Ibanez S1070PBZ-CLB Premium

Joueur d’une Ibanez Prestige S2170FW de 2007 produite en Corée, j’avais envie d’un upgrade notamment concernant les micros.

J’ai cherché pendant des mois avant de tomber récemment sur cette S1070PBZ. Je me demande encore comment j’ai fait pour la rater !

Bien que ce ne soit qu’une ‘Premium’ produite en Indonésie, elle surclasse ma Prestige sur tous les points, que ce soit le look, la prise en main, la jouabilité, les différentes caractéristiques du produit, et surtout le son !! En vrac et sans exhaustivité :

- L’avant de la guitare diffère totalement de l’arrière et on a l’impression d’avoir à faire à 2 guitares différentes selon le point de vue.

- Sans parler de son confort de jeu, le manche 11 pièces et finition mate est de toute beauté

- Les frettes inox et leur finition sont aussi appréciables au regard qu’au jeu

- La finition Cosmo Black de l’accastillage est de meilleure qualité de celle de la Prestige

- L’Edge-Zero II, même si réputé de qualité inférieure au Edge-Zero original, est meilleur que le ZR de la Prestige. Il faut juste retirer le ZPS pour obtenir un vrai flottant fiable.

- Le son est excellent sur les 3 micros et leurs combinaisons, et ce qui est surprenant de même niveau sonore entre doubles et simple. Le volume est plus élevé de 2dB que la Prestige, le son est mieux défini, plus articulé avec une meilleure dynamique, la saturation ‘naturelle’ du bridge est légèrement plus élevée. Le Tone Zone, dont on peut reprocher l’excès de basse et le manque d’aigu, me convient parfaitement.

Quelques reproches cependant mais qui ne sont pas à mettre au crédit de la conception de la guitare (sauf les luminlays parfaitement inefficaces), mais comme dit partout sur le net sur le contrôle qualité indonésien. Une fiche avec signatures et tampons est fournie à titre de traçabilité, mais après avoir lu ces dernières lignes, vous comprendrez qu’il n’y a eu aucun contrôle fiable :

- L’enfichage de la prise jack était difficile, son retrait manuel impossible obligeant à l’utilisation d’une pince! La faute à la prise jack femelle non-alignée sur le tunnel creusé dans le bois. La guitare n’a donc pas été essayée avant expédition… J’ai remédié au problème en glissant une petite pièce en plastique mou invisible au regard sous la prise pour la remettre dans le bon axe.

- Une petite trace de colle persistait sur la touche du haut de manche. Un petit grattage avec une lame a solutionné le problème.

- L’action était quelque peu haute et cela se voyait à l’œil nu

- Bien que de septembre 2022, il apparaît que la touche n’a eu aucun traitement. Ces 2 détails ont été réglés dans les heures qui ont suivi la réception.

En conclusion, parfaitement satisfait de mon achat qui est un véritable régal pour les yeux, les doigts et les oreilles avec un niveau de prestation égal voire supérieur à celui de la série Prestige. Peut-être que la différence de prix entre les 2 séries est justifié par un contrôle qualité moindre mais qui, en ce qui me concerne, n’a rien eu d’insoluble.

The review notes on S1070PBZ CLB guitar come from a history of playing for ~10 years an entry model called SA260FM and having explored as well RG652AHM-NGB.
I hereinafter bring the three models into comparison, moreso as they belong to 3 different quality&price bundles, regular (SA260FM), Premium (S1070PBZ) and Prestige (RG652AHM).

Handling
The first thing I checked was the ease of handling (or ease of play). Handling during play is just superb! Access to higher notes is safe and quick. The handling feel is sensibly better than SA260FM, however SA260 has very good handling also.
The handling of RG652AHM is rather awkward, an unexpected surprise to me, since RG652AHM is a Prestige model featuring the Super Wizard neck, therefore top-pop state of the art in Ibanez. Why did I find the RG652AHM somewhat difficult to play? Hard to say. I guess anyone coming from SA or Wizard Premium neck guitar to Super Wizard neck guitars may experience some difficulty to switch (and vice-versa).

The Sound...
#Clean
When playing clean music, the SA260 provides a warm, open, vivid, bright, chimy kind of sound, very enjoyable notes and easy to distinguish. Same goes for RG652AHM, that on top of that provides a super clear expression, well framed when doing bends of all sorts and legatos. Best clean notes I ever heard came from RG652AHM. Perfect choice for music centered on clarity and interpretation skill.
However, the S1070PBZ experience was less bright. The notes come as dull, muffled, dark and sad. Hears like jumping to a totally different intrument. It strikes like bass guitar or tuned down instrument. Likely body and wood play a role along with the pick-ups. I rank it as mediocre-to-bad!

#Heavy
Mainly I enjoy playing Metallica and Death (band of Chuck Shuldiner, songs as Crystal Mountain, Destiny, Overactive Imagination). The output of S1070PBZ is absolutely amazing! Best crunchy, aggressive yet disciplined, quick paced notes I have ever managed to produce. A real delight. S1070PBZ really helped to improve play accuracy thanks to highly responsive instrument delivering well rounded, distinct heavy notes. It appears like S1070PBZ was built for Chuck's songs!
It must be said that the amplifier has to help with some bit of treble in order to compensate the overall "dark", "muffled" character of the instrument. Nonetheless, great output!
With SA260 the heavy music is still very good, even if less enjoyable for lack of contour to each note when the pace quickens. Given its price, SA260 as still a very good choice for heavy music.
A bit unexpected is the RG652AHM. Heavier parts were not convincing. While the guitar is reacting properly to the pick, the sound is not crunchy enough and a bit disappointing. Did I spend enough time to research for the proper cocktail of sound controls before giving this sentence? Maybe not and "just right" set-up is still out there.

Distinct notes perception when picking multiple strings
With heavy play, this is an important advantage when present.
S1070PBZ and RG652AHM are both very good to excellent, while SA260 is just satisfactory.

Pinch Harmonics
With heavy metal, a few high pitched, pinch harmonics are welcome. Both S1070PBZ and SA260 master them very well to excellently, a bit better by the former, while RG652AHM is somewhat dissapointing: hard to produce pinch harmonics happen accross the fretboard. I could not bring a pinch harmonic on the G string, 5th fret, no matter how hard I tried.

Hammer-Down Legatos
In clean mode I was surprised by the low volume I get with hammer-down legatos on any string with S1070PBZ, and the short "sustain" right after. While falling short in particular with hammer downs, it is also poor with any non-picking legatos. This ruins the magic of melodious parts using gentle legatos and bends. Maybed S1070PBZ sounds better with thinner strings, I did not try. Conversely SA260 is very good and RG652AHM just excellent!

Tremolo bar expression
S1070PBZ is excellent with dive bombs, however not so nice with "up and down" vibratos.
With a minus on handling the bar, SA260 wins the contest on expression value!
The mobile bridge of SA260 is excellent to produce gentle vibratos with the palm of the hand, while playing, without touching the bar. S1070PBZ bridge is perceivingly too stiff, making it difficult to replicate the "no bar" gentle expressions of SA260.

Usefulness of all pick-up selections
S1070PBZ falls short, the only positions of the switch I enjoyed were the bridge and middle positions. It appears that the pick-up choice or implementation was not the best with this model. SA260 on the other hand produces distinct and valuable expressions in all positions, same with RG652AHM that seems to be the best.

Obvious quality issues
With S1070PBZ, the thick E string brings an extra buzz sound when picked.Likely frets are lightly touched by the regular vibrations. Is this a design error? Maybe. Can this be corrected by the right technician? Maybe. I am sure that this kind of things should never escape quality control and build up my mind to return the guitar.
With S1070PBZ, when the middle position of the pick-up selector is set, the tremolo bar hits the tip of the switch, when moving the bar in vicinity. I could find no quick adjustment of the tremolo bar height in order to avoid the clash. Is this a design error? Maybe.
Quality issues with SA260/ RG652AHM: none.

Looks
S1070PBZ: very beautiful
SA260: beautiful
RG652AHM: rather homely, banal

Weight
S1070PBZ: excellent
SA260: excellent
RG652AHM: too heavy. I presume the extra wood is a trade off for clear sound and sustain.

Conclusions
S1070PBZ... has several exceptional high lights and some unexpected low lights.
Good instrument: yes.
Versatile? Definitely less versatile than the other analyzed models.
Is the winner for heavy play, excellent on melodic death metal
A wide range player might want to own an S1070PBZ for heavy play and a clear and chimy guitar for delicate music.