The switching system and pups are the best features on the AZs... they are coil taps not splits. Allows for partial coils to be played without a volume drop. Most humbuckers can't achieve a true coil tap but they had done so with these custom made pups which they say were specifically designed for this guitar and are not sold anywhere else. I just bought one and the tap modes truly sound amazing and can replace my strat.
Hey Sam ! Love all of your content youre truly making this bad boy shine SO I really need your help dude! Specifically for the "Ibanez AZ 224F " you demoed this one beautifully and although it passed the test (- yes it sounded as good as it looked for sure ) BUT I have to know for the money how does it really compare to prestige or other Ibanez model for the features does this one kill it ? This is probably the hardest comparison to make so to speak cause unlike say sterling jp vs ebmm jp6 these have very very few differences the SOUND and FEEL appear to be equal because the roasting is only a smidge different and the hyperion pickup pairing is virtually the same ! (IM after the HSS models specifically but also considering your model the tequila burst if HH setup can perform just as well!). Is there really a huge sound difference or difference in whammy bar stability between the premium and prestige ? after all the premium is still gotoh steel does but does your whammy bar hold up with abuse? LASTLY from your end of the camera can this HH AZ model mimic strat - neck pickup tones minus the annoying 60 cycle hum even tho there are 24 frets? Im at that cross road because I want this model but its the one time I dont want to pay for the top shelf prestige AZ cause to me blind test with a premium like yours and I probably would not be able to spot or really feel a difference! Ive only been able to play the AZ 224F very briefly one came through my local store but there was no prestige model to shoot it out against so here I am wondering what your verdict is on this premium not so budget friendly axe. Hope to hear from you soon and im sure a bunch of others too who are struggling between choosing one haha thanks cheers!
Hey Adam! I'd say the difference in price point is larger than the difference in the guitars. The Premium is nearly half the price and generally does have the same feel and the bridge and locking tuners hold beautifully. There also is a very minimal sonic difference. That being said, the Japanese models have a certain feel and consistency with the trem which is what I would say is the biggest difference between the guitars, although the Premium still functions very well. For the price point, I would say it is the closest thing to a "Super Strat" like a Suhr or Tom Anderson style guitar. The HH also splits very well, but having an HSS with a single coil closer to the bridge gives a bit more "twang" or top end presence. Hope this helps! S
Samuel Jacobs Samuel Jacobs Sam. Thank you seriously THANK YOU for such an honest and timely response I'm pleasantly surprised by what you had to say here! That's great to hear that this guitar doesn't fall victim to the usa, mij or indo smoke and mirrors and that the consistency is present across the board with only slight variations like we've both said the whammy bar being the biggest in terms of its parts. The HH config does look and sound quite versatile as well you wouldn't except any humbucker in the world to be able to split coils too convincingly yet these sound like they do the job well. I'll save you my backstory but I'm going to have to drive a little over an hour to the only long and macquade relatively near me that stocks BOTH a premium and prestige models, so the a and b ING will be done and hopefully I'll leave with a winner and if I don't then I'm taking my budget and getting a used suhr off reverb. However I have to say no matter what I walk out with indo, mij or usa I feel like either is a great axe finally Ibanez made a rock solid premium model with all the high end appointments you've demoed them all beautifully and if I could buy them all I would but the tequila sunrise and blue ice HH for the prestige are my favorite! ***On that note you're a MONSTER PLAYER my friend and I enjoyed this demo and your schecter demos I immensely Sam ! PLEASE do tell (if you can re watch this video and tell me) EXACTLY what riff you're playing on the tequila sunrise model? Sounds heavy slippery and very groovy going to guess an intervals or maybe polyphia tune or even your own? Please confirm if possible??? same with the final riff on the RG! Anyways thank you again for your demo and honest opinion! With this being such a new model I'm sure this helped anyone else out there who is trying to de mystify both premium. And prestige ranges and how they compare to other axes cause 1800 +is alot of dough to drop on a guitar that in some ways sounds too good to be true. My verdict is that it sounds too good to be true in the best way possible and I need to just buy one now hahah cheers from niagara falls Canada mate! - Adam
I tried a prestige 2402 and tried premium 224f. For here in my country the premium is exactly half the prestige and I got the preimum 224f (was lucky cos got it on discount for a cyber week, felt I had to get it), and I can say that the premium is a great guitar. My aspirational guitar is a Suhr, and when I saw the AZ was the first time I saw a Suhr kind of guitar (specs and feel) for a price I could afford. The Stainless steel frets, gotoh bridge, gotoh locking tuners, seymour duncan pickups, the switch is amazing having 4 extra usable tones, versatility of HSS, the roasted maple a great plus (and its georgous and amazing feel on the hand), love the jumbo frets and the look is very Suhr. All great specs that I have always seen in $2200+ guitars. So in a sort of way this is like a poors man's Suhr, but I'm completely satisfied by it and I filled most of that void of my necessity of a Suhr. Now, comparing to the prestige, the prestige I felt is was marginally better than the premium, it has that extra thing on the details and feel overall. If I had the money I would pay for the Japanese for sure, however both are great guitars and even though the japanese I felt that kind of edge, I enjoy the premium so much that at the end it doesnt matter very much. It's like premium score is a 93% and the japanese is a 96%. and Suhr being like a 99%. And with 93% I'm already very very very happy. I have an epi Les Paul, a squier classic vibe telecaster, both which I really like very much. I would rate both at around 89% (which is great! I love playing both of them). I had a Gibson Les paul Traditional 2018 which was amazing that sold because needed the money. Was looking for a Strat, wanted a Fender, or G&L I tried, also tried Tokai Strat (which are amazing for the value), a Suhr, but when I saw the AZ was the perfect guitar I was looking. Has strat feel, has an LP feel as well, has hambucker, has the single coils, is lighter than the LP and Telecaster, comfortable, so even though I love a classic strat SSS, and probably at some point will have one since its a classic, wanted something more versatile that could fill that space that the les paul and telecaster didn't fill. With this 3 guitars I think I cover almost all sounds and vibes I could think of, and especially with the AZ.
Anyone know what the last song with the natural RG was that Sam played??? I'd love to know I'm not too well versed in math core polyphia /intervals style bands so the more songs like this I know the better!
The switching system and pups are the best features on the AZs... they are coil taps not splits. Allows for partial coils to be played without a volume drop. Most humbuckers can't achieve a true coil tap but they had done so with these custom made pups which they say were specifically designed for this guitar and are not sold anywhere else. I just bought one and the tap modes truly sound amazing and can replace my strat.
This guy is a huge interval
Fan from what i can see xD
Great demo as always. Sam has to be the best guitarist I have ever listened too. Great job!
I like the premium BTB. Hoping to get one soon
This guy is awesome! Nice and well played dude, keep on rocking!
Great playing! What's the song starting 1:00 ?
Intervals - Impulsively Responsible
Great Demo! What song is at 2:33 ?
@@tsuyoshi_a_ i like how he plays it more than the original. The clean sound reminds me of Nito
How does the BTB feel? I tried the Scott Lepage signature and the neck just felt cheap to me.
Signal chain? Amps?
Hey Sam ! Love all of your content youre truly making this bad boy shine SO I really need your help dude!
Specifically for the "Ibanez AZ 224F " you demoed this one beautifully and although it passed the test (- yes it sounded as good as it looked for sure ) BUT I have to know for the money how does it really compare to prestige or other Ibanez model for the features does this one kill it ? This is probably the hardest comparison to make so to speak cause unlike say sterling jp vs ebmm jp6 these have very very few differences the SOUND and FEEL appear to be equal because the roasting is only a smidge different and the hyperion pickup pairing is virtually the same ! (IM after the HSS models specifically but also considering your model the tequila burst if HH setup can perform just as well!). Is there really a huge sound difference or difference in whammy bar stability between the premium and prestige ? after all the premium is still gotoh steel does but does your whammy bar hold up with abuse? LASTLY from your end of the camera can this HH AZ model mimic strat - neck pickup tones minus the annoying 60 cycle hum even tho there are 24 frets?
Im at that cross road because I want this model but its the one time I dont want to pay for the top shelf prestige AZ cause to me blind test with a premium like yours and I probably would not be able to spot or really feel a difference! Ive only been able to play the AZ 224F very briefly one came through my local store but there was no prestige model to shoot it out against so here I am wondering what your verdict is on this premium not so budget friendly axe. Hope to hear from you soon and im sure a bunch of others too who are struggling between choosing one haha thanks cheers!
Hey Adam!
I'd say the difference in price point is larger than the difference in the guitars. The Premium is nearly half the price and generally does have the same feel and the bridge and locking tuners hold beautifully. There also is a very minimal sonic difference. That being said, the Japanese models have a certain feel and consistency with the trem which is what I would say is the biggest difference between the guitars, although the Premium still functions very well. For the price point, I would say it is the closest thing to a "Super Strat" like a Suhr or Tom Anderson style guitar.
The HH also splits very well, but having an HSS with a single coil closer to the bridge gives a bit more "twang" or top end presence.
Hope this helps!
S
Samuel Jacobs Samuel Jacobs Sam. Thank you seriously THANK YOU for such an honest and timely response I'm pleasantly surprised by what you had to say here! That's great to hear that this guitar doesn't fall victim to the usa, mij or indo smoke and mirrors and that the consistency is present across the board with only slight variations like we've both said the whammy bar being the biggest in terms of its parts.
The HH config does look and sound quite versatile as well you wouldn't except any humbucker in the world to be able to split coils too convincingly yet these sound like they do the job well. I'll save you my backstory but I'm going to have to drive a little over an hour to the only long and macquade relatively near me that stocks BOTH a premium and prestige models, so the a and b ING will be done and hopefully I'll leave with a winner and if I don't then I'm taking my budget and getting a used suhr off reverb.
However I have to say no matter what I walk out with indo, mij or usa I feel like either is a great axe finally Ibanez made a rock solid premium model with all the high end appointments you've demoed them all beautifully and if I could buy them all I would but the tequila sunrise and blue ice HH for the prestige are my favorite!
***On that note you're a MONSTER PLAYER my friend and I enjoyed this demo and your schecter demos I immensely Sam ! PLEASE do tell (if you can re watch this video and tell me) EXACTLY what riff you're playing on the tequila sunrise model? Sounds heavy slippery and very groovy going to guess an intervals or maybe polyphia tune or even your own? Please confirm if possible??? same with the final riff on the RG!
Anyways thank you again for your demo and honest opinion! With this being such a new model I'm sure this helped anyone else out there who is trying to de mystify both premium. And prestige ranges and how they compare to other axes cause 1800 +is alot of dough to drop on a guitar that in some ways sounds too good to be true. My verdict is that it sounds too good to be true in the best way possible and I need to just buy one now hahah cheers from niagara falls Canada mate!
- Adam
I tried a prestige 2402 and tried premium 224f. For here in my country the premium is exactly half the prestige and I got the preimum 224f (was lucky cos got it on discount for a cyber week, felt I had to get it), and I can say that the premium is a great guitar. My aspirational guitar is a Suhr, and when I saw the AZ was the first time I saw a Suhr kind of guitar (specs and feel) for a price I could afford. The Stainless steel frets, gotoh bridge, gotoh locking tuners, seymour duncan pickups, the switch is amazing having 4 extra usable tones, versatility of HSS, the roasted maple a great plus (and its georgous and amazing feel on the hand), love the jumbo frets and the look is very Suhr. All great specs that I have always seen in $2200+ guitars. So in a sort of way this is like a poors man's Suhr, but I'm completely satisfied by it and I filled most of that void of my necessity of a Suhr.
Now, comparing to the prestige, the prestige I felt is was marginally better than the premium, it has that extra thing on the details and feel overall. If I had the money I would pay for the Japanese for sure, however both are great guitars and even though the japanese I felt that kind of edge, I enjoy the premium so much that at the end it doesnt matter very much. It's like premium score is a 93% and the japanese is a 96%. and Suhr being like a 99%.
And with 93% I'm already very very very happy.
I have an epi Les Paul, a squier classic vibe telecaster, both which I really like very much. I would rate both at around 89% (which is great! I love playing both of them). I had a Gibson Les paul Traditional 2018 which was amazing that sold because needed the money. Was looking for a Strat, wanted a Fender, or G&L I tried, also tried Tokai Strat (which are amazing for the value), a Suhr, but when I saw the AZ was the perfect guitar I was looking. Has strat feel, has an LP feel as well, has hambucker, has the single coils, is lighter than the LP and Telecaster, comfortable, so even though I love a classic strat SSS, and probably at some point will have one since its a classic, wanted something more versatile that could fill that space that the les paul and telecaster didn't fill. With this 3 guitars I think I cover almost all sounds and vibes I could think of, and especially with the AZ.
musical, interesting demo, thnx !!
Basswood and sustain? You like it ?
Anyone know what the last song with the natural RG was that Sam played??? I'd love to know I'm not too well versed in math core polyphia /intervals style bands so the more songs like this I know the better!
adam martynek Intervals - The waterfront
what is that song at 3:38?
Love it !!
needs at least one funny moment lol