Ibanez S470-My thoughts

[Ripkord]

Well I picked up a purple S 470 thursday. The guitar is absolutely mint. It was being sold as used for $429.00. The funny thing is, like I said before, there isn't a mark on it. No fret wear, no fading of the cosmo black ZR trem or tuners, not a mark on the body. The only small thing were a few light scratches on the plastic trem cover on the back. The previous owner couldn't have played this guitar very often-if at all. Oh yeah, the guitar was set-up perfectly with GHS 9's. The intonation is dead on, and the action was set at about 1.30mm at the 12th fret with no buzzing encountered. Obviously who ever set-up this guitar knew their business.

So, this is my first experience with the ZR trem and an S series guitar. I've gotta' say this is the most comfortable guitar I've ever played. I love the RG's, but IMO, the contour of the S body feels like it was made to fit me. The neck is very nice, not to thin and not to wide. I can easily play this neck without my hand getting tired.

The pup's suck,'nuff said!

The ZR trem is unbelievable. It feels stiffer then the a lo pro or any similar trem, but I've always liked a stiffer feeling trem set up. The big plus is that although it feels stiffer, it is definitely smoother then the edge trem on my 570. I've been beating the hell out of it, and it just won't go out of tune. The ZR looks to be well made with 1 or 2 small exceptions.

I'm not crazy about the way the bar is inserted into the trem, and the little plastic piece that it threads into doesn't give me a lot of confidence, but I'll have to wait and see what happens with regular use. The bar was always a little loose even when I tightened down the outside tension screw, but I put a piece of duct tape around the bar just above the threads and that solved the problem.

All things considered, out of a possible 5 stars I'd give this guitar a solid 4 stars for build quality and construction, 2 stars for tone, because the pup's are really bad, and a solid 5 stars for performance.

I hope this will help anyone that might be interested in buying this model. I would highly recommend it as a main guitar, once the pup's are replaced, or a solid back-up guitar in case your main one goes down.

Thanks for reading!
Danny

[alecmm61]

good score!

[Powerslave214]

I just got an 88 Saber with an Edge and a S470 with a LoTRS recently. I almost pulled the trigger on another S470 with a ZR since it was dirt cheap at a local shop. Had it not been silver, I probably would have got it.
Depending on price, I'm considering have the LoTRS replaced with a ZR if the routing isn't too pricey.

[AllP0werToSlaves]

Sounds like you got a good deal; enjoy the axe bro!

[albee1952]

Replacing a LoTRS with an Edge would be way easier than installing a ZR. Lots less routing to be done and the stud spacing is the same, although the holes would need to be enlarged to 11mm for Edge studs. ZR stud spacing is wider so the old holes would need to be doweled before extensive routing.

[JM5150]

Thanks for the review! I almost pulled the trigger on one of those myself. Having many RGs, I'm still curious about the S models. May have to get one. Glad to here something positive about he ZR. I've read other threads that just slam that thing...

[Cleetus]

Nice aquisition.The action will go down to about .72mm at the 12th and 22nd frets if you tweak the neck slightly,and the intonation tool in the ZR along with the offset saddle locking screws makes intonation adjustments easy as u like.I opted for a pair of Full Shreds in my S470 and they sound better in this S than in my USA rockstrat which punches and cuts through any mix very well.

[Heavytortoise]

I just picked up an S470 from 2001 last week and I have a lot of the same thoughts. Great neck, great balance, great look and great feel. The pickups were aleady replaced with EMG 81/85s so no complaints there (except that the middle pup was left out) but I agree the stock trem is atrocious. It's very sloppy and tends to drift out of tune after about 30 minutes of playing. I'm definitely going to replace the trem, but I'd like the operation to be as simple as possible, preferable with no additional routing required. I've heard from a few places that an original Floyd Rose will just drop in with no mods required. Can anyone here confirm that?

[Ripkord]

Originally Posted by JM5150

Thanks for the review! I almost pulled the trigger on one of those myself. Having many RGs, I'm still curious about the S models. May have to get one. Glad to here something positive about he ZR. I've read other threads that just slam that thing...

I've read those reviews also JM. They kinda put me off of the ZR until I actually tried one. Like I said there are the little things with the trem bar retainer, but other then that it stays in tune better then my 570, and thats been set-up by a pro who knows these things inside and out. I'd definitely recommend any Ibanez guitar equipped with a ZR. Its just much easier to set-up. No worries about flat notes when bending strings, and no worrying about knife edge wear. So far I'm impressed, and I don't see my opinion changing anytime soon.

Danny

[Ripkord]

Originally Posted by Cleetus

Nice aquisition.The action will go down to about .72mm at the 12th and 22nd frets if you tweak the neck slightly,and the intonation tool in the ZR along with the offset saddle locking screws makes intonation adjustments easy as u like.I opted for a pair of Full Shreds in my S470 and they sound better in this S than in my USA rockstrat which punches and cuts through any mix very well.

Thanks Cleetus, Can you tell me what the nuts on the trem posts are for? Are they to lock the trem down? I was also considering what kind of pups to get for my S. But being that I've had no experience with this body type I'm kinda lost. I was looking at those new Dimarzio pups, the ones that are supposed to be as powerful as active pups, but they're passive.

I've got a set of ZW EMG's in my LP and they work with that set-up, but I thought the lack of wood on my S might make them sound crappy. I was seriously considering a Fred or a TZ for the bridge and a PAF Joe or TZ for the neck. Right now I'm still deciding, any help from you guys would be great.

Thanks,
Danny

[Powerslave214]

I'm in the exact same boat. I read all kinds of good things about the Air Norton/Tone Zone combo. And another friend of mine raves about Bare Knuckle pickups.

SO many choices.......

[Cleetus]

Originally Posted by Ripkord

Thanks Cleetus, Can you tell me what the nuts on the trem posts are for? Are they to lock the trem down? I was also considering what kind of pups to get for my S. But being that I've had no experience with this body type I'm kinda lost. I was looking at those new Dimarzio pups, the ones that are supposed to be as powerful as active pups, but they're passive.

I've got a set of ZW EMG's in my LP and they work with that set-up, but I thought the lack of wood on my S might make them sound crappy. I was seriously considering a Fred or a TZ for the bridge and a PAF Joe or TZ for the neck. Right now I'm still deciding, any help from you guys would be great.

Thanks,
Danny

The nuts need to be slackened slightly before adjusting the bridge height and then retightened afterwards. As for the pups, that's a question of personal taste. I like SD Full Shreds because they are very responsive, edgy, the top end screams without squirming and the natural sound of the guitar still comes through. But check out those D-Activators(I think that's what you were refering to) you may prefer them. Keep on rockin' dude!