These are the Ibanez AZES40 and the Ibanez AZES31, two new affordable guitars in the Ibanez AZES (AZ Essentials) family. At the 42 Gear Street Three event, I was joined by special guest Leigh Fuge to put these guitars through their paces and really show you what they can do!

Ibanez AZES31 (SSS version) at Thomann: [ Ссылка ]
At Sweetwater: [ Ссылка ]

Get the Ibanez AZES40 (HSS version) at Thomann: [ Ссылка ]
At Sweetwater: [ Ссылка ]

Both clearly influenced by the legendary Fender Stratocaster, the catchily-named AZES31 (which is the three single-coil SSS version) and AZES40 (which is the HSS version with a bridge humbucker) are aimed squarely at guitar students and learners. And they’re priced accordingly: the SSS AZES31 is €299 in Europe and $299 in the USA, while the HSS AZES40 is €329 in Europe and $349 in the USA.

The two guitars have lightweight poplar bodies with maple necks and jatoba fingerboards, while medium frets, a 25” scale length and a 250mm (9.84”) fingerboard radius have been included to make everything as comfortable for beginners and students as possible.

The pickups are from Ibanez’s own Essentials line. There’s also an Alter Switch, which lets you pit the pickups in and out of phase, split the humbucker on the AZES40, and simulate a ‘bucker on the AZERS31. There’s too many switching options to list here, but you can see the full switching options for both guitars on the Ibanez website here: [ Ссылка ]

One other aspect I found pretty cool is the hardtail bridge on the AZES31 – it’s unusual to see Strat-type guitars without a whammy system, so this is a breath of fresh air, and should improve the guitar’s tuning stability. (The rest of the guitar’s hardware is all generic stuff, by the way.) So, let’s hear them in action!

Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits in the video:

00:00 Hello!
00:13 Introduction and what we’re doing today
01:05 The Ibanez AZES Series and prices
02:20 Specs and info
03:56 Hardtail bridge on the AZES31
05:32 The Alter switch
06:34 Clean tones (AZES31)
08:49 Today’s amp: the Revv Generator
09:46 Weight, feel and setup
10:30 Neck profile
10:55 Henning interrupts us :)
12:43 And he’s gone!
13:10 Humbucker edge of breakup tones (AZES40)
15:22 Overdrive tones (AZES40)
16:51 The new plastic jack input
18:43 Overdrive tones (AZES31)
21:00 Higher gain overdrive with the JHS Double Barrel
24:25 Which of the two guitars is better?
26:26 Beginner guitars now versus when we were kids
26:45 Final thoughts and conclusion


Check out Leigh here: [ Ссылка ]

Enjoy!


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Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Controlled Distress – Biz Baz Studio.

#42GSThree #Ibanez #IbanezGuitars #42GearStreet


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