Ibanez SZ2020 Prestige

my sz came with emg 81/85 and a quickchange iii bridge. other then that you can get the specs off other reviews or ibanez's website

The sound is great. could be better with some new pickups, imo emg's arnt that great

This guitar is easy to play and looks great. the shape can be considered as "boring" but i like it and its easy to play because of it

everything on this guitar is great and will last

never delt with ibanez and doubt that i ever will

this is one of my dream guitars... i love it. id definetly replace it if i had the money

SZ's in General:

* A descendent of the curved, mahogany Ibanez S but with a much thicker body and a 25.1" scale that has a different feel than the 25.5" scale of an S.

SZ Prestige:

neck type: 5pc SZ Maple/Walnut neck-thru
body: Flamed Maple/Selected Mahogany body
fret: Large frets
bridge: Gibraltar Custom bridge
tailpiece: Quik Change III tailpiece
neck pu: Seymour Duncan?? IBZ (H) neck pu
bridge pu: Seymour Duncan?? IBZ (H) bridge pu

*Comes with very heavy duty Prestige HardCase.

I play mostly hard rock and metal but I wanted something that can handle jazz and blues. This guitar delivers with its very well balanced tone. Both pups are sonically well balanced with the bridge being hotter with a slightly accented mid/high range.

The neck pup on clean is perfect for picking up the subtleties of Jazz. It has an "airy" quality perfect for rhythm work. I would say that this is the best sounding guitar I have on clean. The bridge pup overdriven is amazing from full on chug-a-chug to open chords. Every note is discernable and balanced even on heavy heavy distortion.

The light satin finish helps in keeping the tone true to the wood's characteristics. And the neck-thru design delivers energy near perfectly to the pick ups, you'd think the whole guitar was one piece. I haven't heard this kind of sustain before. I've played LP's but this is on a whole different level.

Overall amazing sounding guitar. Extremely versatile instrument due to the well balanced sound quality.

I had the shop set up my guitar with .11's so I can't discuss about "stock" or "out of the box" set up quality. Again the satin finish, binding, all the wood work is awesome. You can literally feel the wood's grain while still remaining smooth and velvety to the touch.

I've seen other satin finishes and this one really stands out. While others are primarily focused on hiding imperfections or "concealing" the wood itself, the finish on this accentuates the look, feel and qualities of the woods themselves.

I love the finish of the flamed maple top, the mahogany back and the neck. The rosewood fingerboard has a nice slight sheen to it as well. Great work. I've owned an RG, SA and SZ320 and I've always thought Ibanez necks were the best regardless of price so when I saw this version I was floored. You cannot believe how it feels to play!

I don't gig. But this is a Prestige version of a guitar made for heavy metal headbangers who play to mosh pits- I think it'll hold up to most normal situations. It also has the biggest strap buttons I've seen on a guitar as standard-I could hardly get my strap through! It'll hold.

The finish is light but its natural so scratches or smudges aren't a big deal. This is my lowest maintenance guitar by far.

Hardware was solidly put in. High quality fittings all the way.

Can't say.

Playing for 10-12 years. Have owned other Ibanez guitars (first being an RG470), have a couple of Gibson specials, an Epi Elite LP, American Strat, Peavey Bass- all of which are black. A couple of Marshall amps and a fender princeton.

I love how the finish accentuates the wood's characteristics. Let me just say, all my guitars are jet black. I like em' black, shiny, pristine. Then I see this natural 4 kinds of wood satin finished guitar and that's all she wrote.

I love the neck thru design which gives me unheard of sustain. I love the well balanced sound and the response from the Ibanez/Duncan pups - allowing me to experiment with other styles. With my other guitars from this manufacturer, they were ace at feel and playability but average sounding. This guitar sounds GREAT from subtle to slam-a-sledgehammer-on-your-head subtle.

Playability? Ibanez have left everyone else eating their dust years ago. This is no exception. Pound for pound the best playing guitars you can find.

The thing I love overall is this guitar's versatility. No matter what musical direction I'm taking in the future, this guitar's going with me. If any of my guitars can be my last, this would be it. Had this been out from the start and had I been able to afford it, then this would've been my only guitar!

If it were stolen or lost, I'd buy another or its equivalent from Ibanez. (No point in talking tough, if it's gone, it's gone)

Built in 2005.

22 frets, solid 1/2" flame maple top, two volume and one tone control, three-way pickup selector, two custom made passive Duncan pickups, a set five-piece maple and walnut neck, double cutaway mahogany body, a very thin satin finish, MM1 bridge and tailpiece with sustain block, non-locking Gotoh tuners with adjustable posts, 25.1" scale, medium frets, it came with allen wrenches.

The neck is medium-girth, .825" at the 1st fret, .900" at the 12th, in what has been described as a 'D' contour. The fingerboard is nice and wide, 1-11/16" at the nut and an impressive 2-1/4" wide at the end of the fingerboard. I love the feel of the neck, it fits my hands perfectly.

Great rock and blues guitar. I use it with a Marshall DSL50 halfstack and a pedal board with analog effects. My main effects are a Maxon Distortion Master and an Ibanez AD9 delay. The tone is large, quite rich and full, but with a pronounced attack that makes the guitar very suitable for stadium rock, where grind and crunch are needed in healthy portions.

The pickup combination is typical of rock guitars with a warm medium output neck pickup combined with a bright high output pickup at the bridge. The middle selector position on the switch is wired so that both pickups are selected in a split coil configuration. I disliked the feature both on my 720 and 2020, so I modified the wiring to the more common setup that has both humbuckers active in the middle switch position. Having all three controls available to tweak the tone in the middle position provides a formidable array of tones that are missing with the standard wiring configuration.

The bridge on the SZ2020 is massive, as is the sustain block. The bridge makes the guitar sound very large and contributes greatly to the extended sustain the 2020 produces.

The setup was extremely poor, but the guitar was on backorder for weeks before I received it. The action was medium-high, and the neck had .011" of relief in it. That much relief or a little less is common for most guitars, but the SZ series are unusual due to the design requiring a relatively straight neck. 005" of relief is the ideal setting for playing rhythm or lead, but the necks can be adjusted completely straight and play well, though a little stiff. I set the action at 1/16th" on the first string and 2mm at the 6th. Once the pickups and intonation were tweaked the 2020 came to life as a truly great guitar.

The finish is a little too thin to be given high marks--there are grain marks showing on the back of the body and neck. On the other hand the guitar does sound great, so there may be a positive aspect to the thin finish.

The maple top is solid, ungraded, and not matched perfectly, but looks quite beautiful, and was carved and sanded to an excellent degree.

The neck construction appears to be immaculate, including the sanding of the fingerboard and the outstanding fretwork. I checked the frets with professional straightedges and failed to find a single high spot anywhere on the frets.

The only noticeable flaw was some wood chipping that occured when the hole for the input jack was routed. The hole could have used more sanding or a cover plate of some sort.

The first impression I got from the SZ2020 is how solid it is. It weighs in at 8.75lbs, not a lightweight by any means.

I suspect the finish will wear off rather quickly, but tone is more important than looks, and this guitar has tone that will contend with any guitar built.

I have been playing for over 30 years. I would probably buy another one if this one were stolen, or a newer model just to have another one.