Switch Innovo IV Signature Guitar

double humbucker strat-ish guitar with wilkinson trem, grover tuners and graph tech nut. It came with a very nice gig bag that blows the cheap fender gig bags away. made in china, one piece molded vibracell guitar. i wish it had coil taps but everything else is great.

This guitar has EMG select passive pickups. They sound better than any other stock pickup in this guitars price range. i really like the neck pickup on clean or dirty very warm and smooth, but i feel the bridge pickup leaves something to be desired i just dont get a full sound from the bridge pickup. the tone knob is very responsive and can change your sound drasticly. I give this guitar an 8 for sound but it will be a 10 when i get a new bridge pickup

I got this used and it was setup almost perfectly, and the trem had an additional spring added for better stability. because the guitar is all one piece the finish is perfect and i dont think you can really damage it finish easily. This guitar has a great feel and plays fantasticly

everything on this guitar is top notch. i dont think you could ask for anything more

they are out of business

i have been playing bass for 6 years and guitar for about 2. I have several guitars including rickenbacker, fender, gibson, peavey, danelectro and more. This thing is amazing and although i dont really care for the cosmetics of the instrument it plays great and holds its own with much more expensive instruments. with a new pickup i think you would have to spend 1000+ to get an instrument of this quality

This is an update from a previous review I submitted to HC in the latter part of '08 on a Purple Firemist Innovo IV Sig that can be found if ya scroll down the page. Bought this one - makes a total of 3 Switch guitars I own - off eBay and had problems with it right from the get-go. I had those problems fixed, had the guitar set-up, and gutted the electronics. So let's see what we ended up with.

Tossed the EMG Select hummers and replaced them with a set of Gibsons - a 496R and a 500T. Upgraded the pots and three way with a 80's era Kramer wiring harness set-up by my luthier and now wonderful things are starting to happen. During the winter I lucked up and got a nice barely used Fender G-DEC 15W effects amp and managed to hook it up through my ancient but superbly stout able to leap tall buildings in a single bound Sunn combo amp and now it's - almost - like having your own studio musicians sitting in with you - without the attitudes and the beer run. Listen folks, do yourself a favor and check out this new line of effects amp from Fender. They're great! Bound to make external drum machines and loop pre-amps a thing of the past and with a lot less hassle - not to mention the bunch of cleared up wiring laying around all over the place. How many times you ever had one of your effects machines tump over and smash to the floor? Those days are over for me. Love that little Fender!

Now that my luthier has fixed the canted trem mounting bracket I reported on in my earlier review and completed a professional set-up on this puppy along with aforementioned upgrades I don't mind tellin' you what a really fine instument this Switch has turned out to be. The neck is as smooth, fast and easy as any I've ever played, and I'd most closely compare it to my wonderful ol' Carvin V220 which is just a joy - and super-duper fast - to play. What's not to like about the set-neck, the Grovers, the Ebonal fretboard with the neat lookin' inlays and the easy to find med-jumbo frets? The Purple metal-flake finish is killer and the blacked-out hardware does it's intended job. A really fine lookin' axe with good tonal quality.

I'd Zakk Wylde this thing into the stage behind Ozzie anyday. Gotta love the bendable neck. The distorted tonal variations never cease to bring a smile.

For the small amount you'll pay upfront for a Switch it just can't be beat. These guitars give you a solid platform to work with, but remember - you'll need to spend some bucks to get beyond the entry level price - but once there you'll have money well spent with a solid axe that not only sounds good but one that has killer good looks, too. Even with the upgrades and a top hat you might not call me Slash - but you'd damn sure call me one badass mofo. Enjoy.

Meh, nothing out of the ordinary except the lack of wood! I do like the ebonite fingerboard alot. For $199 shipped off ebay I was generally pleased. However, the guy who sells them (goes by cali_guitar_shop) told me he was sending his VERY LAST black firemist Innovo signature IV with gold hardware. I got green firemist but I didn't want to send it back because I live in Canada and it's not worth the shipping charges. The green is very dark anyway and looks very good but I could have got it for $20 less. And to make things worse, I saw the black one he promised me on ebay a couple of weeks later so buyer beware (yeah I'm calling you out)! Nice guitar for not much coin overall though and he has most of the remaining Switch guitars on the planet. I got a very decent gig bag with it (ugly red w. blue piping but well-made).

I was suprised how this guitar sounded. I bought it as a backup/beater and didn't expect much from polyurethane foam. People have said it sounds like mahogany and it's not far off. However, there is an openness to the sound and the sustain is really good. You can tell it isn't made of wood because there's a very slight lack of "complexity" to the harmonics and emphasis on the fundamental. It's hard to describe, but some people might not even hear the difference.

I switched the pickups out for Duncan Seth Lovers with gold covers and gold knobs, looks very good on the green sparkle and adds some woodiness to the tone where it was lacking just a bit (duh). I also added a Tremol-No which suits this guitar well. The sustain is increased slightly with the fixed bridge setting and it was already good to begin with. I use DR Pure Blues 11's exclusively and the plain G string rings a little louder than the other strings. It doesn't bother me though, I could spend more time tweaking the pole pieces and setup.

The axe sounds unique in its own right and it is a very good tone. Not a $4500 boutique guitar tone for sure or even the sound of a quality parts-o-caster but it sounds a lot better than most low-end axes do (which makes sense considering the pickups cost more than the guitar). I'd say 7.5/10 -something like a very good Epiphone or ESP.

The neck on this guitar is a JOY to play, I really love it. Of course the ebonite fingerboard is slicker than any ebony and the frets a Gibson sized with a 12" radius but the shape is more like a modern strat (flatter & wide but not too thin). The trem is a quality unit, does just fine and it is somewhat recessed so you can do some near-Floyd tricks with it. The finish is very good, no complaints and the Gotoh locking tuners are high quality. I know these guitars were being blown out when the company went under and some people got Switch guitars for $100 or even less with discounts and what not. A total bargain of course but the surprise is the quality. It's not nearly as cheap as your Squier 51 say.

The vibracell is very very durable and is not affected by temperature and humidity! That's a bonus in Canada where we use electric heating indoors during the winter and guitars usually suffer from tuning problems -not so with this one! All of the hardware is quite respectable and that was clearly part of the selling point with the Switch design. They mould the guitars in one piece out of (plastic) and that will turn most people off but then they add decent hardware which beats most other models in the same price range. Works for me seems very solid and naturally I don't have to baby it like my Hamer Newport.

Nope, they're defunct although they have said that they are only "on hold". With the recent economy, I doubt they'll be back soon.

I've been playing about 12 years, did junior college in music. I have owned a bunch of different guitars over the years (had a nice collection going at one time) and I have played some of the very finest in the world (Nik Huber, Ruokangas, Trussart, Hamer USA, Gibsons, Fenders).I'm not a pro, but I know guitars. This Swithc Innovo is a surprisingly decent buy for your money. Now most people hate the way they look and I bought the Innovo IV because I think it has a certain charm. However the Wild, Oscar, Ultima, Futura and Strav are esthetically challenged and don't benefit from the stepped sculpted body. And of course some of the colors are totally hideous! Anyway, the point is that they're well made and sound good if you get one in a good color (black, firemist, white, not orange, dayglow or pukeburst). I suppose a guitar like this could benefit from Duncan P-Rails with mini switches and the Midi version might be cool for the ultimate in versatility but I didn't go for that this time.

I would recommend one for under $200, not more. Value-wise they're a steal but again, you're not getting a superb posh instrument. It will do fine if you're a regular gigging musician and you want something stable that plays smooth with no frills. The hardware is worth the price of admission and the tuning stability is unparalleled. But of course, there's the looks which are not for everyone. Nothing classic about them but remember that's what folks were saying about electric guitars back in the early days too.

I own 3 Switch guitars - this one - in Purple Firemist, an Oscar IV Sig in Orangeburst and an Ultima IV Sig in yellow Tobaccoburst - and I've loved 'em all - til now. This one's got problems and problems do not make for a happy guitar owner.....

I also own a 1980 Kramer XL5 Alumaneck which has ruint(Southern speak for "ruined") me on the tonal quality of other brands of guitars. This Innovo came factory equipped with EMG Selects and - sorry there folks - but they just don't have the *** of EMG's top of the line units. I'll replace them later on with a set of Pearly Gates or some Duncan SH2's. Or maybe a combo of the two. For horsin' around and noodlin' they're fine but hotter pups will go a long way here.

And now here's the real problem. When I took this axe to my luthier to get it set-up I got a call from him several days later to come on down to his shop and take a look-see at the Switch tremelo. Upon inspection it showed where the tremelo mounting bracket had not been properly routed into the body at the factory, leaving the right side of the mounting bracket sitting out farther on the right than on the left with the effect that the entire trem mechanism was canted at an angle. Furthermore, when used in conjunction with the whammy bar the whole right side of the tremelo wanted to raise up out of the body. Because of the canted mounting plate the trem would not fit flush up to its bracket and would not seat properly on the right side. While these problems can be fixed by my luthier - at additional expense, of course - there is no factory warranty to fall back on since Switch is ghosts are gone.

I hadn't used this guitar at all but was saving it as a Christmas present for my daughter so I want you to know that it wasn't abuse or use that caused this problem - it was a factory defect that should have been caught by quality control...... Should be fine once I get it back from my luthier.......hopefully.

Switch is belly up.

I was caught completely off guard by this - had never experienced a problem with any of my other two Switches - and my Oscar IV Sig is a world class instrument for its price range. Just goes to show - buyer beware - and always have your axe checked out by a good luthier.

This is the 3 tone fireburst innovo IV signature,got it new off of ebay,it has the 22 fret neck with the ebonite fretboard,2 switch humbuckers with coil taps,wilkinson trem and grover tuners.hell of a deal for $150. The red in the fireburst on this is a little darker than on my innovo III and i like it a lot more.I'm not liking the neck on this guitar as much as my innovo III,but i'm finding that its probably just my personal preference,i'm more of a strat guy and all the signatures that i have(3)seem to have a more gibson les paul feel to them

One of the main reasons I buy switch guitars,is that they have a sound that i love,there is a bell like frequency that i don't hear in other guitars.I'm probably sounding kinda flaky,but the tone and cleaness of sound is hard for me to put into words.find one plug it in clean and you'll see what i mean.I run through an old roland gp-8 into a fender blues deville.This guitar is more a blues,rock type guitar than an all arounder.the innovo III and ultima EQ are more versatile in my opinion.the wilkinson whammy works suprisingly well,without locks.

not a great setup on this one.I had issues with my wild IV signature,and this one is to a lesser degree the same.I haven't had time to attack this one yet,but the nut will need to be lowered,truss rod adjusted and string height lowered.not a big deal even if i had to pay for it.these guitars a an absolute steal at the prices they are going for.this gawdy fireburst paintjob is infectious.the first one i saw,made me think..oh that sucks..2 weeks later i bought one...now i'm on my second..hmmmmm.

OK lets get to the tough part.would emg p\u fall off your esp?will grovers fall off your les paul?not likely,but **** does happen.these guitars are built to last,i now am the owner of 6 of them.i never play a gig without a backup,even a broken string can waste too much time.

gone nada kaput....but there are 2 sellers on ebay who seem to have quite a bit of stock and parts.just do a search for vibracell or switch guitars on ebay.

Ive played since i was 13 and i'm 55 now.I have 6 switch guitars 5 jay turser guitars a gibson sg and a G&l Legacy special.I have a gk3 mounted on my ultima eq which gives the guitar 3 outputs(too cool)I have a roland vg99 a gr-33 and a roland gp-8 that i will keep forever.I run my guitar through a fender blues deville with the gp8 and the vg99 and synth stuff though my pa.If someone stole this i'd go buy another one for sure.If i caught someone trying to steal it,i would be explaining how much i like switch guitars as i was applying a brazilian death triange on there neck!

2007- Had it for almost a year, will have it for a long time to come. Same features as the rest of the Innovo IV signatures. The best thing ever is the VIBRACELL. Super sustain with the Ebonite fretboard. Slick as glass. This one is in the tri color. My third switch guitar and looking for one more. This is one sweet guitar in every area.Wilk, trem, grover tuners, EMG pups, future strat style, Kind of unusual to say the least. Fairly thin neck, I think it's close to 1 3/4 but not quite, 11/16th's maybe, never checked. Just right unless you're ham handed then it might be tight around the nut. Still better than many imports.

I wish I could say something bad about it, It says to be critical when reviewing here but I really cant find anything to be critical about. The sound is subjective. Duncans don't sound like DiMarzios etc... so All I can say is that it has it's own sounds and I love every one it's capable of producing at least through a Super Reverb and a Laney. It's got great low end with shimmer, it has the ultimate sustain. That alone outshines every other guitar I've ever owned or heard stock. It has some great Blues potential and also sounds excellent with distortion. It's got a whole bag of tricks from clean and balanced to low and punch you in the gut roar. I freakin' love this thing and so does everyone that has had a chance to try it out. Really a well done guitar. It even makes a cheap amp sound better but with a good amp it really comes to life.

Action, fit, finish all excellent. Smooth fret ends, well polished wire. Low buzz free action, They did a great job in the quality control department on this guitar. I keep checking things out to find a flaw but there really is none. Super fit and finish all around.

Had it for about a year, I play it in a rotation of about six guitars. I play a few hours a day almost every single day and gig a few hours a week. I haven't had one single problem. It's built like a tank.The electronics and hardware have held up to some occasional abuse and it still holds it's own against the most expensive guitars I have. Strap buttons haven't budged but could stand to be a bit bigger. It's one of the few guitars I haven't installed straplocks in. I just don't know how the Vibracell will react to any messing around so I ain't messing around.

I have dealt with Switch in the past with questions on there other models, I have received a timely, response every time. They've always been very polite and helpful and at least seemed interested in their stuff. They are only a division of a division of another music conglomerate import company and who knows what they really care about but at least they had the Q&A part down.. Really a great guitar but I hear they are going out of business at least for a while. Supposed to be rethinking the whole lineup and maybe just returning with the Stealth series. At least that's what I heard through the grapevine. At any rate I hope they'll be back real soon.

I have three Switch guitars. One is the Stealth series Stein. What a great piece of work, they did an awesome job like all the Switch guitars. One is an Oscar standard, not my favorite but it's up against the better guitars of the brand,it's built the same quality but just doesn't sound as good and I can't get the action as low without some buzz. Then this Innove IV sig, the absolute best of the three. I would put these guitars up against anything in the price range. I love the Vibracell combined with the Ebonite SUSTAIN> Plain ans simple there is nothing like it. For a full time jammer in any style or for the ultimate upgrade platform these are perfect. I really dig 'em all and I'm glad to have 'em and I'm hoping to get one more.

BRAND NEW JUST ARRIVED TODAY....THIS TOO IS MADE OF THAT GREAT STUFF VIBRACELL....IT IS A THREE TONE FIRE BURST BLACK, RED, YELLOW W/ BLACK GROVER LOCKING TUNERS AND A WILKINSON TREMOLO...THIS ONE HAS TWO EMG SELECT HUMBUCKERS NICE BEEFY SOUND IN BRIDGE AND SWEET TONES IN NECK THIS GUITAR IS "RIGHT" AND THE ELECTRONICS WILL STAY AS THEY ARE. PLENTY OF SUSTAIN NO NEED TO GO ACTIVE HERE AN EMG 81 WOULD ALMOST BE TOO MUCH...THATS HOW GOOD THE TONE AND SUSTAIN ARE. THE SETUP WAS GREAT NOT MUCH TWEEKING NEEDED AT ALL...JUST PLUG AND PLAY...NOW THERE IS A FIRST...EVERY GUITAR I BUY NEEDS SOMETHING NOT THIS ONE!!!!IT IS JUST PLAIN PERFECTION...NICE ERGONOMIC DESIGN SUPER STRAT SOLOIST FROM THE FUTURE COMES TO MIND....THIS IS A MUST FOR THE SERIOUS PLAYER...OR THE COLLECTOR THAT HAS EVERYTHING...GET ONE!!

I PLAY ALL KINDS OF STUFF BUT METAL IS MY TRUE LOVE AND THIS BEAST HANDLES ALL I GIVE HER AND COMES BACK LOOKING FOR MORE...YOU SIMPLY CANNOT OUT PLAY THIS INSTRUMENT...SOME GUITARS ARE GOOD FOR "THIS" BUT NOT "THAT" ETC..THE INNOVO SIGNATURE SERIES DOES IT ALL..."AND WELL"...THIS IS NOT A LIGHT GUITAR EITHER...IF YOU LIKE FEATHERWEIGHT IBANEZ GUITARS DO SOME EXCERSIZE THEN WHEN YOUR MAN ENOUGH...PICK ONE OF THESE UP..AND GO FOR IT!!!

THIS IS TRULY WHERE SWITCH EXCELLS...THEY HAVE A HANDLE ON THE FOREIGN QUALITY CONTROL SITUATION THESE AXES THOUGH FOREIGN MADE... FEEL LIKE SOLID AMERICAN PIECES...THAT SAYS ALOT!!! THE FRETS ARE GOOD, SETUP WAS GREAT,IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH THE OVERSEAS STUFF JUST LOOK IN YOUR DRIVEWAY OR BETTER YET YOUR STARING INTO A FOREIGN MADE PC RIGHT? WE STILL MAKE PLENTY OF MONEY HERE IN THE US THE TRADE AGREEMENTS SEE TO THAT...JUST GIVE ONE A TRY AND IN THE DARK YOU COULD NOT TELL IT FROM A CUSTOM SHOP "THIS" OR "THAT" I GUARANTEE IT!!! YOUR AMP WILL TELL YOU ...GET ONE AND GO LISTEN!!!

LIKE I'VE SAID BEFORE ..BUY A SWITCH GUITAR AND IT WILL OUT LIVE YOU!! GROVER AND WILKINSON...ENOUGH SAID! ALL INSTALLED HARDWARE ON THESE GUITARS IS SOLIDLY SEATED..TOTALLY TRUSTWORTHY...HAVE GIGGED AND WILL CONTINUE TO WITH MY SWITCH ARSENAL...THE ONLY CHANGE NEEDED IS TO LET ONE AXE GET TUNED WHILE YOU PLAY ANOTHER...IF YOU WANT YOU CAN TRUST YOUR WHOLE NIGHT TO ONE SWITCH AND SHE WON'T LET YOU DOWN...THESE ARE SIMPLY GREAT GUITARS!!!

GREAT COMPANY!!!ALL ACCESS SUPPORT ON THEIR WEBSITE QUICK, FRIENDLY RESPONSES...WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR...THESE GUITARS ARE SO RUGGED AND SOLID YOU WILL ONLY NEED THE SUPPORT TEAM FOR ONE THING...TO THANK THEM FOR DOING A GREAT JOB!!! THIS COMPANY WILL BE ONE OF THE BIG BOYS IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE...I NEED TO BUY SOME STOCK....SERIOUSLY VERY GOOD SUPPORT..QUICKLY ADDRESSED!!!

WELL NOT TO BORE ANYONE ..I'VE BEEN PLAYING A LONG TIME 20+YEARS...I KNOW A GOOD THING WHEN I SEE IT AND PLUG IN AND PLAY...THIS IS IT... FOLKS...JUMP ABOARD ...DON'T BE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE YOU WERE AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING "NEW" NOW THATS A SCARRY WORD..SO PUT IT BEHIND YOU...ONCE YOU OWN ONE OF THESE GREAT INSTRUMENTS..."NEW" WILL BECOME "TRADITION'...DON'T LET A NAME SWAY YOU...EVERYTHING WAS "NEW" ONCE... THEN YOU TASTED IT AND LIKED IT ...NOW ITS YOUR FAVORITE...LIKE ICECREAM TRY A LICK OR TWO AND YOU'LL SEE!!!!