450S Review

It has 22 frets, super thin neck, gotch tuning knobs with fine tuning on the Floyd Rose which lets me actually use the whammy without knocking it out of tune. The body is super thin and small but surprisingly heavy.

Features:	10
Sound:	8
Action:	10
Reliability:	10
Impression:	10
Overall rating:	9.6
Users rating:	6.3
Comments:	5

overall: 9.6

Reviewed by: IbanezPlaher, on july 08, 2004

Purchased from: Older Brother

Features: First of all, I couldent find any reviews on this type of guitar so I thought i'd start the ball rolling. I got the guitar from my older brother when he moved so it was an awsome price... FREE!! O.K. Features: Made in Japan, not sure how long ago, but he's had it for about 5 years and I've had it for 5 weeks. It has 22 frets, super thin neck, gotch tuning knobs (which kick ass) with fine tuning on the Floyd Rose which lets me actually use the whammy without knocking it out of tune. Tuning locks which are awsome. My guitar is cherry red and very shiney (no pickguard). 5-way selector Switch with tuning knob and volume control (well placed). Pickups are V1 and V2 humbuckers with an S1 smack dab in the middle. The body is super thin and small but surprisingly heavy (compared to my much larger and thicker Bass) which might cause a problem for smaller plahers. // 10

Sound: This guitar definatly suits my style either playing classic rock or dipping into metal or punk. Right now the only amp and effects I'm using is an old 30 watt bass amp with all the dials maxed (only distortion I got for now). But when its hooked to an RP100 and a 110 Peavey amp its the top of the line and can hold notes forever. It can have any sound your looking for. The only problem is that it hums a bit. Which is why it gets a 4 instead of 5. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: No idea what it was like from the factory. This guitar could be 50 years old as far as i know. But when my bro got it 2 of the 5 tremolo springs on the inside were missing. But now the fit and finish are excellent thanks to "Del's Music". The only thing that I notice is the much darker wood grain just before the head which kind of annoys me sometimes but it doesn't really matter. It's still a kickass guitar. I got a hardshell case, two cords, brand new whammy bar, and a shitload of picks so it's all good. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Again, I think this guitar has been around for a few years so it has passed a test in itself to stay in such good shape. The strap buttons are way better then on my bass but I use a locking strap now so it doesn't affect me. I definatly would depend on this guitar anytime but I don't depend on my strings. The finish seems pretty deep cause I've got the back scratched to hell with my damn belt and its still not showing any wood. // 10

Impression: My overall impression of the guitar is wow. I've been playing guitar for about 2 years and bass for 3. I find it way better for playing ACDC and Zeppelin then my damn acoustic (which is still a great guitar but can't get past the 12th fret). And now that I'm getting into lead a bit its great to have a smaller guitar so I can jump/run around alot without banging into everything. If it were stolen I would hunt down the person who took it and beat them until Jesus comes. I havent seen another guitar like this yet so I wouldent be able to buy one again but if I had the chance I'd buy another on just so I'd have two. I love everything about this guitar especially that every second person dosent have one. I compared this guitar to a Washburn, a Fender, and an epiphione and it has more features than any of them and it seems to be of equal or higher quality in most cases. // 10

Comments

[eyebow]

hi mate,
i totally agree. I have the exact same guitar and i think their awesome. You can really go hard on them and they come through everytime. I've had mine for about three years and had no dramas at all yet, accept for the odd service which you have to have anyway, or u should have anyway.
It doesn't matter if i play rock or something a bit heavier you can still manage a pretty awesome sound.
Sometimes i'll sit and play through my amp crystal clear for a couple of hours and it sounds brilliant, really crisp. So i agree and think it's a great allround guitar, it's definately all i need at the moment and i would reccomend to anyone if they came across one for the right price to buy it, u wont be dissapointed. I got mine from a hock shop with hard case for $200, and i know when they first came out they retailed for around $1400.
Now i'm no kirk hammett that's for sure, far from it but this is definately the best guitar i have ever had and even if i could afford to spend thousands of $$$ on something better, i would never sell it!.

[♥ß☼ßãO♥ (Chris)]

how much do they go for now?

[bongo_bear]

This is a 90s guitar. I've just bought one from the music shop I work in. It was a second hand trade in, but after giving it a quick look over, re-setting the intonation etc and giving it a little clean up, it's a damn good guitar. It's along the lines of my ideal guitar, (and it possibly could be, I'm not sure yet,) and the fact that it's a 1990 model, which makes it the same age as me, inclined me further to buy it.

Awesome...




...And bright red. =]

[Prima47]

bongo_bear wrote:

This is a 90s guitar. I've just bought one from the music shop I work in. It was a second hand trade in, but after giving it a quick look over, re-setting the intonation etc and giving it a little clean up, it's a damn good guitar. It's along the lines of my ideal guitar, (and it possibly could be, I'm not sure yet,) and the fact that it's a 1990 model, which makes it the same age as me, inclined me further to buy it.

Awesome...

...And bright red. =]

mine is actually a 2002 guitar but it's the exact same color and I do indeed love it got a hell of a deal on it too for only $350 still need to adjust the action slightly though the first fred hums a little

[boyd79]

Not trying to be a smart a guys. But im a nez freak best axe ever. The nez your describeing is a s550 not a s450,the 550 has 2 humbuckers and 1 single coil in the mid. The 450 has 1 Hb with 2 single coils 1 in the mid the other in the neck.