Ibanez S2170FW S Prestige Series (Natural Flat )

Ibanez 2170FW

I bought this guitar over christmas and it is the most beautiful instrument I have ever played! The first striking thing about the Ibanez S2170 is its stunning finish. The poplar top is possibly one of the nicest non custom finishes you can find on a guitar. It also makes every one of these instruments completely unique because the poplar used varies in parts from a silky blond quilt to burled knots so if you\'re ordering one online you wont know exactly what it looks like until you open the box. Eitherway, however, it will look great! I guarantee it. Little details like the rosewood truss rod cover matching the rosewood fingerboard and the cream coloured binding around the comfourtable body and neck further enhance the instruments beauty.

While these aspects are mostly trivial with regards to the guitar\'s sound I feel it is important to have a nice looking instrument. It feels great to have people approach you after gigs wanting to know about the guitar you\'re playing. I also find that while I\'m staring in awe at my guitar that I\'m more likely to pick it up and practice. It\'s such a nice instrument that I feel I have to justify owning one by practicing more than before.

In terms of its playability it is second to none and certainly an all-arounder. The neck is not too thin and not too thick. It strikes the perfect balance between a thin, fast, shredable neck and a thick, strong, rhythm ready neck. I love shredding but I\'m not a huge fan of the ultra thin RG style necks. On the other hand, I dislike thick Les Paul style necks as they\'re too hard to get around. Hard to please it would seem. But not with the Ibanez S2170!

As for the body, it is, like the rest of the guitar, extremely sleek and comfourtable. The mahogany body means that despite the thin edges, it still sounds really warm and chunky (I tune down to D standard and drop C and it sounds huge!). No matter how low (like Tom DeLonge) or high (like Tom Morello) you hold it, the S2170 rests comfourtably along the contours of your body.

The pick-ups offer a huge spectrum of sounds reinforcing this guitar as a highly versatile instrument worthy of a place in any players \"arsenal\" (excuse the guitar cliché). The bridge pick-up is great for thick rhythms, the neck pick-up is perfect for warm solos and clean melodies alike, and the single-coil offers the twang not commonly associated with what is largely considered a \"metal guitar\".

A lot of people believe that, in terms of tremelos, nothing compares to an original fully licensed floyd rose tremolo. I am one of those people. Except in the case of the S2170\'s ZR tremolo. Never has a (non buzz feiten and locking tuner fitted) guitar stayed so perfectly in tune! You can go absolutely crazy with divebombs and it resets perfectly and remains in tune. This is due to the \"zero point\" system. I won\'t go into the specifics of this new technology. Further information can be found here: http://www.ibanez.co.jp/world/products/eg/popup/22.html.

The only problem that I do have with the Ibanez S2170FW is the fact that it only has 22 frets. I think the word \'problem\' is possibly too strong a word for this because it doesn\'t make a very noticeable difference in terms of sound and the main drawback is simply the lack of those easily achievable 2 frets. Again, this may seem trivial but it is a scientific fact that 24 fret guitars sound better than 22 fret guitars(http://www.edroman.com/techarticles/22vs24.htm). What bothers me the most is simply the lack of the extra 2 frets and I feel that, considering this is the second best guitar in the Ibanez S series, they should have gone the extra mile (or inch) to add those 2 frets and make it a perfect instrument.

I feel like I have brought the mood down. I didn\'t mean to because all in all, this guitar is absolutely amazing! It is extremely versatile and unique. You can\'t go wrong with it. Whatever style you play, I\'m sure you\'ll find a place for this sublime instrument.