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Published on 05/18/11 at 11:11The Ibanez S-1540 is part of the famous Ibanez S series. These guitars are a thin bodied strat shaped guitar that feels absolutely wonderful to play due to its light weight yet huge tonal properties. The S-1540 is a Japanese made Prestige S series guitar that features a mahogany body with a maple top, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, a unique center inlay, an Edge trem, HSH configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The Ibanez S series are some of the sleekest guitars out there. The thin, lightweight body lends itself to be one heck of a shred machine. The neck heel on these is very minimal, so getting to the higher frets is a breeze. The fretwork on the Japanese Prestige models is also great, so no issues there. The Edge tremolo that's in this model is also one of the best floyds on the market. It has no issues with even the most extreme whammy bar action.
SOUNDS
Since the guitar is made out of mahogany with a maple top, it has a reminiscent sound of a flamed top Gibson SG. The biggest problem with these guitars is that the pickups suck. However, once you replace those, you're good to go. I like using the Air Norton in the neck, a True Velvet in the middle and something like an Evo 2 in the bridge. When you put an Air Norton in the neck, the neck position becomes super fat and absolutely sings for lead tones. The Evo 2 in the bridge helps accentuate the natural frequencies of mahogany along with giving the guitar some amazing harmonics. The five way switch on this guitar also helps make this thing more versatile as you have the split options on the middle pickup to utilize.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars are absolutely wonderful, and they look great too. While the newer ones offer two extra frets on certain models, I find that the Indochina ones aren't quite up to par as the older ones once were. If you're looking for an Ibanez S series, I recommend checking out the older models instead of the newer ones.
UTILIZATION
The Ibanez S series are some of the sleekest guitars out there. The thin, lightweight body lends itself to be one heck of a shred machine. The neck heel on these is very minimal, so getting to the higher frets is a breeze. The fretwork on the Japanese Prestige models is also great, so no issues there. The Edge tremolo that's in this model is also one of the best floyds on the market. It has no issues with even the most extreme whammy bar action.
SOUNDS
Since the guitar is made out of mahogany with a maple top, it has a reminiscent sound of a flamed top Gibson SG. The biggest problem with these guitars is that the pickups suck. However, once you replace those, you're good to go. I like using the Air Norton in the neck, a True Velvet in the middle and something like an Evo 2 in the bridge. When you put an Air Norton in the neck, the neck position becomes super fat and absolutely sings for lead tones. The Evo 2 in the bridge helps accentuate the natural frequencies of mahogany along with giving the guitar some amazing harmonics. The five way switch on this guitar also helps make this thing more versatile as you have the split options on the middle pickup to utilize.
OVERALL OPINION
These guitars are absolutely wonderful, and they look great too. While the newer ones offer two extra frets on certain models, I find that the Indochina ones aren't quite up to par as the older ones once were. If you're looking for an Ibanez S series, I recommend checking out the older models instead of the newer ones.