All user reviews of 4/5 for the Ibanez S5470

I've always loved the prestige line from Ibanez. Made in Japan. ZR edge bridge. Mahogany body and rosewood fretboard. 24 frets. Usual Ibanez pickups and control set. HSH pickup setup. The neck is your usual wizard shape. Obviously it has the typical thin S body shape.

UTILIZATION

As guitars go, these are probably the easiest models to play ever. The body and neck shape are made for maximum shred and mobility around the guitar. It has a pretty genius design and that's why I like them for playing in the studio and live. Ibanez is known for this but the prestige S series especially has this in spades. These are also very well crafted and very reliable as I have found out from a number of prestige guitars I've had over the years. The cost a bit but the japan craftsmanship is worth it.

SOUNDS

The thing about these is they need a pickup change. The Ibanez pickups in this aren't awful but they aren't great either. A good set of Dimarzio or even Bare Knuckle pickups go a long way to improve the tone. I can't recommend that enough. The stock ones tend to try and cover too much ground and most players are better off getting a set that is more focused to their type of music. In my case this is prog metal. I suspect most people who buy these are of the metal persuasion.

OVERALL OPINION

The playability of these is amazing. That said I have some gripes. The finish isn't really my thing. It's a minor annoyance but still, I'm not a fan of the trans black color. Also, the front jack design is annoying for a guy like me who uses an angled jack. Beware of this. It's something that can be overlooked easily. Also, I don't love this version of the Edge trem. I think I like the edge pro better even though I can't point out why.

This is another version of the Ibanez S series that Ibanez is releasing. It's not much different from any of the other Ibanez S series out there, so there's not much new to say about it. The guitar features a mahogany body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 extra jumbo frets, offset dot inlays, an Edge Zero tremolo, HSH configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

The first thing you notice about this guitar is that it's crazy light. For someone like me who has a bad back, this is quite nice. However, I also noticed that it didn't seem to resonate quite as nicely as my RGs tend to. The super sleek body is great for stage work, and I'm a big fan of these when playing live. The fretwork was top notch, and it's about on par with the rest of the Prestige models, as far as I'm concerned. The bridge on this is kinda lame with the ZPS system or whatever in, but once you take that out, it's quite a nice trem. If you're going to keep it, I recommend replacing the studs with some real Lo Pro locking studs as they'll help improve stability.

SOUNDS

The guitar had a D-Sonic in the bridge, a True Velvet in the middle and a Breed in the neck. The D-Sonic in this worked pretty well. In fact, this is one of the few applications where I think the D-Sonic works. I'm not entirely a fan of the D-Sonic in alder and basswood, but it's pretty nice in mahogany. One thing I should mention is that this pickup is pretty noisy. The True Velvet was great for clean tones and those single coil kinda funk tones. The Breed Neck was the perfect lead pickup. It had just enough power, midrange and fatness to get super thick lead tones, but it wasn't so muddy that you couldn't make out single note runs. It's one of my favorite neck pickups out there.

OVERALL OPINION

The guitar is great, but you have to be sure you like these super thin bodied guitars. A lot of people dislike them, and I can see why. It's almost like playing a toy at times, but they're still very solid guitars. I kinda recommend searching for an older S540 instead of buying one of these, but you should be satisfied with any of them, really. Be sure to buy used as you'll get a better deal.

The new S5470 Prestige presented to the NAMM show in January 2008 are all made in Japan. A return to a finish and quality control result was expected by many fans.

Regarding the specs (neck, pickups, bridge / tremolo, ...):
Wizard Prestige neck * 24 frets
* Three pickups in HSH config
* ZR2 Tremolo (tremolo unit with ball bearings) with removable system ZPS2
More details: http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/S5470BW

UTILIZATION

The handle end is nice and provides good playability. But the appreciation of the profile of the handle is subjective. Some may not like. A board on that side: try!

Otherwise, the highs are accessible without contortions. Regarding weight, we are talking about a set S, so lightly.

SOUNDS

S series guitars are versatile. Perfect for my game changed. But if you want a big sound, not the guitar that I advise you ... unless you change the pickups, which many do.

OVERALL OPINION

I have my S5470BW-RVF since February 2008.

Already a proud owner of 98 S540FM-TK ', I wanted a little sister as close as possible in terms of playing comfort

Previous review see, except that mine is mounted with EMG 81 for humbackers. This finish BBK (black biker), the leather look is interesting, but the quality of ralisations is superb.

UTILIZATION

Is an S, so the playability is really nice, with EMG she spits ... The vibrato is amazing, we feel that the automatic return is a DIFFERENT floyd usual, and is impeccably agreement.

SOUNDS

with EMG 81, EMG 81 sounds. It's the sound I like ... The clean sounds are correct, nothing more. I suggre to a SH 59 'if you are considering a change in your, this micro splitable is a marvel in its light.

OVERALL OPINION

It's a good guitar, but that will not upset a lot of hearts I think she does not have an S exposed wood. Otherwise, apart from the aesthetic aspect, I'm happy and advises on second guitar.