Ibanez S1520-FB Reviews 5

I found this Ibanez prestige series guitar at my local guitar center. I was there to get some strings but they were having a sale so go figure, i ended up with a guitar. It was used and then marked down further to $400, so i couldn't help myself. Last i checked these things retail for around 1,300 (you can usually get them for 1,000).

For starters, the looks of this thing are incredible. It has a figured bubinga top with a mahogany back, all of which is covered in a beautiful natural finish. The headstock even has a veneer of ebony with "prestige Ibanez" inlayed into it. I also like how the fretboard has but one inlay on the twelth fret, but thats just me. This guitar is also extremely slim its way under an inch wide. I also really like the features that were built into this unit. The neck is extremely thin, and the action can be made very low, so the playability is really good. Also, the split pickups gave a ton of sound options, and the trem system is of high quality and adds even more options when i'm playing. The locking nut keeps this thing in tune almost permanently.

Well, this guitar came with an interesting choice of pickups. They weren't bad, but I'm really not into ceramic magnet pickups and I'm a tone freak, so i swapped em out for duncans. Also tuning and changing strings can be a pain in the ass with the trem bridge, but you seldom need to tune, and i can deal with one annoyance in a guitar this great.

Made of the finest materials, the fretwork is perfect, the inlay is neatly done, none of the hardware has malfunctioned yet. If it does, it's my fault for replacing the pickups myself. some of the chrome on the hardware is rubbing off a little but the overal looks of it aren't affected, and hey, it happens.

The bottom line is, this guitar is great for a lot of things because of the tonal options it offers. It is sturdy, ballanced, and good looking. I don't know how I feel about some of the cheaper Ibanezs' quality, but their prestige series is good stuff. 5.

Aljo rated this unit 5 on 2003-11-27.

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