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Ibanez SZ720FM

 

Review of the Ibanez SZ720FM by The Man in the Jar

There are two things you notice about this guitar the moment you pick it up. The weight of the maple-topped mahogany body suggests it's a serious instrument and the visual appeal of the rainbow abalone binding suggests it ain't gonna' be cheap.

Features of the Ibanez SZ720FM

Tuners - Sealed tuners with medium large knobs, smooth and easy to use.

Headstock - The classy, compact Ibanez three-a-side headstock is picked out by the extraordinary rainbow abalone binding.

Nut - The substantial black plastic nut is smooth and well-finished.

Neck - The slightly chunky profile of the neck recalls a Les Paul 60's reissue and fits very well with the "heavy" quality vibe of the instrument. The back of the body and the back of the neck and headstock on this model are finished in shiny black lacquer making for smooth movement of the playing hand. The set neck has a nice smooth transitional heel.

Fretboard - Medium-chocolate rosewood with a nice grain which is edge-bound with white binding that sports dot inlays of abalone. The fretboard inlays are of a distinctive design in white abalone, the shape may bring a smile to those who wasted their youth in front of a Galaxian machine. It also takes a short while to get used to the 12th fret marker that spills out over the 11th and 13th frets. 

Frets - Medium to thin with a good rounded profile.

Action - Good from the box but with leeway to be tweaked a touch lower.

Body - This is basically a Stratoid shape with a couple of added appointments. The most noticeable feature that takes this guitar beyond the basic slab body is the lovely carved maple top. This adds a depth of luxury that again nods in the Les Paul direction. Contouring on the back allows for a comfortable fit against your body. But the maple top sits on a heavy piece of mahogany so this is still a thick and substantial body to wear on the strap. On the front the flamed maple body luxuriates under a transparent grey finish that gives the guitar a very feline look. The cream on this cake is the gorgeous abalone edge binding. Stunning stuff. 

Bridge - This looks like an Alien evolution of the old tune-o-matic and works in very much the same way. Each saddle is adjustable for string length (intonation). The string height is adjusted via a large screw at each end of the bridge assembly. The clever Alien bit is the curved carapace that sits on either side of the string in each saddle. These curve up and away behind where the string is stopped. These are clever because together they allow you to rest your hand on the bridge without muting the strings, but their curved profile allows you to roll your palm quickly down for muting duties when required.
The strings dive down to the body behind the bridge where they enter staggered holes to be anchored in grommets at the back of the body. 

Pickups - Two black Ibanez open-coil SZ ceramic humbuckers sit in sexy chrome surrounds.

Controls - Individual volume for each pickup, a master tone control and a three-way pickup selector switch.

Strap-buttons - Medium sized in the usual places, bottom of body and at the end of the top horn.

Output Jack - On the lower edge of the body in an oval chromed plate.

Finish - Excellent throughout, especially that delicious binding. Yum!

 

Sound of the Ibanez SZ720FM 

Running clean the bridge pickup produced a nice treble bark that bode well for later overdriven antics. The neck pickup when played clean has a surprising complexity, almost jazzy in character. Running together the tone is really well-balanced and an absolute pleasure to jam around with. 
Overdriven through an Orange valve combo the bridge pickup delivered a lovely, grinding rock sound that you could happily chug out all night. Switch to the neck pickup and darker, more metal overdrive sounds leap out from under your fingers. Running both pups together gives a full, throaty, growling tone that sounds absolutely massive at decent levels of volume.  

 

Overall Impressions of the Ibanez SZ720FM 

The big growling voice of this guitar is dictated by the special Ibanez SZ pickups that are designed to supply extra bass response. This voice is certainly distinctive and although the tones are quite jazzy at the clean end of the spectrum, I think it will be the ferocious snarl the SZ720 delivers at overdriven levels that will win fans and users amongst the Dropped D Metal Maniacs.

If you like Les Pauls you should be knocked out by this guitar. It's playability and weight on the strap are very similar, but the Ibanez adds cool Stratoid curves to the mix. At somewhere under £450 this top quality axe is really worth a closer look. 

Buy the Ibanez SZ720FM

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