Ibanez SZ320MH

Oiled natural finish, sculpted strat style shape kinda like a PRS, SZ bridge like a nashville but smoother to improve string life (one of the reasons for purchase) with thru stringing, non - locking grover style tuners, larger scale neck maybe 25 or 25.5 compound radius, 22 frets, made in 2004 in Korea, solid mahogany neck and body, twin humbucker stock ibanez pickups. I was after a simple guitar, always favored mahogany and I'm not a fan of maple on solid body guitars, too bright imo. i dont really like spring bridges either so a hard tail was the way to go. features were just what i was afer especially as the middle pickup selector position produces a single coil sound for rhythm. a bit basic perhaps...

i play modern indie rock thru to blues and hendrix and post rock particularly Kings of Leon and Sigur Ros. i cant say that the guitar is particularly well suited to any of these lol but is a good jack of all trades. i'd gig with it playing all these genres but i wouldn't be blowing any minds with my tone. i run thru a fender FM210R, no pedals, i like it simple. no noise to speak of nice bright clean sound but a bit muddy when playing distorted chords, not as articulate as i'd have liked. trebles sounds are shrieky at really high pitches but pretty good for blues stuff, nice warm tone that actually gets commented on. i like to be quite expressive in my lead playing but with a smooth tone, the neck pickup is in no way up to this and the bridge is a bit too hot for me. not half bad tho

quite well set up but this went to hell when i changed the strings form 9s to 10s, took weeks for the fret rattle to go although it did eventually settle. everything is aligned perfectly and although the action is now a little high (my fault), everything is dead straight and the intonation is perfect. the finish is nice and quite organic in that it ages 'gracefully'. scratches and stains add to its already weathered look without making it look tired. not major flaws but then im not one for superficial stuff like finishes lol.

it is pretty sturdy despite being quite lightweight, ive bashed it abit and pulled at the neck and it takes it all with no issues resulting. very reassuring. ive played some messy gigs from which it recovered just fine. strap buttons are reliable but lockers are a good idea. finish will last as long as the oil remains watertight. after that it'll most likely sweat off. i wouldnt ever gig without a backup but i definitely wouldnt expect it to let me down

never had to have it repaired, it just doesn't break or play up or anything

i would probs replace it if it got stolen. im always being made offers for it by people playing much more expensive equipment which is nice. i prefer the darker tone of the 320 to its more expensive maple topped stablemates too. ive honestly not played anything better for the money, definately prefer it to any epiphone sg or les paul ive tried

All stated in previous comments.

Well, I replaced the standard pickups with Dimarzio's a Paf (neck) and a Norton (bridge). Guess what? Doesn't sound as good as the standard pickups I replaced! Took Dimarzio's out and sold them on eBay..... put the real pickups back where they belonged.

Excellent warmth and sustain. Through a TubeWorks TubeDriver 100watt combo. Yum. This guitar really does have some grunt - dirty or clean.

Factory setup was OK - a little high.

All hardware correctly fitted and sound. Two years after purchase everything is still fine. I am concernded about the machine heads durability over the next few years - may replace them with schallers.

Got the black one - paint job excellent. I note however the colour of the white binding differs between neck and guitar body.

Use this guitar at most gigs. No problems.
Still use a backup though.... Murphy's Law is so very constant.

Dunno. Well laid out website.

Playing for 30+ years. Had Fenders, Gibsons, Matons, Yamaha, etc. Sold off most and went acoustic (middle age can do that too you!), but after a year I missed the power, tone, smell, feel, and sound of electric guitars too much.

Second shop I went into had a few of everything - like most shops - then I spotted this black Ibanez and after just a few moments, found it very difficult to put down. I went straight to a TexMex Tele which felt very poor compared to the Ibanez.... anyway to cut a boring story short, the SZ320 came home with me and we lived happily ever after.

This guitar was made in korea, 2004 or 2005. 22 frets, Maple cap, 2 Vol., 1 tone controls, 3 way selector switch for two Humbuckers. I hear they are Distortion (bridge) and 59 (neck) pickups, which was my ear's semi educated guess. Passive electronics. Body and neck made of mahogany. super strat style body. GibralterIII tune o matic bridge. Non-locking tuners that Im unaware of the brand. Rosewood board, thin shredable neck. By the way, this doesnt have a ton of features but what it does have, it excells excessively at.

With the bridge pickup, in addition to distortion, it sounds great, and it suits Metal very well (infact I can make it fit anything.) Im using it with a Peavey Rockmaster 120w all tube head (6L6's and 12ax7a's), rocktron metal planet, rocktron rampage, ibanez weeping demon, and 2 art eq's. Noisy? Psh. Getting this guitar denoted the need of a noise gate because its superior pickups got rid of excess string noise and feedback/hum/white noise. Depends, I can get rich, full and bright sounds. I love this guitar, everything about it.

Got it used so Im not sure about the factory set up, but the person who set it up should work at an american guitar factory. He did the pickups as well, and also done great.

It would withstand live playing, the hardware will last, the finish is great, the buttons solid, dependable, and I wouldnt use it on a gig without a backup because Id wanna make an appearance with my Hamer Vector V

I have played four years. If this guitar were stolen or lost, I would definitely buy another. I love its tone, versatility while still being simplistic, and the sustain is probably my fave feature about it... that or the one piece body/neck.

korean made guitar. Mahogany body & neck. Duncan Ibanez pickups.
2 Vol.controls 1 Tone 3 way toggle switch.
For the rest visit Ibanez web site or read previous reviews.
Not a guitar crammed with features, abd that's what I like about it.

I play heavy rock and those IBZ/SD pickups deliver! Powerful and aaccurate sounds in positions 1&3 and a lovely telly-like sound in position 2. Plugged in my RH50T + 2X12 Celestion loaded cab, the sound is firm, mid-rich, without those ear piercing, brittle overtones you often hear from guitars with a maple top. No noticeable hum in any of the positions (and I play quite loud!). Reminds me of some (good) SG's I had the opportunity to ty out, without the balance issues.

Set-up from the factory was terrible when it arrived in the shop.
Buzzes & rattles even on open strings.
The guys at Traxon Music (Brussels) kindly fixed this and action is now OK. Flawless finish. Pick up height and alignment well adjusted. Nut cut properly, fretwork ok. Volume controls could be a bit more progressive.

Haven't played this guitar in live situations yet. Should not be a problem as the tuners seem to hold the tuning well.
How long the satin finish of the body/neck and the chromed hardware will last is a story yet to be told. Generally speaking, it's the absence of features (Floyd, sophisticated electronics...) that make a reliable guitar. This one is a straight rock 'n roll guitar.

Never dealt with them BUT...
I had to wait TWO LONG MONTHS to have this guitar delivered. Whoever is to blame for this (importer or Ibanez themselves), this is a crying shame. When it eventually reached the shop, the set up was horrible (maybe shipping can be held responsible for this). Should it need repair, I put it in the hands of my trusted guitar repairer

Been playing for 25 years. This guitar comes as a replacement of a Cort M600 (lost in a house fire, with a great part of my gear) and quite frankly, I wish I had bought it sooner. As ever, I doubt it will ever get stolen, as me and my bandmates are a bit paranoid when it comes to our gear. Should this happen, and you're the culprit...start counting your days!!!

25.1" scale neck
H-H configurations
22 frets
3pc mahogany
2 volume 1 tone tone

i give it an 8 because it doesnt have alot of features but that doesnt mean the features on it arent good

it sounds like my eppi les paul gothic with jb in bridge
the pick ups arent muddy at all for stock
i use this geetar thru a tsl602 with only a ns2 pedal
i play punk to metal and this can cut it all

i like my action a bit high so i brought it up a lil but i dont mind that
i love the finish but id prefer it in black but they didnt have it
pickups were fine n so was everything else.........so far

although my eppi felt a lil stronger this feels very good
the tuners are the only thing that worry me a lil, they work fine but i dont think itll last long

n/a

iv had 5 guitar including this one and i feel most comfortable with it. cant remember how long iv been playing. it'd be amazin if it had better tuners but i dont mind really

Just bought this 2005 SZ320MHWBR. Made in Korea. I've played and own two Japanese Ibanez's (a JEM and an RG570) so I was very curious how this Korean-made model would play,feel, and sound. I just want to say how amazed I am at the quality of lower to mid-priced guitars coming out of various world locations these days.
22 frets, real abalone-dot inlays. solid-bodied mahagony body, mahogany neck. Rosewood fretboard. Medium fret-wire (not the jumbo frets I'm used to). Headstock has backward angle like most Gibsons, and like other Ibanez models. However, headstock has a three per side arrangement that creates straight string pull (this is supposed to aid in tuning stability). Neck is bound as well with creme-colored plastic. Scale is an in-between 25.1" Has a volute, but this does in no way impair playability.
Set neck design. Appears to be a neck thru guitar at first glance. Amazing set neck design! Upper fret access is just excellent. I can hardly see where the neck joins the body, at least at first glance. Mahagony has just a light finish at best, but really looks the part. For those who love natural wood finished guitars (like me), this looks a real treat. The contours of the back of the guitar are quite beautiful. Carved top looks very good as well.
Hardware is stainless steel (I think). Two volumes (one for each pick up), and a master tone control. Has a standard three way pick up selector below and next to the control knobs. The volume knob closest to the playing area is ideally located for those who like to do volume swells and the like, but controls the front pick up. The middle control knob controls the volume for the bridge pick up. (This felt a little unusual for me. I have a BC Rich Mockingbird that has the exact opposite configuration). The knobs are very solid-feeling. I especially like the feel of the pick up selector switch, don't ask me why. It just clicks into place with such authority...
Pick up config is dual humbucker. My pick ups are "Ibanez/Duncan-Designed". I've been told that these are similar to all the 'Duncan-Designed' pick ups being made in the Far East that we see on many guitars these days, but these are manufactured by Ibanez. It seems that older SZ models may have standard 'Ibanez IBZ' pickups as standard. 'Duncan-Designed' pick ups are based on the American-made Duncans, but are manufucured elsewhere, and are usually considered to not be the equal of the official Duncans. Many people change out some of Ibanbez's pick ups, many do not. I've used V7 and V8 pick ups for years quite happily. I've read here that this guitar's pick ups are based on the "Distortion" and "59" Duncans.
One great feature in the pick up wiring is in the middle position. It activates the two inner coils of the P.U.'s. Instead of the usual dual humbucker sound (which I really don't use that much), we get a more single coil-ish, in-between, out of phase sound that is a lot more like a strat's in between sound than a dual humbucker. This is great, great, great for versatility.
Hardware is solid. Tuners feel very solid. Tuning is very stabile. Everything feels reassuring here. Bridge is "Gibraltar3" and is an evolution/modern take on the standard tune-a-matic bridge of Gibson and stop-tail fame. Ibanez designed the bridge to aide in sustain and resonance. Does it work? More about that below...Finally, we get string thru body design, which should also increase sustain and resonance. You can even get some cool behind the bridge sounds out of the strings here. Add a little delay...This fully compensated bridge is great for playing feel. Everything is smooth and out of the way and does not interfere with palm-muting and playing style in any way.
Everything is solid and well made. The guitar feels very nice. The neck is not officialy "thick" but is very comfortable and 'present' in the hand. It is a far cry from the Ibanez speed necks, aka the Wizard neck profile. To my hand, it is slightly more beefy than my Gibson SG which I think has the 60's slim-taper feel, but nothing like the thicker, meat-ier 59 Les Paul profile. So, it's Gibson-esque, in a way, but really is its own thing, at least to me.
I played an ESP LTD Viper with EMG81's in the music store, and the neck on the Viper was definately thinner to my hand.
On to the feel of the fretboard. Set up was very good right from the factory. The neck has a relatively flat radius, though not dramatically so. Plays quite comfortably. Shredding is easy. So is 'feel' playing.
I give it a 9 for features for a dual humbucker guitar. I guess the lack of coil tapping options would be a minus in terms of versatility for some. For me, this is much more versatile than most dual humbucker guitars, due to the single-coil-like sounds when using both pick ups together. Feature-wise, we get straight string pull, a good headstock angle, solid hardware, a nice, comfortable, playable neck. The tuners are solid feeling, the tuning is stabile. It is playable and intonated right from the factory. All in all, a very enjoyable playing experience.

This guitar is EXTREMELY resonant! Open chords are very loud for a solid body guitar (to my ears at least!) and have a lot of life in them. I started knocking on the body of the guitar to see if it was really a solid body. It is also lighter than you'd think for a mahogany guitar of this size (the body is thick, not thin, from front to back). It's not very dark sounding...but it's not shrill and bright either. If I was told that this was a mahogany guitar with a maple cap, I'd have believed it easily. Unplugged, this guitar sounds different from any other solidbody guitar I've ever owned; from basswood, to all mahogany, to the mahogany/maple combo, to exotic materials like acrylic. All of my other guitars of disparate construction feel and sound, unplugged, more alike than this SZ. That is not necessarily bad, however, as variety is the spice of life.
My main desire in a humbucker guitar is a good drive sound out of the bridge humbucker. Also having a good neck humbucker for 'woman-tone'/psychadelia and jazz moments is the full monty for me. A good SG or Les Paul delivers this, and I am, like many, a Gibson devotee.
This guitar stands up quite well on its own sound-wise. The bridge humbucker is powerful and throaty. Both pick ups elicit a great deal of clarity and punch during high gain moments. You get a much earth-ier sound from these Duncan-Designed pickups than with active EMGs. The neck pick up is more than useful. I find it to be much less muddy in high drive settings than what i've come to expect.
It retains enough high end sparkle that it gives me a new voice for rock tones. I like the bridge humbucker as well. It may be a little 'boxy' sounding to my ear...I'm not sure yet. The dual pick up setting is really magic, in terms of the versatility is gives you in one guitar. You can find good in between strat tones here. If you like to play hard, and then go soft, you can switch here to utilize an entirely different voicing. The in-between is great for reggae, ska, funk, etc.
It's not true 'strat' to me. And there is a slight volume drop in the middle setting. But I can envision using this one guitar to play a metal song (bridge p.u.), then switch to the middle setting for a reggae number, then to the neck p.u. for a jazz excursion.
I've played it through a Peavey 5150 and a Carvin Legacy and found it to sound warm, full, bright and articulate. It cleaned up nicely through these amps. One question that only time will tell is whether I will or should replace/upgrade the pick ups?
I've found that this guitar really shines when played in the lower register. Open chords are really impressive...massive and alive. When played in the higher register, it's actually, maybe, not as warm or vibrant as some of my other guitars. It just sounds a little different to my ear. The feel up there is also a little 'plastick-y'...just a first impression after 5 days of ownership. However, you can work with it. I'm getting fully satisfying sounds out of the upper register. It's controlable and musical. There is a great deal of clarity in the voicings up and down the neck. And with the great set up, you don't have to fight to play the thing. It's proving great for technical playing.
I'm impressed. This is an intruiging guitar, with intruiging sound, features, and playability. It looks earth-y and sounds earth-y. This is not the superstrat/RG sound that I am acustomed to from Ibanez. This is beef-ier. It is its own beast. Maybe if you took the sound of an SG...but a much thicker, heavier SG, and then added a little bit of a maple cap in there somewhere...I don't know?
Don't get me wrong.There is nothing that exotic about the sound. But it has a mojo about it, a sense of life about it. Perhaps it is not proving, so far, as refined-sounding or playing as my Gibsons, or as the JEM, but give it time! You can't go wrong here, and that is saying something.
There is something about the acoustic response of my SZ...I've played all mahogany guitars before. And this guitar sounds different to me than what I've come to expect.

The set up was suprisingly good from the factory. I'm leaving it alone. According to the web site specs, the strings are D'Addarios, 9-42. But with this guitar, the strings sound like 11-52! They feel like a really heavy gauge, and play really light. Part of the feel and sound of the guitar must come from the thru-body stringing, and also maybe from the design of the Gibraltar3 bridge.
The pick ups' volumes are matched really well. You get a slightly noticeable drop in level in the middle setting. I found the drop to be a little more noticeable when playing clean...but that may be just me. The two p.u.'s match up really well together, in volume and tone.
Everything in the construction was top-notch. The binding is flawless, the abalone dots are flawless, the finish is great. You've got to check out how they attach the neck to the body. It really looks like a neck thru design, and gives fantastic upper fret access. It's hard to see where the two join. I think they use a mahogany cap over the main body of the guitar, but it is very difficult to see due to the excellent finish of the guitar. Thus, I can't tell how many pieces of wood make up the body of the guitar. One? Two? More?
All of the switches and knobs are smooth and dead quiet. The bridge is an interesting feature. It's at least a fully serviceable design. At best, it may contribute to improved tone. It's a joy in terms of playability. It will never get in the way during palm muting.
I'd love to see nickle plated hardware here. But the hardware present is flawless.
The natural mahogany finish is up to taste. I think it's great, great stuff. I love natural finish guitars. The more plain the woods' grain, the better (though a nice flame is nice as well..). I think there is little but wood sealant here. The finish is similar to Gibson's natural, faded models that they recently came out with; the SG and the Flying V being two of these models. The mahogany in my guitar is very dark and very red, with visible grain that you can feel with your hand.
The hardware is a little striking to me. All the hardware is made of the same stainless-steel. Especially the pick up surrounds are shiny, bright and mirror-like. It's not as subdued as nickel I've seen. For now, I like the look. Maybe I'd have liked it with black pick up surrounds instead? Maybe a smoked metal look? I don't know, only time will tell.

I have no doubts about this guitar in this category. This guitar should be easy to maintain. It has a stop tail; no Lo Pro Edge locking tremolo to deal with. Straight string pull, string thru body, solid tuning stability. The electronics seem solid...no scratches in the pots. It looks, in theory, very dependable. It's built like a tank. I might use it as a weapon, if pressed. But, it being a little on the light side...It has a sense of solidness about it. This doesn't feel like a delicate guitar. It balances well in the hand, looks heavy, feels light, sounds good.
I'd be shocked if for some reason it failed, and would use it without a back up as easily as I would use a Les Paul without a back up. But, you never know...
The finish is probably the only thing that won't prove to be durable, especially over time. I personally think that a guitar like this, or like the Gibsons with similar, worn-looking finishes, will end up looking better with a good deal of wear and tear. I am wondering how the steel hardware is going to look as it ages, however.

My main complaint has to do with the ease of use of the Ibanez website as I tried to research my model of guitar. I wanted to find out more about the whole 'Duncan-Desinged'/Ibanez pick up arrangment/situation, and never was able to find anything substantial. I found the "Distortion' and '59" info here at Harmony. I cound't find the scale length of my axe on the website, the output of the pick ups, the nut material, the metal making up the hardware, etc.
And finally, NOWHERE ON THE WEBSITE could I find a way to contact someone at Ibanez. I went to "Support" and found no e-mail or telephone contact number. Yes, I am a musician and have the absent-minded professor syndrome to boot, so maybe I missed this info somehow. I feel this info should be easy to find and is mandatory on a website for a company like this.
Plus, I tried to register my guitar, and couldn't get their site to accept it. Totally aggravating. I'm just glad I'll probably never need to access the warranty with this guitar.

Been playing since I was 13, more than 20 years ago. The first guitar I usually reach for is a Les Paul, though for years its been my prized SG. I've learned a heck of a lot about guitars since I bought those two. I have two other Ibanez guitars, a JEM from 92, and an RG570. The JEM is aging beautifully...what musical tone! I've been playing the '99 RG a lot lately. I'm learning to coax a lot of nuance from the wizardII neck on the thing, and Alder(I think)body. People usually think of RG's as 'shred' axes only. But they can be very expressive and tone-ful.
I don't know what it is about the Les Paul and the SG that makes them my benchmark standard, like so many other players. They are adept at every style I play, and they are so familiar. These two are the first two guitars that I reach for when I am recording.
So where does this SZ320 sit in my collection? Right now, I sit here looking at it on my bed, and can find nothing wrong with it. Not a flaw in sight. It has everything I like and want in a guitar. As much as I like my other Ibanez guitars, I am really a hard-tail guy. And I want a guitar that will spit and roar when put thru a cranked, raging amp. This guitar delivers very well in that regard.
I can't wait to explore using the middle setting for jazz and reggae stuff. The JEM has a good in between sound that uses both the inner coil of one of the humbuckers and the middle single coil at the same time. I think, upon first impressions, that the SZ middle p.u. setting is as good and maybe more versatile.
I think that the high-gainers and metal-ers out there should really check this hard-tail guitar out. Riffs, powerchords and various intervals sound really muscular and clear. Some of those atonal, lower-register chords that often sound unclear or mushy on other guitars are clear and present. You can hear the harmonies, so pile on the gain. This guitar has the potential to change your playing, and increase your confidence as well. It really playing itself so far...except I have to work with it a little more than I'm used to in the upper register.
For $400, this guitar deserves a score of 10 easily. You don't have to spend another $50 to get it set-up, as it comes playing superbly from the store. The plain wood look, the feel of the controls, the fantastic finish, the FANTASTIC neck to body joint, the headstock angle, straight string pull, wood material...this is the type of guitar I like. No frills, all about tone.
I won't give this guitar a 9 or a 10...not yet. First, there is the issue of the pick ups. I am, as of yet, still undecided. Will I upgrade them? Second, I am wondering about the quality of the tonewoods used in my guitar. Everything is nice, solid, wonderful. But I wonder what this guitar might sound like with Prestige level mahogany? Part of my problem is that the body is thick, but the weight is light? My skinny SG weighs a little more, I think.
After doing alot of reading, I've been planning on buying a new guitar for a while. One idea I had was to get a guitar made in Korea or India made of solid, good timber with the features I want for relatively little cost; then, upgrade the pick ups to whatever strikes my fancy. Either that, or spend $2000 on a new Les Paul. OR both!
I looked at some Yamahas as well, and played an ESP Viper LTD with EMGs. It was all black, and looked almost exactly like my SG. Someday, I'll get a guitar with EMGs.
The only other guitars that really compete with this that I considered buying were the natural-faded Gibson USA SG, and one of the PRS SE's with dual humbuckers and the stop tail. Both of these are more than a third more expensive than the Ibanez. But there are a lot of other good guitar companies that offer Korean-made guitars with similar pickups with all mahogany construction. Lots of choices.
Ultimately, this guitar has a lot of mojo. It has the potential to be a workhorse. It is a very good first guitar in its own right, and is a great second guitar to the standard Les Paul or Strat (by first guitar, I don't mean the first guitar a person buys for his or herself, but the main guitar you use...the 'first' guitar you reach for to play from your collection). I find it to be a better player than the SG in faded natural I played. However, I played a new Les Paul Standard a week ago that was a dream. If that Les Paul was a 10, then this SZ320MH is a solid 8, almost a 9 already in my book. When I first got it home, I couldn't believe how lucky I felt to have such a good guitar for such a price!
Now is the test. No lie, if you buy this guitar, you could come to use it as your favorite guitar, and to great use making excellent music in a variety of styles. What is the world coming to!? You can go to a guitar store and spend what I spent, and have dozens of excellent choices! When I think of the scrap lumber of a guitar I learned on, and how I dreamed of that first real American-made Gibson.
Would I buy it again? Well, that's tough to anser, with all the choices out there. I might want to try out that LTD Viper with the EMGs, just for the variety of things. So many guitars, so little time. I'd love to try out a high spec version of the SZ320MH. I wonder if Ibanez makes a Prestige SZ in natural mahogany? If stolen, I might jump in the water and spend more than twice as much for a top of the line guitar with exactly the features of the SZ320. Or maybe I'd try out a PRS SE? But buying this guitar again would be a no-brainer.
You know, I've got to give this a low 9 as a score.

2005 Korean made
22 frets, Solid mahogany body & set neck
2 "Duncan/Ibanez humbuckers (from what I've read, these are a "distortion/'59" set made in the far east)
2 volume, 1 tone.
3-a-side headstock, standard tuners.

For the price, specs are very good. It would benefit from Sperzals & "proper 'Duncans or similar. But that would cost #180, guitar cost #300.

I play everything but country/rockabilly, and it sounds great. Full, warm, bright, loads of sustain. Very close to the Gibson LP I've just sold. More versitile though because the middle position is a single coil from both pickups. Pickups seem pretty hot, overdrive my 15w valve amp before the LP. Ive also got an Ibanez RG, and the SZ320 is a much better sounding guitar.

Arrived perfectly set up from factory, lowererd action just a tad and it plays a dream, best player I've owned (Gibsons, Fenders, US BC Rich, Parker, Patrick Eggle & other Ibanez). Frets are medium, well finished, neck is natural finish and chunkier than most other Ibanez.

Bridge is nice and comfortable when resting/muting.

Absolutley solid!
The guitar is oil/wax finished natural solid mahogany, no paint/laquer to scratch/chip.
Nothing to break, ie. trem. Always use a back up, purely for string breakages.

Not needed

Bought this to replace a gibson LP that i sold. wanted a guitar that sounded similar, but played better, wasn't as heavy and happy to take out.
I think I got 9/10 of the sound, better playability for 1/4 of the price. And with better pickups
it will probably sound better. (Im considering some Bare Knuckles)
Not a "pretty guitar" to hang on wall, but a great sounding guitar that's hard to put down.

This review is for a Korean made, 2004 SZ320MH in the wood color. Both the neck and body are Mahogony. The one piece Manogony body + the string thru bridge = great sustain. I'm not sure of the brand that manufactures the stock Ibanez pickups though they sound like the same pickups on the 2005 model which are duncan/ibanez Humbuckers. There is a 3-way with t t and v controls.

There aren't a variety of features but a few really good ones

I play a variety of styles from ragtime-german pop with jazz, hardcore and blues in between. This guitar can cover them all. The characteristics that stand out in this guitar are sustain and rich lows and mids. The hi's are there but with a little tweaking of some knobs from an eq there presence will be known. I might change the pick ups for some duncans or bill lawrence buckers, but the guitar will be a mainstay in my collection.

The finish on the guitar seems pretty thin especially behind the neck, but I prefer a thin finish over there. It allows for easy movement of left hand positions up and down the neck. The neck is comfortable thin, thinner than a strat, but not a wizard. I didn't make any adjustments to this guitar from the factory, it was perfect. The action was low without buzz, the tension was stern but not relentless and the pick ups were in the right place.

This guitar is without question gigable. Everything about it will semm to stand all the trials of giging. I would have a back-up , just to have. This guitar can go slightly out of tune after 2-4 hrs. of playing so I might put on some locking tuners, but otherwise this guitar can take the heat and serve it up!

I've had a strat, tele, les paul, Ibanez rg530 and I've sold and this guitar beats them all in versatility and affordability. I've had this guitar for a year. For the price I paid I got a guitar worth at least double. With a few minor alterations like the tuners and buckers, this guitar will be perfect.

2005 Korean Made. Non-Locking tuners (added my own later). String-thru body. Medium frets. Plastic nut. The guitar is VERY light weight - lighter than my strats or tele.

For features, I'm giving this guitar a 6 on the 10-scale where 5 is average. In terms of features, it's a pretty average guitar. Only giving it a 6 because the pickups are pretty decent for a guitar in this price range (I'm keeping them).

I play mostly classic rock and 80's hard rock and this guitar fits that particular bill quite well! Since it's a 2005 model, it has the Ibanez/Duncan pickups which are seriviceable. They aren't the best pickups I've used but they're quiet and punchy and generally *good enough*.
I wouldn't describe the guitar as either "rich" or "bright" but somewhere in between. A comfortable middle of the road tone with a slight leaning, perhaps, toward the bright side.

With 5 being average, I'd rate this guitar at about 7. If price were entered into the equation, I'd give it a 10. Honestly, for the price, you can't do better.

I've gotten pretty good at setting up my own guitars and was all prepared to spend an hour with the guitar when it arrived to get the set-up just right. I was expecting to need to make a lot of adjustments since this is a "budget" guitar. To my shock and amazement, it was setup perfectly. I went over it with feeler gauges, steel ruler, capo, etc. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was perfect.
It almost doesn't make sense how well this guitar played right out of the box. I don't know if I just got lucky or what but hat's off to Ibanez on this one.

I've had this guitar for 2 months (I don't like to write reviews right away). Everything seems solid & dependable.
I've never really had a guitar "fail" on me before so I have a hard time rating them in this regard.

No idea, never dealt with Ibanez.

I've been playing for 21 years. Other electrics I currently own: a Fender Strat Plus Deluxe, an ESP (not LTD) Vintage Strat, G&L ASAT Classic, Agile 2800DLX, St. Blues.
I've been playing this guitar through either a Marshall Artist 4203 or Line6 Flextone III depending on desired volume.

My only wishes for this guitar would be a better nut (bone or graphite) and locking tuners.

For the money, this is a serious bargain. Plays fantastic, sounds good, looks great, fun.

I am going to give a thorough, unsponsored review here. I appreciate when reading well constructed reviews and hope this helps out someone else...

Lessee...

Made in Korea! 2005.

Mahogany SZ style body with satin finish, 3 piece set-in mahogany neck (25.1" scale, pearl micro dot inlays) with satin finish and med height frets, 3 and 3 headstock config, thru body staggered stringing, gibraltar3 bridge, two duncan/ibanez passive humbucking pickups, two volume controls (1 per pickup), master tone control, 3 way stubby toggle switch. Chrome hardware.

Weight is not much heavier (if any) than my standard RG570.

Normally, I couldn't give it more than a seven or eight for this rating as it's just a no-frills guitar, even if it has pretty solid hardware. However, the bridge has cool rounded metal bits so your hand doesn't get creased on the saddles from heavy-handed palm muting and it has one of the best set-neck heel joints on a guitar I've played. So this takes it up a notch on the score here to a SOLID eight.
The stubby pickup selector has a very solid feel to it and clicks into place reassuringly. The tuning pegs, ideally would be sperzels, and the nut would be a graphtech or bone or something better than the teflon thing that is installed there. The pup mounting rings are made of metal after I inspected them, not chrome plated plastic as I was expecting. The 1/4" TS jack is solidly mounted to the body with a metal plate and a pair of wood screws. The tele-style tone and volume knobs are metal as well, but the annoying friction fit push-on type, the kind that pinch the two halves of the pot posts. This makes any kind of pot replacement troublesome (they are a real bastard to uninstall from the posts), and I standardize on some plastic radio-shack 'speed knobs' with a worm screw to fix it in place. As I interactively use the volume knob all the time in my playing, they have to feel just right. I like the feel of those 'cheapo' knobs, they are large, but unlike gibson type speed knobs, have grip indentations and a single marking stripe making it easier to see and set my desired setting with a quarter-second flick of my picking-hand pinky... unlike the stock metal knobs that force me to break my picking stride and get my thumb involved. Plus I like the '70s look they give the guitars. Vintage MXR pedals have the same style knobs.

I am VERY VERY pleased with the sound. I picked this geetar up due to a sudden case of G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome). This axe was part of a trade for a Fender Tele that I rarely used since the last couple of years.
I walked into the store one day and saw this new 2005 model hanging on the wall, played on it and loved it. As I was gonna trade in that tele anyways for some other gear, I changed some G.A. priorities and picked this axe up. I've seen SZ models before, and almost bought a blue flame topped one over 2.5 years ago, but didn't fancy the idea of shelling out more clams to get decent pickups for a new guitar. I've gotten tired of having to dole out extra cash every time I get a new axe for sperzels and duncan pups.

Anyways, I plugged this axe into a Traynor 40 watt oxblood custom valve combo and extension cab, and then a Mesa RoadKing. I used a LesPaul Standard also in the store as reference. The LesPaul and this guitar were both pretty thick sounding, with a great amount of growl each. However the Ibanez had a wee bit more bite to it, prolly due to difference in pickup design. The SZ also had a wee bit more sustain to it though, most likely due to the thru body stringing.

The bridge pup is a ceramic magnet design, with good chunk and plenty of bite. It's got growl _AND_ fangs. Honestly, I was expecting this guitar to have a bit more 'honk' to it... i.e. boosted lower mids, around the 400-550Hz range. I haven't run it direct and then into a scope to find out the peaks in it, but it's certainly more hifi sounding than, say that Les Paul I was trying out as well. This is not to say that it's lacking meat in its tone, but that it sounds more balanced across the spectrum.
With the neck pup (an Alnico V design) engaged, the tone is smooth, but not without some bite. Again, plenty of bottom and certainly less overpowering mids than I was expecting. I generally find neck pickups difficult to balance with a bridge pickup. Usually if I dial the amp to get the bridge pup sounding 'just right' I find that the neck pup is muddy as all hell and lost whatever chiming qualities it could have. This is why I tend to favor single coils for the neck pickups in some guitars. Obviously a well designed humbucker will overcome this limitation, and I think this is what Ibanez/Duncan have done for this axe. I set up my tone for my bridge pup as normal, then toggled to the neck. What a surprise when the resulting tone still have a good amount of bite, not too much or too little, but just the right amount! This is a good thing.

Both pickups sound great distorted (seems to be an axiom for Ibanez guitars), and the resulting sound is that classic raw humbucker growl from those halcyon days when rock'n'roll was a teenager. However, I also love to play clean, and this is generally where a lot of Ibanez guitars fall down, hence the usual practice when acquiring a new ibanez axe is to replace the pups immediately. Again, I tried this thing out with the Traynor set to it's sparkling clean channel. The SZ chimed through my funk chops in spades. I was again surprised at the stock pups. The tone was meaty and alive. Now here is the real kicker I was NOT expecting after all this, I set the pup selector to the middle, and a great strat/tele clucky tone emitted, almost like my tele was back in my hands doing the out-of-phase switcher-in-the-mid thing. This thing all of a sudden sparkled and cut like a knife. It lost a lot of that meatiness, and without any kind of compression (either natural valve compression or artificially induced from an effect) you will hear a volume drop. But if the clean channel is compressed even slightly, the thing can funk out all night long. A drop of phase90 and a wah,and watch out... my pants turn into bellbottoms and I want to strut like a wired pimp. I feel I can do a remake of the theme song from Superfly or chase music from Space1999.

Now, on some Ibanez guitars, the stock pickups can sound pretty ass when playing hi

I am VERY VERY pleased with the sound. I picked this geetar up due to a sudden case of G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome). This axe was part of a trade for a Fender Tele that I rarely used since the last couple of years.
I walked into the store one day and saw this new 2005 model hanging on the wall, played on it and loved it. As I was gonna trade in that tele anyways for some other gear, I changed some G.A. priorities and picked this axe up. I've seen SZ models before, and almost bought a blue flame topped one over 2.5 years ago, but didn't fancy the idea of shelling out more clams to get decent pickups for a new guitar. I've gotten tired of having to dole out extra cash every time I get a new axe for sperzels and duncan pups.

Anyways, I plugged this axe into a Traynor 40 watt oxblood custom valve combo and extension cab, and then a Mesa RoadKing. I used a LesPaul Standard also in the store as reference. The LesPaul and this guitar were both pretty thick sounding, with a great amount of growl each. However the Ibanez had a wee bit more bite to it, prolly due to difference in pickup design. The SZ also had a wee bit more sustain to it though, most likely due to the thru body stringing.

The bridge pup is a ceramic magnet design, with good chunk and plenty of bite. It's got growl _AND_ fangs. Honestly, I was expecting this guitar to have a bit more 'honk' to it... i.e. boosted lower mids, around the 400-550Hz range. I haven't run it direct and then into a scope to find out the peaks in it, but it's certainly more hifi sounding than, say that Les Paul I was trying out as well. This is not to say that it's lacking meat in its tone, but that it sounds more balanced across the spectrum.
With the neck pup (an Alnico V design) engaged, the tone is smooth, but not without some bite. Again, plenty of bottom and certainly less overpowering mids than I was expecting. I generally find neck pickups difficult to balance with a bridge pickup. Usually if I dial the amp to get the bridge pup sounding 'just right' I find that the neck pup is muddy as all hell and lost whatever chiming qualities it could have. This is why I tend to favor single coils for the neck pickups in some guitars. Obviously a well designed humbucker will overcome this limitation, and I think this is what Ibanez/Duncan have done for this axe. I set up my tone for my bridge pup as normal, then toggled to the neck. What a surprise when the resulting tone still have a good amount of bite, not too much or too little, but just the right amount! This is a good thing.

Both pickups sound great distorted (seems to be an axiom for Ibanez guitars), and the resulting sound is that classic raw humbucker growl from those halcyon days when rock'n'roll was a teenager. However, I also love to play clean, and this is generally where a lot of Ibanez guitars fall down, hence the usual practice when acquiring a new ibanez axe is to replace the pups immediately. Again, I tried this thing out with the Traynor set to it's sparkling clean channel. The SZ chimed through my funk chops in spades. I was again surprised at the stock pups. The tone was meaty and alive. Now here is the real kicker I was NOT expecting after all this, I set the pup selector to the middle, and a great strat/tele clucky tone emitted, almost like my tele was back in my hands doing the out-of-phase switcher-in-the-mid thing. This thing all of a sudden sparkled and cut like a knife. It lost a lot of that meatiness, and without any kind of compression (either natural valve compression or artificially induced from an effect) you will hear a volume drop. But if the clean channel is compressed even slightly, the thing can funk out all night long. A drop of phase90 and a wah,and watch out... my pants turn into bellbottoms and I want to strut like a wired pimp. I feel I can do a remake of the theme song from Superfly or chase music from Space1999.

Now, on some Ibanez guitars, the stock pickups can sound pretty @ss when playing hi

If going by the late 80s and mid 90s Ibanez guitars I own (a 1988 RG560 and 1997 RG570), these things can be bashed around and will lap it up like thirsty dogs drinking water after a run on a hot day. (My RG's have lived hard lives.) Unless I did a Pete Townshend or Jimi at Monterey, I doubt that this thing will fail me. The electronics are robust, the jack is solid, the only thing is that the finish is really just a sealer, and won't protect the wood from the eventual scratches and dings it will inevitably inherit, no matter how much I will baby it (which I kind of do). If you manhandle your guitars or use them to wedge open safes, jack up your car to change a tire, or to decorate the bottom of your fishtank, then ya, it will wear quicker. In which case I recommend getting this in a more durable poly finish. ;)
However, Ibanez's are generally working guitars and usually get at _least_ 15-20 years of _heavy_ use before things start to really wear out. Usually the pots go first, then frets wear out, well before other things do. Sure they'll get dings, but it's not like the thing is gonna split at the seams or spontaneously combust, (even if it's not widely reported! :)

Never dealt with Ibanez before. Never had to (see reliability) and I know how to maintain my own guitars, and do my own modifications.

For the asking price, this is a STELLAR buy. Couldn't be disappointed in any way. Hell, a pair of Gibbo 58 replacement pups would cost almost half of what the store wanted for this axe. Ibanez quality seems to have fluctuated slightly over the years, especially as they've been moving more of their production lines over to Korea. However, I think they are starting to get the kinks out of the system over there, and with the new duncan design pups, this is one helluva player, and sounds wicked to boot. (If I didn't know this was a Korean jobby, I would've thought this was one of their better Japanese-made models.) The few flaws on this thing are so minor, and have be rectified by myself very easily.
I've recorded with it, and it's yielded great chunky riffs, searing leads and beautiful clean bits. It looks really attractive (there always has to be that player/instrument lust), feels great to play, and is surprisingly versatile. Even with as little as a week of playing after I got it, it started to become really familar and comfortable. Getting a new guitar is like a new girlfriend, it takes a bit to adjust to all the little 'isms' and this one was really really easy to do. It just feels right.

If there was only ONE change I wish Ibanez would do to this design, is to angle the body top (or at least round the edge) so it is more friendly for the ol' forearm. LesPaul and tele players won't seem to mind this, but I come from playing Strats and RG's, so I kinda like that creature comfort.

Would I replace this axe if it went missing? Heck ya... I'm thinking of getting a second SZ, with the gold top!

Overall (and other 'premium' guitar builders can take note), I can say that technology is gradually allowing for more sophisticated instruments at lower than ever price points, and as a result, informed musicians are demanding more for their coin. In the late 80s a guitar like this would be at least $1200, now it's CDN$500 and change. All I can say is that those guitars asking $2000+ had better be 4-5 times closer to perfection than this thing.

ill skip the freatures beacuse they are on the ibanez website,

it`s a great warm sound, I use it with a Kitty Hawk Tube Amp, I?m really enthusiastic about the sound features and its posibilities, for each pick up theres an volume control, like a Les Paul or SG, but there are more sounds you can use, especially in the middle postion you can split both humbuckers in two single coils, which gives yuo a bright, but also smooth warm sound, it fits very good to my favorite music, e.g. Creed

It was love at first feel, I can`t say anything bad about this guitar; it`s the best one I ever had;the neck ist very well to play, the pick ups are very well adjusted and the pick up selectors as same as the controlls are not noisy

I haven`t played with it live yet, but I?m sure it`ll be great, everything is solid and I?ve got no doubt, that it can last for a lifetime

I play for 20 years guitar, I had some Gibson guitars (Flying V, Explorer, Les Paul), but I sold them, I actually use a Framus semi acoustic and a Godin TC artisan, but I think the SZ320MH gives you the most features for allround playing

It's all on their website..... but what I like about this one is the strings that go through the body, gives great sustain.
It's a very heavy guitars though..... will bend your spine after a few years of playing.
One of the most comfortable necks out there though... it was love at first feel.

It's pretty much the Ibanez trademark sound. You can make this guitar wail so easily it's amazing. It has a tendency to lean towards the thinny sound though (my personal opinion of course since I prefer the Gibson fat and growling trademark sound).
Although it lacks a tremolo/whammy (I hate those things) I guess you could get an approximation of a Vai sound with it.
I'm thinking of getting a Line6 Spider II 30 watt amp soon, and I can't wait to try this baby with that amp. So far I've mainly been using the SZ through my Behringer V-amp with headphones since the only amp I have left is a Roland Micro-Cube (which I think is pretty shitty but was aquired as a pratice amp anyway).

One thing I like about this guitar is the neck. This is a fast guitar. I can surpass myself easily playing this guitar.
My only other electric guitar presently is a Gibson SG.
The action was pretty good out of the factory, I haven't had it changed yet... I've had the guitar for about 2 months now. I like my action slightly lower than how it came, but it's no biggie. The intonation is dead on, perfect.
I love the woody non-glossy feel of this guitar... no fingerprints to deal with, lol. And it has a warm feeling and look to it because of that. Haven't seen any finishing flaws on it, everything is so nice about the construction of this guitar. I'd say that manufacturers that make guitars twice the price of this SZ could learn a few things from Ibanez contruction.

Everything seems very solid on this guitar.
I love the chrome metal knobs, always did love chrome metal fittings and accessories.
It stays in tune pretty well..... I only have to adjust a few times a month... and I play everyday. I don't gig though, I'm more of a studio guy, the guitar never leaves the house.
I guess that after a few years, maybe less, the finish may tend to show signs of wears since it's not a glossy finish. Only time will tell. I am very delicate with my guitars, not an aggressive player/owner.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I've been playing for about 26 years.
I presently own a Gibson SG Special and my Ibanez SZ320MH, along with a Takamine slim-body acoustic.
I spent about 90 minutes in the store trying out different guitars. I had not looked twice at the SZ320MH because of its finish (I prefer glossy looking guitars). But once I felt that baby, it was love at first feel. I just had to leave the store with it.
The Ibanez is my shredder, I don't think I will part with it anytime soon. For this price I think it's an awesome guitar. I'm looking to buy a Fender Strat and a Godin LG Signature..... but I don't think that my SZ will become second or even fourth fiddle. It does what it was supposed to do very well and cannot be replaced with something "similar".
It's the kind of guitar that gives a warm feeling inside.

Well u guys know about this already as specified. I got mine for my birthday about a week ago.

My 320mh though is or seems to be a 2005 model due to the fact it has duncan/ibanez pickups instead of the standard ibanez cheap pickups when I played one earlier last year to try it out and the fact the price was different. It was #350 but the one I got was price at #430 (Though I still got it for #350!!!).

Nice solid mahogony body with a 3pc set in neck and the joint is very nice indeed. Well rounded. Not like a les paul or prs which may as well be bolt on's. Heh!

I wanted a bit more of an edge and it to scream at me a bit more so I have fitted an EMG 81 active humbucker in the bridge and left the passive duncan/ibanez humbucker in the neck. still got the same 3 way (2vol, 1 tone) switching though.

It plays nice. Feels nice. Looks nice.

Now she has the 81 in the bridge she screams like an opera singer but also has the versatility of a softer passiv ein the neck so she can purr like a kitten too. Sounds beautiful an its got loads of sustain and a nice full bodied tone not dissimmilar from a les paul to be honest. The warmth of the solid mahogony body is a very nice organic warmth along with sound too.

Well it was good for a factory set guitar but i like to lower the action a bit an play an sort out the intonation and now its stunning to play for me. :) The only thing is for me to tighten to tuning pegs a bit more but thats just me being picky cause so far its held its tune fine though i havent gigged with it "YET!"

Ive had it less than a week so im sure only time will tell but i already have a 1999 RG520QS with a Dimarzio Humbucker From Hell in the neck and a Dimarzio Evolution in the Bridge as my main guitat and again its a solid mahogony body and still is like the day i got it apart from a couple of minor dinks in the body. :) I am slightly worried that the body as its just varnished my wear away so we will see.

Never needed to deal with ibanez for anything cause I setup, fix an upgrade my guitars myself.

Well its awesome to be honest. If I had thought it was crap I would not have got it.

ill skip the freatures beacuse they are on the ibanez website,

sounds very good. i play jazz, funk, rock. i use it with a music man 65 reverd head.
has very mellow and also bright sounds depending on the pickup, the neck is my favorit part of the gutiar, it just feels so good and natural.

had to get the action a intonation done preffessionally. the finish is not that good, it has worn off were i play the most, its beacuse i didnt get the laminated finish. i just got the fake wood finish.

this is my main axe, i have other way more exspensive guitars but i play this one the most. i use it at every gig. i had to replace the pots. the finish is thin and wears off from me playing it a lot. the strap buttons have come out, i hade to get new screws. i do use it at a gig without a back,up,

neve had to

ive been playin 9 years. with thsi guitar you get what you pay for. its is great guitar but dont expect the best guitar ever. it plays like a dream now that i have done some stuff to it and a little of the finish is comeing off around the edges and upper neck from me playing it, but i play hard. i knew i wanted this guitar the minute i picked it up. i wasnt even looking to buy a guitar i just had to have it wheni played it.

2004 Ibanez SZ320MH. Make in Korea. 22 fretts, all Mahogany, with an oil like finish. Two humbucker pickups, and Gibralter III bridge (really really nice). Set neck 25.1 scale.

So far I like the sound. The bridge pickup has balls. Great for AC\DC, or any blues rock type stuff. The neck pickup sounds very warm and smooooooth. The middle position splits the humbuckers so you have two single coils. The sound is kind of like a mellow strat or tele sound.

Setup was Okay, but the intonation was off and the bridge could not compensate enough to fix it. I had to re-work the nut in order to get the intonation right. Now it's bang on. I will probably replace the nut with a black graphite one. I think it would look better. The finish and construction seem flawless.

This guitar seems very solid. Excellent hardware. The bridge is about the nicest and most comfortable I've seen on an electric guitar.

Local Ibanez dealer is very helpfull. I don't know about the company.

I've been playing for over 30 years. I orderd this guitar over the net because I liked the way it looked and I was in the market for a set neck, HH type guitar. I've owned a lot of guitars and this one is as good as anything I've owned or played before. I would recomend it to anyone. If it was stolen I would probably buy another or save up and look for an SZ1220. THEY ARE SWEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!