GSZ120 Review

The guitar seems like it can withstand the live show. All around the guitar is solidly built.

Features:	9
Sound:	8.7
Action:	7.9
Reliability:	9.1
Impression:	9.4
Overall rating:	8.8
Users rating:	7.1
Comments:	13

Featured review by: unregistered, on april 20, 2005

Price paid: $ 194.99

Purchased from: Musicians Friend

Features: This guitar features an SZ body with silver or black finish, two humbuckers, and a three way selector Switch. It has three knobs, two volume knobs and a tone knob. It also has a standard bridge. // 8

Sound: This a very good sounding guitar. It's perfect for rock and metal. I own an Epiphone Les Paul and a Gibson SG Special Faded, and this guitar sounds better than both. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The neck on this guitar is one of the fastest I've ever played. Perfect for shred and fast metal riffs. The finish is very well done also. I love the silver finish on mine. The only flaw with the guitar was fret buzz on the first four frets of the A string. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I think this guitar could withstand the live show. Every thing appears to be well built and looks like a very dependable guitar. // 10

Impression: Overall this was a good buy. It's perfect for my style of playing which is rock and metal. I love everything about this guitar. The look of the body, the finish, and it's fast neck. If it were stolen of lost I would probably replace it. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on march 14, 2005

Purchased from: MusiciansFriend.com

Features: 22 smooth frets, thicker style body, maple fingerboard with pearl inlays, comes in black or silver finish with black hardware, one volume knob, two tone knobs, high-mid-low Switch, two pick-ups. Nice sharp and classy look that Ibanez is well known for. Great mid-level guitar, especially for the price. // 10

Sound: I play all sorts of music from punk to metal to soft rock. This guitar seems to be able to play them all with no problem, usually the amp and effects are more responsible for the quality level of sound anyways though. I am using my Peavey 15w amp with a Boss MetalZone pedal when I feel the need for distortion. I have used a wah ped as well and sounded fine considering the lack of power in my amp. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: Smooth! I bought this guitar because I absolutely love the playability of an Ibanez. Every Ibanez I've played is well Different people have different preferences, but one of my top ones is that the guitar has to be quick. I like fast riffs commonly associated with metal, and this fretboard is quick. The frets seem to be at an optimal height allowing fast and efficient finger movements. Everything seemed set up perfect, but again thats a preference thing. No flaws physically and the sound doesnt reveal any either out of the box. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Ibanez is a top brand and can be trusted, so I imagine this guitar lasting a lot longer than average. Everything seemed solid and I don't have any issues with the guitar slipping from the strap due to small strap pegs like on my Peavey Raptor (thats so freakin' annoying). I haven't had any issues as far as the reliability and durability parts are concerned. // 8

Impression: Overall, I think this is one of my best purchases. The look, the sound, the durability and reliability as well as playability is perfect. I bought a silver one to change up the color of my collection, but either black or silver looks good. The next buy will be the JS1000, but until then I think this guitar will do more than enough for me and my many different genres of music I enjoy playing. // 10

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: slippy456, on february 21, 2005

Price paid: $ 200

Purchased from: Dave Phillips Music and sound

Features: The guitar has 22 medium frets on a maple neck with a poplar body. The guitar has an SZ body and a standard bridge. Two pickups and a three way selector for the two pickups. The guitar has knobs for tone and separate knobs for each pickups volume. // 10

Sound: The sound is alot better than my old setup with a Les Paul Junior and a Brownsvile amp. I'm currently running the guitar through a 15 watt Fender Frontman and easily said thge sond is awesome though I have noticed some problems with the bridge pickup when you bend on the upper strings. This guitar does suit my style of play which is a mix of just about every thing. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: The only problem I had was a small black scratch on the body which is a pain on a ssilver body. The only other problems are my 12 fret hardware is oversized and not properly filed down and the pickup selector is kinda noisy otherwise its an awesome guitar. // 6

Reliability & Durability: The guitar seems like it can withstand the live show. All around the guitar is solidly built. // 10

Impression: The guitar is awesome and fit for me because I ike to play modern rock and metal and the guitar can really hold on detuning. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on april 04, 2005

Price paid: $ 100

Features: Solid mahogany body. Two pickups with three knobs. Bridge tone, bridge volume, neck volume. Silver and black finish. I bought a silver one. Maple neck and rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot inlays. 22 frets (medium I think). // 8

Sound: Neck pickup sounds like a Gibson Les Paul but a bit thinner. Bridge pickup sounds like a Fender. I don't think it really sounds the way Ibanez should be (take for example the sound of Paul Gilbert in Just Take My Heart) great sustain, you can let the guitar sing when playing melodic leads, the attack is not that good. Overall it's a good sounding guitar for the price. You can have a great sound with the price paid for it. Just use high end effects for enhancements. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: Action is by far higher than the RG Prestige. But I think it is the standard action. Smooth flowing shred licks and liquid leads. On the body it has a small scratch near the neck. Just about right not a problem at all. // 6

Reliability & Durability: No problems yet. // 8

Impression: I play '80s and '90s rock, heavy metal, trash, grunge, punk, blues, jazz shred and fast licks it responded well to all the genres. I wish it comes with a hard shell case. I wish the neck width at nut is wider and I wish it has a 24 fret finger board. Overall it gives me all that I need for a guitar. You just need a good amp like a Peavey 112 Bandit or a Marshall and good effects like Boss multiples or Zoom for sound enhancements. Without effects it sounds just about how an electric guitar should be. // 8

overall: 7.8

Reviewed by: FreeManson15, on november 22, 2007

Purchased from: Music Land

Features: This guitar has 22 frets, The neck feels pretty thin to me, sometimes a little too thin. The paint job on mine features sparkles that reflect the color of all the lights around you, looks extremely cool on stage. The bridge features a stud mount system allowing me to switch bridges if need be quite easily. The stock bridge how ever destroyed my lower strings. It cut into the strings and often my low E string, and my A string would actually break while I was playing. I'm extremely confused about the volume controls and the pickup selector, there's no marking on any of the knows, and the selection seems to change when you change pickups. It doesn't much matter for me since I rarely play on anything but the bridge pickup. // 9

Sound: Suprisingly it does suit the music I play. I'm really into like noise rock like sonic youth stuff and I also play a lot of Sixties esque garage/post modern music, like the Brian Jonestown Massacre. I find that it has a sort of heavy clean tone that really gives it a cool garage rock type of thing. I don't have any effects pedals. I use the spring reverb on my amp and occasionally distortion, occasionally delay. The pickups on this guitar aren't noisy at all, they are very hot. Very good distorted sound if that's what your into. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: The action was at a medium level out of the factory. It could be lower but I never bothered to fix it. Somehow my pickups were tilted slightly, I fixed it myself with a screwdriver. Not sure what was up with that, or If I even fixed it correctly, but It was the neck pickup which I rarely use. // 7

Reliability & Durability: This guitar will withstand Live playing as long as you don't rough it up too much, the hardware feels relatively well made, the tuner were slightly loose though. Never had any problems with the strap buttons. I would use it at a gig withough a backup, cause I don't realy have anything that could dupilicate the sound. // 8

Impression: I play many styles of music. This guitar is probably not the best match. I find that mostly metal player play Ibanez, and I never stray into that territory with it, I'd probably be better of with a tele or a nice semi-hollowbody. If it were stolen, I would just buy a different guitar. I hate the whole metal look of it really, I'm kind of into the whole sixties vibe, but I got this for christmas and figured I should use it, It actually works better than you'd expect. // 8

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: Saffron_Inferno, on august 08, 2007

Price paid: $ 250

Purchased from: Capital Music

Features: This guitar was made in the states. It has a nice maple neck with 22 frets. The maple neck allows for really fast shred metal riffs. It as a Standard sz body and is built with the quality we have come to expect from Ibanez. It has 2 volume control nobs and 1 tone nob with a 3-way pickup selector switch. The switch looks good on the guitar and is not the same old boring short switches previous Ibanez guitars had. It comes with a standard cable. // 9

Sound: It suits me greatly since I play a lot of rock and metal and this guitar sounds great when playing these genres. I am currently using it with a Starfire Mega 10 and I'm going to get a Boss MT-2 metalzone soon for extra drive. It can get get noisy and I pick up feedback when I turn my master and volume nobs all the way up. This guitar is perfectly made for the rock and metal genre. It probably can play blues and other stuff well but it has been built to be used in rock and metal so that is were it shines. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: This guitar has a brilliant very fast action which is great for very fast riffs. It comes in black and silver. I chose the black cause it looks real awesome. Like a real rock/metal guitar. The pickups were ok but not the guitars strong point. The guitar has no real flaws and has never given me any problems and it is 8 months old. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is solidly built and it looks like it can withstand the live show. I haven't used it in 1 yet but I'm sure it wont let me down. I would use it without a backup cause Ibanez guitars are 1 of the best brands when it comes to quality and I would depend on this guitar from everything from studio work to live shows. // 10

Impression: I play rock and metal mostly (a little punk here and there) and it is a great match. It sound even better with effects. I have been playing for about a year and a half now and I'm going to buy a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone distortion pedal very soon which I'm very excited to hear on this guitar. If it was lost or stolen I wouldn't buy it again as I would want to try out different guitars but right now this guitar is a machine and perfect for me.I love the sounds this guitar produces and you just know it can hold it's own in different kinds of rock and metal. I hate nothing about this guitar! I chose this guitar because it was the only Ibanez the store had and I was hell bent on getting an Ibanez casue I loved Linkin Park so much during that time (it was their hybrid theory/meteora days) and I knew Linkin Park only used Ibanez. I just wish this guitar would come with a guitar bag, but I keep it in my old hardcase and now I put my old Yamaha accoustic guitar in the Ibanez box this guitar came with. // 10

overall: 9.4

Reviewed by: Mistaa Man, on october 22, 2007

Price paid: $ 213.3

Purchased from: Music Stop

Features: 22 Fret Mahogany-Neck guitar. Solid-metallic red body, black headstock with black knobs, bridge, pickups, headstock/keys, all nuts, and selector. Got the SZ body and it cuts away so you can reach the 22nd fret easily (unlike most of the strats I played.) 3-way tone selector, with the volume and tone knobs. Standard pickups, and they sound great. Non locking tuners, no whammy bar (no slot to put one in) but I don't like whammy bars. No included accesories. // 9

Sound: This guitar suits my music style perfectly. I play a lot of (hard) rock, and (Heavy) metal. I use it with a Line 6 Spider III 30 watt amp (which is very loud.)No pedals, just the normal amp distortion. I don't find it noisy at all, sometimes when I first start the amp up on the "Insane" channel (for awesome distortion) it buzzes for a second then I play and it stops. Amazing sound! // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set up just about perfect in the store when I tried it out, the only thing wrong with it was that it was out of tune. Pickups were adjusted fine, and still are. The only flaw, as I said, was that it was not in tune. And there is a bit of a paint scuff on the cutaway part, but that's fine, it is gonna happen to a guitarist anyways eventually. That's it though. Otherwise no flaws that really affect sound or playability. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This guitar definatley would be able to withstand a gig, I think it will last me a long, long time, I would use it without another guitar on a gig for sure, I don't see any harm in that. Strap buttons are 100% solid, but tip: never use straps the have clamps because they will loosen the buttons and they will fall out, use the leather kind that you slide over the buttons. The finish seems good enough to last, in my opinion, I have no clue where that scratch came from. // 10

Impression: I play a lot of (hard) rock, and (heavy) metal, as mentioned earlier. It matches my style perfectly. I have been playing for about 1 year an 10 months, but I have lots of experience with stuff, I previously owned a BC Rich Warlock Bronze Edition (which sucked), and a Peavey MIlestone III Bass, which was great, but I sold it for my amp. I also have some kind of ION noob guitar, I guess it is a Starter Kit. And a Fender Gemini II 1987 acoustic, and the two amps (Kustom 100 Watt, and the Line6 Spider 30 watt). I don't think there was something I wish I'd asked before I bought this. If it was stolen or lost I would definatley buy a new one of these, they are amazing guitars! I love everything about it, the only thing I used to hate was the headstock because it is kind of small, and it looked funny when I first got it but now I am used to it and it looks kinda cool. Might sound odd, but favorite feater is the bridge, because, compared to the BC Rich Warlock Bronze, the strings are way easier to put in, the BC Rich had a wrap around bridge, this one, you just slide the string in, put it in the little indentation and do the rest, and your done. Also, the indenstation on this guitar are a lot better, they are deeper, ensuriong that your string will stay in there as you tune it. This guitar also sound a lot better then the BC Rich Warlock. I only wish it had a whammy bar, and a lock system. Just so I could say I had a whammy bar on it, plus, they look cool. Love this guitar. You have to buy this guitar it is amazing! // 10

Comments

[cheames]

i got one. i want a better guitar...ive played all sorts of guitars and this is crap.

[Aussie Ghost]

Im planning on getting the GSZ 120. My main reason for buying it is so i have another guitar besides my Fender Strat for live shows. So i need a reliable guitar, which can hold its tuning evenif i beat it around and still have a good sound on it. The GSZ seems to fit the bill.

[warlow]

i have a black gsz120, and ive been playing it for 2 years now,... this is a reliable guitar...

[padwaxk88]

This a very good sounding guitar. It's perfect for rock and metal. I own an Epiphone Les Paul and a Gibson SG Special Faded, and this guitar sounds better than both

ha erm...why even assume that? let alone say it out loud lol, its nice and sounds good, but its a beginner guitar..

[jackrocks4]

anyone know how good it sounds with distortion pickups? im thinkin of getting me one of there and putting new pickuups

[NightBird Blue]

I have a black GSZ120 that I put Dimarzio Evolutions (bridge and neck) in. I like the fatness of the neck pickup, while both pickups together have a good punch, and the bridge is pretty hot, especially when sent through a Boss DS-1.

On a side note, I had to have the action adjusted on mine though because it was too high. All in all I am pretty pleased with this as my first electric guitar and will definitely look at Ibanez when it's time to upgrade.

[Ignateus]

ha erm...why even assume that? let alone say it out loud lol, its nice and sounds good, but its a beginner guitar..

All guitars, regardless of whether they are intended for beginners or pros, have thier own unique sound.
This is because no two guitar models, regardless of level, have the same set up.
It just depends on the users preference. One may prefer the sound of this model compared to the more expensive 'pro' guitars of this series.

[eggy1991]

ANOTHER rediculous opinionated reply here!

seriously, so it isnt "MOGZ ITZ NOT A FENDER, SO ITS NOT AS GOOD!11!"

seriously, i LOVE the sound this guitar makes, teh clean tomes hit you hard, the sharper tones are awesome, and distorted, for dropped c, or even D, this can produce a fantastic sound through even a small "crappy" amp.

I hate it when people assume this is cheaper, therefore it is no where near as good...

[roarinflames]

warlow wrote:

i have a black gsz120, and ive been playing it for 2 years now,... this is a reliable guitar...

i've had mine for three years now and i finally broke my input jack from playing while on my bed.
these will last a long time for their price.

[ibanez-bitch]

I got me a Black gsz120 and it's my first guitar (playing 2 1/2 years)...
I'm very glad a chose this guitar cause' it's never failed on me at anytime, stays in tune great and has an awesome sound....

From playing is through my mini-fender amp to the big ass Marshall at school, it always sounds good.

[StevoIRL]

If your a beginner i highly recommend this guitar to you it has all you ll ever need! Extremely easy to play, has a great feel and a good tone to it, it will serve you in the long run!

[SilverSpurs616]

I've got this guitar, in fact it was my first electric. I've been playing two years and I still swap back to this more often than my Les Paul. The only problem I have with it myself is that it feels like a piece of crap sometimes- don't get me wrong! It plays great. But at the end of the day, it's a £100 guitar and it's hard to be respectful towards it.

Having said that, it is fantastic value for beginners and experienced players alike.

[dyllan93]

this was my first electric guitar and i could not be happier. it works great and i don't think i could ask for anything better