Ibanez has been making their living on quality entry level instruments. The playability of them for students or beginners is amazing for the price point.
When I was looking for a first real guitar (kept buying those garbage starter guitars) kept seeing Fenders that just seemed so expensive and didnt even really play that great. Buddy of mine just sold me an older Ibanez for a few hundred and told me to stop looking at trash. He was right, that Ibanez is still awesome, using it to teach my daughter to play.
It's more to do with hotter output, the fender pickups are awful none dynamic and the ibanez have no body. The ibanez with better pickups is a complete win. The fender is just a Squier with a fender logo. Not even a classic vibe level
Its all up to personal taste but i will say ceramic does not automatically mean bad sounding or cheap pick ups, there are plenty of high end pick ups that use ceramic magnets.
Yo, I just noticed MusiciansFriend has one color (Indigo Blue finish) of the PAC612 for $612! Not bad! But yes, the Pacificas are great guitars. I particularly like the PAC611 with the Humbucker/P90 config. The Yamaha Revstar Element at $550 is a great option for an HH double-cut, too.
From different reviews on the internet, the AZ is closer to its prestige model than the Fender is to its American Professional ii line. I hope it makes sense.
Thank you for the great video. I did a video on the new AZ myself and I really liked it a lot. I think it packs a lot of value for the money, especially in terms of features.
The Fender doesn't sound bad in isolation, but compared to the AZ it sounds like a wet blanket has been thrown over the speaker. It lacks a lot of the presence and sounds pretty wooly. I'd be curious if lowering the Fender's pickups help it sound less congested but they already look pretty low on the pickguard
Both guitars are quite decent however the Ibanez is a few notches above the Fender in my opinion, the frets alone and the appearance stand out quite a bit over the Fender. Thanks for the comparison John!
Fender blueprints is Fender blueprints. Squire blueprints are different in body thickness, neck head cut, etc. Standard is A Fender, made in Squire factory by Fender Blueprints + maybe Squire ceramic pickups. N/B are exactly same pickup on few tests.
@@steamlillyThat does sound rather nice but the specs are identical to a Squier or even inferior in some aspects such as the nut, pickups and overall appearance. So I can see where the confusion comes from. Some of the Squier guitars are very impressive looking and these are just basic looking like the low level models. It’s sad.
Ibanez has begun stomping all over Fender's QC a long time ago. And this continues to this day, which is good for all potential byers, more competition within the similar price range. In this particular case, only thing I like is ''Fender'' traditional aesthetics.
@@Jonontoast You obviously didn't watch the video about that same ''Fender'' he put up recently, besides, I used to work for Fender, Yamaha and Ibanez dealer, in Europe, you can trust me. Fender can't touch Ibanez QC.
Great vid as usual but - A small request, John: For those of us who are not native English speakers, please leave your clarifying texts a little longer. I often have to stop, backtrack, and pause to read the entire text.
AZ would be my pick for the placement of the volume knob and humbucker bridge. I can't stand where the volume knob on my strat is, I never end up playing it.
You ever think you’re the problem you should be able to play regardless how close the volume knob is if you think about it on one extreme, there’s guys like me who used the volume knob almost every second that they’re playing and then people that say things like I cannot stop hitting my knob while playing Sounds like bad technique. To me unless you have some crazy injury or disease.
@@rickeymitchell8303 I think it depends what you learn on and what style you play. I struggled with the strat volume knob because I played nothing but double buck guitars since I started. When I dig in in, my hand instinctively goes back towards the bridge for more string tension. Which on a strat means coming into contact with the volume knob. It’s taken me a couple of years of gigging a strat to get to deal with it. I basically developed a habit of checking the position of the pot while I’m playing
I just bought Tom Quayle's second sig model, which is a high-end AZ - arguably the best. I've also played the AZ Standard and it beats out the Standard Strat for me. Like John says here - it's spec'd higher than you'd expect.
The next iteration of the Indonesian fender standards will be better - it does look like they’ve slightly under-spec’d them and they’ll need to tweak it to be competitive. Really curious to see what the Acoustasonics are like 👍🏼
@ they’re experts in business (pre and post CBS), and so we shouldn’t be surprised when they act like one. But I do think they’ve really missed it here. It should have been a slight improvement on the classic vibe imo, but they’ve become so good that it would then be equal to a player Strat. for me they should just have reduced the player Strat by £150 or equalled the classic vibe with a fender logo for a little more cash.
I'd definitely go for the Ibanez even if it did not sound as good which is does but having a roasted neck, flame maple top, stainless frets and locking tuners and neck relief there is no comparison. If I wanted a basic Fender I would get a Mexican Fender either used or new as I don't see why anyone would pay 500 pounds or 599 us for a striped down Squire Classic Vibe Strat. Wonderful playing.
I think that in fact this standard fender is nothing more than a Squier Classic Vibe, I say this because I have a Classic Vibe 60's and I recently acquired a Squier Stratocaster contemporary Special and I was surprised by the thickness of the neck, but in fact it is the Classic Vibe that has a thinner neck.
Had both an Ibanez RG Prestige back in 2012 and an Ibanez RG Gio back in 2019. The (£1000) Prestige is the best, and easiest, guitar I have ever played. Immaculate. However, the Gio really shocked me how good it sounded (it cost me somewhere between 150-170 pounds). The guitar set-up wasn't perfect, and not as easy to play as the Prestige, but for the money, it sounded and looked really good. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend.
It looks like they tried to price the Fender right between the Squier Classic Vibes and the Player Series. But that just kind of exacerbates the under spec of this guitar. Heck, I remember when Squiers were made of Alder and had Rosewood fingerboards.
Got a Q54 headless with that same config of Az, i absolutely agree with u 200 %, its a no brainer, more pickup position options for covering more music genres, plus the roasted maple neck stainless frets, cmon
Yeah I hate the weird thin hi-fi sounding single coils Ibanez uses. You could easily swap those out for some more vintage sounding pups tho. A lot of people buying the Fender are probably swapping the pups as well
Ibanez is clearly the winner from your vid - 22 stainless steel frets takes the cake. The Fender seems to offer 21 nickel frets as a feature for whatever reason...
As an Ibanez fan you have to go further up their range to get a good one. The ones made in Indonesia always need a full setup and better pickups. As for the Fender, it is a slap in the face to Fender fans, they should have kept them been made in Mexico. If you want a similar priced Strat i would be looking at other brands Jet's new range show how it should be done, and the Harley Benton Fusion range are excellent.
@@lfsp96 I did like it slightly better than my AZES, probably just the pickups, but the fret work on the one I played was pretty tidy, decent polish, not scratchy, and fret ends weren't sharp.
Ibanez AZ straight out for me. More potential with the humbucker on the bridge. Better feel on the neck (personal preference) but needs a better fret work.
These new Player IIs have had some really shoddy fretwork straight out of the box, high action, missing trem bars… all of the Ibanez AZ’s we unbox are basically fully set up out of the box, including these new Standards. Anecdotally, I think the Strat is a gamble on quality, which is wild
I think the Ibanez pickups sound much better, with better clarity though less powerful. The Fender pickups do have an overall Fender “tone” but are muddier, there’s less definition than the AZ. Normally I'd go for Fender, not in this case. Thanks for the side-by-side review!
I have high end fenders, Gibson, etc. every time I go to the store and pickup an Ibanez, I’m like “oh this is nice, must be one of the prestige Japanese models.” It always ends up being some cheaper $450 dollar model.
I went back to try out my Sire S3. The neck feels so much better, and acoustically louder. However, the features on the AZ are too nice as well as the better pickups. Currently contemplating which guitar to sell.
I bought a Squier Debut Strat on the 99$ deal Amazon had going on. I bought it to learn how to better work on my guitars. I thought it would be terrible, but would be cheap and great to tinker around with, and not be a problem if I totally jacked it up. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box and found it had great fretwork, perfectly polished and no fret sprout. It was set up better than any guitar I've ever bought, with intonation dialed in just right and great low action. It stays in tune better than my PRS Se "Paul's Guitar" ( which is a great guitar, too ). I usually hate Indian Laurel on a fretboard, but this one is as slick as maple, but looks like rosewood. I even like the neck ceramic pickup, though the other 2 are pretty bad. It has a slinky feel that almost feels like a short scale guitar. I plan on putting a loaded tex mex pickguard on it and will have an amazing 200$ strat. I don't know how consistent they are, but mine is a gem, and puts a smile on my face every time I pick it up. I sold a Fender Player strat because the Squier is just a better guitar that I can tell will be amazing with new pickups.
About tuning stability, trem in AZ is decked it seems, which is much easier for it to come back to its right position. Strat seems to be floating. I'm sure decking it would help heaps and it would be much more stable. This is how all the cheap S style guitars should be set up from the factory.
Videos like this one are informative, but anyone seriously looking for a guitar should visit some shops and try a selection in the same general price range, before making their choice.
And there it is the most commonsense approach, to get the best budget guitar possible. Play them, there will be rubbish and absolute gems. Take some time upfront it will make a HUGE difference later.
At least in the states, that's getting tougher and tougher,mom and pop shops closing or unable to stock a decent selection of on the rack guitars, Hell even Sam Ash is gone. My local Sam Ash even had a diminishing set of guitars you could play before the end. 😢
Yeah, so you can play a guitar that has three year old strings on it, the action is higher than mount everest, and 5000+ have played it so it's sweaty, grimey and beat up, all while being hounded by employees trying to get me to sign up to a string subscription. I will never get a reasonable opinion about a guitar by trying one at a store. I have to own it, set it up right, and play it for at least two weeks plus play it live to get a decent opinion about an instrument.
@ If the guitars in a music shop have old strings, or are not kept clean, then I don't shop there. I go elsewhere. You could try that approach. Incidentally, I've never heard of a "string subscription". Maybe I'm just old-fashioned.
@@1man1guitarletsgo Same. That's why I rarely go to guitar stores cause 90% the guitars are like that. I've been to 100+ guitar stores from the biggest companies out there in over 20 states. The only places that keep the guitars setup and with fresh strings are boutique guitar shops where the minimum guitar costs are $3000 and I'm not paying that much for a toy unless I'm making a profit from it. Even then, playing it for 10 minutes at a store tells me nothing about actually living with it and using it on a day to day basis/gigging with it. That's why I buy online with 30 day return policies so I can put it through it's paces. Guitar Center was pushing a string subscription club thing last time I went there in 2018/2019. Don't know if they do it anymore!
I'd take the AZ Standard, just because I'm vibing with these modern, Suhr-alike strats right now. If I wanted a more classic "real" strat, I'd never consider the Fender Standard; I'd go for a Squier Classic Vibe 60's strat, sand the headstock decal, replace it with a Fender logo, and bask in the knowledge that I got the superior Indonesian Fender Standard for a lot less money than this one ^^^ 🤣
Best cheap Suhr-alike strats, "were" the Michael Kellys Korea/Indo. They were no Suhr's for sure, but with swamp ash bodies and USA Seymour duncan pickups in some models, they weren't too bloody far behind!! ..Can pick them up cheap as chips used these days, as they are worth next to nothing now.
guessing the issue is player ii series…they don’t want to make something that compares more favorably to those. they could have made much better specced guitars for the money but then there’d be fewer reasons to pay extra for a MIM 🤷♂️
@@psych336 The idea is not to make good instruments but to make money. Sire & Prs have to use quality parts to win customers over. Fender only need the brand name + keeping quality one notch above garbage.
Im leaning towards the Ibby, but if I had a spare £600 I probably wouldnt buy either. I still think the PRS SE 24 is king at this price(I realise it's not a strat)
Fender/Gibson still have such a chokehold on people… they’re charging you more for fewer features, more production mistakes and zero innovation. On that note, I’ll take 3 more sunburst Les Pauls!
I have two Ibanez guitars and four Fender guitars.... I love them all equally the Ibanez compared with the Fender American and made in Mexico in quality and playability😅are I have no interest in a fender standard Series Guitar
seems or sounds like I can distinctly hear the "Pick" sound proceeding the note on the Fender Product ? the classic Fender twack.. The "iby" simply presents the note , no headphones...
Ok, i didn't particularly like either guitar's sound. The strat had points where I was like "Ok that's good", and the Ibanez had a good bridge pickup, but wow, Ill stick with my player series I got used like new for $550.
@@TheActressAndBishop AZ feels raw and barebones to me. You'll need to replace some parts and polish the frets and fretboard edges to improve its playability. On the other hand, on the S7 is matter of preference to the pickup tone. If you don't like it, you could replace it. Other than that, S7 is already gig ready
That Ibanez would cut through a mix. The fender I don’t know for sure. Especially if you were in a band that used a lot of synths and backing tracks, the Ibanez is what I would want every time.
Fender: Poplar body? Seriously? 21 frets? Ibanez: Stainless steel frets, roasted maple neck, Alder body. Fender is charging $50 more for far less guitar.
Fender looks classy with its archetypal headstock and body shape. Ibanez looks cheesy with that perloid pickguard and doesn't have harmonious contours with that pointy body shape and headstock. Fender has warmer tone, but also more muffled, dull, with no chime. Ibanez sounds better in all pick-up positions - more clarity, chime, definition, sparkle - as if a blanket was lifted off a speaker. I still choose Meteora with butterscotch yellow body!
This is a Stratocaster for people who care about names kinda like Epiphone that are way better than Gibson‘s, but a Gibson is a Gibson anytime a guitar is basing itself off it history instead of innovation there’s probably an issue at hand
I actually think the Ibanez is the cheap version of an expensive thing and the fender claims to be, but is actually an expensive version of a cheap thing.
Your left hand on the neck is going to decide which one is best for you. Everything else can be changed/upgraded. To do this, visit your local guitar shop, play them both and make sure you buy it from them after you make a decision. They deserve your support for providing that service, and I'm certain they'll be the same price as Sweetwater. It kills me that everyone is relying on these videos and online retailers for something you need to feel and hear for yourself.
Quite honestly, the specs on the Fender are no better than that of a £129 package guitar and you don't even get the amp and strap, etc. It just reeks of 'cheap and cheerful'. I'd be embarrassed to call that my 'standard', given the brand.
Fender (read: Squier). It's still a legend. If someone asks you what guitar you have, you'll proudly say "fender, original." Gen Z and Alpha, in general, won't notice the specs.
Apparently the Fender is basically a 'Fender by Squier'. You're paying mostly for the name on the headstock, which instantly makes it a terrible _value_ proposition.
Frankly, I thought the fender sounded far better. Skinny neck? Yes please. You sold me on the fender. However, what really matters in the end is what you feel at one with.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Ibanez has been making their living on quality entry level instruments. The playability of them for students or beginners is amazing for the price point.
When I was looking for a first real guitar (kept buying those garbage starter guitars) kept seeing Fenders that just seemed so expensive and didnt even really play that great. Buddy of mine just sold me an older Ibanez for a few hundred and told me to stop looking at trash. He was right, that Ibanez is still awesome, using it to teach my daughter to play.
It is strange how purist fender fans find ceramic sound better when it comes with a fender tag 😁 ..
I don't think everyone in that cohort find ceramic better, don't generalize.
It's more to do with hotter output, the fender pickups are awful none dynamic and the ibanez have no body. The ibanez with better pickups is a complete win. The fender is just a Squier with a fender logo. Not even a classic vibe level
Its all up to personal taste but i will say ceramic does not automatically mean bad sounding or cheap pick ups, there are plenty of high end pick ups that use ceramic magnets.
The answer is a Yamaha Pacifica
No,
You mean the new Pacifica Standard+?
Absolutely!! I have an older Pacifica that I wouldn't sell for anything. I bought it used, and that was someone's loss - but definitely MY gain.
Yes sir!
Yo, I just noticed MusiciansFriend has one color (Indigo Blue finish) of the PAC612 for $612! Not bad!
But yes, the Pacificas are great guitars. I particularly like the PAC611 with the Humbucker/P90 config. The Yamaha Revstar Element at $550 is a great option for an HH double-cut, too.
From different reviews on the internet, the AZ is closer to its prestige model than the Fender is to its American Professional ii line. I hope it makes sense.
That is correct ✅
Thank you for the great video. I did a video on the new AZ myself and I really liked it a lot. I think it packs a lot of value for the money, especially in terms of features.
AZ Prestige is also an absolute dream
The Fender doesn't sound bad in isolation, but compared to the AZ it sounds like a wet blanket has been thrown over the speaker. It lacks a lot of the presence and sounds pretty wooly. I'd be curious if lowering the Fender's pickups help it sound less congested but they already look pretty low on the pickguard
AZ standard for me, i'm gonna try one at the store hopefully
i tried and he was.. like bamboo stick 🤣
Both guitars are quite decent however the Ibanez is a few notches above the Fender in my opinion, the frets alone and the appearance stand out quite a bit over the Fender. Thanks for the comparison John!
Die Squier verkleidet als Fender schaut aus, als käme sie aus dem Kaugummiautomat 😉
Fender blueprints is Fender blueprints. Squire blueprints are different in body thickness, neck head cut, etc. Standard is A Fender, made in Squire factory by Fender Blueprints + maybe Squire ceramic pickups. N/B are exactly same pickup on few tests.
@@steamlillyThat does sound rather nice but the specs are identical to a Squier or even inferior in some aspects such as the nut, pickups and overall appearance. So I can see where the confusion comes from. Some of the Squier guitars are very impressive looking and these are just basic looking like the low level models. It’s sad.
I'm a sucker for standard colors but that Ibanez just looks gorgeous damn
If the neck of the Ibanez Standard is the same as the Prestige, the stability is phenomenal.
beautiful picking, thanks for a moment of feelings.
Appreciate the head to head. I don’t think I’d go with either, especially if $600 was burning a hole in my pocket.
The Ibanez. Easy.
Ibanez has begun stomping all over Fender's QC a long time ago. And this continues to this day, which is good for all potential byers, more competition within the similar price range. In this particular case, only thing I like is ''Fender'' traditional aesthetics.
It's interesting that the guy in this video basically said the Fender was built better.
@@Jonontoast
You obviously didn't watch the video about that same ''Fender'' he put up recently, besides, I used to work for Fender, Yamaha and Ibanez dealer, in Europe, you can trust me. Fender can't touch Ibanez QC.
@@singleplayer75 But in this video the exact opposite is shown. Which is what I said.
No need to get upset about it. 😂
@ Actually, you're right, he shows the opposite here...
Everything is cool, no one is upset, he bought two cheap guitars, not us 🤣
Great vid as usual but - A small request, John: For those of us who are not native English speakers, please leave your clarifying texts a little longer. I often have to stop, backtrack, and pause to read the entire text.
Wow, the blue one definitely does it for me.
I’m gonna have to disagree. While the blue one seems better, I’d say that the blue one is much better, hands down.
@ what!?! Surely you jest. Can you not see the blue one is just magnificent while the blue one is slightly beautiful?
AZ would be my pick for the placement of the volume knob and humbucker bridge. I can't stand where the volume knob on my strat is, I never end up playing it.
You ever think you’re the problem you should be able to play regardless how close the volume knob is if you think about it on one extreme, there’s guys like me who used the volume knob almost every second that they’re playing and then people that say things like I cannot stop hitting my knob while playing Sounds like bad technique. To me unless you have some crazy injury or disease.
@@rickeymitchell8303 I think it depends what you learn on and what style you play. I struggled with the strat volume knob because I played nothing but double buck guitars since I started. When I dig in in, my hand instinctively goes back towards the bridge for more string tension. Which on a strat means coming into contact with the volume knob.
It’s taken me a couple of years of gigging a strat to get to deal with it. I basically developed a habit of checking the position of the pot while I’m playing
@ Wrong
i'm still stuck on the fender player. it's got it all
I just bought Tom Quayle's second sig model, which is a high-end AZ - arguably the best. I've also played the AZ Standard and it beats out the Standard Strat for me. Like John says here - it's spec'd higher than you'd expect.
Thanks for another great review.
The next iteration of the Indonesian fender standards will be better - it does look like they’ve slightly under-spec’d them and they’ll need to tweak it to be competitive. Really curious to see what the Acoustasonics are like 👍🏼
I mean, that's how they milk it right?
Fender Standard II - Alnico pickups
Fender Standard III - 22 frets
Fender Standard III - Rolled fretboard edges
@ they’re experts in business (pre and post CBS), and so we shouldn’t be surprised when they act like one. But I do think they’ve really missed it here. It should have been a slight improvement on the classic vibe imo, but they’ve become so good that it would then be equal to a player Strat. for me they should just have reduced the player Strat by £150 or equalled the classic vibe with a fender logo for a little more cash.
AZ standard any day.
The music man Sterling is great also ct50 or plus model
I'd definitely go for the Ibanez even if it did not sound as good which is does but having a roasted neck, flame maple top, stainless frets and locking tuners and neck relief there is no comparison. If I wanted a basic Fender I would get a Mexican Fender either used or new as I don't see why anyone would pay 500 pounds or 599 us for a striped down Squire Classic Vibe Strat. Wonderful playing.
I think that in fact this standard fender is nothing more than a Squier Classic Vibe, I say this because I have a Classic Vibe 60's and I recently acquired a Squier Stratocaster contemporary Special and I was surprised by the thickness of the neck, but in fact it is the Classic Vibe that has a thinner neck.
Had both an Ibanez RG Prestige back in 2012 and an Ibanez RG Gio back in 2019. The (£1000) Prestige is the best, and easiest, guitar I have ever played. Immaculate. However, the Gio really shocked me how good it sounded (it cost me somewhere between 150-170 pounds). The guitar set-up wasn't perfect, and not as easy to play as the Prestige, but for the money, it sounded and looked really good. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend.
It looks like they tried to price the Fender right between the Squier Classic Vibes and the Player Series. But that just kind of exacerbates the under spec of this guitar.
Heck, I remember when Squiers were made of Alder and had Rosewood fingerboards.
Got a Q54 headless with that same config of Az, i absolutely agree with u 200 %, its a no brainer, more pickup position options for covering more music genres, plus the roasted maple neck stainless frets, cmon
Fender stratocaster ❤
Wow, the fender sounds way better even with the terrible pickups...
Yeah I hate the weird thin hi-fi sounding single coils Ibanez uses. You could easily swap those out for some more vintage sounding pups tho. A lot of people buying the Fender are probably swapping the pups as well
@@gdawgs101really? I like that 80s hifi clean sound..pretty sure those are the kind of sounds popular with the Ibanez type audience anyway
@@matthewwinter5780 I prefer rounder, warmer, more vintage single coil strat tones a la Hendrix, SRV, Frusciante, Mayer, etc., but that's just me.
looks like a strat...still manages just to sound like a strat.
You know what they say, opinions are like assholes.......
Ibanez is clearly the winner from your vid - 22 stainless steel frets takes the cake. The Fender seems to offer 21 nickel frets as a feature for whatever reason...
As an Ibanez fan you have to go further up their range to get a good one.
The ones made in Indonesia always need a full setup and better pickups.
As for the Fender, it is a slap in the face to Fender fans, they should have kept
them been made in Mexico.
If you want a similar priced Strat i would be looking at other brands Jet's new
range show how it should be done, and the Harley Benton Fusion range are excellent.
The AZ Standard I played up at my local shop was made in China, which surprised me because my AZES was made in Indonesia.
@@dbuddle27did you like the standard better than the AZES? How was the fret work?
@@lfsp96 I did like it slightly better than my AZES, probably just the pickups, but the fret work on the one I played was pretty tidy, decent polish, not scratchy, and fret ends weren't sharp.
Ibanez AZ straight out for me. More potential with the humbucker on the bridge. Better feel on the neck (personal preference) but needs a better fret work.
These new Player IIs have had some really shoddy fretwork straight out of the box, high action, missing trem bars… all of the Ibanez AZ’s we unbox are basically fully set up out of the box, including these new Standards. Anecdotally, I think the Strat is a gamble on quality, which is wild
I think the Ibanez pickups sound much better, with better clarity though less powerful. The Fender pickups do have an overall Fender “tone” but are muddier, there’s less definition than the AZ. Normally I'd go for Fender, not in this case. Thanks for the side-by-side review!
I think the reason of it being muddier is due to using cheaper ceramic pickups
I have high end fenders, Gibson, etc. every time I go to the store and pickup an Ibanez, I’m like “oh this is nice, must be one of the prestige Japanese models.” It always ends up being some cheaper $450 dollar model.
Its shocking to hear that Fender strat tones are better than on the Ibanez, that stainless steel frets are macnifecent! Thanx for the guitar lesson. 😊
It seems, the rhythmic strock and punch in the fendar is better but lead tone of AZ is better.
I went back to try out my Sire S3. The neck feels so much better, and acoustically louder. However, the features on the AZ are too nice as well as the better pickups. Currently contemplating which guitar to sell.
Can we have a video of the Squier Debut VS “Fender“ Standard…? I would love to see the similarities and differences of Each.
I bought a Squier Debut Strat on the 99$ deal Amazon had going on.
I bought it to learn how to better work on my guitars. I thought it would be terrible, but would be cheap and great to tinker around with, and not be a problem if I totally jacked it up. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box and found it had great fretwork, perfectly polished and no fret sprout. It was set up better than any guitar I've ever bought, with intonation dialed in just right and great low action. It stays in tune better than my PRS Se "Paul's Guitar" ( which is a great guitar, too ). I usually hate Indian Laurel on a fretboard, but this one is as slick as maple, but looks like rosewood.
I even like the neck ceramic pickup, though the other 2 are pretty bad. It has a slinky feel that almost feels like a short scale guitar. I plan on putting a loaded tex mex pickguard on it and will have an amazing 200$ strat.
I don't know how consistent they are, but mine is a gem, and puts a smile on my face every time I pick it up.
I sold a Fender Player strat because the Squier is just a better guitar that I can tell will be amazing with new pickups.
About tuning stability, trem in AZ is decked it seems, which is much easier for it to come back to its right position. Strat seems to be floating. I'm sure decking it would help heaps and it would be much more stable. This is how all the cheap S style guitars should be set up from the factory.
AZ is great. If it had a two point gotoh tremolo It'd be 10/10. It's already pretty sick!
Never thought Id see the day Cort made Fenders. Globalization.
Cort have made Fender guitars on and off for years. They also made PRS until recently. They still make tons of brands including some for Ibanez
PRS seems to be the winner in this economy, TBH.
Videos like this one are informative, but anyone seriously looking for a guitar should visit some shops and try a selection in the same general price range, before making their choice.
And there it is the most commonsense approach, to get the best budget guitar possible. Play them, there will be rubbish and absolute gems. Take some time upfront it will make a HUGE difference later.
At least in the states, that's getting tougher and tougher,mom and pop shops closing or unable to stock a decent selection of on the rack guitars, Hell even Sam Ash is gone. My local Sam Ash even had a diminishing set of guitars you could play before the end. 😢
Yeah, so you can play a guitar that has three year old strings on it, the action is higher than mount everest, and 5000+ have played it so it's sweaty, grimey and beat up, all while being hounded by employees trying to get me to sign up to a string subscription. I will never get a reasonable opinion about a guitar by trying one at a store. I have to own it, set it up right, and play it for at least two weeks plus play it live to get a decent opinion about an instrument.
@ If the guitars in a music shop have old strings, or are not kept clean, then I don't shop there. I go elsewhere. You could try that approach. Incidentally, I've never heard of a "string subscription". Maybe I'm just old-fashioned.
@@1man1guitarletsgo Same. That's why I rarely go to guitar stores cause 90% the guitars are like that. I've been to 100+ guitar stores from the biggest companies out there in over 20 states. The only places that keep the guitars setup and with fresh strings are boutique guitar shops where the minimum guitar costs are $3000 and I'm not paying that much for a toy unless I'm making a profit from it. Even then, playing it for 10 minutes at a store tells me nothing about actually living with it and using it on a day to day basis/gigging with it. That's why I buy online with 30 day return policies so I can put it through it's paces.
Guitar Center was pushing a string subscription club thing last time I went there in 2018/2019. Don't know if they do it anymore!
I'd take the AZ Standard, just because I'm vibing with these modern, Suhr-alike strats right now. If I wanted a more classic "real" strat, I'd never consider the Fender Standard; I'd go for a Squier Classic Vibe 60's strat, sand the headstock decal, replace it with a Fender logo, and bask in the knowledge that I got the superior Indonesian Fender Standard for a lot less money than this one ^^^ 🤣
Best cheap Suhr-alike strats, "were" the Michael Kellys Korea/Indo. They were no Suhr's for sure, but with swamp ash bodies and USA Seymour duncan pickups in some models, they weren't too bloody far behind!! ..Can pick them up cheap as chips used these days, as they are worth next to nothing now.
I will pick my sire S3 over this two all day long..
S3 stock? Or replacement pickups?
@@johnong2655 stock. I didn't need to upgrade it, it sounds good to me.
I’d save a little more and get a Player Series if I wanted a Fender decal. I prefer the AZ over this standard series.
AZ: I'll smooth out the frets myself. What puts me off a bit is the tremolo - I need it occasionally, and this one is pretty terrible.
Love the tone of the Ibanez better, but think you played better on the fender🤷🏻♂️
what is your rig here.... love that sound
can you do a charvel dk24 update
Shame they didn’t go with better materials for the fender. They should have taken notes from Sire or PRS SE.
guessing the issue is player ii series…they don’t want to make something that compares more favorably to those. they could have made much better specced guitars for the money but then there’d be fewer reasons to pay extra for a MIM 🤷♂️
@@psych336 The idea is not to make good instruments but to make money. Sire & Prs have to use quality parts to win customers over. Fender only need the brand name + keeping quality one notch above garbage.
Sire is unbeatable in terms of feel. The downside are their pickups
@@johnong2655 They also have a fugly headstock, and I hate the look of ”roasted maple”. But you get a lot for your money anyway.
I'd rather have maple board. Jatoba with wide nut is good but not something I'd want on every guitar.
Ibanez AZ - way more bang for your buck and looks better imo
Listened to this blind and the az was the one I thought sounded better.
Im leaning towards the Ibby, but if I had a spare £600 I probably wouldnt buy either. I still think the PRS SE 24 is king at this price(I realise it's not a strat)
Fender/Gibson still have such a chokehold on people… they’re charging you more for fewer features, more production mistakes and zero innovation. On that note, I’ll take 3 more sunburst Les Pauls!
I like the PRS Moder Eagle V better than both. I think I'll spend a little extra. Lol😅
at that price id pick prs ss se
Ibanez AZ all day long.
I have two Ibanez guitars and four Fender guitars.... I love them all equally the Ibanez compared with the Fender American and made in Mexico in quality and playability😅are I have no interest in a fender standard Series Guitar
What about the Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus? Is it comparable?
If you can find one, get your hands on one. Or...buy it full retail
If i were to shoot out the 2 i might end being the fender, it sounds better, and a well executed fender neck would probably sell me on it.
epiphone Les Paul jr.
seems or sounds like I can distinctly hear the "Pick" sound proceeding the note on the Fender Product ? the classic Fender twack..
The "iby" simply presents the note , no headphones...
I'm adamant the Levinson Sceptre Ventana v2 is the best strat under 599 pounds and it's only 300-400
Ok, i didn't particularly like either guitar's sound. The strat had points where I was like "Ok that's good", and the Ibanez had a good bridge pickup, but wow, Ill stick with my player series I got used like new for $550.
Same factory, PT. Cort make them. Get cort instead
From personal experience, Ibanez for playability, Fender for sound
Fender for the looks too! Any strat head stock or body variation looks like a perversion of the perfect original shape.
both are made in Indonesia, same factory
How do you think either compare to the Sire S7?
In terms of feel, S7 is more premium. In terms of sound, AZ is more versatile
@@johnong2655 Not much to separate them then?
@@TheActressAndBishop AZ feels raw and barebones to me. You'll need to replace some parts and polish the frets and fretboard edges to improve its playability. On the other hand, on the S7 is matter of preference to the pickup tone. If you don't like it, you could replace it. Other than that, S7 is already gig ready
There's no comparison. I'm a huge Fender fan but the AZ is better in every aspect.
I actually preferred the sound of the Fender as well, but I suspect I would like playing the AZ much better.
@@mwc2112"I suspect" 😂
That Ibanez would cut through a mix. The fender I don’t know for sure. Especially if you were in a band that used a lot of synths and backing tracks, the Ibanez is what I would want every time.
Fender: Poplar body? Seriously? 21 frets? Ibanez: Stainless steel frets, roasted maple neck, Alder body. Fender is charging $50 more for far less guitar.
And locking tuners on Ibanez.
@ sure. What’s up?
ok next ibanez AZES vs Fender Made in Indonesia
Save a little more money and buy a Side S7 or a Schecter Nick Johnston
I prefer the sound of the Ibanez here.
Fender looks classy with its archetypal headstock and body shape. Ibanez looks cheesy with that perloid pickguard and doesn't have harmonious contours with that pointy body shape and headstock. Fender has warmer tone, but also more muffled, dull, with no chime. Ibanez sounds better in all pick-up positions - more clarity, chime, definition, sparkle - as if a blanket was lifted off a speaker. I still choose Meteora with butterscotch yellow body!
Clean guitars DI'd straight in eh?
This is a Stratocaster for people who care about names kinda like
Epiphone that are way better than Gibson‘s, but a Gibson is a Gibson anytime a guitar is basing itself off it history instead of innovation there’s probably an issue at hand
I actually think the Ibanez is the cheap version of an expensive thing and the fender claims to be, but is actually an expensive version of a cheap thing.
i would love to get the ibanez and swap the pups for fender. Although i am not a fan of the colors
That Ibby is not a great sounding guitar to my ears, the Fender with whatever pups it has still sounds great!
Your left hand on the neck is going to decide which one is best for you. Everything else can be changed/upgraded. To do this, visit your local guitar shop, play them both and make sure you buy it from them after you make a decision. They deserve your support for providing that service, and I'm certain they'll be the same price as Sweetwater. It kills me that everyone is relying on these videos and online retailers for something you need to feel and hear for yourself.
Imo Fender sound better
lets be real: if you buy a Fender Standard instrument - you are stupid. You are paying 200 bucks more to have a Fender logo on a Squier
Get yourself a player 1 on clearance or second hand. Way better!
Beyond Burger Nut 😂
Indonesian strat is far better name than Fender Standard.
Quite honestly, the specs on the Fender are no better than that of a £129 package guitar and you don't even get the amp and strap, etc. It just reeks of 'cheap and cheerful'. I'd be embarrassed to call that my 'standard', given the brand.
Fender (read: Squier). It's still a legend. If someone asks you what guitar you have, you'll proudly say "fender, original." Gen Z and Alpha, in general, won't notice the specs.
Ibanez .
For video author’s style of playing Ibanes AZ series sounds better then this model of Fender
Apparently the Fender is basically a 'Fender by Squier'. You're paying mostly for the name on the headstock, which instantly makes it a terrible _value_ proposition.
no comparison, az standard is a superior guitar
I like Ibanez's on paper and in theory, but in reality, every time I play one, or play my own RG, I just don't connect.
Frankly, I thought the fender sounded far better. Skinny neck? Yes please. You sold me on the fender. However, what really matters in the end is what you feel at one with.
You sounded more like you on the Fender. The Fender sounded much warmer despite the ceramic PUs. Think it has a lot of potential for mods.
Even crappy, Fender sounds better.
LOL 😂😂😂