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Hatsubai « First Korean Prestige S »
Published on 05/18/11 at 12:24During 2005, Ibanez decided to move its entire Prestige S line from Japan to Korea. This was the first model that was released as a part of that move. The S-2075 features a mahogany body with a figured poplar top, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets, a unique center inlay, a ZR trem, HSH configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
When this guitar came out, everyone wanted to know if the Korean luthiers were able to match the Japanese Prestige facility's work. In my opinion, they weren't. I found some sharp fret edges on this guitar that I normally wouldn't find on the Japanese prestige models. That was probably the biggest turn off for me. That aside, the guitar was put together well, and the parts seemed to fit nicely. The ZR trem works great, the figured popular was interesting and it seemed fairly solid.
SOUNDS
Despite it having some issues with its fretwork, the sound of the guitar was still pretty much the same as all the other Japanese S series. It sounded very big and resonant despite its small body. This guitar has a poplar top, but I kinda question what additional tonal properties that leads to this guitar. I really didn't hear much of a difference between this and other Ibanez S series guitars. The biggest issue with these guitars is that the pickups suck, but that's true with nearly any Ibanez guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
In the past, Korean models were known to be inferior to the Japanese models. While the fretwork on this guitar wasn't quite up to par when compared to the Japanese prestige models, I still found it to be a very solid and good sounding guitar. That said, I'd personally search for an older model as I find they feel better in my hands than the current newer models.
UTILIZATION
When this guitar came out, everyone wanted to know if the Korean luthiers were able to match the Japanese Prestige facility's work. In my opinion, they weren't. I found some sharp fret edges on this guitar that I normally wouldn't find on the Japanese prestige models. That was probably the biggest turn off for me. That aside, the guitar was put together well, and the parts seemed to fit nicely. The ZR trem works great, the figured popular was interesting and it seemed fairly solid.
SOUNDS
Despite it having some issues with its fretwork, the sound of the guitar was still pretty much the same as all the other Japanese S series. It sounded very big and resonant despite its small body. This guitar has a poplar top, but I kinda question what additional tonal properties that leads to this guitar. I really didn't hear much of a difference between this and other Ibanez S series guitars. The biggest issue with these guitars is that the pickups suck, but that's true with nearly any Ibanez guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
In the past, Korean models were known to be inferior to the Japanese models. While the fretwork on this guitar wasn't quite up to par when compared to the Japanese prestige models, I still found it to be a very solid and good sounding guitar. That said, I'd personally search for an older model as I find they feel better in my hands than the current newer models.