It will have a thicker-than-typical neck for an Ibanez, but probably still thinner than average and I wouldnt be surprised if its a hair thinner than that Fender. Funnily enough, many find it chunky and fat. There are three principles behind the Ibanez Prestige line: Precision, Performance, and Playability. Ibanez AZSuhrTom Anderson 24 The philosophy behind this series is to bring the tone, versatility and, playability of this celebrated lineup to a wider array of beginner and intermediate players. One is the '97 American Standard I bought new more than two decades ago and will go to the grave with me. But these systems are not made to go whammy crazy and expect pure return every time. The Suhr, by comparison, sounds incredible in most positions, but theres two things I dont like which may be connected. I love the inlays, some others don't. . Even though I sold my AZ when prices rose during COVID, I still thought it was an absolutely top notch guitar. 11R . A bit disappointing considering the price tag, but probably something I can live with. AZ is basically the spiritual descendant of the older higher end RG Prestige from the early 00s. I really like the AZ2204 in Prussian Blue. Lovin' my HSS Ultra with rosewood neck. I'm not sure. The noiseless pickups sort of make up for this. Possibly because of the contrast, the neck pickup alone feels very bland and kind of muddy. The tone, too, but that was probably due to pickups and wood. While the spec, for example, on the Super Wizard HP - "the neck for shredders," states Ibanez - offers a 17mm depth at the first fret, 19mm by the 12th with a nut with of 43mm and a 'board radius of 430mm (16.9"), the AZ's neck is much more conventional measuring between 41.84mm to 42.38mm at the nut, 20.5 to 21mm at the 1st fret and . I have a Suhr Custom Modern in H-S-H. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. Based on other sound demos on the internet, it sounds Strat-y with a lot of mojo. Features: - Alder Body - Roasted Maple Fretboard - Jumbo Stainless Frets - Seymour Duncan Hyperion Pickups - Bone Nut - Gotoh T1802 Tremolo Arguably, not as much as I expected. Mouser in recent years has tapped into the guitar market by offering musical specific items from distributors. Come join the discussion about collections, displays, models, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more! Not a massive difference between the Ibanez and Fender here. Downside is that stainless frets, while awesome, will be a lot harder and more expensive to have dressed, if you have any high frets to deal with. Some people love it, some people hate it. Tech experts from Seymour Duncan are regularly on this forum, and are clearly labeled as employees of Seymour Duncan. Ibanez AZ +2Suhr The big spec differences, to me, are (ignoring neck carve, which I cant really speak to without playing both back to back): Either of these is probably capable of being a great guitar, and while I havent played any new Ibanez guitars in a long while, for a while now Fenders have really impressed me off the rack - idiosyncratic factors in the specific guitar you play will probably be important here, if the Fender is great but the AZ is acoustially kinda a dud, thatll make your mind up for you, I suspect. , 10208 125 157 37 60 64, , bilibiliUPFender StratTeleIbanez AZ It gets long. If it were me, Id get a Squier and replace the nut and (if necessary) the pickups. The Gear Page is the leading online community and marketplace for guitars, amps, pedals, effects and associated gear. . Yea on paper the Ibanez looks so good, it has everything I was looking for in a guitar, especially knowing that great guitarists like Martin Miller and Tom Quayle were behind the design decisions. The budget-friendly equivalent - the AZ Essentials series - carries the torch well, delivering one of the best budget Strat-style guitars around. HA! Don't let anyone else talk you out of what you want. Your question about me playing this for 20+ years has prompted me to think about roasted maple maintenance. Vsrls: Catalinbread Effekt pedl rak, elad Catalinbread Effekt pedlok. JavaScript is disabled. Totally different concept and tonal options that do not overlap as much as I expected with Fender. To me, it played like a dream! I've been posting my shootout videos around Ibanez AZ series, but so far only 24 frets. One thing to remember is that because necks are 'hand-finished' they can vary from guitar to guitar. Ibanez offers electric guitars, bass guitars, acoustic guitars, effect and pedals, amps, plus guitar accessories like tuners, straps and picks.Ibanez / Prestige AZ2402 BKF / . Suhr ClassicIbanez AZNFender MB 60s, 29327 178 876 392 206 106, , "" Switches, potentiometers and capacitors are usually fine on all but the cheapest of cheap guitars, but high-quality replacements can be bought cheap from places like mouser.com. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy. The middle and bridge SS on the SSS model are different to the HSS pickups, so its not even the same sound. I also had my AZ when I bought a Suhr Modern Pro. The part below is going to sound like a rant, but its less directed at you, and more an expression of my gripe with how guitars are marketed. Daniel Defense firearms, parts and accessories, https://www.kieselguitars.com/catalog/guitars/t6, Ibanez JEM, UV, JS & Other Signature Models. That actually seems to happen more with the Suhr than any other guitar I have owned. For beginners, the extra push will be . As for floyd guitars, a lot of it is indeed with the materials (metal alloy) and mass of the bridge itself. The craftsmanship is also incredibly high all round. VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada. Suhrs are great but Ibanez are equally great in my eyes, just at a better price. I am not an expert but I would say it was down to the pickups. Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy. SuhrJames Tyler . The only exception is the Aura series. Mouser is fine so long as you know what to look for. You shouldnt oil roasted maple, and it doesnt move with the seasons, which is another benefit to us lazy bastards that dont want to mess with the truss rod. As an Ibanez Prestige owner and a Suhr Modern owner I love both but lean Suhr, b/c the neck shape of the Suhr is a little more filled out and is perfect for my average size for 6' guy hand. a: Width of the neck at the nut. 9. Of course there is nowhere nearby to try any of these so Im considering ordering 2 and returning my least fav. It partly comes down to what a person values in a guitar. The humbucker is ok, but it seems a bit mushy for me with heavier distortion. Finally, eh? Even the neck profile, negligible differences. That being said, Suhr also sells $7,000+ instruments that unless you're buying it as an art piece doesn't make sense to me. Guitar Neck Diagram. I feel the J.Custom's rounded fret edges and softer neck back (velvetouch, lol) as well as Edge Pro (vs Floyd), on top of the wood binded neck and absolutely 0 neck pocket set it above the Suhr. Most everything built these days is cnc machined, with polyester finishes. #3 Now, I wouldnt buy a toaster unless it had a pull-out tray for dumping the crumbs, and not all of them do, but thats about the only dealbreaker I can think of, apart from it being literally defective. Its either middle and neck or middle and bridge and havent noticed any volume drop. There are no Ibanez non locking systems that you could expect stability like a double locker. I think both guitars are overpriced for what they are, but if youre choosing between these two, those are my main thoughts beyond the simple matter of which one feels and sounds better to you? If it were me, Id get a Squier and replace the nut and (if necessary) the pickups. Dirtier and higher gain tones felt more compressed. The AZs 305mm comes out to about 12", flatter than the standard modern Strat 10", but rounder than the Fenders multi-radius 10-14". AZ is basically the spiritual descendant of the older higher end RG Prestige from the early 00s. Radius : 430mmR. Kinda dig the 5120 - maple board and flip flop paint instant cyberpunk. Go with a company that uses a lot of mass in that floyd, like the ibanez edge style Floyds. i don't feel too bad for them, i'm sure their bank acct has several more commas than mine so they must be doing something right. - Suhr - Chavel - Ibanez - IBANEZ AZ .. Japan (Prestige) 8X,XXX Indo (Premium) 4x,xxx Solidbody Electric Guitar with African Mahogany Body, Flamed Maple Top, Roasted Maple Neck and Fingerboard, and 2 Humbucking Pickups - Transparent Aqua Blue. The difference between my 600 MIM strat and a fancy 1500 American pro II with a similar build is more negligeable than it should (its certainly not even twice better, despite the price gap). The Prestige stuff is top notch. [.] Being used to a C-type neck, I wasnt too bothered about the Ultra, which felt more modern (modern D they call it), and the chamfered access made it easier to play than my Player with the block in the way. $ 1,999 .99. I think this was a dealer specd model and they mismatched the pickup output very hard. Also, the roasted neck will have excellent tuning stability and handle weather even better than standard maple necks because of how it's dried (roasted). Now, I am not so sure. Suhr ClassicIbanez AZNFender MB 60s. I owned a few AZ's including the Tom Quayle and while they all sounded great, my Suhr Modern Satin is just "it" for me. Really cool sound, though. I can live with either. d: Thickness of the neck at the fret position specified by the neck dimension. Hey folks, I just wanted to give a comparison rundown between these two guitars. I am a terrible guitar player so a better guitar will not make me better, but I can feel a difference between a 200 guitar and a 1000 axe, quality of build, pickups, electronics, hardware, etc. From what I've seen on the YooToobs they are both extremely versatile with the Dyna-Mix switching. The pricing isn't so simple either though, That blue Ibanez AZ costs 200 more than a Suhr Modern Satin does, they are expensive to such a degree that even in the case of more expensive Suhrs, if . As somebody who owns Ibanezes from many decadesI am not surprised by this at all.