This looks like a good one Steve! Not expensive, a good choice of colors and 9 tones. The Jatoba fretboard looks much better than many of the pau ferro fret boards. By the way Steve, great gig clips!
Great review -as always- Nice ambient sounds. Would be interested in settings on your line 6. Btw. Ibanez rules. I played my first in 1978, was kinda strattythingy. Bought my first one in 1981, an Ibanez Blazer. Fantastic instrument.
Back in November I got a dynamix 8 wiring harness off reverb and fitted it to an old MIK Ibanez rx20 with maple fretboard and strat style synchronized trem. Also swapped the pickguard to an SSS, as the AZES 31 only comes in a hardtail. It's definitely one of my favorites. Cheers 🍻
Whooops! Didn't realise the AZES31 was hardtail only - missed that. My bad 😬 I always fancied modding upgrading an RX - very cool guitars. I also loved the old RT's 😎👌
Thata a flash geetar with that switching :) goes nicely with that awesome playing ;) Looks like it punches well above its weight :) All we need now is the 12-14 radius n we're on ;)
Aww mate! Thank ya kindly 😀🙏 I'm pretty sure that Ibanez do this Dynamix 9 switching system on some of their other models, with the flatter radius too 😀👍 Not sure which ones though - or prices 😬
This is a great starter guitar because no matter what you get for your main guitar after thisz this is still a viable and tasteful backup. As far as guitars being "gigable" so long as a guitar can hold tuning and the electrics work, its gigable. I've seen pros gig some of the cheapest and rankest guitars and sound good on stage. Keep in mind whats good live will sound VERY different in a studio. Steve, I would keep this guitar and put in pickups you actually like.
That's a great point 😎👌- Yeah, it would be a great back up and always useful. I would definitely keep this and mod it - if I liked the neck - that's the most important factor for me. So instead I'm just gonna harvest it's best organs 🧑⚕️👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Steve, that's a decent plan. If I had one of these guitars I would make a few subtle changes but yeah, taking what you like and selling it on at a discount is good on ya!😉👍✨
Nice guitar overall but I'm not big on the switching system - I think it's overkill. I'd be inclined to do what I did with my 11 position S-style and convert it to a traditional 5 way system.
I hear ya 😎👍 That's why I love the Charvel Dk22 switching. All 5 of my favourite most useable tones 😁👍 But having an excess of HSS strats, I'm keen to put this switch in one of them. That way I can merit keeping it as it "does something different" 🙈
@@stevecassidyguitar Yeah, I understand. I only have one other Strat which is badly in need of a re-fret so doesn't get played much at the moment so my modded one fills the missing gap for me.
My 1983 Ibanez RS440 has a switch in the same location. I have no idea what it does apart from sound better in some positions than others . You've got me wondering if I should investigate. @9:15 " A lovely dayyyyyyyyyyy" ... I hope that's what you meant. @2:11 ooooh, ya beauty!
Thank ya mate! 😀🙏 I don't know if it will be the same switch if it's a stock 83. Unlikely, but would be interested to find out what that is too 😀. Happy investigating! 🕵️
@@stevecassidyguitar I have OCD, so the headstocks gotta match, so the AZ works for me, I love Ibanez, I even played a cool Ibanez semi-hollow not long ago and loved it.
I've tried this Ibanez in my local music shop not sure if they had it setup though since I didn't quite feel the neck in terms of playability but it's a good guitar...then I tried the jet js400 and for me the neck felt like butter...so ended getting the jet haha and thanks to your review videos about the jet..😊 quick question..how would you compare the jet js400 and this ibanez? 🙏
Thank ya mate! 😀🙏 Yeah I'd chose the JS400 too 😎👌 Just beacause it feels and sounds more like a strat to me. I prefer the roasted maple fretboard too. The Ibanez has a lot of very cool features and better hardware, but I didn't love the neck either.
I really appreciate the D’Addario strings stock- I’ve been playing guitar for 46 years, and have used pretty much every major string manufacturer out there. D’Addario are the only brand that has never failed me live, or in the studio. I can probably count the number of broken strings whilst playing on two hands, over 46 years of heavy metal craziness. Great, great brand. You don’t have to change them out due to going “dead” as much as Ernie Ball, and they don’t snap every time you bend a note, like GHS. They feel snappy, and bright. Love them. Solid string. You hear that, D’Addario? Send me a damned box- I’ve paid my dues…..
I used their classical guitar strings for a long time. Always reliable and consistent good quality, which is fantastic, but the tone is a bit meh. Good but colorless. I've tried d'addario on electrics and they're good, but I prefer elixir
@@ekisoderqvist i used Elixir when they first came out, and initially, i enjoyed playing them. But when i started recording at home, i found them lacking for distorted direct input guitar tracks. They ended up being a little too shrill in the 7-8k range, and it was something you couldn’t take out using EQ, without sacrificing clarity in the low mids. They’d end up being muddy. With the NYXL 09-46 set, i need to only have a slight 2k bump, and the guitars stand out perfectly in a heavy mix. I write mostly heavy rock/metal original music with a C-D dropped tuning. The muddies of the Eilixir strings clashed with the low mid of bass as well as the kick. Live, I’d imagine the elixirs would fare well, especially running a cabinet with midrange focused V-30’s… And, i noticed when using EMG’s, the harshness in DI recording seemed more pronounced. Of course, I’m not a professional engineer, your mileage may vary. I prefer slinky strings, and drop C tunings, so that is a factor, too. As a lefty, I’ve never found a proper classical that wasn’t 3 grand, so i don’t know anything about their nylons. For steel string acoustic, i think the Elixirs are great . I definitely use them on my regular and Nashville tuned woody’s
@@allendean9807 As a classical guitarist I'd definitely say on under 3k priced guitars it wouldn't make a huge difference anyway. D'addario would be good enough for 90% of the time and super reliable. Just for luthier built concert instruments you want that extra 10% when you're playing several hours a day and changing strings a lot anyways. I do know classical guitarists at very high levels who love D'addario, just not my thing. Agree with elixirs being great on steel string acoustics! That's how I got into them in the first place. I really like the feel of elixirs on electrics too, and that shrillness hasn't bothered me. Sounds more like clarity to me, but then again I play more clean and edge of breakup tones with the Line 6 Pod Go. That's something I've recently used for home recording, live situations, rehearsals and even in the studio (though in the studio the engineer preferred I bypass the amp modeler and just run my effects into a Fender Reverb, which did sound great). I've done DI recordings with the elixirs using AmpliTube and some of the cleaner Neural DSP plugins and in all of those situations the elixirs sounded good, to me. Maybe it comes down to taste, genre and the whole signal chain from pedals to interface to modeler/plugin and what effects you might have there. I do tweak my tones in the line 6 editor quite a bit so there's that, and tweaking your presets for exactly the tones you want is a never ending journey.
If anyone is interested in smaller scale s-type guitars with Low weight and modern neck joint and is not afraid of ceramic pus: the gear4music LA 3/4 is very interesting (24" scale like a Mustang).
@@stevecassidyguitar Those are available only with single coil pickups, a dark fretboard and with a fixed bridge. Like a lot of shortscale guitars, it is quite a difficult to intonate the Low E. But i love mine as it is very comfortable to play. In might change the bridge to a Mustang-style one.
I like the quirkyness of some details in the video. Altered Beast is a classic, but I never figured out that I could alter my beast, so I was never able to pass a certain level or boss, and I gave up. Anyway, cool guitar. It would have been a great first guitar for me back in the day. And second.
@@stevecassidyguitar My cousin and I rented Super Nintendo with a couple of games in 1995 and 1996. We lived in Sweden then, as we do now, but that might have been a thing elsewhere too. You rent a movie or two and a game or two over the weekend. Fun times!
Never had an Ibanez myself, I’ll probably get around to one at some point 😂,, that one looked and sounded great, you certainly rocked it at the gig , nice one 👍👍🤠🎸
@@stevecassidyguitar a mate of mine had one , long time guitarist ( since we were in school, way back in black and white 😂) not sure what model it was but he swapped out the electrics /pickups etc and it was an absolute monster of a thing , sounded brilliant, and took as much gain or effects as you could throw at it 😂, 👍👍🤠🎸
As an Ibanez fan i have found their entry level models to hit and miss, mostly miss. There are a few gems in the Gio range such as the GRG120QSP but you have to find a good sample as they are made in China and that is not good ! This one is not for me, that green tinted pickguard would have to go as would the T106 bridge is also a weak spot with it's skinny block. Ibanez are a brand that you need to go a bit further up the range to find out how good the better ones are.
@@stevecassidyguitar In other words, put it out of it's misery ! I have bought and tried to upgrade a few of the GRG models with mixed success. Ibanez are sods in that they use custom sized parts that are not easy to find replacements for without major surgery.
@@stevecassidyguitar Glad to help, i found out the hard way. You can't beat having a bog standard guitar that is built with off the shelf parts that are esay to find and upgrade.
Sounds good as you play it. I would be more interested if it had a different headstock. But that's a minor issue really. The 25" scale is interesting...
@stevecassidyguitar don't you think it's weird that in the 70 years since it was designed, NO ONE has come up with a better headstock design for a Strat style guitar than Leo Fender did? It baffles me. There are some that are ok, but not better. I like the headstock on my SX Strats and my Indio...but they are not as good as Fender's.
@@peskypesky In terms of aesthetics - I completelty agree! 😎👌 But in terms of function - I think the musicman 5/2 headstock is far superior. But it's not even half as cool as the Fender (strat) headstock 😎👌
Sorry mate. Hard to judge without seeing it and taking some measurements 😬 It depends where the buzzing is happening too. If it's on the lower frets, could be the nut or neck relief if it's on the higher frets it could be the bridge saddle height or a combination of both 😬🤷♂️ I'd probably start by loosening the truss rod a bit, to add more relief (this will make your "action" higher) then try to take it down a bit at the saddles. Also if you've changed gauge, the bridge could be at more of an angle. If that's the case you might need to adjust the trem springs. Take a note of any changes you make and if they improve/worsen the feel/buzz. For what it's worth... I have all of my guitars set up with low action and there is still buzzing. But that's just the price I'm happy to pay for lower action 😬🤷♂️
@@stevecassidyguitar thanks alot mate, i think it worth it if im the one who set up my guitar. Instead of bringing it to my local shop. Thanks again ..
@@johnvregantena159 I'd definitely recommend doing better research than listening to me though 😂 Phil McKnight's channel is fantastic for guitar set up stuff 😎👍
@@stevecassidyguitar I see they have a Sire X5 with a Floyd Rose etc but the S3 and S5 have various options and I would say are at least on par or better than the Squire Classic Vibes😏I would put my S7 up against any Fender even the US ones but it's definitely miles better than a Mexican Strat 🤘
@@markproctor3100 That's high praise for the Sire's mate. I think it's been 2 years since I tried anything new from Fender. I wouldn't be surprised that the Sire's are miles better than the last Fender offerings I tried though 😜
@@stevecassidyguitar I have a Fender player Strat I think they are nearly £800 now and the Sire S7 is about £500 easily as good in my opinion but definitely get yourself either an S7 S5 or S3 you seem to be a bit of a Strat lover like myself you'll love them😏🤘
@@stevecassidyguitar Possibly but the pickup cover look very white against the pickguard. Finding new ones for an RG / Jem are easy but probably not for this one.
@@Barbarapape Yeah that's it 👍 It would probably cost around £40 for a custom guard, but I'd pay it if I loved the neck. Pickguard colours are weirdly important to me 😂
Apologies - The Scale length is 635mm 😜 Butt nah you're totally right - Soz. I just get lazy - always against the clock to get these vids out. I have been thinking I should do that tho 👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Most of the stuff in Asda, Tesco or Sainsbury are in kilograms - not in pounds!!! This pissis me off that I have to convert it by 0.454kg
I don't speak french - old imperial is best I'm afraid , most Luthiers use imperial - as does Gibson / fender / Jackson / in fact anything made in the USA or Mexico
@@kouriparrish640 I always believed the Ibanez QC was/is good and consistant. But some people said otherwise on the Ibanez Livestream last night. So.. who knows 🤷♂ Certainly not me - I've not had enough of them over the years
@@stevecassidyguitar I e decided to move my jet js300 on the nut is cut incorrectly so when I play cowboy chords particularly anything on the high E or B string it sounds out of tune. I’m upset to say the least, unfortunately I’m not experienced enough or willing to take it apart to fix it. So it’s on all the selling sites. I’m now on the lookout for another budget guitar if you have any recommendations. Thanks Steve again keep up the great work 😀
@@dannysoul1396 Thank you mate! Sorry to hear about your Jet. and sorry for asking a stupid question you've probably already checked but... Have you tried adjusting the intonation from the saddles on the B & E strings? If not i'd definitely give it a go. It's a 5min screwdriver job and really easy 😀👍 I'd also consider changing the nut to a Graphtech tusq XL (as well as the string trees). I'd have a tech do the nut, as I'm useless at that stuff 🙈. You could always try your luck with a Jet JS400 (I think that's the better choice anyway, for the neck heel and 2 point trem). As for other recomendations... It really all depends what you like. There's tons of affordable options top chose from. I always recommend the Jets because that's just what I like 👍
The unconventional scale length is a big goof. Why spend time getting used to an instrument when about any other one is likely to pick elsewhere is going to feel foreign?
I don’t find that this is an issue. When people back themselves into a single scale length, they could be missing out on playing a really neat guitar. Most of the time, I’m not a giant fan of 25.5” because I have girly fingers that are shorter, but I have found ways to compensate so I can still enjoy them. I have also found that there is more to it that affects playability like nut width, shape of the neck, radius, etc. I’ve played shorts scale guitars that are less playable for me because they had wonky neck shapes or long scale that were more comfortable than a short scale because the nut width was narrower than most 25.5”-ers. 25” is a good middle ground for most people. The specs lead me to believe that it’s this is a great middle ground guitar that nearly anyone could get used to quickly. I encourage you to explore other scale lengths. Like I said, you could be missing out on some major gems. You’re also missing out on expanding your horizons- certain types of guitar necks are better for soloing while others are best for rhythm players. We will all always have a general fave, such as our friend Steve who prefers 9.25” radius on a 25.5” neck, and a thinner neck, but I’m sure that he has exceptions to that rule. And it clearly doesn’t stop him from trying them out in case he will enjoy them. Expand your horizons - try some new things instead of saying you’ll only play x, y, and Z! You may find you’re better at certain guitar skills than you thought. It will always take a little bit of minor adjustment time, but you might be able to play so many more cool guitars out there - usually takes a few days at the most to learn to adjust, and then it’s totally fun to see if you develop new magical powers! 😊👍🏻🎸😎
@@MashaT22 Aww Marsha! That was awfy nice of ya 🙏 Good advice 👍 Trying out a guitar a gig is a great test too - playing solid for 2 60-90min sets of varied stuff, chords leads etc Can show you a lot about what you can feel comfortable with 👍
That's the great thing about cheaper Ibanez guitars, it's almost a given that the owner is probably going to want to upgrade the pickups at some point. They build great guitars, just swap out the pickups, maybe hardware to your liking, and you're good. I own 7 RGs, I've replaced the pickups in all of them, no big deal.
@@scramblesthedeathdealer I change the pickups in almost every every guitar I get my hands on 🙈 Never thought I would turn into "that guy" - Quite ashamed of myself tbh 😂👍
