NGD/Review Ibanez S1070PBZ (Cerulean Blue Burst)

[LunatiqueRob]

I got this because I wanted an S body Ibby (known for how thin and they are), and the KIKO10BP I have is a thicker S body customized to Kiko's preference, so this one is more a standard S body. I also have always liked the Cerulean Blue Burst finish over the Poplar Burl top from the SR2600 bass (and that one looks even nicer with the gold hardware).












Tones - HSH with DiMarzio Air Norton at the neck, True Velvet at the middle, and Tone Zone at the bridge. That's a good combo, and with it had split-coil or coil tap feature, but it doesn't. I could mod it with a push/pull though. I'm not sure how the Air Norton would sound split or tapped, but I assume it'll sound pretty good.

Playability - It arrived with the action a bit high so I lowered it and it plays as smoothly as my other Ibbys. It has the same great upper-frets access as my other Ibbys.

Ergonomics - The thin body is comfortable, but unfortunately for me, it's not ideal because I use guitar leg supports like Performaxe, and the body is too thin for those accessories. I could add more foam to the clamp but it's kind of a PITA. Another issue is the trem arm will hit the pickup selector switch in the middle position. Kind of weird that this got past Ibanez, but maybe my trem arm is bent a bit more than normal (although I have no idea what that could happen with a brand new guitar). I could just bend the arm slightly to get it out of the way though.

Aesthetics - This guitar a beauty for sure. One of the nicest finishes Ibanez has ever done, and kind of weird it's a Premium and not a Prestige or J.Custom.

I ended up deciding to not keep this one, because mine has serious fretboard cosmetic defects (hard to tell from the photos but very obvious in closeups), and it's bad enough that the seller will just ship it back to Ibanez. Also, after testing it out, it really doesn't add anything more to my collection in terms of tone or functionality, and the only thing I'd keep it for is for its looks, and that's not a good enough reason IMO. It's still a fine guitar though--for someone else who wants HSH, a thin body, great playability, and that gorgeous finish.

 

[LunatiqueRob]

Some more photos because she's just that pretty.





Poplar Burl with burst and gloss finish is notoriously hard to photograph properly, and whenever I see sellers with their own photos of models like this, the photos are always atrocious in quality and does not show the wood figuring properly. This is due to how reflective the surface is and how often the areas that should be dark ends up looking washed out with bright reflections. The photos are also often overexposed so the finish looks washed out. Or the camera is potato quality and shot in low-light so all the details are smeared from the camera app applying automatic noise-removal. Even for me, a professional photographer, this guitar is a real challenge to photograph decently, and these are just casual shots without using any elaborate studio photography gear. Here are more shots of the beautiful finish (it requires different light source angle variations to see the full finish properly since I didn't have the time or patience to setup a shoot that's suitable for cutting all reflections from the gloss finish.

 

[Stiman]

I do love the look of this guitar, and I'm considering it for my next guitar (either this one or an RG550). I've never played an S, and I'm really curious how it compares to RGs. It's tough though, the RG550 is $600 CAD cheaper and it's MIJ, so probably a no brainier...

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

beauty!
love me a nice S series.

 

[josh1]

Pretty

 

[LunatiqueRob]

I do love the look of this guitar, and I'm considering it for my next guitar (either this one or an RG550). I've never played an S, and I'm really curious how it compares to RGs. It's tough though, the RG550 is $600 CAD cheaper and it's MIJ, so probably a no brainier...

Compared to my J.Custom RG8870, the S1070PBZ is about 1.6 pounds lighter, if that matters to you. The thinner horns on th RG allows more space between the lower horn and the neck, so even when playing with a lot of physicality and flailing around, your hand won't ever hit the horn, while it's more likely with the thicker horn of the S. The RG has forearm contour that's almost as comfortable as the AZ, while the S doesn't, but the very slight curve of the top (not nearly as much as an archtop) makes it a non-issue (much better than something like the Schecter C-1 body with the very sharp forearm edge that actually hurts). The thicker body of the RG might make it more comfortable for some people who like that thicker edge sitting flat on the thigh when playing sitting down--it's thick enough you can rest the guitar on the edge on a flat surface.The S's thin the round edge cannot do that, so the body can only be stable when leaning against the player's body. For me, I think choosing the RG, S, and AZ depends on how picky the person is about the physical design, and then the features offered in the different models. I really like the Dynamix switching system and I wish Ibanez would put that on a lot more models across all their product lines. Even just offering split-coil/coil-tap on more models would be nice.

 

[gb66]

This guitar is lovely. I got mine three weeks ago and had no issues with the fretboard. The woodwork and frets are excellent. As you previously noticed this one is an unbelievable beauty.
The sound is great, as this guitar is my first with these pickups. The Tone Zone is very nice pickup for soloing, much brighter than my others (Breeds, Illuminator, some early Hathor). Similarly to @LunatiqueRob the vibrato arm in mine is hitting the pickup selector in the middle position but I prefer the others .
The worst PITA is setting the bridge to return to the "zero point" after some more intensive arm works. I removed the ZPS bar as in my other guitars because I don't like the stiffness that it adds. I found some info around the internet how to level the bridge but it still cruises around +/- 5 cents. Could anyone share their experience with Edge Zero II?
I have two S7s with ZR tremolos and they are the best floating bridges ever but I think that I won't live to see the time when such guitar will appear with the ZR bridge so I have to deal with EZ2.

 

[LunatiqueRob]

This guitar is lovely. I got mine three weeks ago and had no issues with the fretboard. The woodwork and frets are excellent. As you previously noticed this one is an unbelievable beauty.
The sound is great, as this guitar is my first with these pickups. The Tone Zone is very nice pickup for soloing, much brighter than my others (Breeds, Illuminator, some early Hathor). Similarly to @LunatiqueRob the vibrato arm in mine is hitting the pickup selector in the middle position but I prefer the others .
The worst PITA is setting the bridge to return to the "zero point" after some more intensive arm works. I removed the ZPS bar as in my other guitars because I don't like the stiffness that it adds. I found some info around the internet how to level the bridge but it still cruises around +/- 5 cents. Could anyone share their experience with Edge Zero II?
I have two S7s with ZR tremolos and they are the best floating bridges ever but I think that I won't live to see the time when such guitar will appear with the ZR bridge so I have to deal with EZ2.

Since it's a double-locking trem, I'm not sure what else you can do, since there's really nothing to lube like you would at the nut or saddle on non-locking trem systems. All my Ibbys with double-locking trems have great tuning stability, while my AZ with the non-locking Gotoh does not.

 

[jaxadam]

That’s an excellent looking guitar man. Those S bodies are stellar.

 

[kamello]

it's a beauty, shame that you couldn't fully adapt to it.

Regarding the photography aspects; man, I couldn't agree more, I had an SV5470 that looked incredible, but was incredibly hard to photograph, the clear coat was almost a mirror (looked incredible IRL though)

 

[Phlegethon]

HNGD first off, that is a good looking S.

To address the floating trem and being +/- 5 cents: this problem isn't unique to double locking setups. playing a guitar in a different position will throw it off because gravity can affect your tuning. That being said? A tiny amount of vaseline on the posts/knife edge may help.

 

[CanserDYI]

I love the contrast between the blue top and the red and chocolate back. Really cool.

 

[gb66]

HNGD first off, that is a good looking S.

To address the floating trem and being +/- 5 cents: this problem isn't unique to double locking setups. playing a guitar in a different position will throw it off because gravity can affect your tuning. That being said? A tiny amount of vaseline on the posts/knife edge may help.

I am aware of that so I'm trying to hold the guitar in the same position while checking the tuning. I also used a drop of an oil on each knife. Maybe I'll try different strings brand, will see.
Thanks guys for your suggestions.

 

[gclef]

I am aware of that so I'm trying to hold the guitar in the same position while checking the tuning. I also used a drop of an oil on each knife. Maybe I'll try different strings brand, will see.
Thanks guys for your suggestions.

I have an ez2 in my rg3xxv and an edge in my rg520qs.

The edge stay in tune better than my hardtails.

The ez2 does not stay in tune for anyrhing. I removed the zps, modded the plastic thing that the zps bar hits to stop against for less friction. It's sort of a wedge at rest. I made sure the nut and saddles were tight. Nothing +/- 3 to 5 cents.
It's better without the zps system IMO.

Just so you don't think it's me, I was able to set up my long gone strat plus deluxe (sans tremsetter and with the Wilkinson roller nut) to return to zero better than the ez2. No lie. I got near perfect return with only the g string 1 cent off, which fixed itself after a quick strum.

It was saddle height vs overall bridge height balance that did it.

But overall, the ez2 is a turd.