Electric Guitars   Bass Guitars   Acoustic Guitars   Guitar Amps   Effects Pedals   Keyboards   Microphones   PA Systems   Mixing Desks   Studio   Software   Accessories   Books & DVDs   Home Contact Us FAQ Forums

Ibanez SZ 320 MH

 

Review of the Ibanez SZ 320 MH Electric Guitar by The Man in the Jar

The lovely woody finish on this guitar gives an instant feeling of class.

Features of the Ibanez SZ 320 MH

Tuners - Sealed unbranded mini-tuners that brought the guitar smoothly into tune and held it there well.

Headstock - The quirky three-a-side Ibanez trademark headstock has the Ibanez logo in pearloid and white binding to its black face.

Nut - The black plastic nut abuts the rosewood fretboard. All looks smooth and well-cut and there were no "pings" during tuning.

Neck - The mahogany neck is set and shares the same dark chocolate stain of the body. It is extremely slim and playable and the near-parallel profile lends a satisfying feeling of width to the fretboard. The heel has a lovely moulded profile that fits snugly into the palm of your hand when accessing the upper frets.

Fretboard - The rosewood is well matched in colour to the mahogany and at first glance this guitar could be taken as an all-rosewood construction. The fretboard has antiqued white binding that matches that on the headstock. The traditional dot markers are quite small but their abalone glints nicely in the light. Unusually the side markers are also of abalone (which is a very nice detail).

Frets - Lovely fat rounded frets lend this guitar a great positive playing feel with the scope to play ambitious bends with ease. The ends of the frets are flat-ground which means you will feel them as you move up and down the neck. There's no discomfort or inconvenience involved but it takes a minute to acclimatise to the feeling.

Action - Medium-low from the box but the dead-straight neck would accept a downward adjustment without any trouble.

Body - This is a gorgeous chunk of mahogany in a Stratoid shape. Although it's easily as thick as an American Strat, it is not overly heavy on the strap. There's contouring on the top edge of the back for a comfortable fit against your body and Ibanez have carved the top so the body is at its thickest where it is most useful for tone - under the pickups and bridge. Tone is further enhanced by the through-body stringing. The holes are staggered in a way that mirrors the compensatory stagger on an acoustic guitar.

Bridge - This is the clever Ibanez version of the tune-o-matic. Each saddle is adjustable for string length and the string height is adjusted by two screws, one at each end of the assembly. The clever bit is the channel into which the string runs before it reaches the stopping edge of the saddle. The metal either side of this channel provides a convenient place to rest the palm of your hand without damping the strings unintentionally. 

Pickups - Two Ibanez-branded Seymour Duncan pickups with black open-coils sit in classy chromed surrounds. 

Controls - One volume control for each pickup and a master tone control. The three way pickup selector allows you to run each humbucker on its own as normal, but the central position taps both humbuckers and combines the single coil from each that sits nearest the space between the pickups.   

Strap-buttons - Good large buttons on the bottom of the body and the end of the upper horn.

Output Jack - On the lower edge set in an oval plate.

Finish - Really very good throughout.

 

Sound of the Ibanez SZ 320 MH

The bridge humbucker has a nice snarl to it, perfect for overdriven rock and everyday soloing. The neck humbucker has the same power but with a darker voice with a resonating deep timbre bestowed by the mahogany slab body. The central pickup selection offers up a super-scoopy-single-coil sound with plenty of Fenderish quack but still with a foundation of mahogany warmth.

 

Overall Impressions of the Ibanez SZ 320 MH

This is a lovely-looking piece of kit that plays really nicely. It delivers the essential rock sounds you'd expect from a double-hummed axe with added mahogany warmth. The extra-on-top is the distinctive and very attractive single-coil option. Although this does deny the possibility of running the 'buckers together I think that the benefit outweighs the loss. For the price, this Ibanez stands out as a highly desirable instrument.

Visit the iMuso Guitar Forum

What our customers say

Resources

Track TNT Parcel   Reviews of Electric Guitars   Other Equipment Reviews   Learning Resources 
Other Shopping   Bands to See   Studios to Use  

Resource and Learning 

Copyright Musik Produktiv MMV - Home of Electric Guitars Online