Ibanez S521-MOL 4-stars Reviews

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.

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!

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.

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!