Ibanez S540

I've used an S540 for years for playing covers, and it is a good quality instrument with a solid all round feel. It's a versatile guitar with pickup configs that can produce many classic guitar sounds. Almost Strat like in some settings, almost full humbucker and high gain Les Paulish too - with many inbetween. It's not the best instrument by any means, but for the price it is a good quality and versatile instrument. The guitar does not have a cheap feel to it as some other Ibanez models do. It's ultra slim, great finish (mines black) and nice and light weight for long gigs.
The sound is tight/good, the pickups put out a good signal, but there is no special character to it in any way that makes it stand out on it's own. As I say, you can emulate sounds of other types of guitars because of the single coil tap and humbucker configs - plus it has a whammy. The best sound for my liking is when you back off the vol. pot to about 75% on the neck humbucker for that half distorted rich clean with a treble bite. So it's my soul-less working guitar that can be modelled to sound like most things by amp and pickup config, but that's not a negative in my view because it's versatility is what made me choose it for a good allrounder to take on cover jobs where you need to sound like Jimi Hendrix one minute, then Chet Atkins the next.
If you want one iconic sound - then this is not really your axe, but if you want versatility, then it's a good deal.

The Ibanez S series is actually part of the "Saber" series. These guitars feature super slim bodies that feel absolutely amazing when held in your hands. The S540 is probably the most popular version of this guitar, and I feel this one is actually the "standard" model that every other S series is judged by. The guitar features a mahogany body, maple neck with maple fretboard, 22 frets, dot inlays with a special inlay on the 21st fret, an Edge tremolo, HSH configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

Ibanez did one hell of a job when they developed the S series. I actually have an issue playing super heavy guitars like the old school Gibson Les Pauls, so guitars like these are a godsend. The fretwork on these guitars is awesome, and there are rarely any huge flaws that would prevent one from buying this model. The guitar also features an Edge tremolo which is one of the best trems ever made. It stays in tune under even the most extreme whammy abuse.

SOUNDS

Despite it being a super slim and sleek body, the guitar sounds very huge. A lot of that is thanks to it being made out of mahogany instead of the normal basswood that Ibanez likes to use on the RG series. The biggest issue with these guitars would be that the pickups are pretty awful. I like using the Air Norton in the neck, True Velvet in the middle and Evo 2 in the bridge. The Air Norton will give you a huge neck tone, the True Velvet sounds very clean and spanky for those clean tones, and the Evo 2 is harmonically rich, so it really helps out in making this guitar sound more alive.

OVERALL OPINION

This is probably the most recognized Ibanez S series guitar out of the entire lineup. If you find one of these at a good price, I recommend checking them out. They pop up on eBay all the time. If you're really lucky, you can find one of the few out there that have the maple fretboard. To me, these are the most desirable S series guitars ever made as the maple fretboard really helps make this model look more unique and adds that little touch of top end to help cut through the mix.

This is one of those guitars that I got to spend a lot of time with and really didn't care for it to much. There was nothing about it that I fell in love with. The feel of it was sort of generic and cheap. I know these guitars are very low priced and there is a reason for it and it isn't workmanship. I find these guitars to very player friendly but not containing any soul what so ever.

UTILIZATION

The guitar is very simple and doesn't have any bells or whistles which to me is a good thing. I think some manufacturers slap so much crap on and instrument to get more people's interest which ultimately takes away from the character and tone of the item.

The guitar was just two humbucker pickups and a three way sliding pickup selector. It didn't have any boosts on the pickups or and boosts on the volume pots or tone pots. It had one volume and one tone to control both pickups. The instrument cable jack was located on the front in a strange position too compared to fender Stratocasters. It was a a strange angle which didn't make sense to me.

SOUNDS

The tone from this guitar was just average at best. The guitar had very little to know soul what so ever. The guitar basically just barely played the amp that I was using and gave no real character to the sound at all. If I listened back I couldn't really tell what guitar I was playing with like you would if you heard a Strat or a Gibson Les Paul on a recording. You would know immediately what guitar the player was using.

I played this guitar on several high gain amplifiers and no of them really gave me and sense of appreciation. I used a Marshall JCM 800 and another equally high gain amp. Neither which had any reason for me to buy this guitar.

OVERALL OPINION

I will say this though that the neck on the guitar did feel quite good. It was very easy to play and felt extremely comfortable around my hand. I am not sure they even make this model of Ibanez guitars anymore so used market is the only option. I think I saw one recently for around $350 or so. This isn't a bad guitar for the price and will make a learning guitar player very happy. It is a good first guitar compared to a Squire or a First Act. Those guitars are just trash!

The Ibanez S series is actually part of the "Saber" series. These guitars feature super slim bodies that feel absolutely amazing when held in your hands. The S540 is probably the most popular version of this guitar, and I feel this one is actually the "standard" model that every other S series is judged by. The guitar features a mahogany body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, dot inlays with a special inlay on the 21st fret, an Edge tremolo, HSH configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

Ibanez did one hell of a job when they developed the S series. I actually have an issue playing super heavy guitars like the old school Gibson Les Pauls, so guitars like these are a godsend. The fretwork on these guitars is awesome, and there are rarely any huge flaws that would prevent one from buying this model. The guitar also features an Edge tremolo which is one of the best trems ever made. It stays in tune under even the most extreme whammy abuse.

SOUNDS

Despite it being a super slim and sleek body, the guitar sounds very huge. A lot of that is thanks to it being made out of mahogany instead of the normal basswood that Ibanez likes to use on the RG series. The biggest issue with these guitars would be that the pickups are pretty awful. I like using the Air Norton in the neck, True Velvet in the middle and Evo 2 in the bridge. The Air Norton will give you a huge neck tone, the True Velvet sounds very clean and spanky for those clean tones, and the Evo 2 is harmonically rich, so it really helps out in making this guitar sound more alive.

OVERALL OPINION

This is probably the most recognized Ibanez S series guitar out of the entire lineup. If you find one of these at a good price, I recommend checking them out. They pop up on eBay all the time. If you're really lucky, you can find one of the few out there that have the maple fretboard. To me, these are the most desirable S series guitars ever made as the maple fretboard really helps make this model look more unique and adds that little touch of top end to help cut through the mix.