Funny, you basically changed everything I bought the AZ2204 for. I love not to worry about fret jobs anymore, I love the dynamic switching so I can get very different Tones out of the guitar. Just used it to get a tele sound without having one...
Yeah man, I know. It’s just how I work. I like simple and old school but with modern playability. So now this guitar gives me the best of both worlds, but I get that others may feel different. That’s why we should feel free to mod any of our guitars (except the vintage stuff), to make it work for our individual needs. Thanks for watching
Absolutely, make it your own! My take on stainless steel frets is they only sound zingy if they have a small crown radius with a narrow top area that touches the strings. Using a crowning file with a larger radius, like for jumbo frets, to flatten them a bit gets rid of the zing. Nickel frets can sound zingy too when they are brand new, but a small amount of playing wears them down to a flatter edge that sounds warmer. You can also adjust your fretting technique to press closer to the top of the fret to get a warm sound when using narrow frets or frets with a narrow crown peak. I also find that the bridge saddles effect the brightness of the guitar tone far more than the frets. Changing to Graphtech or bent steel saddles could be all that's necessary to warm the AZ up. Titanium saddles are the brightest I've ever tried. I love the durability of ss frets!
I did change the bridge saddles also and the change was very noticeable. Same with the frets - I’ve seen so many people say that stainless frets sound the same. Nope, I noticed a difference which I’d say was significant. But I also think it depends on the guitar, as some guitars could benefit from more zing.
The stainless frets comments were right on. Its one of the few things that affects the tone big time. The same thing on my suhr. The clickity click trebles are so annoying. The areas aee definitely the best of stacked noiseless. Great tone in the demo!!!
Thanks! Yes I was surprised by how much the tone changed when I went from SS frets to standard nickel. Maybe it’s just my guitar but I really noticed it - others say it doesn’t change much, but I’m not sure. Thanks for watching
@@NickGranville it's like speakers and cabs, huge changes. I guess people are very much into the Tim Henson kind of sound these days. I think he is a great player, but the tone is exactly like that stainless steel thing. Super compressed clicky chimy (In a octave droning kind of way). Definitely not my thing either.
Agree. That modern sound which is so prevalent just sounds thin and nasty to me. Maybe the SS frets are part of it but I also think those guys just don’t know a good tone. Ha. Sorry, I had to say it
@@NickGranville stainless frets, compression up the wazoo, digital cab sims, 5 chase bliss pedals + 4 Meris pedals...etc. i used to think "oh it's just the new generation sounding different", but it's really just thin and compressed cardboard in more ways than one.
Great re harmonizing of Hotel California too, did anyone notice that one then? Would be great to hear more about your thought process of re harmonizing stuff like that.
Hotel California was the same. No one noticed. All good though, they were having dinner, talking and catching up. I was there to provide background music (not something I do very often). Thanks
Agreed about the zingy-ness of the stainless steel frets. I've got a Charvel with stainless frets and there's a very noticeable difference in tone, and I can hear that same unmistakeable zing in UA-cam videos where the stock Ibanez AZ is used. Good to know about the Dimarzio Area pickups, thanks.
Yeah, I know people like the SS frets and I’m sure on the right guitar they work but for me on this AZ they just compounded to make it not what I’m after. It’s an easy fix as we’re the pickups etc
IMO you need to try EVO Gold frets (Jescar), hardness is between normal and SS, so better wearing than normal, yet without the zing you dread 😉 All my guitars will have them if possible. I love HS-2s with a controlled split at ca. 35 K Ohms, the noise is kept down yet it keeps the clear high end. Bill Lawrence L280s are very good, better clarity than the HS-2 without the controlled split. FWIW
Yeah it’s crazy how popular SS frets are and yet I don’t get why people like them so much. Maybe it’s just that I’m old school and so used to nickel frets but I can’t stand SS frets despite the advantages
I had some custom made for me (I showed them in Ep 37) They’re basically dunlop 1.14. Just had a custom design printed on them. For the longest time I used Dunlop Jazz III XL’s but switched in 2023 cause I couldn’t get any and got sick of it. Thanks for watching
Wondering why you bought it? I agree with modding, but you changed the bridge, pickups, wiring, refretted it?? 😂Maybe a different guitar would have been a better starting point.
@@kevinthompson4229 thanks. I’ve yet to play a guitar that was perfect from the get go. The neck and body are the most important things to me, everything else is easily changed. And this guitar has a stunning roasted maple neck. I didn’t change the bridge, just the saddles. Everything was fairly minor changes, except maybe the pickups, but what I swapped to wasn’t a world away from what came in it and I really wanted noiseless pickups
Your tha man Nick I love your mods especially the noise cancelling single coils Im a long time Ibanez owner and player cheers mate 🤎
Thanks man! Appreciate the kind words. Rock on 🎸
Funny, you basically changed everything I bought the AZ2204 for. I love not to worry about fret jobs anymore, I love the dynamic switching so I can get very different Tones out of the guitar. Just used it to get a tele sound without having one...
Yeah man, I know. It’s just how I work. I like simple and old school but with modern playability. So now this guitar gives me the best of both worlds, but I get that others may feel different. That’s why we should feel free to mod any of our guitars (except the vintage stuff), to make it work for our individual needs. Thanks for watching
Absolutely, make it your own! My take on stainless steel frets is they only sound zingy if they have a small crown radius with a narrow top area that touches the strings. Using a crowning file with a larger radius, like for jumbo frets, to flatten them a bit gets rid of the zing. Nickel frets can sound zingy too when they are brand new, but a small amount of playing wears them down to a flatter edge that sounds warmer. You can also adjust your fretting technique to press closer to the top of the fret to get a warm sound when using narrow frets or frets with a narrow crown peak. I also find that the bridge saddles effect the brightness of the guitar tone far more than the frets. Changing to Graphtech or bent steel saddles could be all that's necessary to warm the AZ up. Titanium saddles are the brightest I've ever tried. I love the durability of ss frets!
I did change the bridge saddles also and the change was very noticeable. Same with the frets - I’ve seen so many people say that stainless frets sound the same. Nope, I noticed a difference which I’d say was significant. But I also think it depends on the guitar, as some guitars could benefit from more zing.
The stainless frets comments were right on. Its one of the few things that affects the tone big time. The same thing on my suhr. The clickity click trebles are so annoying. The areas aee definitely the best of stacked noiseless. Great tone in the demo!!!
Thanks! Yes I was surprised by how much the tone changed when I went from SS frets to standard nickel. Maybe it’s just my guitar but I really noticed it - others say it doesn’t change much, but I’m not sure. Thanks for watching
@@NickGranville it's like speakers and cabs, huge changes. I guess people are very much into the Tim Henson kind of sound these days. I think he is a great player, but the tone is exactly like that stainless steel thing. Super compressed clicky chimy (In a octave droning kind of way). Definitely not my thing either.
Agree. That modern sound which is so prevalent just sounds thin and nasty to me. Maybe the SS frets are part of it but I also think those guys just don’t know a good tone. Ha. Sorry, I had to say it
@@NickGranville stainless frets, compression up the wazoo, digital cab sims, 5 chase bliss pedals + 4 Meris pedals...etc. i used to think "oh it's just the new generation sounding different", but it's really just thin and compressed cardboard in more ways than one.
Yep, totally agree.
i am a huge fan of gibson's 50's wiring. i really really like it.
Me too. That’s a good way to do it. Cheers
Nice crunch on the overdrive channel at 4:20 ..hmm...
Thanks
Great re harmonizing of Hotel California too, did anyone notice that one then? Would be great to hear more about your thought process of re harmonizing stuff like that.
Hotel California was the same. No one noticed. All good though, they were having dinner, talking and catching up. I was there to provide background music (not something I do very often). Thanks
Agreed about the zingy-ness of the stainless steel frets. I've got a Charvel with stainless frets and there's a very noticeable difference in tone, and I can hear that same unmistakeable zing in UA-cam videos where the stock Ibanez AZ is used.
Good to know about the Dimarzio Area pickups, thanks.
Yeah, I know people like the SS frets and I’m sure on the right guitar they work but for me on this AZ they just compounded to make it not what I’m after. It’s an easy fix as we’re the pickups etc
I've been enjoying your channel Nick, recently discovered it. Q: what Area pickup did you choose for the neck and middle, 58/61/67 ?
Thanks!
Thanks. 58 for neck and 61 in the middle. I think mostly cause that’s all I could get. Cheers
IMO you need to try EVO Gold frets (Jescar), hardness is between normal and SS, so better wearing than normal, yet without the zing you dread 😉 All my guitars will have them if possible. I love HS-2s with a controlled split at ca. 35 K Ohms, the noise is kept down yet it keeps the clear high end. Bill Lawrence L280s are very good, better clarity than the HS-2 without the controlled split. FWIW
Oh man, that sounds like an idea solution. Haven’t heard of them before. Next time I’ll be sure to look into them. Thanks
Could you please do a vid on mixing minor and major scales in blues. just trying to get my head round some stuff.
Good idea. Sure thing, I’ll add it to my list
I can't get into SS frets either! I hear the same thing you're describing and don't like it at all.
Yeah it’s crazy how popular SS frets are and yet I don’t get why people like them so much. Maybe it’s just that I’m old school and so used to nickel frets but I can’t stand SS frets despite the advantages
Hi ! Can you tell what pick you use ? 😐
I had some custom made for me (I showed them in Ep 37) They’re basically dunlop 1.14. Just had a custom design printed on them. For the longest time I used Dunlop Jazz III XL’s but switched in 2023 cause I couldn’t get any and got sick of it. Thanks for watching
Wondering why you bought it? I agree with modding, but you changed the bridge, pickups, wiring, refretted it?? 😂Maybe a different guitar would have been a better starting point.
@@kevinthompson4229 thanks. I’ve yet to play a guitar that was perfect from the get go. The neck and body are the most important things to me, everything else is easily changed. And this guitar has a stunning roasted maple neck. I didn’t change the bridge, just the saddles. Everything was fairly minor changes, except maybe the pickups, but what I swapped to wasn’t a world away from what came in it and I really wanted noiseless pickups