Thanks for the excellent review and playing! I’m very happy that you found the elusive ‘Swiss Army Knife’ guitar for your current rig. What I truly appreciate in your reviews, beyond the tasty plying, of course, is your providing even the little inconveniences and how to overcome them. Again, thanks so very much!
I m a huge fan playing Ibanez Prestige. and by far because of their great playability and versatile electronic setup. You r right with your question, why are so less reviews with that AR and I'm blowin away by your spontaneous excellent playing and great reviewing . the versatile spliting and changing colortones on this humbuckers are awesome! cheers from ger
Hi Nick! Thanks for the demo! I watched this last week, ordered the guitar and received it today! I have a feeling it will now be my favorite! As I get older, I am favoring more compacted guitars with 24.75 scale length and small body. For archtops, I have the Ibanez GB10 EM that fits the bill and now, this one! Thanks for the demo and showing us a listen to all the different sounds it can produce! I just wish I could play even half as good as you do! Cheers!
Wow, that’s so cool man! I think you’re going to love it. I do. Esp the light weight, tone, playability (I like 24.75 too!), and general versatility of the instrument for the money - it’s hard to beat. Do try moving the strap button (or get a luthier to do it for you - I found the helps. Cheers
Merci pour cette talentueuse démonstration ! Je suis ici ce soir car il se trouve que j'ai découverte cette guitare en magasin cet après-midi, par hasard. Je cherchais une es339 epiphone, non disponible dans ce magasin, et j'ai donc essayé cette ibanez qui a vraiment beaucoup d'atouts. Un peu bling-bling peut-être (j'avais la version bleue) mais je crois que je vais la placer en première ligne des équivalents es339...
I have the Ibanez AR 500 from 1980 with three pots for volumen and tone and three pots for pre amp plus two switches for pickups combinations, very heavy height, full of dings, scratches, binding cracking 99% on neck and body, but I like it even I don’t play it continuously due to back problems. I had to refret it. Your look so beautiful being semi hollow. Congrats. BTW the nut on mine is made from brass with another material I don’t know.
Sounds like a cool guitar, but yes they can be very heavy those guitars. One of the reasons I don’t play my Les Paul is I just can’t take the weight. My sco guitar has a nut made of brass and bone and sounds really good, maybe yours is the same? Cheers
Thanks, I’ve done this a few weeks ago. It’s episode 157 of guitar daily. Called where does tone come from. I compare both guitars on the bridge pickup with the same tones from the rest of the gear, they were surprisingly more different than I thought. Check it out
Thanks Nick - great review and well explained. It's a very capable machine. I assume you used the Fractal for the tones rather than amp/pedals? Cheers, and looking forward to hearing more of it in action.
Thanks! Yep, it’s very capable. You’ll be seeing more of it from me. I use the Fractal FM9 for the lot now. Pedals, amps, speakers. I find it way more consistent. And backline at gigs sucks, so I’d much rather this. It’s a powerful tool. Thanks
@@NickGranvilleSo...gtr into fractal into PA? What is your minimum requirement for the PA (and foldback)? What are you using at Hashigo Zake? That's a fairly small room that can take some volume. Amp? PA?
@@chriswilliamson8984 yeah man, for bigger gigs straight into the PA and I’ll use my in ear monitors. And some guitar in the front monitor. Done it plenty of times lately. For smaller gigs like Hashigo Zake where there is no PA I’ll bring my frfr soeaker, which is basically my own PA speaker but designed for the fractal. There’s so many situations where the modeller is better than an amp I find Eg 1) anytime where I can’t turn the amp up to the sweet spot (which is many gigs) 2) anytime I have backline (which usually sucks, I hate backline), 3) any travel. And it’s consistent and reliable.
Thanks for the tip about moving the strap button to stop neck-drop. I have that issue on my 420, but fortunately I play sitting down mostly, so it’s seldom an issue. That looks like a great guitar to fill the 339 spot in the Ibanez line.
1:51 chord blend is so rich and you don't follow traditionally composed structures! Great playing! Pick ups have a nice clarity (through my sound system) anf accept gain/mod well!!!
Thanks for the nice review. Wow, your opening licks were killer. I did play this guitar at a shop and almost bought it but found the pups too dark for my style.
Brilliant review Nick! Especially loved the sound example at 1:38 A great compromise for those who can’t get on with the size of a ES335 or the weight of a LP. Ibanez have always been criminally underrated guitars. My only issue with Ibanez is they need to tone it down with the styling. Many guitar players prefer conservative looks or else it becomes too flashy/toy like. Would have been cool if they'd offered an alternative with dot inlays & standard binding. Aside from that, I highly recommend them.
Thanks. Agree, it’s like a mini 335, and more versatile. So suits me. Personally I like the bling. I get that some people don’t, but hey if it draws attention to the guitar then I’m all good with that. Ha. Thanks for watching
Thanks. I’ve no idea if they do a left handed version. I did a quick google and couldn’t find anything about that - so probably best to talk with your local Ibanez dealer and see if they can get one (if it exists). Good luck and thanks for watching
just watching the review, you absilutely nailed it, Nick.. but from your point of view, is there any difference between AR420 and AR520, than just weight difference? i mean, was the vibes different? since some solid body guitar handle noise and feedback better than the hollow one from my point of view, i played good amount of gain and right now just considering to buy one of those.. price wise of course AR420 is the cheaper one.. anyway thank you in advance
Thanks! There is a difference in tone. The 520 sounds more like a 335 and the 420 sounds more like an LP. I know this is a simplification but hopefultl it makes sense. Both feel kinda similar in terms of neck etc. Both great, just depends what you want. For me the 520 suits what I do better but if one was more rock orientated and didn’t practise without an amp as often as i do then maybe the 420 would suit them better. Hope this helps?
@@NickGranville thank you.. it clears up some question.. so perhaps AR420 suits my usual playing style.. once again thank you Nick.. keep up the good work maybe I will stay tune to your channel since I always have interest of classic ibanez guitars
Thanks, I can highly recommend this guitar. Since I’ve owned this I haven’t played my other guitars, it’s my number one now. It just works for me. Cheers
I have one in black and love it... The Super 58 pups are killer the Ibanez AM93 series are also great. I do prefer the older styled headstock though, that you'd see on a AS93.
Great demo and very tasteful playing here - just beautiful. I have this guitar and rarely use the bridge humbucker but you got some great tones out of it so I have some amp tweaking to do. These are very unknown guitars so I'm not surprised you were caught off guard with it. From the tones I heard on TH-cam the 520 had better jazzy tones than the 420. And I agree with your comments about it being light and smaller/easier to play than a traditional 335. And yes there is a little neck dive 😁😁
Thanks! I really appreciate the lighter weight. I did a 2 hour set on a gig last night and got to the end and felt fine. Almost any other guitar and I’d be feeling sore from holding a guitar, standing, for 2 solid hours. It’s a tone machine too, love the bridge pickup - it’s worth exploring. Cheers
Yes, definitely does that! I had a gig recently where I had to play the sound track to the film ‘Love Actually’ live with an orchestra. I took this guitar to do it all - including Santana’s song ‘smooth’. Worked great 👍
Hi, I'm looking at one of these at the moment. Do you get a volume output drop when you switch pickups to single coil/tapped mode when compared to the humbucker mode?
Hi. Yes, there is a volume drop when switching to single coil. It’s about 4db. So I setup a boost just for this and when I go to single coil I hit that to bring up the level. It’s a great guitar - I really like mine. Cheers
Hey sounds all distorted cool and broken Send it to me my man😍 You just freaked me out. I put the strap thing on the same place on my 77 gold artist. And the volume thing ,I do the same thing Chap😮
The mono gig bags are sized for strat, tele & Les Paul type guitars. For a hard case (when I fly with it) I use the Ibanez case that I got with my AR420 as it’s the same size.
Curious; which model did you find better? AR420? Or something else? Agree, amazing, esp for the price. Thanks for watching and remember to subscribed - helps a lot. Thanks
@@NickGranville that's probably it, i looked for that model on ibanez wiki :) I remember it having a really surprising spectrum of tones, which I didn't find on this one later on. I know, same pickup, same electronics, makes no sense. Wish i was able to compare them in the flesh, I'd learn a lot! Been subscribed for years btw, great player you are man!
Best review of this guitar on TH-cam. Cheers.
Wow, thanks Geoff. Appreciate the kind words
I’m loving mine. Thanks for your reviews
@@montiac22 nice! Thanks for watching
Thanks for the excellent review and playing! I’m very happy that you found the elusive ‘Swiss Army Knife’ guitar for your current rig. What I truly appreciate in your reviews, beyond the tasty plying, of course, is your providing even the little inconveniences and how to overcome them. Again, thanks so very much!
Thanks so much! Yes, it really is a Swiss Army knife, for what I do. Appreciate the kind words. Cheers
Thanks for an in toto rounded review, straightforward and revealing (not many know this particular instrument)
Glad it was helpful! Thanks
Great review, thank you. I have the blue one and simply love it.
Thanks for watching!!
Your a man of many talents Nick. Thanks for sharing ❤
I appreciate that! Cheers
I think I have to get one now. What an awesome demo
Thanks! I love it, so light and yet powerful tone wise. It’s not too dissimilar to the sco you have already though
I m a huge fan playing Ibanez Prestige. and by far because of their great playability and versatile electronic setup. You r right with your question, why are so less reviews with that AR and I'm blowin away by your spontaneous excellent playing and great reviewing . the versatile spliting and changing colortones on this humbuckers are awesome! cheers from ger
Thanks for watching. Appreciate the kind words
Hi Nick! Thanks for the demo! I watched this last week, ordered the guitar and received it today! I have a feeling it will now be my favorite! As I get older, I am favoring more compacted guitars with 24.75 scale length and small body. For archtops, I have the Ibanez GB10 EM that fits the bill and now, this one! Thanks for the demo and showing us a listen to all the different sounds it can produce! I just wish I could play even half as good as you do! Cheers!
Wow, that’s so cool man! I think you’re going to love it. I do. Esp the light weight, tone, playability (I like 24.75 too!), and general versatility of the instrument for the money - it’s hard to beat. Do try moving the strap button (or get a luthier to do it for you - I found the helps. Cheers
@@NickGranville Thanks Nick! Yes, this guitar does it all! :)
Awesome!
Great Content
Thanks!
Merci pour cette talentueuse démonstration ! Je suis ici ce soir car il se trouve que j'ai découverte cette guitare en magasin cet après-midi, par hasard. Je cherchais une es339 epiphone, non disponible dans ce magasin, et j'ai donc essayé cette ibanez qui a vraiment beaucoup d'atouts. Un peu bling-bling peut-être (j'avais la version bleue) mais je crois que je vais la placer en première ligne des équivalents es339...
Can you translate into English please? I don’t speak French although I can recognise some words. Thanks
Love this Guitar 2 👌
Great, thanks Paul!
Fantastic review!
Thank you, Cheers!
I have the Ibanez AR 500 from 1980 with three pots for volumen and tone and three pots for pre amp plus two switches for pickups combinations, very heavy height, full of dings, scratches, binding cracking 99% on neck and body, but I like it even I don’t play it continuously due to back problems. I had to refret it. Your look so beautiful being semi hollow. Congrats. BTW the nut on mine is made from brass with another material I don’t know.
Sounds like a cool guitar, but yes they can be very heavy those guitars. One of the reasons I don’t play my Les Paul is I just can’t take the weight. My sco guitar has a nut made of brass and bone and sounds really good, maybe yours is the same? Cheers
@@NickGranville yeah maybe the same . Cheers👍✌️
Cool 😎
Thanks for the review of the AR 520. I would love to hear a comparison with your 420
Thanks, I’ve done this a few weeks ago. It’s episode 157 of guitar daily. Called where does tone come from. I compare both guitars on the bridge pickup with the same tones from the rest of the gear, they were surprisingly more different than I thought. Check it out
Love your work Nick. In this case you've helped me decide that I don't need a new Ibanez lol. Happens at least a few times a year
Thanks man! Yeah, sometimes demos / reviews etc help us to make up our minds in either direction and that’s all good imo. Cheers
Thanks Nick - great review and well explained. It's a very capable machine. I assume you used the Fractal for the tones rather than amp/pedals? Cheers, and looking forward to hearing more of it in action.
Thanks! Yep, it’s very capable. You’ll be seeing more of it from me. I use the Fractal FM9 for the lot now. Pedals, amps, speakers. I find it way more consistent. And backline at gigs sucks, so I’d much rather this. It’s a powerful tool. Thanks
@@NickGranvilleSo...gtr into fractal into PA? What is your minimum requirement for the PA (and foldback)?
What are you using at Hashigo Zake? That's a fairly small room that can take some volume. Amp? PA?
@@chriswilliamson8984 yeah man, for bigger gigs straight into the PA and I’ll use my in ear monitors. And some guitar in the front monitor. Done it plenty of times lately. For smaller gigs like Hashigo Zake where there is no PA I’ll bring my frfr soeaker, which is basically my own PA speaker but designed for the fractal. There’s so many situations where the modeller is better than an amp I find Eg 1) anytime where I can’t turn the amp up to the sweet spot (which is many gigs) 2) anytime I have backline (which usually sucks, I hate backline), 3) any travel. And it’s consistent and reliable.
Thanks for the tip about moving the strap button to stop neck-drop.
I have that issue on my 420, but fortunately I play sitting down mostly, so it’s seldom an issue.
That looks like a great guitar to fill the 339 spot in the Ibanez line.
Thanks! Yep that strap trick works - I did the same on my 420 too. SG’s have a similar problem (likely worse). Cheers for watching
@@NickGranville I’d love to get some lessons from you, when circumstances permit.
Sure thing. Send me a message on my website and we can lock in a date that works for both. Thanks
1:51 chord blend is so rich and you don't follow traditionally composed structures! Great playing! Pick ups have a nice clarity (through my sound system) anf accept gain/mod well!!!
Thanks for watching Michael.
Thanks for the nice review. Wow, your opening licks were killer. I did play this guitar at a shop and almost bought it but found the pups too dark for my style.
Thanks for watching!
Brilliant review Nick! Especially loved the sound example at 1:38 A great compromise for those who can’t get on with the size of a ES335 or the weight of a LP. Ibanez have always been criminally underrated guitars.
My only issue with Ibanez is they need to tone it down with the styling. Many guitar players prefer conservative looks or else it becomes too flashy/toy like. Would have been cool if they'd offered an alternative with dot inlays & standard binding. Aside from that, I highly recommend them.
Thanks. Agree, it’s like a mini 335, and more versatile. So suits me. Personally I like the bling. I get that some people don’t, but hey if it draws attention to the guitar then I’m all good with that. Ha. Thanks for watching
They look really great.... excellent review Nick.... do you know if they do left handed in the 520??
Thanks. I’ve no idea if they do a left handed version. I did a quick google and couldn’t find anything about that - so probably best to talk with your local Ibanez dealer and see if they can get one (if it exists). Good luck and thanks for watching
just watching the review, you absilutely nailed it, Nick..
but from your point of view, is there any difference between AR420 and AR520, than just weight difference?
i mean, was the vibes different? since some solid body guitar handle noise and feedback better than the hollow one
from my point of view, i played good amount of gain and right now just considering to buy one of those.. price wise of course AR420 is the cheaper one..
anyway thank you in advance
Thanks! There is a difference in tone. The 520 sounds more like a 335 and the 420 sounds more like an LP. I know this is a simplification but hopefultl it makes sense. Both feel kinda similar in terms of neck etc. Both great, just depends what you want. For me the 520 suits what I do better but if one was more rock orientated and didn’t practise without an amp as often as i do then maybe the 420 would suit them better. Hope this helps?
@@NickGranville thank you.. it clears up some question.. so perhaps AR420 suits my usual playing style.. once again thank you Nick.. keep up the good work
maybe I will stay tune to your channel since I always have interest of classic ibanez guitars
@@bimariswanta6136 great! Thanks
Love the "Uncle Nick Neck" tones 😉
Thanks! 😊
hi ..nice review..
i like the Santana lead sound..what do you recommend ❤🎉
Thanks, I can highly recommend this guitar. Since I’ve owned this I haven’t played my other guitars, it’s my number one now. It just works for me. Cheers
I have one in black and love it... The Super 58 pups are killer the Ibanez AM93 series are also great. I do prefer the older styled headstock though, that you'd see on a AS93.
Ohhh. I think the black one looks super slick. Like a grand piano look. Very nice. Thanks for watching
Great demo and very tasteful playing here - just beautiful. I have this guitar and rarely use the bridge humbucker but you got some great tones out of it so I have some amp tweaking to do. These are very unknown guitars so I'm not surprised you were caught off guard with it. From the tones I heard on TH-cam the 520 had better jazzy tones than the 420. And I agree with your comments about it being light and smaller/easier to play than a traditional 335. And yes there is a little neck dive 😁😁
Thanks! I really appreciate the lighter weight. I did a 2 hour set on a gig last night and got to the end and felt fine. Almost any other guitar and I’d be feeling sore from holding a guitar, standing, for 2 solid hours. It’s a tone machine too, love the bridge pickup - it’s worth exploring. Cheers
@@NickGranville Curious, by moving that strap button did that eliminate its tendency to do a bit of a neck dive?
Yes, moving the strap button helps with that. It’s more comfortable imo, like a 335 strap button positioning. Cheers
woww..so nice..
also good for santana lead sound???
Yes, definitely does that! I had a gig recently where I had to play the sound track to the film ‘Love Actually’ live with an orchestra. I took this guitar to do it all - including Santana’s song ‘smooth’. Worked great 👍
ok..thnxx nick!
Hi Nick. Which guitar do u prefer. Ibanez ar520 vs Epiphone sheraton 2 pro?
The AR520 any day of the week for me.
Hi, I'm looking at one of these at the moment. Do you get a volume output drop when you switch pickups to single coil/tapped mode when compared to the humbucker mode?
Hi. Yes, there is a volume drop when switching to single coil. It’s about 4db. So I setup a boost just for this and when I go to single coil I hit that to bring up the level. It’s a great guitar - I really like mine. Cheers
@@NickGranville thank you very much for the info, sounds very manageable in a live band setting then.
It totally is..much better than having to swap guitars and slowing the whole process down
Hey sounds all distorted cool and broken
Send it to me my man😍
You just freaked me out.
I put the strap thing on the same place on my 77 gold artist. And the volume thing ,I do the same thing Chap😮
Ha, it’s in the post to you mate. 😎 thanks for watching! Cheers
@@NickGranville nice one 👍
😀
Damn now I need another guitar…
Always worth remembering the correct number of guitars is what you have now, +1. Ha. Thanks for watching
Is it available now?
Yes, these are available in stores etc. Thanks for watching. Cheers
Where do you get a case or bag for this?
I use a Mono Gig Bag go around town gigs/sessions and rehearsals. Highly recommended.
@@NickGranville Les Paul sized?
The mono gig bags are sized for strat, tele & Les Paul type guitars. For a hard case (when I fly with it) I use the Ibanez case that I got with my AR420 as it’s the same size.
Fantastic guitar for the price, but i remember trying a model from some years ago and finding it way better sounding, don't know why.
Curious; which model did you find better? AR420? Or something else? Agree, amazing, esp for the price. Thanks for watching and remember to subscribed - helps a lot. Thanks
@@NickGranville that's probably it, i looked for that model on ibanez wiki :)
I remember it having a really surprising spectrum of tones, which I didn't find on this one later on. I know, same pickup, same electronics, makes no sense. Wish i was able to compare them in the flesh, I'd learn a lot!
Been subscribed for years btw, great player you are man!
@@FabrizioPeretti still not sure which one you mean but all good and many thanks for listening to my stuff. Appreciate it.
thats what we talkin bout willis
Ha, cheers man
Is it semi hollow?
@@BernardDiaz-s5u yep it sure is. Thanks