s270???

[sarahs]

what is different between these guitars and s470s? i have a chance of buying one second hand for around £150 ($300) (guitars in UK more expensive - s470 = £380) It is in pretty cood condition. should i get it?

[Globbits]

Well, the s270 (if its more than a year or two old) will come with a crappy LO-TRS-II or ILT-1 trem-NOT VERY GOOD! You can do a search on the site, basically, everyone has a low opinion of them! Also, the pickups will be Ibanez 'Powersounds'-cool sounding name, terrible pickups! They seem to produce bass where bass is humanly impossible. The tone is mud, fuzz, mud, mud and dinge.
The s470, on the other hand, will have the uber-cool ZR trem, absolutly gorgeous, packed with cool features that you won't find on a regular floyd rose. The pickups will be Axis or Infinity pickups, I think? Basically, Ibanez own brand pickups, but sound a little better than the Powersounds.

In short, the s470 is a MUCH better guitar, and you will outgrow the s270 soon after buying it. (but as it's second hand to start with, you can always resell it for the same value, after saving up the additional cash for the 470.)

[lyconxero]

Naw, I wouldn't even bother with the second-hand 270. Just save up and get yourself a 470 with the ZR trem and save yourself a LOT of future hassle.

[Flobanez]

I'd get an S 540 used in great shape of course.
A radius would be better.

[AirGuitarHero]

I have an S270 and it's good... for the money. I paid US$150 S/H. The woodwork is very good and it's a beautiful and very comfy instrument, but the hardware...

The ILT-1 trem is single-locking, so it's good for gentle vibrato and little more. I have mine blocked. The Powersounds are bad. If you have some nice pups hanging around, replace them ASAP. I still could get some decent metal tones out of them, but that's becaise they're muddy as hell LOL

The fretwork is pretty good BUT it's a 2001 model and it already needs a fret level, and I don't play it that much, so the frets are pretty crappy quality. That said, I love the neck and it fits my hands to a T. The tuners are OK, stays in tune pretty well (with the trem blocked) and intonation is perfect.

Basically, the wood and craftmanship are as good as a higher model, but the crappy hardware and electronics will have to be upgraded sooner or later. I've been happy with it as my only axe for 2 years because I couldn't afford any better, but it does need the upgrade.

I suggest you go with the S470, that's a pro quality guitar to begin with, unless you already have spare parts to put in the S270 (new pups, pots and OFR at least). I haven't played the S470, but I guess it's a sweet guitar, and not too expensive now that RGs are overpriced.