Ibanez has started 2025 strong with the launch of the AZ Standard series, a pair of $549 S-styles stacked with premium specs that might well prove to be a serious contender for best-value electric guitar of the year.
The AZ Standard is available with a dual-humbucker or HSS electric guitar pickup configuration. Ibanez doesn’t forget its core demographic in its description of the AZ Standard, promising “all the staples the Ibanez brand is famous for, such as fast necks, floating trems, and high-octane distortion.” And it makes good on those claims.
Necks are fashioned from a deep caramel-coloured roasted maple, bolted to the body, and whittled down to a series exclusive profile that measures just 20.5mm deep at the 1st fret, 22.5mm at the 12th – and you can bet they will feel smooth.
The T106 tremolo bridge might not be as flamboyant as the Floyd Rose – it's not for extreme divebombing – but it is fully adjustable and a solid piece of hardware. There are locking tuners, too, so if you do go hard on the whammy bar it should stay stable.
Those Ibanez Modern Custom humbuckers have a high-output ceramic design and are voiced for high-gain scenarios. The single-coils are Alnico V. But there’s a lot more than meets the eye.
These are not your common or garden variety S-styles. The dual-humbucker model presents players with 10 different core tones thanks to its dyna-MIX10 switching system and alter switch. The HSS model’s dyna-MIX9 system presents you with nine. Either way you’re covered for metal, hard-rock, shred, fusion, funk, pop… Whatever you might want from a hotrodded S-style.
Choosing between them might be the tough part. Bear in mind the HSS model has a switching configuration that combines both single-coils in series for a simulated humbucker sound.
The dyna-MIX and alter switch setup operates much like any modern Strat-inspired guitar. You have a five-way pickup selector switch and then the alter switch for selecting the other wiring options. It is a clever and simple way of getting more tone options out of the pickups.
As for the fundamentals, both guitars have solid alder bodies topped with flame maple. Both have a 25.5” scale, with 12” radius jatoba fretboards seating 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets. The neck heels are neatly sculpted for upper-fret access.
Ibanez has given the HSS version a pearloid multi-play pickguard. It has not given it a catchy name – it is officially called the AZ22S1F. The dual-humbucker model is the AZ24S1F. Yes, once more the factory cat has walked over the keyboard and named the models. Don’t ever change, Ibanez. We love you just as you are even if those names really do confuse us.
You can get the AZ22S1F (the HSS model) in Transparent Black Sunburst or Transparent Turquoise Burst.
The AZ24S1F is offered in Transparent Black Sunburst, Violin Sunburst and Transparent Turquoise Burst. If you prefer a more muted aesthetic it’s worth noting it doesn’t have a pickguard.
Ibanez expects these to retail at $549 street. See Ibanez for more details.
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