get the same thing

A quick review for info that's already been covered; HSS, SAT30 bridge, 22 frets, rosewood (or some "dark wood") fingerboard, strat style body

Ever walked into a guitar store with a preconceived notion of what you wanted, and then changed your mind? That's what I did with this Ibanez screamer. I wanted to upgrade my "metal guitar". I had seen a dual humbucker with a Floyd Rose in my price range, but really wasn't all that keen on wrestling with the Floyd. Overall, great sound. Pickups have super output. Humbucker at the bridge is great for hard rock, and the single coils are not your typical strat single coils. Distortion sounds great! And when doesn't it?

Now here's where this axe shines. Ever get a new guitar and just gush about how great it is (for that matter, don't we all do that with any guitar?). This is one guitar I'm glad I found. The action and everything was great right out of the box, literally. I played one hanging on the wall, and they ended up saying there's an unplayed one in the back. They pulled it out of the box, slapped another spring on the trem to hold it down, and voila; no buzz, everything was perfect. That's the first time that's happened to me. Now, setup is a personal choice but this thing is a "10" from the go. Nice Candy Apple finish, frets are nice and smooth. The volume pot was a tad crooked but nothing I couldn't fix.

Have only had a couple of days. I did play it the morning after I bought it and it was still in tune, despite repeated wammy bar wankage the night before.

Hopefully they won't be needed.

This is a sonically great guitar; you can get a great range of tones. I also own an Epi Les Paul Standard and Fender Hwy 1 Strat. So I have a collection that can suit a lot of styles. This Ibanez is a great add to my "herd."