Ibanez Q vs AZ

[OmegaSlayer]

I'm very curious if, besides the obviously different shape, the Q and AZ are very close in sound or if they have big differences.
I haven't tried none of the two, and highly doubt I will be able to in any store near me, but from what I listened on youtube I really really dig how they both sound, really like their character.
I was interested in picking an AZ but if the Q is almost the same thing tonewise, I'm tempted to try my first headless.

Again, I speak about tones and features, don't really care about shapes or neck, I'm not picky about neck shapes.

 

[CanserDYI]

I mean really it sounds like you're comparing the pickups more than the guitars sound. Whenever I want to try a guitar I cant put my hands on, I see if it's on Zzounds or American Musical Supply, put it on their little in house payment plan and just give it a try. I usually only have to pay the first month, which is like 50-100 bucks on most items. Try it, if I like it I always call them and just pay the rest off, or send it back for refund as their refunds are amazing.


I never advocate payment plans except Zzounds, and pretty much only to try the product and not tie up 2 grand.

 

[OmegaSlayer]

I mean really it sounds like you're comparing the pickups more than the guitars sound. Whenever I want to try a guitar I cant put my hands on, I see if it's on Zzounds or American Musical Supply, put it on their little in house payment plan and just give it a try. I usually only have to pay the first month, which is like 50-100 bucks on most items. Try it, if I like it I always call them and just pay the rest off, or send it back for refund as their refunds are amazing.


I never advocate payment plans except Zzounds, and pretty much only to try the product and not tie up 2 grand.

I'm in Italy, and believe it or not, in Roma, the capital, the musical stores stock really few instruments, and mostly Fender and Gibson, they surely don't go into "exotic territories"
In Italy we didn't had official ESP distribution until some 5 years ago...no stores selling Caparison...and much more

 

[Wolfhorsky]

You can buy and return any guitar in EU withing 14 days or so. Try at Thomann as they are OK in that regard. You may loose 50-100€ at worst.

 

[CanserDYI]

I'm in Italy, and believe it or not, in Roma, the capital, the musical stores stock really few instruments, and mostly Fender and Gibson, they surely don't go into "exotic territories"
In Italy we didn't had official ESP distribution until some 5 years ago...no stores selling Caparison...and much more

I'm sorry I'm an American and we tend to forget other countries exist. That really bites that such a huge hub of civilization such as "Rome" or Roma as you appropriately called it, wouldn't have a vast selection of guitar stores and options.

 

[jl-austin]

I'm very curious if, besides the obviously different shape, the Q and AZ are very close in sound or if they have big differences.
I haven't tried none of the two, and highly doubt I will be able to in any store near me, but from what I listened on youtube I really really dig how they both sound, really like their character.
I was interested in picking an AZ but if the Q is almost the same thing tonewise, I'm tempted to try my first headless.

Again, I speak about tones and features, don't really care about shapes or neck, I'm not picky about neck shapes.

From what I have heard the solder jobs (electronics) on the Q have been horrible for some reason.

 

[Lemonbaby]

If you don't need a vibrato anyway, I'd the Q series a try and change PUs later if you don't like them. I assume you're comparing it to the AZ Premium, correct?

Option three (if you can do fretwork/setup/soldering): get an AZES & your favourite PUs right away.

 

[Alberto7]

I own an AZ Prestige. It's an amazing instrument, and it sounds oh so sweet. And it's so damn comfortable.

I tried a Quest at a store a couple of weeks ago. Spent about 30 minutes with the guitar in total. I was not impressed. The tones I got out of it weren't amazing, but not bad either. Then again, I played it through some sort of Orange amp they had at the store (dunno which one. I'm not really knowledgeable about their product line), so I didn't get a full grasp of what it could do sonically.

You said you don't care about neck shapes and all that, which is fair, but I'll add my 2 cents on that anyway since it was the ergonomics that killed it for me. Maybe I just didn't have enough time to gel with it. It's a pretty fiddle in person, and extremely light. Probably even lighter than my strandberg. But the body being so thin (thinner than an S series) and small actually made it a bit difficult for me to get a good grip on it under my arm, and I'm a skinny dude. I struggled to find a comfortable spot to place my forearm for picking. Pair that with a chunky-ish neck, and it just didn't make much sense to me. The tuners felt pretty good though, and the hardware seemed good enough.

Also, there were spots with missing or shoddy paintwork (inside the pickup selector slit in particular). It isn't necessarily a luxury instrument though, and those defects are non-functional, so I understand if someone overlooks those.

I tried the version with straight frets, so I can't attest to how the slanted frets feel on them.

I just feel like the AZ is a much better and thoughtful design.

 

[Bordcla]

I think it comes down to "which" AZ you are comparing the Quest to. I also have two Japanese (Prestige) AZs, and both are really well built, well finished, well thought out, workhorse guitars that will hold their own against pretty much any top-tier instrument other than the most exclusive, hand-built boutique guitars.

I have no experience with the indo "Premium" AZs. The one I have played briefly in store seemed pretty good. Not quite to the same level of finish and polish as the Japanese ones but pretty good. At the time, they were still not cheap, though, and Japanese ones were available for not an order of magnitude more money.

I've briefly handled a couple Qs in store and while they seem quite good, they seem more "mass produced" or more generic, if that makes sense. The Qs are so different than AZs that I don't know on what basis one would even compare them. They are built totally different, feel totally different and sound completely different. Relative quality is but one of several differences.

 

[bigcupholder]

The neck on the AZ is the second most offensive neck profile I've ever played, after the Strandberg. The AZ neck feels like a slightly rounded 2x4. It's really thick all the way across the neck instead of being rounded. The shoulders are very wide and get in the way. I have no idea what Ibanez was thinking on that one.

The Q neck is also thicker than your typical Ibanez neck but the shape is much more of a C shape.

I know you said you're not picky about neck shapes, but the AZ is a pretty divisive shape that may prove to be the exception.

 

[Matt08642]

The neck on the AZ is the second most offensive neck profile I've ever played, after the Strandberg. The AZ neck feels like a slightly rounded 2x4. It's really thick all the way across the neck instead of being rounded. The shoulders are very wide and get in the way. I have no idea what Ibanez was thinking on that one.

The Q neck is also thicker than your typical Ibanez neck but the shape is much more of a C shape.

I know you said you're not picky about neck shapes, but the AZ is a pretty divisive shape that may prove to be the exception.

Describing the neck profile as offensive made me burst out laughing I have to agree though, the last 2 times I tried an AZ (One Prestige, one premium) and just wasn't feeling the neck profile on either for the same reason.

 

[Alberto7]

Huh interesting. I'd never heard or read very strong negative opinions about the AZ neck. It is certainly different, that's for sure. But I find it super comfy. Then again, it's only within the last year have I started playing Prestige RGs with thinner necks.

 

[OmegaSlayer]

Thanks for all the info
What made me really curious about the Qs quality was the Trogly's video of the Ichika Nito.
In that video even Trogly's equipment sounded very good

 

[runbirdman]

It's crazy how neck shapes are so polarizing. After buying my AZ2200, I had my AZ2204 purchased within a week. It's by far my favorite neck shape (.81-.88). It's really similar to a Gibson Slim Taper (.80-.87) which I also love. After years of trying out RG's (.66-.74 for the Super Wizard HP) and never bonding with the neck, the AZ felt like home on an Ibanez for the first time.

I tried the Q54. The neck was chunkier than an RG but the quality was miles apart from a Prestige or Premium Ibanez. There was trash in the finish, the pickups were awful (they reminded me of worse DiMarzio Ionizers), and the paint line on the "headstock" was not clean at all. The hardware seemed really well built and the fretwork was really good.

I haven't tried out the Premium AZ's but even the cheapest (AZ42P1) looks to be $300 more expensive. I think a lot will depend on your budget. Also, at least in my area, the AZ's don't hold value well. I picked up the 2204 for $900 in brand new condition.

I'm waiting on an AZ with an Edge. Original or Lo-Pro. That's my LACS dream. A shell pink AZ2402 with a Lo-Pro Edge.

 

[Bordcla]

The neck on the AZ is the second most offensive neck profile I've ever played, after the Strandberg. The AZ neck feels like a slightly rounded 2x4. It's really thick all the way across the neck instead of being rounded. The shoulders are very wide and get in the way. I have no idea what Ibanez was thinking on that one.

The Q neck is also thicker than your typical Ibanez neck but the shape is much more of a C shape.

I know you said you're not picky about neck shapes, but the AZ is a pretty divisive shape that may prove to be the exception.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and preferences. Let's now separate opinions from objective facts.

The AZ neck is basically a medium-thin D shape. It is 20 mm at the first fret (barely a couple mms thicker than the Wizard neck), and not even 22 mm at the 12th. While it does have some shoulder to it (similar to the Suhr Modern Elliptical profile), this is objectively far from a thick neck. The sides are merely a bit fuller, which prevents the dreaded feeling of holding on to the side of paddle when putting your thumb over to bend a note or fret on the low E string. One could basically think of it as 2mm thicker Wizard neck (noting that the Wizard is much wider than the AZ neck, however).

Thinking of a thick neck, go play a Tele with a 50s U shape or a Kotzen Tele with the full C shape. It couldn't be more different than an AZ neck.

The AZ neck is also, at least in one key objective metric, quite different from a Gibson slim-taper, because the Gibson neck is wider than the AZ neck (43 mm for the Gibson, 42 mm for the AZ). The AZ neck thus feels smaller because it is narrow.

 

[bigcupholder]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and preferences. Let's now separate opinions from objective facts.

The AZ neck is basically a medium-thin D shape. It is 20 mm at the first fret (barely a couple mms thicker than the Wizard neck), and not even 22 mm at the 12th. While it does have some shoulder to it (similar to the Suhr Modern Elliptical profile), this is objectively far from a thick neck. The sides are merely a bit fuller, which prevents the dreaded feeling of holding on to the side of paddle when putting your thumb over to bend a note or fret on the low E string. One could basically think of it as 2mm thicker Wizard neck (noting that the Wizard is much wider than the AZ neck, however).

Thinking of a thick neck, go play a Tele with a 50s U shape or a Kotzen Tele with the full C shape. It couldn't be more different than an AZ neck.

The AZ neck is also, at least in one key objective metric, quite different from a Gibson slim-taper, because the Gibson neck is wider than the AZ neck (43 mm for the Gibson, 42 mm for the AZ). The AZ neck thus feels smaller because it is narrow.

Yeah I understand that it's not that thick in the middle. It's the shoulders that are ridiculous to me. I've played Les Paul and Telecaster necks that were way thicker in the middle, but they didn't have that absurd shoulder to them and didn't bother me. I've also played Wizard necks for years and don't have the same issue.

Calling the AZ neck a "D" shape is over simplifying it IMO. It's basically a rectangle.

To be clear, I really wanted to like the AZ neck. I bought one online because all the specs look good. I returned it after a few days because I couldn't adjust to the shape of the neck at all. So I think it's fair warning to tell someone they should consider that they might not like the neck, even if they're normally not picky.

 

[Einhander]

Yo! The Q series are interesting but as Alberto said earlier about ergonomics was on the head for myself as well. I played the higher end Q series last year for about an hour 1/2 and the biggest thing I enjoyed was the full angled fret shape. The pickup's were pretty standard to be fair and didn't sound awful but nothing I'd drop currency for. As for the seven string model I put about two hours of play time in last week here in Japan. Same thing unfortunately for the feel... I own a Strandberg Metal 6 NT and a Standard 7 which may be the bias. Shame really cause I loved the look of that Q7 and it would have been my first Ibanez that I had ever wanted to buy.

If you can find a shop or can entertain driving somewhere reasonable to test one out I'd def say give it a shot. Everybody has their own preferences. If you are just wanting a headless I always say go for Agile, gut it, and then put in the parts you want. Anyways Happy Hunting!

 

[Bordcla]

Yeah I understand that it's not that thick in the middle. It's the shoulders that are ridiculous to me. I've played Les Paul and Telecaster necks that were way thicker in the middle, but they didn't have that absurd shoulder to them and didn't bother me. I've also played Wizard necks for years and don't have the same issue.

Calling the AZ neck a "D" shape is over simplifying it IMO. It's basically a rectangle.

To be clear, I really wanted to like the AZ neck. I bought one online because all the specs look good. I returned it after a few days because I couldn't adjust to the shape of the neck at all. So I think it's fair warning to tell someone they should consider that they might not like the neck, even if they're normally not picky.

As with everything else, those aren't cheap guitars. Before committing to such a purchase, one would be well advised to playtest the guitar first, or buy from a place offering a good return policy.

For example, I've been wanting a Suhr for a long time and was fortunate enough to try a few different models recently, which forced me to rule out a few models I was considering, and made me realize that what I actually like is something completely different than what I would have thought.

Someone may like or dislike the AZ neck in exactly the same fashion, and on that, you couldn't be more correct!

 

[Lemonbaby]

Calling the AZ neck a "D" shape is over simplifying it IMO. It's basically a rectangle.

The AZ neck has a perfectly oval C shape. No shoulders whatsoever.

I do generally agree though that necks make or break a guitar, so testing the guitar in a shop is always a good idea. I usually know after 10 seconds if I like a neck or not and will put the instrument aside if something just doesn't feel right.

 

[CutBilly]

I can only speak on the AZ’s, I’ve got a 2402 and an MM1, and for the pickups….the Duncan’s……they sound pretty good regardless of the music. I’ll play anything from Converge to The Faceless, to soft mellow jazz, and I haven’t had any problems sound-wise. The necks are awesome, super comfortable….not super flat, but not super curved…..right around a 14 inch radius. The neck is a bit beefier, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I don’t have any experience with the Q’s, but a lot of the reviews I’ve read say that they’re all right…..but the pickups are a bit lacking. It’s a big price difference between those and the prestige AZ’s. I’ve checked out some of the AZ premiums and for the money they seem fairly close to the prestige’s. The necks are a little tiny bit different, and the pickups and what the saddles are made of are different. The AZ’s seem like they’re Ibanez’s take on a Suhr. They’re no Suhr’s, but I haven’t been disappointed by anything about them so far……but the price was a little shocking at first though