All user reviews for the Ibanez SC420

My baby was purchased through a musicain's network, used, for $400 even.

This is a hard rock guitar, no qualms about it. The five way selector switch is great, but when you flip it down, stomp on a distortion or metal pedal (might I recommend running it through an SM7?), you'll get the hard rock bite you're looking for. I've been playing mine for four years now. It's the older SC420 in black with a mahogony line around it and amber tuning pegs. I find it works best for rhythm work, but if you're about riffing and rocking, it gives you a clean, articulate, and piercing Ibanez rock bite.

I find that the gain of the guitar can be a bit lacking on occasion, but I believe that's more due to age and the need of new/resprung pickups than anything else. On my particular guitar, the 19th fret on the B string is dead, sounding a half-step lower than it should, but I've only experienced that on my guitar, never any other SC420s I've played (I've played two others). I also don't like that I know that John Petrucci played this guitar once, because it makes me realize the guitar will never sound that good again, because I suck, and he's great.

Rock solid. It's been dropped twice and didn't even go out of tune. The neck is thin but REALLY durable. After several years of abuse (like I said, I play heavy rock!), the only marking on it is on the back where a belt buckle of mine scratched it a few times. Otherwise, it's awesome.

I love my baby. If you're looking for something that's going to cut through and give you a solid rock sound, you can't go wrong with the SC420. I applaud Ibanez for making such a great axe.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased this guitar at GuitarTrader.com and couldn't be more satisfied. I bought it based on the look at first

the action is great and the tone is awsome. Ibanez has done a great job of desiging a guitar to rival schekters models and also the ESP's H series. I really like the way the v1 and the v2 Pickups sound. and the five way pick-up switch lets me get even more tone out of it.

If I could change one thing is that I would make a model that comes with a single coil center. and I would also provide a 7-string model

the construction is set up similar the the H-202 with two hums (bridge and Neck) and has five positions. (all of which you can see at the wwebsite) it provides a great vintige jazz/blues sound but is also great for beyond heavy distortion.

I'm 19 and have owned four guitars including jacksons, fenders, and gibson, and I have to say this beats them all!!!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This is a Japanese made PRS knockoff. It has a 25" scale, 22 frets, dot inlays, and a wrap around bridge.

The bridge is awesome because even though its a wrap around it still features adjustable saddles, so you can intonate it in whatever tuning you like.

Has master tone and volume controls as well as a 5 way selector switch. I can't comment on the function of the 5 way switch because I got mine used with aftermarket pickups and the switch had been wired weird, so I replaced it with a 3 way switch. The stock potentiometers are really high quality.

The body has the typical s contours so its really light and still sounds awesome.

A random feature I really like is the minimalistic routing they did for the controls. They took out as little wood as possible, which is great for the guitar's resonance in my opinion.

The neck is the best part of this guitar. Its thin without being super thin, and its not the typical flat Ibanez neck. Its a really nice c contour with medium frets. It also has a satin finish on it so it doesn't get sticky.

UTILIZATION

The upper fret access is very nice, just like a typical s series guitar.

This guitar is very light but still balanced, at least mine was.

All the hardware and electronics were surprisingly high quality, MIJ quality is great.

SOUNDS

I can't comment on the quality of the stock pickups, I got my SC420 used and it had Seymour Duncans in it. They sounded pretty good, but they're far from my favorite SD pickups. I know this guitar would sound awesome with good pickups, as it sounded pretty good with a set I normally hate.

OVERALL OPINION

These guitars aren't manufactured anymore but they can be found used for a steal. I got mine for $250, which is an absurd price for this quality a guitar.

The more classic features like a c shaped neck, medium frets, and mid gain pickups might turn off the typical Ibanez users but if you're looking for a classy, high quality, great sounding guitar for cheap, look no further. The Ibanez SC420 fits the bill.

Guitar factory in Japan, 97, finally mine ...
The body is mahogany, covered with a thick coating BC (Black Cherry).
The neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard, 21 frets fitted with so-called "fines" (medium).
The pickups are Ibanez V7 and V8, with a V for Vintage .. So it should sound rather soft ...
One volume, one Tone (buttons that are pleasant to use on this guitar), and a 5-way switch.
For routing, from the top, it gives:

1 - Micro Channel
2 - Micro Channel parallle
3 - two microphones (type gibson)
4 - split into two microphones (the two strips closest)
5 - Bridge pickup

The bridge is a type tune'o'matic PRS, in one piece ...

Finally, the handle is fairly flat, although less than a ibanez RG.
Not too wide either .. Well, what ..
Strange little note, the truss is not adjustable ord cl by Allen, but a pipe cl ..
Finally it is not a problem, just need to be well equipped ...

UTILIZATION

I bought this guitar used, and had no t been playing for 6 months ...
In the first grip, it was unplayable from the 12th box ..
The handle had widened over time ...
So I rescheduled the handle and it's happiness ...
It plays very very well ....
RULES action can be very low, ca does almost no frieze.
Access in acute is the same as S, so very good ..
The guitar is very very very light and very comfortable to play ...
The palm muting is second nature so much access the the "armrest" right are excellent ..
The sound is easy to get ..
Not against s'affusquer by the fact that the guitar does not sound a vacuum ...
it does sound a branch ... you know ...
at the same time it is a electrical ...

SOUNDS

As far as sound is very versatile ...
personally I play on a Zoom GFX-8, and I go live on my sound card ...
It is very convincing and sounds are very natural ...
The clean sounds are warm, and very round ...
The distorted sounds are in turn very round and also no shortage of potatoes ..
The guitar just seems to lack a bit of treble .... I will therefore can be a Di Marzio in acute ...
The sounds are always well-defined, so if you want fat, it may need to change the neck pickup with a duncan 59, for example ...

OVERALL OPINION

I bought very recmment, so I will give a more complete view qques in time, but it gives an impression of great solidity music.
It is a complete guitar, nice, not flashy, and am the mood of the performer ...
The price quality ratio is pretty cool, since I purchased for 450 euros ..

Around the mid to late 90s, Ibanez decided to make some guitars that were going to rival the PRS line up. During this time, PRS started to gain some major success, so it was only natural for them to go after them. This guitar was more of the mid grade version. It has a mahogany body with a maple bolt-on neck and a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, dot inlays, a hard tail bridge, two humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

The guitar was put together pretty decently. The frets were nice and level, albeit they had some wear. The ends were nice and round, so no issues when moving your hand up and down the neck. One interesting thing about this is that it has a 25.1'' scale, which is kinda odd. I'm not sure why they didn't mate it a 25'' scale, but I assume it had to do with their metric measurements being converted more than anything else. The nut on this needed to be recut as it was snagging the strings. Whenever I would bend on the treble strings, I could feel it bind. Not a huge deal, but it would probably take about 40 to 50 bucks for a luthier to do.

SOUNDS

The stock pickups in this were the standard stock pickups you always find in Ibanez guitars. Some people dig them, but they're just not for me. The bridge pickup was a bit dull and didn't seem to have the response that higher end pickups have. I'm not someone who pushes boutique pickups, but I generally prefer something from the DiMarzio and Duncan line up than what most guitar manufacturers have. The neck pickup was a bit bright in this for whatever reason, and I found myself reaching for the tone knob to help cut back on some of the treble. However, that meant that I'd be constantly fiddling with the knobs whenever I'd switch between the neck and bridge.

OVERALL OPINION

If you can find a good price on this, it might be worth looking into. However, it'll need a pickup swap for you to get the most out of this guitar. Pay attention to the nut and frets more than anything else with these. Aside from that, they're solid players.