AZ is the result of several years of testing, with many of the world's best guitarists as test pilots, with the goal of producing the ultimate players player guitar. So an extremely good-sounding, easy-to-play and stable instrument that you should be able to play basically all styles of music with.
Roasted/baked maple necks for stability no matter how you tour the planet and wherever you play. Stainless bands to make them almost indestructible and feel smooth and polished no matter how much you play. A perfectly functioning stable with an arm mount that won't loosen no matter how much you tug and pull on it. And all this with "TON" written on the forehead, No specs in the world mean anything if it doesn't sound amazing, and this one does, it sounds better than amazing.
The AZ neck is a modern neck with what Ibanez calls an oval C profile. A 1-piece Premium neck in roasted/baked maple. The wood is roasted in a vacuum oven, which drives all liquid and resin out of the wood, making it extremely stable if almost completely insensitive to weather and humidity. Sound-wise, it makes the wood behave like old and dry wood, with more resonance, sustain and tone. This is the same roasted technology that has been on the market for a few years now (which is different from the S-TECH roasting that the Prestige versions have). The guitar sings in a completely different way than the corresponding untreated wood and is several times more stable. The neck is finally treated with oil, which gives the guitar a well-recorded wooden feel, forget about sticky varnish to get stuck in.
Neck profile Ibanez calls the neck AZ oval C, which describes it quite accurately. C with a little more shoulders would also fit well. It is noticeably thicker than how Ibanez usually have their necks, but for that reason not fat or clumsy. 20.5mm at first band and 22.5 at band 12. It feels modern and accessible at the same time as it feels traditional and familiar. The radius of the fingerboard is a perfect compromise to be perfect for both chords and soloing. Transition between fingerboard and neck is softly rounded called "rolled fretboard edges", which gives a very smooth and recorded feeling.
- AZ Oval C Roasted Maple neck
- 24 frets • American Basswood body
- Rosewood fretboard w/Mother of Pearl dot inlay
- Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
- Graph Tech® nut
- Seymour Duncan® Hyperion™ (H) neck pickup
- Seymour Duncan® Hyperion™ (H) bridge pickup
- dyna-MIX10 switching system w/Alter Switch
- Gotoh® T1502 tremolo bridge
- Chrome hardware
- Gotoh® MG-T locking machine heads
- Luminescent side dot inlay