All user reviews for the Ibanez SV5470F

The Ibanez SV5470 is a guitar that was introduced by Ibanez a few years back as an offshoot to their very popular S series. The one thing about most of those guitars is that they all had locking tremolos. As someone who just doesn't like locking tremolos, I was very interested when I saw this guitar available, as it's basically the same as a typical Ibanez S, but without that pesky tremolo. It features a basswood body, a maple neck with rosewood fretboard and 24 frets, Wizard neck profile, Ibanez tuners, the new design Ibanez non locking tremolo system and an H-S-H pickup configuration with Ibz/DiMarzio pickups loaded within. It's part of their Prestige line and is built in Japan.

UTILIZATION

The design of this guitar is quite ergonomic. It's actually quite difficult to find a guitar that's MORE ergonomically designed than the Ibanez S. It's quite thin and lightweight. It feels very balanced and well made which is good too. The neck is a bit thin for my tastes, but shredders would absolutely love the profile coupled with the thinner body. The upper fret access is fantastic considering the guitar has been designed with that flexibility in mind, and the heel has been positioned accordingly. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty easy. The stock pickups do a decent enough job at getting a range of tones, though as with most Prestige Ibanez guitars, I'd probably factor a pickup swap into the cost of a new one.

SOUNDS

This guitar is meant primarily to be used as more of a rock/shred guitar, but that's not to say it can't do other styles too. It's wired with a single coil and a 5 way switch to allow some great Strat type tones into the mix, and plugged into a clean amp you can get some nice jangle happening for funk or blues. It's a bit bright sounding for jazz music though. Switching to a drive channel is where this guitar shines. It's very smooth and fluid overall and the humbuckers range from a very biting aggressive tone that still smooths out on the bridge pickup to a velvet lined super smooth tone with the neck pickup. It's a perfect guitar for progressive rock or neoclassical leads or even some chunky rhythm work. Obviously it doesn't have the low end of some thicker guitars, but that's not what lead players are looking for tonally anyway.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Ibanez SV5470 is a great guitar for someone who wants a great, lightweight guitar in that classic Ibanez S tradition without having to deal with the pains of a locking tremolo system. The Ibanez non locking bridge stays in tune fairly well... though if you try to do Steve Vai trick with the bar you will have to retune! It's definitely worth a look if you want a well made and good quality guitar that won't break your back or the bank!

SPECS
Neck Material: 5pc Maple/ Walnut
Neck Type: Wizard Prestige
Body: Mahogany body/ Flamed Maple top
Frets: Jumbo frets
Fingerboard: Bound Rosewood
Inlay: Pearl dot SV Presige inlay
Bridge: SynchroniZR bridge
NeckPU: TDB2
MiddlePU: ST2
BridgePU: TDB3
HW Color: CK
Finishes: DSB, NBL

NECK DIMENSIONS
Scale/Length 648mm/25.5"
a: Width at Nut 43mm
b: Width Last Fret 58mm
c: Thickness 1st Fret 18mm
d: Thickness 12th Fret 20mm
Radius 430mm
PICKUPS
Bridge Pickup
Name: True-Duo Blast 2
Model No: TDB3
Construction: Humbucking
Magnet: Ceramic/Alnico
Description: Same True-Duo construction as True-Duo Bucker, but the wiring enables True-Duo function as a pair, Bridge and Neck.

Middle Pickup
Name: Short Tracer
Model No: ST2
Construction: Single Coil
Magnet: Alnico
Description: Alnico magnet provides full output in low profile setting.

Neck Pickup
Name: True-Duo Blast 1
Model No: TDB2
Construction: Humbucking
Magnet: Ceramic/Alnico
Description: Same True-Duo construction as True-Duo Bucker, but the wiring enables True-Duo function as a pair, Bridge and Neck.

UTILIZATION

This guitar is amazingly fast to play. The action came perfect out of the box! The neck feels thing, yet strong, like most of Ibanez's guitars. Also, the SynchroniZR tremolo system may be awkwardly named, but it is incredibly smooth and returns to pitch very accurately. I found that I couldn't divebomb or pull up as extremely as the other Edge double-locking systems from Ibanez, but the buttery float to the trem bar still made whammy tricks a pleasing experience.

SOUNDS

The pickups are good. I've come to expect good things from Ibanez, as they consistently blow me away with most of their products. The different tonal range in the different pickup selection positions make this a versatile instrument indeed. It excels at shred, rock, classic rock, metal, jazz, fusion, and even country.

OVERALL OPINION

This is a nice instrument all the way around. And this blue is out of this world! It looks like one could dive right inside, it is so deep! The gorgeousness of the finish, great playability of the neck, and smoothness of the tremolo garnered high marks from me overall. Recommended.