Ibanez S521-MOL Reviews

Nice guitar, weak pickups

Had this guitar for a month.

Very lightweight, very comfy to play. The frets were rough, so had to polish them.

The biggest issue is the pickups. Maybe a personal preference, but to my ears clean sound is a bit dull and distorted sound is not well defined.

After the fretwork, guitar itself was a very good quality, so could be a good option for modifications.

Put it on. BOOM, a Rockstar!

As a smaller person, this guitar just fits perfectly. I haven't touched a guitar in 10+ years, and even then I didn't play much, but the moment I tried it, it just felt good holding it and playing it.

Very well made guitar

This guitar came set up correctly, intonated for E standard tuning and has a very flexible tone system. It is EXTREMELY light, one of my favourite features, and also well balanced. I will be changing the pickups, but only because I have a similar RG and want this guitar to use P90s.

Fine guitar

Very fine guitar for the money, nice feel & light weight, the pups are nice when overdriven, maybe a little sterile when clean, but the lack of harmonics means they're quite good for high-gain lead. My only real negative remark is that the chrome parts oxidize pretty quickly.

Perfect First Guitar

I bought this guitar approximately 1 year ago, before writing a review I wanted firstly to get know the instrument. So this is what I can say about this S521:

firs of all, the guitar is really light waited, bit neck heavy, but that does not make a big difference to me, haha. the neck is thin which makes it easier to play (in my opinion), in comparison to other guitars I tried before buying this one. The total feel of the guitar in the arms are really pleasant, it is like holding a baby, Haha!

The actual sound of the guitar unplugged is pretty decent, and when plugged even better, then I expected. The tuning holds really well, even in low tuning (I mostly play in D-standard or Drop-C).

The only issues I manage to find are that the backside of the guitar body is quite soft and because of that it received some use marks from clothing and that the neck picks up (or how it is called, the one near the neck) get loose overtime when played and gives buzzing sound, but also it is quite easy to tighten it up so that's ain't a problem (i do it even with a pic).

I mainly play heavier music on this instrument, such as Black metal, Metal in general, Stoner rock, etc., and do not have any complaints about usability.

Furthermore, when other guitarists checked this guitar (the ones who play guitars for quite a long time), they were pleasantly surprised, as they expressed themselves. also, some of them hated thin neck or lightweight but is it personal preference.

Overall, this guitar is a real bargain in accordance with the price and quality ratio! Realy good as a first guitar, easy playability out of the box, strived me to learn how to play the guitar quite quickly (at least basics, writing riffs, low-level solos, recording). So, personally, I really recommend to spare some more money and buy this guitar.

And for those still doubting about learning guitar or another instrument: If I did it, You can do it Too!

Nice guitar

It is a nice guitar, due to the lightness it has some neck dive, but can easily be corrected with a grippy strap.

Only thing I would change is the pickups, don't get me wrong they are not bad, but I don't like them, it's just personal preference.

The fretwork is nice.

Recommended.

I love it, but sent it back

This is my absolute favourite guitar. As soon as I picked it up, I knew it would become my trustworthy companion. The finish (MOL) is beautiful. I looks clean and natural, like carved straight out of a tree. The sound is very versatile, with an impressive width and depth. The guitar is also extremely light-weight and nicely balanced, which only adds to the wow-factor. I fell in love instantly, and my heart wept a bit when I had to send it back. The manufacturers had misaligned one of the bridge-holes which compromised the sound on the lower E-string. I am anxiously waiting for the identical replacement guitar!

Great lightweight guitar

- insanely light

- wood pattern looks very elegant

- great handling

A pleasant surprise!

Guitar arrived perfectly packed. The unboxing was with great anticipation! Amazingly lightweight, just 2370 grams! Ok it is neck heavy but not like the EssssGeeeees, you easily play both sitting and standing.

The guitar has a sustained sound played unlugged, you will be surprised to stick your ear to the back and play a barre chord, sustains like a keyboard! So much for the heavy-body-long-sustain myth we 'buy' for so long!!! Neck is good, thin, and the frets well taken care of. The pots were stiff, I used some contact spray. Wiring was ok but I did some extra grounding of the 5way switch. The natural color looks elegant and I think nothing beats a natural guitar! The sound of the pups is balanced and 'correct' although I would like hotter pickups. The 5way switch gives nice combinations (apart from the classic 3 options, you get neck pup parallel and both pups split). Tuners work correctly. The bridge saddle screws bothered me and I used lower ones from Start set, I think.

Once again Mr Robin Nunn ,head in guitar dept was extremely helpful and pro, I give him a 20 in the scale from 1 to 10 !!!! Same goes to the Greek person in charge of Greek orders, Mr Stamatis Koutouzis! Always helpful and professional!

The guitar is a great choice for all. The big 'C' that makes them ( c-o-r... factory) makes good instruments for less money and this is good! Please note I owned USA Gibsons, USA Fender Strat, 2 Mexicans etc., I also made 3 handmade superstrats to a good luthier here in Greece, I also own USA Washburn Les Paul type, among others. I think I have a wide sample and my judgement of this S521 is not so biased, the guitar is really a pleasant surprise!

Totally pleased with this S521 !

Great Guitar for this Price range

This is a great guitar with very versatile sound palette, it has a great Neck. It is super light. The only thing that annoyed me about it was the location of the input jack because when you are removing the jack from the socket you might scratch the entrance to the socket.

Overall it is a great guitar though

Had a bit higher expectations, but maybe I am to blame.

First off, let me just say that when this guitar was first delivered to me, it was not set up at all, in fact it was very hard to play. I actually ended up paying an additional 50 EUR to a local guitar service to have the guitar properly set up. The neck was bent, to a point that even I, a newbie on this matter, could see the curve that shouldn't be there, and as a result the action around the 12th fret was obscenely high. The intonation was also off and needed fixing.

Having solved all those issues, however, I must say I am now starting to really appreciate this guitar. The strings (I have 10s on) feel kinda thicker than what same-gauge strings feel on my other guitar (an Ashton), but that is something that I can easily get used to. Now that it is properly set up, the guitar sounds really good, except for some minor fret buzzing (yes, even now!) which, for me at least, doesn't really get in the way.

In terms of building quality and aesthetics, this guitar is B-E-A-utiful. It is a work of art. I always have it at a prominent place in my living room, and I just stare at it while passing by. It is truly gorgeous in its simplicity. However, it is neck-heavy, not because it has a particularly heavy neck but rather because it has a VERY lightweight body, lol. Nevertheless, it is something that should be taken into consideration.

All in all, despite going through an phase of "oh God was this purchase a mistake?" because of the initial bad-setup shock, now that everything has been taken into consideration rationally, this guitar is really starting to repay me, and I'm optimistic that things will look up from now on.

Excellent basic Ibanez

The finish is what really drew me to this guitar, as it is not offered on any other current ibanez. The body feels like raw wood, so it is not as durable as a poly-coated finish - so you have to be careful with this one. The guitar itself is very light weight, but resonates well and has a good sound. The stock pickups are not bad either, good response, good clarity. The neck is nice and thin as expected, but there are a few high frets that will need to be addressed. Its a good bang for the buck, I would recommend this guitar.

Bought as a spare but......

I own several guitars including Fenders, Gibsons etc and I bought this mainly as a guitar to have laying around the house so that I could just pick it up without the aggravation of going upstairs to get something else, also, because it was realtivley cheap it didn't matter if it got abused a bit in the process.

However, It's probably, value for money wise one of the best guitars I've ever bought. Superb set up with a really low action. Lovely plain wood finish which is what really attracted me to it in the first place.

The less than smooth finish on the body took me by suprise, it feels like real wood but that for me is a part of the attraction. Also very light but a lovely sound when played through an amp.

The finish is not perfect with some very slightly protruding frets as you make your way along the neck but by no means uncomfortable.

If you're looking for a good guitar with a nice tone and which is slightly different to the usual Strats and Les Pauls then I can recommend this to you. I never regret buying it.

Perfect!

This guitar has a fantastic setup, right out of the box! The action on the strings is truly fantastic, and easily adjustable.

One problem: the G String. The frequency of the note seems to have some kind of harmonic resonance with something inside the guitar itself, thus producing a buzz every time it is played (no, the string is not too close to the neck). I would assume this is easily fixed by tightening whatever it is inside the guitar that seems to be loose.

Other than that, it's a fantastic guitar!