Ibanez AZES Essentials AZES31 | Is this 2022’s best and most versatile budget Strat? Review & Demo
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2024
- This is my in-depth look at the Ibanez AZES31, a new(ish!) and rather affordable guitar in the Ibanez AZES (AZ Essentials) family.
At Thomann: thmn.to/thoprod/524895?offid=...
At Sweetwater: sweetwater.sjv.io/KjW50A
Designed by Ibanez in cooperation with iconic guitarist and teacher Tomo Fujita, the AZES range is intended to offer the tone, versatility and playability of the brand’s AZ series to students and players on a budget - and the €299/$299 AZES31 does that in spades!
The Stratocaster-esque AZES31 is definitely built with ease of playing in mind. It has a lightweight poplar body with a maple neck and a jatoba fingerboard, whose medium frets, 25” scale length and 250mm (9.84”) fingerboard radius have been chosen to make everything as comfortable for beginners and students as possible.
The pickups are Ibanez Essentials, and you get the standard 5-way Strat switching system plus an Alter Switch, which gives you more options - you can simulate bridge and neck humbucker tones, and in the middle position, you can either use the middle pickup, or the neck and bridge together.
There’s a couple of other cool twists too: the AZES31 has a hardtail bridge, so no whammy bar to take you out of tune here, and Ibanez have also added their own Mono-unit output jack, a one-piece, solid plastic jack socket that should be more durable than the standard metal ones you generally find on budget guitars.
So, all that said, how does the AZES31 fare compared to its natural competitors, the Squier Strat and the Yamaha Pacifica? Let’s find out! In this video, I play the AZES 31 in as many different styles as I can - from country, folk and indie, to pop, rock, punk, metal and more - to find out just how well this budget axe performs.
Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits:
00:00 Hello!
00:10 Introduction to the AZES31
01:09 Specs and info
02:31 Pickups and Alter Switch options
04:08 The neck
04:53 Today’s rig and plan
Clean Sounds
05:59 Clean tone reference chords on all pickups/Alter Switch options
06:36 Poppy barre chords
06:53 Blues progression
07:06 Ringing open indie pop chords
07:19 Country strummed chords
07:39 Country lead sound
07:47 Country ballad arpeggios
08:00 Indie art pop barre chords
08:12 Cowboy chords with tone control test
09:17 Droning indie chords
09:31 60s rock rhythm tone
Crunch Sounds (Clean Channel w/Greer Lightspeed)
09:41 Groovy classic rock riff
09:56 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff
10:14 Hendrix inspired classic rock riff
10:30 Airbourne inspired classic rock riff
10:41 Classic rock riff
10:58 Another Hendrix inspired riff
11:15 Fat indie rhythm chords
11:31 Garage rock riff
11:48 Edgy indie rock chords
12:02 Indie rock barre chords
12:27 Volume control roll-off test
13:11 Indie octave chords riff
13:39 Droning indie open string riff on all pickups
14:20 Indie rock octave chords
Lead Channel Sounds
14:45 Classic hard rock riff
15:03 Hard rock riff
15:20 Glam rock riff
15:33 Hair metal rhythm sound
15:54 Foo Fighters inspired modern rock riff
16:11 Alternative rock riff
16:25 Chunky alt rock chords
16:50 Pop punk riff
17:03 Pop punk melodic lead riff
17:20 Green Day inspired punk rock riff
17:33 Punk rock power chords
17:47 Progressive rock riff (Drop D tuning)
18:03 Modern rock palm-muted power chords (Drop D tuning)
18:28 Rage Against The Machine inspired groovy riff (Drop D tuning)
Clean Channel w/Revv G3 Distortion Pedal (all in Drop D tuning)
18:44 Metal chugging riff
19:00 Thrash metal riff
19:10 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang
19:22 Rammstein inspired industrial metal riff
19:35 Lead sounds
19:46 Classic heavy metal/sludge riff
20:18 My thoughts
21:34 First impressions out of the box
21:46 Weight
22:10 Build quality and hardware
23:45 Playability and neck
24:35 Sounds and versatility
27:07 What’s the competition for the AZES31?
28:16 Final conclusions
29:19 Thanks and goodbye
My setup was as follows: I ran the AZES31 into my Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 head, using my Greer Lightspeed for the overdrive and my Revv G3 for the heavy distortion sounds. The amp went from the Red Box DI straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. That's it. No post-processing on the sounds was done.
Here’s some links to those bits of gear:
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H&K Black Spirit 200 head: bit.ly/HKBS200rwm
Greer Lightspeed: bit.ly/GreerLightspeedRWM
Revv G3: bit.ly/RevvG3RWM
Focusrite 4i4 (the new 2i4): bit.ly/Scarlett414RWM
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Enjoy!
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Backing music from the TH-cam Audio Library: Duck In The Alley - TrackTribe.
#Ibanez #IbanezGuitars #IbanezAZES
Note: certain links in the description are affiliate links. If you click said links and purchase anything as a result, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help to support the channel. So, if you do that, thank you very much!
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And here's the timestamps for everyone on phones:
00:00 Hello!
00:10 Introduction to the AZES31
01:09 Specs and info
02:31 Pickups and Alter Switch options
04:08 The neck
04:53 Today’s rig and plan
Clean Sounds
05:59 Clean tone reference chords on all pickups/Alter Switch options
06:36 Poppy barre chords
06:53 Blues progression
07:06 Ringing open indie pop chords
07:19 Country strummed chords
07:39 Country lead sound
07:47 Country ballad arpeggios
08:00 Indie art pop barre chords
08:12 Cowboy chords with tone control test
09:17 Droning indie chords
09:31 60s rock rhythm tone
Crunch Sounds (Clean Channel w/Greer Lightspeed)
09:41 Groovy classic rock riff
09:56 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff
10:14 Hendrix inspired classic rock riff
10:30 Airbourne inspired classic rock riff
10:41 Classic rock riff
10:58 Another Hendrix inspired riff
11:15 Fat indie rhythm chords
11:31 Garage rock riff
11:48 Edgy indie rock chords
12:02 Indie rock barre chords
12:27 Volume control roll-off test
13:11 Indie octave chords riff
13:39 Droning indie open string riff on all pickups
14:20 Indie rock octave chords
Lead Channel Sounds
14:45 Classic hard rock riff
15:03 Hard rock riff
15:20 Glam rock riff
15:33 Hair metal rhythm sound
15:54 Foo Fighters inspired modern rock riff
16:11 Alternative rock riff
16:25 Chunky alt rock chords
16:50 Pop punk riff
17:03 Pop punk melodic lead riff
17:20 Green Day inspired punk rock riff
17:33 Punk rock power chords
17:47 Progressive rock riff (Drop D tuning)
18:03 Modern rock palm-muted power chords (Drop D tuning)
18:28 Rage Against The Machine inspired groovy riff (Drop D tuning)
Clean Channel w/Revv G3 Distortion Pedal (all in Drop D tuning)
18:44 Metal chugging riff
19:00 Thrash metal riff
19:10 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang
19:22 Rammstein inspired industrial metal riff
19:35 Lead sounds
19:46 Classic heavy metal/sludge riff
20:18 My thoughts
21:34 First impressions out of the box
21:46 Weight
22:10 Build quality and hardware
23:45 Playability and neck
24:35 Sounds and versatility
27:07 What’s the competition for the AZES31?
28:16 Final conclusions
29:19 Thanks and goodbye
1
Ibanez is what’s up. Literally the most versatile budget guitar brand available
Totally, these are such awesome guitars. I've said it loads of times now but how I would've wished I could've had a guitar like one of these back when I was starting out :)
@@RichWordsMusic I have played a ton of cheap guitars. But Ibanez is the only brand I’ve found sub 400 bucks that has playability like a 600 -1200 dollar guitar. Especially my Ibanez jazz guitar
@@dominicshonk5651 I agree, I think they're fantastic value for money, and very underrated generally. One other guitar I've discovered this past year in a similar price category is the Yamaha Revstar Element. These are also fantastic for under $500 and could sell for plenty more! The Japanese brands seem to know what they're doing...
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks a lot Tomo!
GREAT EXPLAINING of the various pickups.
Thanks! There's certainly a lot to take in with this guitar, but so much versatility too!
Great review sir! Appreciate it! Ibanez is impressing me
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Yep, this is a great guitar, and a bit different from the standard Ibanez shreddy stuff... I'm a big fan :)
Absolutely brilliant review! I'll probably buy this guitar in this same finish after watching the video.
Thanks!
Thanks so much Armin, really glad you enjoyed the video! These AZES guitars are really fantastic value for money, and I hope you enjoy yours as much as I did this one if you buy it. This is the best color too, for sure 😉 Cheers and rock on!
@@RichWordsMusic Small update: the guitar arrived this morning. It's a beauty, for sure and plays great out of the box. I changed the strings and set the action to my liking. Happy to say that there were no issues with the action, I was able to get it quite low by just adjusting the bridge - the neck relief is perfect, so no adjustment needed there. Absolutely amazing value for money. Thanks again!
Great channel Rich! Really enjoy your thorough, no-nonsense overviews and opinions and tasty playing.
Thanks so much AV! Happy you discovered me here, and glad you’re enjoying what you’ve seen so far, playing included 😊 Cheers and rock on!
One of the best guitar reviews I’ve seen
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it!
I was looking for a guitar to take with me on holidays for practice that I could throw in the car and not worry about damaging too much. I remembered seeing your video earlier so came back for a detailed look to see if it might fit my needs. I have agreed with your reviews on guitars I already owned so your opinion helped me decide. Long story short I ordered one online hoping it would suit my needs.
Got it out of its box and was pleased to see it was in perfect condition. Set up was good as was its fit and finish for painted surfaces. Frets were level and intonation very close to spot on. The frets felt really grainy and badly needed polishing and the fingerboard was dry. Polished the frets, (Dremel and polishing compound) and oiled the finger board and it now plays and feels fantastic. This guitar is far better than I expected and its now in perfect intonation with glass smooth frets.
In fact I was so impressed with its play-ability I fitted a set of Graphtech ratiometric locking tuners to it (salvaged off another guitar) and a set of their string trees. Its a practice guitar that will be used for more than just practice I really like it :)
Well, that's great! I'm really glad how impressed you've been with yours, and I'm sure the fret polish, oil and those locking tuners have given you a guitar that you can actually put up against way more expensive guitars and it'll hold its own! I feel that these AZES guitars are kind of underrated in a way (I guess because most people only really think of pointier metal guitars when they think of Ibanez!) but it's great that you have discovered them and they exceeded all your expectations. Enjoy yours for practice and more! Cheers :)
I played one of these (ampless) at my local G Center. This is the first guitar I have found (in a very long time) that the neck and frets felt really good, no buzzing, smooth fret ends with decently low action and a really nice neck shape suitable for any kind of playing (it doesn't hurt that I like hard tails too.) I'm impressed with the sounds from this video. plenty of options there. It looks as though they may have moved the volume knob slightly away from the e string (in relation to a regular strat) .... if so, this too is a very welcome change (keep that knob away from me.) Great price on these too.
It's interesting to hear that - I've made a point of trying as many Ibanezes as I can in my part of the world recently (including the AZES guitars and some more expensive models) and they all seem to be excellently made and set up prior to being displayed in the stores... which is a great thing, obviously! Plenty of other companies could learn from them here. It makes a huge difference to someone trying a few different guitars at a store when one of them is head and shoulders above the rest in terms of setup.
And yes, the volume knob is further away than you'd get on a Strat, and it's a welcome change for me too! I'm forever turning my Strat down as I play :) Great design features on these AZES guitars all round - I'm hugely impressed. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
Nice and nuanced review. This geetar seems to be a benchmark.
Thanks a lot, glad you enjoyed it! And yes, I totally agree - the AZES guitars are a great benchmark at that pricepoint. It's very hard to find better!
Fantastic review! I am shopping for my first electric guitar. This is the way to review a guitar . Thank you for this. I’m considering this one to save few hundred dollars to buy an amp. That’s another video I have to look for.
Thanks a lot, I'm glad you found the video useful! There's always many considerations to make when buying your first guitar, but I really don't think anyone can go wrong with the AZES guitars. When it comes to amps, there's loads too - let me know if you have any questions and I am happy to offer any advice I can. My day job is in the amp industry so I know a fair bit on that front :)
@@RichWordsMusic Thank you Rich for the response. I am self-taught guitar player using acoustic guitar, 6 years now. So I am just learning more about one gears. I do have a Fishman loudbox, is that something I can use for now using the electric guitar? I always take the time to shop for the right equipment because it is hard to convince my wife why I need another equipment or a guitar. If you can recommend a good amp for electric guitar under $400, I will check it out. Do I need a pedal right away? My music is mostly Eagles and that type of genre and contemporary. Thank you again! Your new subscriber.
@@stringsattached8004 No problem! If you have six years of acoustic playing, electric should come nice and easy. You can use the Fishman Loudbox with an electric guitar, but it will not sound as good as a dedicated electric guitar amp - acoustic amps are designed for different types of instrument, different frequencies, etc. (By the way, great choice with the Loudbox - I used one for a long time and it never let me down.) One thing you could try is using EQ and overdrive pedals with an electric guitar and the Loudbox... this will be a bit better than just going into the Loudbox, but still won't be ideal.
There are so many choices when it comes to finding an amp. For Eagles-type tones, many would say a Fender type of amp is good. But I guess you are after a combo amp with an integrated speaker? There aren't too many options at that price, unless you try the Fender Mustang modeling amps. These are really good, and have many sounds, but some people prefer analogue amps. Fender does many the Pro Junior for around €400, but I find it can sound a bit small and 'boxy' because it's so physically small.
Other choices: the Boss Katana 50 MKII. This is an excellent combo, with loads of FX built in. Or... there is the Marshall DSL5CR combo, which is a tube amp, and at a similar budget.
When it comes to pedals, again, there are simply so many, and you can use overdrive pedals like a Tube Screamer, say, into a clean Fender to create rockier sounds for stuff like the Eagles.
I guess the best thing you can do is visit your nearest store and try a few. The few I have named here could be top of your list to try out, but you never know, you might find another that simply works for you! I hope this helps a bit :) Oh, and thanks for subscribing! I am always happy to see new faces here on the channel!
@@RichWordsMusic Thank you so much Rich. This is a big help for me to get started.
@@stringsattached8004 No worries, any time! Have fun on your guitar journey, that's the most important thing :)
Well done fiinally a video that shows the guitar and not the amp i am a old guy who is shopping for a 🎸 you showed me country ...rock ..and everything i am looking for you did an excellent job thank you
Ah, I'm happy you found my video useful then! I do try and cover as much ground as I can with these in the hope that there's something for everyone in there! I recommend you try one of these AZES guitars out if you can - they're great fun and excellent value for money! Rock on :)
Been interested in these since you checked them out at 42 Gear Street, very cool guitar! Would be my first recommendation for anyone starting out.
Yes, it's been quite a wait hasn't it, but finally they're here, and the guitar is actually better than I remember! I'd have to agree - this is the guitar I'd recommend any starter who wants a Strat-type experience. Or even just someone who wants a great first guitar... it's light, easy to play, has good tuning stability and sounds great too. I reckon if you had this as your first guitar you could play it for years too - you won't outgrow this quality.
Sweet tone, strat classic with packed bonus. Price is very decent, might consider leaving Harley Benton behind this time and get the Ibby at this deal. Thank you for a great tone demo job!
Yes, this is one versatile guitar alright! I'm really impressed - and yes, it beats out quite a few of the HB guitars I've recently played. (I guess I do need to try an HB Strat type now to compare them!) Glad you enjoyed the video and hope you get to try one of the AZES guitars soon!
One of the best presentation of guitars!
Thanks, I'm really happy you enjoyed it! Cheers :)
It's shocking how good cheap gear is these days. With this, a tuner, and a Katana, there isn't much you couldn't do.
Yes, exactly! I would've absolutely loved that setup back when I was starting out :)
Exactly right , so many good budget guitars out there now. I've got the vermilion AZES31 , you can play just about anything with it. Especially with the dyna switch. The only thing I might do down the road is upgrade the pickups , they get a little muddy at high gains. Especially if you're playing metal , but it's great for blue's and rockabilly "AKA" Johnny Cash!
Now this is how you do a review.
Cheers, glad you enjoyed it!
Well the question is are the fret sharp and is there buzzing?
The Pacifica has alnico pickups which is kind of amazing.
I would not buy a rosewood type affinity because they are often dirty and need polishing.
My Ibz s521 had excellent action. Great! Fred ends and clean figure board and frets when it came.
The frest on this guitar are nice and smooth, with no buzzing. I'm very impressed with them! Interesting thoughts on the rosewood thing... I think I just need to get past my own prejudices really. There's nothing wrong at all with the board on this guitar, and the more you play, the less you notice it.
I love how Ibanez don’t put GIO on it! Finally a cheap guitar that does advertise its cost in the headstock like GIO and squier.
Yeah, I agree, and I think Ibanez have really opened themselves up to a whole new audience with these AZES guitars!
Mmm 😋 ya can go wrong with a Ibanez. Love my bass and hope to add more to the collection of Mybanez’s
Yeah, I agree! A relatively new find for me, but they're great, aren't they? Could see you rocking the HSS version of this one too 🤘 #Mybanez
@@RichWordsMusic I almost got a used yella jemjr but someone beat me to it, I’ll keep saving for the Pia and see what happens 🤘🏽
@@PooNinja Yeah, keep sinking a few spare dollars into the Pia fund every week and you never know, one day it could be yours! And I'm sure some other used bargains will pop up before then too :)
Is the neck really feel like a strat with respect to its radius and playability? Pacifica has a more flat neck when compared to AZES. What would you say about that? In terms of neck radius and a strat feel which model (Pacifica or AZES) would you recommend?
It feels like a more modern Strat to me. It is a slightly smaller neck than, say, a Classic Vibe. And it also has a flatter fingerboard. It feels a little similar to a Pacifica, actually (being satin as well), so I would say consider the pickup options you would want and go from there! The Pacifica will give you a little more of a traditional Strat feel.
I do not have long fingers but pretty big palms.. I bought this guitar used dirt cheap.. But the 1.65 inch nut and 0.8 inch thickness at the 1 fret and the neck carve makes it feel very small for my hand below the 6. fret.
The ceramic pickups react a bit different to my overdrive pedals than the alnico pickups I have on my old squier classic vibe telecaster.. It seems to distort faster.. I have not checked the output difference though
Are pickups almost parallel to the body? I have this one and tried to set pickups a bit angled according to fender recommendations. And it looks like too much treble sound
This guitar is one of the most versatile ones I've ever seen. I'm impressed by the in-phase sounds. I can imagine a starting gigging musician rocking with it for a long time. Honesty I wish more strats came with the switch for in-phase sounds. Maybe a push-push switch on the volume instead? Also, push-push should be the standard and not push-pulls. Just my opinion XD.
Yeah man, this is another cool find. Pretty much all of the sounds are really usable and it even does higher gain stuff well. I don't get why more brands don't offer extra sounds like this... it just opens the guitar up to new things. And I 100% agree about push-push too... that's what I got on my Tele and I feel so much more comfortable doing that than pulling a control out! I reckon you could gig this guitar no problem, and sure, you might want a bone nut and locking tuners for heavy gigging, but it's absolutely great as it is :)
You mean series!
I recently got this guitar based on this video (thanks Rich!) and I have to agree. Really cool guitar, lovely to play and priceworthy!
hi ,great video i have a question, can i costumize the guitar with the hh configuraion or the body under the pickguard
is like a fender sss ?? sorry for my english, i hope you understand what i mean
Hey, thanks! Sure, I understand. There is a photo here from someone who took the pickups out of their AZES31: theguitaraddict.blogspot.com/2021/09/essential-31-3.html
So that proves that the neck is routed for a humbucker! However, before you spend your money, I would recommend you check the size of the humbuckers you want to use to see if they will fit in the guitar. Sometimes pickups and routing can be different sizes, so you want to make sure you would buy some pickups that actually fit. Hope this helps and good luck!
@@RichWordsMusic Thank you !! 😎😎😬😬
@@pezzibui2691 No worries, any time!
I just bought this model. The neck is so fluid. The tone is one of a kind. However am i the only one who has some weird issues the volume knob whereby its just sounded like dial 10 no matter when i turn the volume knob down. Is this normal?
Sorry to hear about the volume knob thing... that's not something I've experienced and I believe there's something wrong there. Can you take the guitar back to the store where you got it and have them look at it for you? It would be a shame to have this, because like you say, otherwise these are wonderful guitars :)
Hhmmmmm..think ill buy one..just found a used one at my local music shop..😍
Enjoy! I am sure the used price is great value :) Happy new guitar day! Let me know your thoughts once you have played it a bit.
AZES31 or an Pacifica 112/120, what would you take?
It's been a while since I tried a Pacifica 112, but on memory I'd go with the AZES - it just feels very much like home for me. They're both excellent guitars though and really punch above their weight. There's also the Ibanez AZES40 (which I have a video of too, coming out this week!) and that is HSS with a vibrato bridge... also worth considering! At the end of the day I'd say play both if you can and see which works best for you.
Спасибо за ваш обзор 😊
Thanks for watching!
how does it compares with Ibanez GRX40?
How would the Cort G100 compare to this Ibanez?
Good question! I've not tried the Cort, but I have played similarly priced Cort models which were pretty good. Based on the pickups, though, the Ibanez will certainly give you a lot more tonal options, and I feel that the price difference also means it'll feel like better quality. That said, though, this is pure guesswork as I've never held a G100 in my own hands!
I wish Ibanez would release these with maple fingerboards?
Would be a great shout! Come to think of it, though, Ibanez don't really do maple boards, do they? Off the top of my head (I must admit I'm not in their target audience!) I can't think of any other models that do. They should make that change for the AZES range!
My Ibanez Talman TM303 has a maple finger board and I've had it nearly 6 years, plays like butter & I'll NEVER sell it;
@@TedTheTree Oh wow, I'd never heard of that model and I just Googled it... looks like an incredible guitar for the price! Lovely retro stylings too - a really interesting and different guitar. And yes, with a vintage-tint maple board. I'll be seeing if I can track one of those down at some point!
Did I just hear a Thomann sound sample at around 15:15?
Yeah, that riff is similar to one they used to use on their site in the old days (it's still there probably) for sound samples on some guitars!
Is there a HSS version, I am a lefty...
There is an HSS version, the AZES40! But sadly I looked around and I don't think either model is offered as a left-handed version at the moment.
First! Hell yeah!
Back where you belong 😎
I’m busy today
@@PooNinja Weeding out remnant Jedi?
@@DMSProduktions discarded rocket body clean up
@@PooNinja Mandos?
Nice playing, but I'm a little disappointed. I wanted to hear the heavy stuff with the faux humbucker setting (bridge/middle in series) and you played them all with just the bridge single coil. Otherwise great demo.
Thanks John, glad you enjoyed the video apart from that one point... and looking back, you're right, that's one thing I forgot to record here. Sorry about that! If I get the chance to do another video witj this guitar that's something I'll include for sure.
How does it compares with grx40?
I'm not actually sure, as I've not played a GRX40! Anyone reading this who has some info here?
I've had the GRX70 and the neck was a little thinner , I've got the AZES31 now and it's got a wider fretboard but not by much. It is a little more like a strat neck. Which is fine and easy to move around on.✌️
How are fret ends and buzzing?
All nice and smooth, and it's buzz-free!
@@RichWordsMusic I've yet to play an Ibanez with sharp frets or buzzing. Ibanez and Schecter makes great guitar's in every price range IMO!
All I’ve done to mine is put a set of heavy bottoms on it and I sold my American Strat. Lol.
Oh wow, that good?! That's pretty incredible. These are superb guitars, though. And I'm sure Ibanez would love to read that comment ;) Enjoy!
Sounds better than the HSS model 40 with trem !!!
What I'd really love is a mix of the two, with the hardtail bridge from the AZES31 and the HSS pickup config from the AZES40! I think that might just be the best of both worlds. That said though, the bridge pickup on this one is lovely too. I've just shot a comparison video of the two and they're very close apart from the pickups and the bridge thing.
@@RichWordsMusic maybe swap out the loaded pickguards? HSS hardtail and SSS trem?
@@hadiffnazhan862 Maybe worth a try!
It sounded like a really HIFI Strat!
Yeah, that's actually a pretty cool description... and maybe the reason I like it so much!
@@RichWordsMusic ;o)
Maybe got something to do with the Amp ? H&K tend to sound a bit Hi Fi, nothing wrong just different
@@mikepretorius6350 I know, I have 1 as well, (TM18) It is very Voxy on the clean channel! )
@@DMSProduktions Same as my Laney Cub 15 has that Vox kind of vibe nice !
One could easily use to play pro. If you have a half decent amp and/or pedals any difference between it and something for twice the money is negligible. For a pro to tell me otherwise then $100 says in a blindfold test between my 10 guitars try and pick which guitar is the Ibanez. I could use about $1000 right now ...so hands up I will just pick the first 10, LOL
Ha ha, yep, you could definitely do paid work with this guitar. You might onsider upgrading some things at some point in the future (get the nut replaced, maybe some locking tuners if that's your thing) but apart from that... I actually suffered from brand snobbery for quite some time, but these days I just like what's good, and this guitar is that 100%! I could certainly use those $1000 too :)
@@RichWordsMusic Yes but like many I upgrade everything even my Custom Shop Strat. PU's. Ibanez just saves you the money by not putting on a DiMarzio or what ever because it is never the right one.
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing It's clever thinking - their pickups are good enough for the more casual player, but cheap enough that you don't take too much of a hit buying the guitar if you know you're going to swap them out!
@@RichWordsMusic Every guitar I ever bought I factored in adding $200 for upgrades. New or used it did not matter. A guitar has to look so cool that sitting on a stand it says 'play me'. I ordered then bought a Fender Duo Sonic new and went from the Music Store to my tech without even playing it and had the pickguard and everything on it pulled and replaced with a Tele, Ric PU and new pickguard then a lint picked set up. No regrets. I did the same with a Gibson LP Special double cut. I went from the store to my tech and had the P90 pulled and a a PAF put in at the bridge.
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing Interesting, but makes sense - if you know exactly what you want in terms of parts, you might as well do exactly that: get the guitars that visually appeal to you, and have them made to sound and play the way you need!
Scale 25" or 25.5"?
It's 25".
This guitar is good for Jazz like Fender Strats
Yes, absolutely!
👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for watching as ever 😊
Ibanez guitar = "Pro's play that brand, don't they" ____ Squier Guitar = "Oh, really ....a cheap beginners brand, too bad" 🙂
Which would you want to be seen playing at the gig this weekend ???
It's the same problem the Yamaha Pacifica has! A lack of excitement and nostalgia factor. If you asked me (who's not ever been much of a Strat guy) I'd pick the AZES over a Squier Strat - at least, any Squier I've played in my life up to this point. Most people probably wouldn't 😉
@@RichWordsMusic In 10 or 20 years just being labelled Ibanez will have pro's buying it ...made in China of what is now sold as a yy10 now sell for up to $1500.00 USD. New they too were a couple of hundred. A new Squier will never have that kind of increase.
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing Yes, exactly. That's one area where Ibanez wins - they don't have the budget tag around their neck that Squier does. What's your thoughts on 80s and JV Squiers tat often sell for €1500 or so over here?
@Rich. Words. Music. If that squier is played by Regi Wooten …
Anyway, personal I love my Yamahas …. gear matters, but not as remotely as much as the players do.
@@Traumglanz You're right of course, the player matters most... but gear can - and does - inspire us to play better (or worse!) at certain times.
Bro I thought that was Jack Harlow first glance
Ha, I'll take that!
Made in??
They're made in Indonesia 👍
FRET BITE?
You mean sharp fret ends? Not on this one!
That "Ivory" is hideous.
Could have done an Olympic White or an Arctic White. Anything other than spoiled Mayonnaise.
Ha ha, not my favorite either! I don't dislike it like you, but there are preferable colors out there. My guess (and hope) is that they were playing it safe with the first round of AZES finishes, and if it proves a big seller there will be more exciting options in future...