20 Best Wood For Electric Guitar (2023 Updated)

The research I did on trying to learn more about this instrument via general internet, YouTube, assorted standard Music Company’s like Sam Ash; Sweetwater; Guitar Center; Alamo; and other assorted Music Guitar critics provided a good array of opinions and product test results that produced a positive majority with impressive perspectives for the instrument I purchased.

The Fender American Acoustasonic Stratocaster Acoustic-Electric Guitar Cocobolo I purchased from Sam Ash was not a disappointment. Aside from the 10 different options of Guitar unique sounds it provides from Acoustic and Electric mixes.

The one-of-a-kind Cocobolo wood identifies a further fingerprint in supporting its own private one-of-a-kind signature sound with relationship to the Cocobolo wood unique to it alone. That just blows me away with how special the sound of specialty signature sound it produces with the ten different built in technical sounds the Fender Guitar company developed with this special edition.

I feel overwhelmed in learning to continue how to play this guitar. It allows me so many more possibilities with playing soft country to hard rock a really strong guitar enjoyment experience.

I had been dreaming about this guitar for a while before I finally was able to buy it. I wanted my very own “Gilmour strat. ” I went to the GC closest to me where they had one in stock, and spent about an hour playing the one they had and having the tech adjust it.

There were multiple buzzing problems on that one, and I finally gave up and didn’t buy it. I then went to a GC about an hour away where they had the same strat, and the floor model had issues too. I played one out of the box which was better, but since I bought it (about 2 months ago) I’ve noticed buzzing frets.

Not fret buzz, but the strings buzzed on certain frets. I’ve had multiple techs from multiple guitar stores look at it, and they can’t hear a thing but I know what I hear. GC workers are very belittling, they think I don’t know what I’m talking about.

In summary, I haven’t had it worked on in a while, but I do like the tone and feel. It’s a good guitar overall, should be better for the money, but the buzzing bugs me. Because of that I find myself playing my Squire Classic 50s Vibe Tele more often but I do not regret purchasing it.

This summer I am moving to Nashville, so hopefully there will be better guitar techs in Music City who will actually help me.

I started learning the guitar after retiring in March 2020. I began with a nice Acoustic guitar (also purchased at Guitar Center). After a while, I decided that I also wanted to learn how to play the electric guitar.

I bought a Squier Telecaster and then a Squier Stratocaster (Guitar Center). After upgrading the pickups, these guitars sounded fine to me (especially the Telecaster). During a later visit to Guitar Center, I picked up and played a Fender Player Stratocaster.

Even a beginner like myself immediately saw, felt, and heard the vast quality gap between the Fender Player and the Squier Strat. Fortunately it was on sale so I bought it. I am extremely happy with this guitar.

It even makes my 12 beginner strumming songs sound great and professional. My next step is to buy a Fender Player Telecaster when they go on sale. I know I probably don’t need all of these guitars, but they seem to be motivating me to practice at least an hour, every day.

That makes all of them worthwhile to me. A long-time guitar playing friend of mine said, “When it comes to buying too many guitars, there is no support group, only enablers. ” Everyone needs a vice and I’m happy with mine.

Ha Ha Ha.

I owned a Gibson Les Paul Custom for years that I finally wore out. I wanted another but couldn’t afford Gibson’s prices. Banking on Epiphone’s solid reputation, I went for their Les Paul Custom. After a few weeks of ownership, I was growing accustomed to and quite fond of this guitar until today when at rehearsal, I discovered one major flaw.

The frets on this guitar are “glue-in”, something many manufacturers have been doing for years to cut production costs. The frets themselves have no “tines” that normally fit into the slots in the fretboard.

These are usually okay if done properly, but over time, the frets have a tendency to come unglued and that can be a major problem. Today while playing, my high E string happened to “dive” off the fretboard after some pretty aggressive playing.

I thought the E string had disappeared. until I discovered that it had become hung up under one of the frets mid-neck! I had to stop playing and pull the E string out of it’s ‘trap’. Several minutes later it happened again.

Then after a few bends, the string broke. obviously weakened at that point by the catch under the fret. The real bad news is, it’s going to take a good luthier to straighten out this problem, either by re-glueing or a total fret job using tined frets which will cost easily half the price of the guitar.

Fortunately, I had just installed a Stew-Mac Roller bridge with adjustable string spacing that allowed me to move the high E further away from the fretboard edge. a ‘band-aid fix’ of sorts now, but I’m wondering what’s to become of this problem a year or two from now.

Other than that, this is a pretty nice instrument. Maybe I just got a bad one. I don’t know, but I felt it important to share this knowledge and experience.

I’m an experienced guitarist owning higher-end Taylor, RainSong and Manuel Rodriguez acoustics, and electrics including a Rickenbacker 12-string, Fender Tele, a PRS Custom 24 and a Gretsch hollow body.

I bought this one simply to have it autographed by a Canadian band that’s putting on a concert at my church next month. Their guitarist plays an Epiphone Les Paul Studio, so I got this because it looks similar to his and doesn’t cost much, so will keep it as an autographed souvenir on my wall with other autographed instruments I have.

When I got it home, I plugged it into my electric practice amp, expecting very little in terms of sound and performance; was just curious. Wow, was I ever wrong. Granted, this little Epiphone Special-I doesn’t play/sound like the more expensive instruments, and there is a little flaw where the headstock meets the neck (only cosmetic).

But I absolutely did not expect it to sound and play anything like it does. Dad and Mom: If you’re looking for a really good starter electric guitar for a kid learning to play, this one is far, far better than the starter instruments I learned on when I was in middle school (in the late ’60s).

I have to say that this Epiphone Special-I performs more like a $500-$750 instrument. I’m still in shock at how it plays for the price; having trouble putting it down. I’m not kidding. No fret buzz, bars easily, super clean sound-every string.

Quality to Price Ratio is way up there.

I bought my LP Custom BlackBack on sale at G. C. last week, so I realize that I may still be in the Honeymoon phase, but this is a really GREAT guitar. Upon arrival the finish was nearly flawless, and the guitar played great.

All I needed to do was change the horrible factory strings, oil the Ebony fretboard, lower the action a hair and raise the neck pickup slightly. The neck has the perfect amount of relief, the nut is cut very well and the electronics work smoothly and quietly.

Even the intonation was good. Although I’m not the biggest fan of these ProBucker pickups, they look so good with the Gold open-faced covers and Gold pole pieces that I’m leaving them in. Besides, these days I play with so many effects that they’ll sound good regardless.

They call this neck a Slim Taper, and it also feels great. Not as fat as what I’m used to in my old Gibson LP Traditional, but very comfortable without being too thin. What surprised me was that this particular LP Custom features Coil-Splitting on both pickups via Push/Pull volume knobs.

I would think that they’d advertise this little bonus. I actually prefer the split tone on the neck pickup. I had owned the 2020 Silverburst Custom and it didn’t have this feature. As far as I can tell this is the only one new LP Customs with coil splitting.

The Grover tuners work very well also, as expected. And lastly, the looks. If the Les Paul Custom is the best looking guitar ever made (which it is), then this Blackback model raises that bar considerably.

Everyone that I’ve shown this guitar to says the same thing, “Oh wow, that’s beautiful”, which it really is. I’m an older player and have owned hundreds of guitars over the years, some of them were high end.

I would hold this LP Custom up to any of those guitars. And for the money, it’s a no-brainer. Import guitars have come a long LONG way since I’ve started playing in the late 70’s, and this is a perfect example of that.

If this guitar were ever to be lost or stolen, I’d by another.

I have had this guitar for about a month now. From the first day, I have absolutely loved this guitar. The included Seymour Duncan pick ups sounds amazing and the push/pull function gives you a nice range of voices.

Everything about the build of this guitar feels amazing. The neck and the frets are smooth and well cared for, the quality of the hardware is top shelf. If you want a Les Paul, just forget about Gibson.

This is what you want, of course there are many versions of this guitar, Any one of the EC-1000’s are great, but the finish on this one is pretty outstanding in person.

This thing is great. Light weight, fit and finish are excellent. The mint green pick guard gives it that 60s look. Feels great in hand. These Fender p 90s growl with a bit of overdrive. Although a bit pricey I think, I do like it.

It wouldnt be my only Stratocaster though. This is not to replace an SSS Strat. This is a totally different sound in my opinion. Shop around they can be had much cheaper than list if you find the right dealer.

I have 4 other strats besides this one, 2 MIM and two squires and I was always hesitant to spend the money on an American strat, but after purchasing this guitar I wish I had gone American far sooner! The construction is amazing! The neck is smooth and fast and fits beautifully in the pocket.

The finish is awesome, and should age beautifully. The pickups and electronics check all those classic strat boxes. I have hot noiseless pickups in my MIM strat and these blow those out of the water.

All in all this is an amazing guitar and, though I have 20 guitars, this is quickly becoming a favorite! You won’t be disappointed.

Pros – To my own personal taste, these things play phenomenal. The neck makes the guitar for me. It’s thin and wider than what I’ve always been used to on my MIM Strat. The frets are quite a bit wider and more forgiving.

The color of the body and the color of the neck and fretboard make this thing beautiful in person. Pictures don’t do it justice. It’s a sea foam green, with a hint of blue in person. It doesn’t have your typical Strat sound.

My friend described it to me as somewhere between a typical single coil and a p90 when he heard it. People have called the pickups somewhat flat and dull, but I’ve gotten quite a bit of sparkle out of the pickups with just an eq pedal.

I’m not much of a tremolo guy, but it seems to be well made, however I’ll be switching to a 5 spring setup in the next few days so it’ll basically be null and void anyway. Cons – I would absolutely give this guitar 5 stars if it wasn’t for a few issues I ran into.

The set screws in the back of the headstock that go through the tuning peg plates were drilled and screwed in at an angle and weren’t tightened very well. Tightened them all LIGHTLY and broke the G string screw off into the headstock.

Had to drill it out, dowel the new hole and redrill and put in a new screw. Could’ve filed a claim, but I liked the guitar too much to send it back and I knew I could fix it myself. Other little things are the setup wasn’t the best and pretty much all of the nut slots needed work to either stop various strings from binding or notes going sharp.

If you’ve read this far I’ll tell you something else. Before I bought this I went into my local GC and played several monetarily comparable Fender Strats. Player Series and the Deluxes. This thing kills them.

I picked up EIGHT different ones and every single one had QC issues and felt horrible. I do not want to knock Fender in any way because my first electric guitar was my MIM Strat from around 2004 and I love it.

However, at the price point, I’d recommend the Schecter just from my own personal experience.

If you are looking for a great super strat to cover every musical ground, this is it! This ax plays like a dream. Don’t get fooled, because it was assembled in Indonesia. The construction is solid, and the fretwork is well done.

Schecter has strict production standards for all its factories. This guitar sounds and feels USA made and has custom shop features like a graphite nut, roasted maple neck and fretboard, brass ring inlays (really like this!!), Schecter looking tunners and 2 point trem.

The Nick Johnston diamond pickups are great and really like them as they are and don’t plan to upgrade for now. It stays in tune really well. I really enjoy the well balanced tone this guitar has and can play literally everything.

And yes it does metal. The knobs are well placed and how I like them 1 volume and 1 tone control plus the split coil just adds to the versatility of this instrument. And last but not least it looks beautiful in person.

I have 30+ years of playing experience and highly recommend this guitar. Now I want the green one🤩.

I’ve had this guitar for a few weeks now and I’m thoroughly impressed with it. A very clean design that has many of the feature’s that I would have included if I had designed my own like a side mounted jack and one tone knob to control all three pickups.

I always disliked the “traditional” front mounted jack and two tone controls with no tone knob connected to the bridge pickup. Speaking of the pickups they have a slightly modern sound to them without venturing too far from vintage territory.

If you’re a purist who wants that 50’s/early 60’s Strat tone they might not be to your liking but I find them perfectly usable. Maybe someday I’ll consider replacing them with a set of pickups from the USA version of this guitar but I’m in no hurry.

The tremolo is setup well and seems to be made with quality parts. I suspect that is part of the reason this guitar sustains so well. I’ve owned a lot of Strat’s over the years from Fender American Ultra’s to lowly imports that nobody has ever heard of and this guitar has more sustain than any of them nearly matching my Les Paul.

If you had told me that an S-style guitar could have this kind of sustain I would have thought you a fool. But hearing is believing. The body has a great resonance to it and the locking tuners are nice and smooth.

The Graph Tech nut is a nice addition. There are no rough edges to the frets all the way up to 22 and the strap buttons are nice and large. I usually replace the later with Dunlop strap locks on my guitars but the strap is hard enough to get off when you’re trying to so I doubt there’s much chance of it slipping off accidentally.

Out of the box the setup was pretty good. It needed minor adjustments but that’s to be expected of import guitars that have no doubt spent their existence in shipping containers and warehouses before getting to you.

Overall I’m very pleased and would gladly recommend it even at $200-300 more than I paid for it.

This guitar is really great. I’m not sure why anyone would pay more for the professional after playing this, unless they want a fatter neck and different sounding pickups. I really like the pickups in this, they are very modern and warm sounding to me.

not very vintage other than being low output. they definately are not very hot. I’m comparison my PRS core 24 guitar is much brighter sounding. Tone is kind of mix between my Gibson Les Paul and my custom 24.

which is nice. Sounds really warm clean and fat in overdrive. I also have a 59s CV telecaster which is significantly brighter with more bite. You wouldn’t think they were both telecasters they both sound so different.

I’m glad this has three saddles versus six. I realized you can get better intonation with six but with six you lose brightness and resonance. I actually prefer this size neck over the professional too.

and the body finish and everything is just as good as the pro. But you definately have to choose the tone and feel you like. I bought mine used with a hard case at GC. so maybe if I needed a hard case the professional may be worth the added cost.

but again I prefer the thinner neck and three saddles. and the pickups on this guitar. I do wish the pickups had a little more output though. Other than that I can’t think of a better guitar at any price point.

and that’s coming from someone who has much more expensive guitars than this one. I also prefer this to my American standard stratocaster but for some genres of music you really need the quack of a strat.

and starts sound great for lead playing too. But for rythym playing I’m take a tele any day. My classic vibe 50s is epic to. just as any expensive tele. but again it’s much brighter and not as warm. so really depends on the tone you are after.

but CV build quality and pickup clarity is phenomenal. at least on mine. I almost like the balanced tone of this performer better than on my custom 24 but I like the snap on my custom 24 better. but sound and feel this performer is on par with my custom 24 and about $3k cheeper.

so killer deal. Of course you don’t get the fancy PRS flame top but I like the simplicity of this guitar. and I appreciate fender not needing to put fancy tops, neck binding, etc just to be considered a great guitar.

Gibson is a joke that way. but I do own one too lol. I do have slight fret buzz on e-string. which is also present on my American fender stratocaster. My expensive PRS guitars never ever have this problem.

so just something to note. But you can always send it back for a replacement at GC if you get a lemon.

Love the satin finish and the rosewood fretboard was beautiful once I put enough oil onto it. *really dry. Fretwork was rough at best, my MIMs and Squires were better out of the box. The fret edges caught my hand on both sides plus I could see scratches on the frets 7 – 12, really rough on bends.

The action was high, but neck relief was good. I’ll change the strings soon and file/roll the fret ends as well as deeply polish the frets. Plays nicely and I can see this becoming one of my top three to pull down from the hanger and play.

While the setup was sub-par, the electronics were well done – great pups and pots.

Overall: I received mg SG yesterday, intiatially I was going to wait awhile to write this review until I’ve really had a chance to bond with it but it’s already happened. I chose the Heritage Cherry, and I’m really glad that I did because it just shows off how aesthetically beautiful that this instrument really is.

I could not find a flaw at all on it anywhere. It literally is perfect, the hardware was also snug and everything well aligned. I’ve been hesitant to buy anything new from Gibson because of the horror stories that I’ve heard about their past issues.

Definitely not the case with this one at all. Setup right out of the box was low and is exactly where I would’ve want it set at anyways. From the pickups to the action everywhere on the neck it is absolutely flawless and is the easiest playing guitar I have by far.

I own an 1988 Les Paul Custom, 1972 Fender Strat, 2011 Fender Telecaster and a 2020 PRS Custom 24. Speaking of well playing, this guitar is resonant AF not even plugged in. Was worried it’d be rather lifeless due to the low weight of the guitar but I was wrong.

Plugged in, she is a beast. Loud and articulate. Sounds fantastic and the controls are so responsive. All in all, I am so happy with this buy and can’t wait to get another Gibson in the future hoping I have the same luck.

Only thing I am not happy with is getting a gig bag for such a high end instrument. I mean, it’s useable but it should definitely come with the SG hard case. Buy this guitar!.

Overall: I’ve owned a number of SG guitars in my long, over extended life, and my First cost $200 with case included, the year being 1971. Pete Townshend was smashing them on stage with The Who, by the dozen in his White Jump Suit, back then.

Mine was the P90 version, bought by my Dad at the time, as a birthday gift. My grandfather paired me up with a 50wt small head Marshall and 8-10” matching cab. At my tender young age, I didn’t really know what I had.

But, I soon found out with a little reputation as the guy with the “English sound. ” Best Axe and Amp combo I’ve ever had! That Marshall cost my grandfather all of $650 with vinyl cover to boot! Of course that too was an astronomical amount of cash back then.

Anyway, I would never pay $1999 for a Gibson SG today. I’d rather go with the Epiphone variety, which I have been for a number of years. This ‘61 SG Standard appears to have alot going on for itself from the few reviews I’ve read, but I suppose they’re only a few because many guitarists don’t want to spend that kind of bread either.

If you care about prestige, “vintage” type of guitars, knock yourselves out! Enjoy!.

WELL, I JUST GOT MY NEW GRETSCH GUITAR AND I AM A LITTLE BIT SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE STRINGS AND, THE KEEPING IT IN TUNE SO, I PLAN TO REMOVE THE BAR AND, CHANGE IT OUT TO A NEW PRODUCT I FOUND ONLINE ” BRICKS BIG FIX BAR” FOR $59.

00 AND, IT KEEPS YOUR GUITAR IN TUNE MUCH LONGER THAN THE PAST, YES, IT WORKS GREAT! ADDITIONALLY, I HAVE CHANGED MY GUITAR STRINGS TO A NEW SET OF ELIXIR 10-46 GUITAR STAINLESS STEEL STRINGS AND, MY GOODNESS, WHAT A TRANSFORMATION TO MY NEWEST ADDITION OF MY GUITARS, I HAVE OVER 13 GUITARS AND, MY FAVORITE ONE IS STILL MY GRETSCH 5230T GUITAR BUT, THIS ONE IS NEXT IN LINE FOR THE CROWN? I GOT THE GEORGIA GREEN AND, I LOVE THE COLOR VERY MUCH.

IT PLAYS CLEARLY AND, IT’S MY NEXT TO MY FAVORITE ONE! THE KNOBS ARE MUCH BETTER THAN THE ONES IN THE PAST, W/0 ANY SQUELCHES OR ANY HINT OF SCRATCHY SOUNDS WHEN YOU TRY TO TURN THE KNOBS! THAT’S WELL WORTH THE MONEY RIGHT THERE IN MY OPINION! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS GRETSCH GUITAR AS THEY HAVE DONE A GREAT JOB ON THE ENTIRE GUITAR UPDATE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE HOLLOW BODY DESIGN! THE PICK-UPS ARE EXCELLENT TOO, I KNOW THAT I SHOULD SAY A LOT MORE ABOUT THE PICK-UPS BUT, I THINK THAT GOES W/0 SAYING IF YOU READ THE DESCRIPTION OF THE GUITAR BEFORE YOU BUY IT! BE SURE THAT IF YOU CHANGE ANYTHING AT ALL, YOU FORFEIT YOUR WARRANTY ON THE GUITAR? I THINK IT WAS A GOOD DEAL TO CHANGE THE THINGS I DID? I GUESS IT’S UP TO THE OWNER OF THE GUITAR? TO ME, IT’S WELL WORTH THE COST OF THE WARRANTY! (BRICKS BIG FIX BAR) KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK GRETSCH GUITARS!.

THIS IS MY 3rd. GRETSCH GUITAR AND, I’M VERY CRITICAL ABOUT IT! IT DOES PLAY SMOOTH AS SILK BUT, IT HAS A TWINGY SOUND SO, I’M GOING TO CHANGE THE GUITAR STRINGS TO A NEW SET OF ELIXIR 10-42 GUITAR STRINGS FOR THE BEST SOUND IN MY OPINION! LET’S BE HONEST ABOUT THIS ONE, IT WILL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS MY GRETSCH 5230T GUITAR AGAIN, IN MY OPINION! BUT, I THINK IT HAS A LOT OF POTENTIAL IF I DO MAKE THE MINOR CHANGES OF THE STRINGS.

I GUESS I HAVE A HIGH STANDARD OF THE GRETSCH GUITARS? TO BE FAIR, IT’S A GREAT DEAL FOR THE MONEY AND, IT CAME PACKED UP VERY WELL JUST AS USUAL BY THE WAREHOUSE GUYS WHO ALWAYS DO A GREAT JOB. I’LL KEEP YOU POSTED ON MY GUITAR UPGRADE AS SOON AS I GET IT DONE! THE BEST THING ON THIS GUITAR IS THE PICK UPS, AND, THEY ARE GREAT! GRETSCH SOUND JUST AS USUAL EXCELLENT FROM THE GRETSCH COMPANY, AKA FENDER GUITAR’S! I STILL LOVE THAT GREAT GRETSCH GUITAR SOUND! IT HAS A LOT OF GREAT KNOBS FOR TUNING UP THE GUITAR AND, IT HAS A LOT OF OTHER GREAT FEATURES LIKE THE 4 ADJUSTABLE KNOBS FOR THE VOLUME AND, THE TONE, THE BASS-BACK (MY LITTLE WORD) FOR THE GREAT GRETSCH GUITAR SOUND? I REALLY LIKE THE WAY THEY DID THE FACE ON THE FRONT OF THE GUITAR IN MY FAVORITE COLOR GEORGIA GREEN, WITH A BLACK GUITAR GAURD ON THE FRONT OF THE GUITAR! OVERALL, I REALLY LIKE THE GUITAR AFTER I CHANGE THE STRINGS! MY CHOICE IS THE ELIXIR GUITAR STRINGS, FOR THE MONEY YOU CAN’T GO WRONG! I TRIED TO UPLOAD A PICTURE TO NO AVAIL?.

That ubiquitous question; “if you could only have 1 guitar, what would it be?” For me was never a PRS. I’ve played for 30 years and repaired & built them for 20. I was well aware that they are about as close to perfectly built as you’re ever likely to find, but there was just “something(s)” that I didn’t get from them that I did with Fender and Gibsons.

Was it the design, tonal character (or lack), the scale? At times one or the other, or all. My only real gripe about PRS beyond the insane cost has always been, and continues to be their control layouts.

On instruments that are as well designed and built as you can get, why do they choose the controls like they do?The CU22/24 with 2X humbuckers, master volume and master tone was always an overly limited design.

Strats and Teles I’m okay with master volume, but dual HBs I need a volume for each. They use 3 controls with the DGTs, why they still don’t on the others is baffling. Master volume on a solid body is a pain in the neck, but using them on Hollow/semihollow guitars are inexplicable.

Plenty of Gibson players use Les Pauls or SGs as well as a 335. While they may spend 90% of the time on the LP in the neck or bridge position, those same players more than likely use the 335 in the middle position and control what they’re putting out with the volume controls.

That isn’t even possible on the HB, HB 1, HB 2s. And if you get the Piezo model with the additional volume control, it looks like it’s position was decided by getting drunk and blindly throwing a dart at it and deciding to put it wherever the dart happened to hit, it’s way off to the side.

Other issue with HB is that if you’re looking for something different from a 335, but in the same park tonally, you’re probably not going to get what you want from the HBs. While they’re fully hollow, the body is so small that there’s not all that much volume (as in measurements, not audio volume) to give you that same amount of warm midrange and smooth attack you get from 335s and various copies.

Many describe them as giving the best of the both worlds of solid/hollow, but I’ve always found it the opposite. The McCarty 594 HB-II on the other hand not only gets into the running of “if you could only have 1,” question, it might possibly be the winner.

The Gibson control layout is a HUGE improvement. The fact that this model is more of a “semi: semihollow,” gives it it’s own category. The , Gibson style 2-piece stoptail bridge required a larger area to be anchored to, so they put a solid block that runs from just between that bridge pickup and bridge, and it goes right to the end of the body; half of a Semihollow.

This makes it more of a solid body with it’s own warm, rich tone than it is of a semihollow with more of a faster and brighter attack you find in solid bodies. I’ve played and heard these played in music you would never find the fully Hollowbody I & II.

I’ve heard it played through a high gain metal tone and it was able to stay tight enough for the chugging, but also have that acoustic ring through a clean amp. They recently released these in a 24 fret model.

I’ve never been a 24 fret player, I spend a lot of time in the neck position and I don’t like the affect repositioning the pickup closer to the bridge does to the tone, but there’s plenty of people who do like them so it’s a good option.

IMO this is the best production line model they are making, Maybe that one John Mayer plays with the narrow field in the middle is better, I’ve only seen pictures of it though.

This instrument is exquisite. Top-notch build quality and tone. According to the pros, these PAF-style pickups resemble those of a ’59 Les Paul. The single-coil tones are balanced and offer additional versatility.

The humbuckers sound warm and woody compliments of the hollow body construction. I purchased this guitar one month ago and fully meets and/or exceeds my expectations. American Musical offers excellent and fast service along with flexible payment plans.

The instrument was professionaly packed and shipped arriving factory-fresh and in mint condition.

I have a faded blue Prs 509 for awhile now and love it. The quality of everything is top notch. It is not s Gibson nor a Fender. Its it’s own and should not be compared to any other guitar. It has 5 509 pickups which are setup in a hsh format and two coil taps as well, allowing for 9 different tones.

With all that in mind it can sound like many different premium brand guitars with the options built in to this model. The neck is a joy to play as well.

I had one of the first series AZ back in 2019, a Premium model, which was very good although there were some things I didn’t like that much or were not my cup of tea. The veneer was not to my liking, the pickups although good was a bit hot to my taste and liking, and no idea if it’s the basswood body or the constructions difference, but when playing unplugged it didn’t resonate as much, although plugged in was totally fine (but I tend to play unplugged as well so I look for guitars I enjoy playing unplugged too) Then I decided to go to a traditional strat and later on I went for a Suhr Guitar.

Suhr is fantastic in every way. I sold my Suhrs because I was looking for a more vintage style strat but then decided wanted again a kind of superstrat HSS more modern sounding to replace a PRS I’m selling that it’s great but a bit too much for me, and want a more player guitar.

I was thinking on the Suhr, but then I saw the 2021 Ibanez AZ with rosewood and tortoise pickguard, covered humbucker, and less hotter pickups and wow, this guitar was perfect for what I was looking.

Looks very classy, I got the blue one, single-coils sound great, very good clarity (not vintage style like my other strat, but I like that because they complement very well and serve 2 different purposes), the humbucker is great for rock, hard rock and like 80’s rock (I’m not into extreme metal so not looking for that sound).

And unplugged this Prestige resonates well, different than the premium I had, so unplugged sounds alive, and like these pickups much more than the Hyperion (but that’s my personal preference) Neck is a bit thinner than the Suhr I had, but for a more modern approach is very nice and comfortable.

I have no issues going from my 50’s neck les paul back to the Ibanez AZ. And quality is there. Pros vs the Suhr, is that it has roasted maple that I really like, and the 9 switch sound options, that for me having the neck and middle parallel is like having a neck humbucker which is really awesome, what a versatile guitar.

And of course the price! Pros on the Suhr is that those really are on the top of their game in quality and pickups I liked the Suhr ones a bit more. And the neck on the Suhr is fantastic. This doesn’t mean the Ibanez is bad, on the contrary, I’m very very pleased and happy with the Ibanez, is more than enough for me, and even though the Suhr is amazing and overall I give them the edge over the Ibanez AZ, the AZ is top quality guitar too as well and I don’t have the need to go for a Suhr with this AZ.

Build quality is great, materials used and craftmanship makes perceived quality very impressive. But for some reason it doesn’t hold tuning for too long, especially if I’m doing bends or using the tremolo.

Nothing too aggressive (a few full note bends) can make tuning go away very significantly in the middle of the song. Very frustrating. I had a 1998 UV777, also made in Japan with similar quality (perhaps AZ24047 is even better), but it used to hold tuning! The difference, I’m thinking are the locking tuners.

UV777 had a Floyd-rose locking nut set and it was flawless. AZ has locking tuners. I read great reviews about that system but I’m thinking this is not the best for 7 string guitars? And yes, I know how to use that.

I’ve owned this guitar for 5 months now and am still trying different things to make it work better, but so far I’ve been very frustrated and cannot rely on it. On a side note, not as frustrating, it is great that there are so many pickup combinations but the output volume is not well balanced at all.

I hadn’t picked up an Ibby in years and I bought this guitar without being able to play it first (thanks, Covid). I was expecting a shredder. I was surprised when I plugged it in. It sounds like a hot strat and DEFINITELY not a shredder.

I love it. It might be the most versatile guitar I’ve played. It goes from blues to hard rock. It can’t quite reach heavy metal territory but that can be changed with new pickups. I’ll probably leave the stock pickups in, as I have other guitars for shredding/heavy metal.

I’m glad I went with the matte (non-glossy) sea foam green. It looks pretty sweet with the roasted maple neck. I was also surprised by the neck. It is not a typical Ibanez thin neck. It feels like a 60s strat neck.

This is the first guitar I’ve had with stainless steel frets, and I’m not going back! String bends are so much smoother and it just feels nice. So if you’re looking for a thin neck shredder, this is not it! But it is a versatile guitar that is great for everything else.

Every player has different needs and hands (size/dexterity), and this guitar has become my absolute favorite. I love the pickups and being able to roll between single-coil and humbucker, and the areas between This plays the way I wanted it to.

As a kid, I was lucky to get a squier, and I dreamt of a sweet offset guitar that would feel better (heavier) in my arms and sound less thin. This guitar is the guitar I was dreaming of and have wanted for years.

The versatility is what I love most. I mix it up, but for jamming I like to dial in two tones and use the switches to isolate them. Makes for fun loops and recording. One is for aggressive rock rhythm, and the other for leads that are bright and full of punch.

When set at single-coil, these pickups nail strat tone perfectly, as well as Jaguar clean-tone. The pickup knob allows for blending that I can’t live without. I got the brightest strings I could, went up to 12’s and it hurts like hell but I sound like Stevie Ray Vaughn.

if SRV played way worse and only knew 3-4 scales. The neck size allows for intense bending, I’ve played Fender guitars my whole life, and for my tastes and handshape, this is my favorite guitar I’ve owned.

I’m considering buying a Jazzmaster or another Jaguar and selling my Tele and Strat, that’s how much I love playing this. Every guitar from now on needs.

My wife got me this guitar for Christmas and it has more than exceeded my expectations. I had a Fender Jaguar MIJ candy apple red back in the early 90s and it ended up missing. I’ve been waiting for a guitar like that again as it was my absolute favorite guitar to play.

I saw this one online and told her this is the one I’d like to have to replace my other Jaguar. I LOVE the tone on these as they give so much depth to the mid and high ranges. The notes just ring so much depth.

I must say it sounds even better than I remembered. The matching headstock is another positive for me and sold the look of the guitar. While the tremolo is a little different than I remember (tremolo bar screws in vs push into place) it is probably a better thing that it is that way now.

American Musical has always shipped our orders in a few days and didn’t disappoint my wife when it showed up just a few days after ordering and was ready to play directly out of the box. I would recommend this guitar to anyone who wants that perfect surf punk sound.

The quality of the Alder finish and components is great. I love the vintage style tuners and the trem. Pick ups sound awesome and the range of sounds is fantastic. However the guitar arrived with the bridge set so low that there was fret buzz all over the neck and notes were fretting out when bending below the 12th fret.

Fretboard was dry and the truss rod looks like it needs tightening a little. I would recommend the guitar as the quality of what you get is great. You just may need to be prepared to spend time setting it up or taking to a Luther if the one I received is how they are generally sent out.