SA260FM Review

The SA260FM is thin around the edge to give you great comfort, and thick around the neck, pickups and bridge to give you great tone. Features a mahogany body with flamed maple top, IBZ pickups, SAT Pro bridge and more!

Features:	9
Sound:	9.3
Action:	9.5
Reliability:	9.5
Impression:	9.8
Overall rating:	9.4
Users rating:	9.1
Comments:	30

overall: 9

Featured review by: poopsmith666, on september 18, 2006

Price paid: $ 395

Purchased from: Axe Music

Features: Tuners are sealed unbranded mini-tuners that are smooth and accurate. Headstock is distinctive scalpel-shaped six-on-one-side that is faced with veneer of the same flame-maple that covers the body. Nice touch. Nut is a neat and tidy black plastic nut abuts the rosewood of the fretboard. Neck is the maple neck is slim and very playable, a feature of Ibanez guitars on which you can rely. They seem to use the same neck across many models, enjoying economy of scale and uniform stringency at the quality control stage. Fretboard is medium-chocolate rosewood with an attractive grain. The traditional fret markers are white pearloid on the face, while the markers on the side of the neck are a more eye-catching abalone. Frets are the medium frets are nicely polished for a smooth playing experience. Body is the mahogany body, Stratoid shape with a carved maple slab on the top. The carving is quite pronounced and seems to make the body "fall away" from the strings, making for a very comfortable and uncluttered playing experience. The back of the body is finished in black but the edge of the maple top is visible, giving the impression of a wooden binding. Bridge is the Ibanez SAT vibrato unit, balanced very well on the three springs visible through the access panel on the back of the body. The individual string saddles are actually made in two pieces. The main saddle unit moves backwards and forwards on an allen screw to adjust intonation. The string itself rests on a separate component held within the saddle which is adjustable for height. This arrangement gives increased stability to the intonation of the bridge, an important plus for a vibrato equipped guitar that lacks a locking nut. The vibrato arm itself is a slot-in, removable type. Pickups are one SAT30S humbucker sits at the bridge and is teamed up with two AS2 single-coils. The humbucker is labelled as a True-Duo humbucker, so when the coil-tap is engaged Ibanez claim it produces a true single-coil tone rather than the half-hearted, "half-a-humbucker" tone found on some other coil-tapped guitars. Controls are master volume and master tone with a five-way selector switch that gives all the familiar Strat-style combinations. Unusually it is the volume control that acts as the push-pull coil-tap. Strap-buttons are medium sized in the standard locations. Output jack is situated on the face of the guitar at the bottom of its very own little rabbit burrow. // 9

Sound: I was very impressed with the tonal scope of each pickup when played individually. The bridge humbucker is packed with great brash highs and had the power to sweetly overdrive the valves in our test amp. But equally the single-coils have a great depth of tonal complexity, the neck pickup on its own produced a monster tone that had me twiddling with Texas Rock riffs and heavy blues. With such excellent single-coils as a comparison I pulled the coil-tap with anticipation. And, yes, the tapped 'bucker joined in the fun on equal sonic terms with its sisters. From classic rock to heavy metal, this guitar will do it all, with the right amp and possibly pedal. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: Action is very good from the box. Finish is the flame-maple top glows seductively under the sapphire finish. Constructed from two pieces of maple, the top is nicely book-matched. The back of the body is finished in black but the edge of the maple top is visible, giving the impression of a wooden binding. The finish is excellent throughout, and provided that there is no deliberate scratching, the finish will hold up. // 9

Reliability & Durability: The wide tonal palette means you won't need any other axe for the gig. As for the durability, providied that you don't smash it on stage, it is practically indestructable. As I said before, the finish is just superb. It will get the job done for a good long time, given proper care is taken and it is not abused. // 9

Impression: Another bulls-eye for Ibanez. A lovely neck, excellent pickup voicings and drop-dead-gorgeous to boot. One amazing thing about this guitar is how comfortably it sits on the strap when you're standing. It almost seems to vanish into your body, leaving no distractions between you and the strings. At the price this is one kick-ass guitar. If you were thinking about buying a Fat Strat type of guitar then I would strongly suggest you buy the Ibanez SA260FM. // 10

overall: 9.4

Reviewed by: petrucci_owns86, on october 01, 2007

Price paid: $ 453

Purchased from: Guitar Showcase

Features: // 10

Sound: This guitar suits any musical style well, but it fits best with the rock/metal/shred genre of music. The True-Duo humbucker system is good, but even on the humbucker setting (volume knob pushed down) it still has a single coil edge to it, but nothing too severe. On a distorted setting, this guitar sounds very good, and the whammy bar works great. All 3 pickups sound good, except if you've always been a humbucker person, the 2 single coils may take some getting used to. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The action out of the box was pretty much dead on. A small problem is that for anything other than Standard tuning and any string gauge other than.009-.042 will require adjustment to the string saddles on the SAT Pro bridge to retain the intonation. The bridge is a great alternative to a Floyd Rose-style trem, being that the SAT Pro bridge does more or less the same thing. Word of warning: if you break a string, all the strings will go either flat or sharp (mine went sharp), because the trem has lost it's balance. I suggest replacing the broken string right away; it's bad for the trem to be off balance for long periods of time. Also, adjusting the height of the tremolo may cause the springs underneath the back plate to scrape on the inside of the guitar; at least on my guitar it did that. My advice is to just stick with the height that the tremolo came at. This guitar contained no flaws when I got it, except for the low E string's saddle was missing a small string support on it. I'm not sure if this is normal or what, but either way it doesn't affect the sound of this guitar. The only really noticeable problem of this guitar is the tuning problem. I'd suggest buying this guitar along with a replacement rolling nut (about $30-40) and some quality locking tuners (about $60-80); you're gonna need them if you use the trem half as much as I do. If you can only buy the guitar and not the accesories too, at least use this decently affective remedy. Loosen each string one by one, pop the string out of the nut, and draw on the groove in the nut with a sharp pencil for about 2-3 minutes per groove. This lubes up the groove, and the strings won't get caught in the nut as often. This should tide you over until you get locking tuners and a rolling nut. Those 2 items will pretty much solve tuning problems for good. Let's move on to the True-Duo humbucker system. It is a great, innovative system that switches the humbucker to single-coil mode and back again. You can create all sorts of sounds with a combo of the True-Duo system, the other pickups, and the volume and tone knobs. Although, if the volume knob is in the single coil mode, use of the trem may accidentally hit the knob or push it back down to humbucking mode. Overall, the parts on this guitar are very high quality, and out of the box, the only real improvements needed are some locking tuners and a rolling nut. // 9

Reliability & Durability: It may be light, but I think this guitar could withstand just about anything. I would definitely play this without a backup. The only thing to worry about would be breaking a string, but that is easily fixed as long as you have an extra string, a microphone, and a couple of good stories to tell. But please don't take it to a gig if you plan on using the whammy bar a lot, but don't have locking tuners and a rolling nut. You'll be needing to tune up in the middle of a song, and that just isn't very cool. If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy a new one in a heartbeat. // 9

Impression: Like I said earlier, it matches up with anything in the rock/metal/shred genres. I've been playing for 2 years, and this guitar betters my Epiphone Les Paul in so many ways it's not even funny anymore. The pickups are better, it has an awesome trem (a great, cheaper alternative to a Floyd Rose), and let's just face it, it looks bitchin'! Pics on the internet don't do justice to how godly the Orange flame top looks! My only wish for it to have is some locking tuners and a good roller nut. But I'm getting those soon. I hate nothing about this guitar, and I love just about everything about it down to the pearl inlays on the side of the neck (but it doesn't have pearl fretboard inlays). Everything you can imagine is adjustable on this guitar, even down to how stiff the tremolo bar is in the bridge. Overall, a solid choice for any music that has fast guitar solos! // 10

overall: 9.4

Reviewed by: Gui_Lux, on october 27, 2009

Price paid: € 350

Features: Check the previous threads for all the features, even though mine is an older version of the 260FM (it hasn’t got coil taps), they're the same.

The only complaint I had, and apparently we all share it, is that it doesn’t stay in tune when using the trem. The solution was mentioned before, some locking tuners (mine are Schaller, worth the money, seriously) and maybe a graphite nut. Didn’t change the nut, it’s not really necessary. It doesn’t eliminate the problem, but it helps a lot!

Of course, you can’t expect them to put locking tuners on a guitar in this price range… // 8

Sound: I mostly play rock, from heavy metal to bluesy stuff, but occasionally some jazz. And even though mine hasn't got the coil taps, this is still a very polyvalent guitar! Use the bridge pickup for everything that has to scream, the neck pickup for the bluesy, more 'round' sound. I don't really use the middle pickup (actually, now that I think of it, I NEVER use it...).

Weirdly, my bridge pickup broke down (the guy at the shop told me he'd never seen it happen on an Ibanez), so when it was time to change it, I changed it to a Paf Pro. What a difference! The original humbucker isn't bad, but it's not great either.

I’m using the SA260 on a Marshall DSL 50 or a London City Pershing (great amp for it’s price btw), on a 4X12” London City cabinet. Of course, it rocks. Whether you play a fat blues with the bridge pickup, or a super heavy metal thingy with the humbucker, it’s just awesome.

With my band we play some pop rock stuff, older rock and songs that require a clean sound. Our other guitarist plays on an Ibanez Prestige (don’t exactly know which one) on an Ibanez tube amp. Basically, he paid €800 for the same thing as me. Clean? They sound almost the same.

Distorted, there was a difference, but now with the Paf Pro, mine sounds even better. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: Action, Fit & Finish... Well, like every Ibanez, it was just perfect. Incredible how they manage to do it, but everything was set up perfectly. I did lower the bridge pickup a bit, but that’s just me, it wasn’t really necessary. After 4 years now, the action is still perfect, the finish is exactly like the first day, what more can you ask? // 10

Reliability & Durability: I’ve had this guitar now for 4 years, and the only thing is that the humbucker failed, and the guy from the shop told me he’d never seen it happen before.

I’ve played at gigs with it without a backup, and if necessary, I’ll do it again. It has never failed on me, it feels rock solid (though it’s a very light guitar), all the components still feel like new, the finish is still perfect, … With a tad of polish, I’d be able to resell it as a new one. Not a trace on this baby, and I’m not really the most caring guy! Hard rock is meant to be played hard, and that’s what I do. And this awesome guitar just takes it all, shows no pain, sounds like it should. // 10

Impression: Like I said, it's a very polyvalent guitar, it'll play anything. I've been playing for 6 years now, started with a Yamaha Pacifica 112 that I replaced with this one, recently bought a Prs SE Custom semi hollow (great sound too). Amp-wise I had a Roland Cube 30, now replaced by a London City Pershing + 4X12" cabinet, and a Marshall DSL 50. They're all a perfect match, though that's not a hard one, now is it? The Ibanez is so amazingly flexible; you can play it with anything. It's incredible what you get for so little money.

If stolen, I'd probably buy it again. When I decided to buy another guitar, I wanted something that would sound a lot better than this one. For a Fender or a Gibson, you'd have to go €2000+ to find one with a decent finish and sound that would make a difference. Deusenberg wasn't bad, but that was €1400. That kind of tells it all, doesn't it?

Conclusion: if you’re thinking about buying this guitar; just do it. You’ll get an amazing sound from the neck pickup, and the bridge will sound perfect with some disto. Eventually, you’ll change the tuners. And it’s probably the only thing you’ll ever have to change.

(my apologies for my English, it’s my third language, I’m not used to talk/write it) // 9

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: tom_martin_123, on september 15, 2008

Price paid: £ 280

Purchased from: Rimmers Music

Features: This guitar has a 3pc SA neck with medium frets. It has a flamed maple top on a mahogany body, in super Strat style. The bridge is a SAT pro II, which i must say is excellent for trem. It has a 5 way pick-up selector, 2 tone controlls and one for volume. The guitar has 2 single coil pickups at the neck and mid section, and a humbucker at the bridge, but that can be switched to single coil. This model doesn't come with the locking tuners and floating trem, but these, for me, aren't really needed. // 9

Sound: I all sorts of music from blues too heavy metal and this can handle it all! At the moment I use a crappy practice amp that doesn't make the most of this guitar, but I played it on a spider valve 212 at my friends' house and it amazed me. The sounds are rich and bright sounding on all settings and the mixture of single coils with the humbucker that with the flick of a Switch you can go from jimi hendrix blues to heaver stuff like Metallica. This guitar really can play anything, but is probably best at heavy metal. Overall, the sound is perfect. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: This guitar is very well set up, being an Ibanez. The pickups are also well adjusted, the bridge came routed properly, it came set up pretty much perfectly, flawless. It is also finished really nicely and it looks gorgeous. All this makes it really easy to hold and play. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I haven't had this for that long but it seems pretty solid. I'd be quite confident to gig this, I believe it could withstand it with ease. Nothing has fallen of it or stopped working up to now and until it does. // 10

Impression: As I said earlier, many styles of music.. but mainly blues and classic rock and this fits any style well. I probably would have asked for them to throw in a free case when I bought it looking back, but that's just so I could get it to a gig. If it was stolen of lost, I would definitely buy it again, it's as good as a guitar that could cost up too £1000 for a quarter of the price. I love the looks of this guitar, I love the sound, I love everything. I would recommend this guitar to anybody // 10

Comments

[poopsmith666]

When I said "Finish is the flame-maple top glows seductively under the sapphire finish," what I actually meant was "The flame-maple top glows seductively under the sapphire finish". There are a lot of those in the features column as I wrote the categories before the text, so it may make no sense. SORRY! I'll post a revised copy soom

[poopsmith666]

lol i meant soon

[oyster]

this is a wonderfully comfortable guitar. but i have the older version without the coil tap. but then i changed the humbucker to a dimarzio FRED cos i felt the humbucker was quite horrible. but the neck pu is nice.

[Steeon]

This is my first and so far, only guitar. But I can't say anything negative about it. It's an "easy-played" guitar and, as oyster said really comfortable.

Considering the prize I think it's a great guitar, not only for

[Steeon]

... "beginners" like me.

[Scarlatti]

I really can't say anything negative about this guitar, after 5 months, it's just fantastic =D

[The Poser]

I own the Transparent Lavander Version Which I Love ONLY.....because I Invested Another £100 Into A Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup Because Originally the Tru-Duo Pickup Had To Much Of A Single Coil Edge To It And I Needed A More Humbucker Esq Sound Which Now Hasd Become My Main Guitar But The Neck And Middle Pick ups Give A Great Sound When Combined

[bopper989]

only problem with my sa 260 is that it doesnt stay in tune. hours are ok, days are not. i tune it daily

[TFK_62]

I should be getting this guitar next week, the trans grey version

[rexes]

bopper989 wrote:

only problem with my sa 260 is that it doesnt stay in tune. hours are ok, days are not. i tune it daily

It's the same with me man. The guitar is sweet, but it doesn't stay in tune. The G string goes out whenever i bend it. I've not played it much, so maybe this might be happening because the strings are new. Will it be necessary to put on Locking Nuts to solve this problem??

[petrucci_owns86]

rexes wrote:
It's the same with me man. The guitar is sweet, but it doesn't stay in tune. The G string goes out whenever i bend it. I've not played it much, so maybe this might be happening because the strings are new. Will it be necessary to put on Locking Nuts to solve this problem??

No, not a locking nut. I would suggest locking tuners and a rolling nut, not a locking one. This might be a more expensive alternative, but it will work better for you. If you can't afford all this (about 100 US dollars without installation), buy some Big Bends Nut Sauce (about 15 US dollars). Apply it under the strings in the grooves of the nut and the saddles of the bridge. This is what I do, and it stays more or less in perfect tune. Hope this helps.

It could also be that the strings are new, like you said. For me with this guitar, it takes a day or two for them to get in perfect tune, so you gotta be patient.

[bopper989]

rexes wrote:

bopper989 wrote:

only problem with my sa 260 is that it doesnt stay in tune. hours are ok, days are not. i tune it daily


It's the same with me man. The guitar is sweet, but it doesn't stay in tune. The G string goes out whenever i bend it. I've not played it much, so maybe this might be happening because the strings are new. Will it be necessary to put on Locking Nuts to solve this problem??

i dont use my whammy anymore cus of this problem
also when i put it in drop c it went out of tune ever hour or so

[petrucci_owns86]

^^ lower the bridge so it's flush to the body and adjust the string saddles.

you can tune it to anything that way, but the whammy only goes down

[bopper989]

bopper989 wrote:

rexes wrote:

bopper989 wrote:

only problem with my sa 260 is that it doesnt stay in tune. hours are ok, days are not. i tune it daily


It's the same with me man. The guitar is sweet, but it doesn't stay in tune. The G string goes out whenever i bend it. I've not played it much, so maybe this might be happening because the strings are new. Will it be necessary to put on Locking Nuts to solve this problem??

i dont use my whammy anymore cus of this problem
also when i put it in drop c it went out of tune ever hour or so

that would be becuase of the springs underneath the pickups and bridge. they must equal the tension of the strings or else tune is as hopeless as anything.

[GrannyKiller]

is the SAT Pro tremolo a two-way trem like the Floyd Rose?

[fatcat993]

Guys, if you are having consistent tuning problems then the solution is to take it to you nearest guitar luthier for a good setup. Factory setups are not always made to cater for dropped tunings. Aside from this, you can never really trust the factory setup. Take it to your guitar tech, describe what you require from the guitar and they will set it up accordingly. I've had this guitar for just on a month and have been entirely happy so far. A well made versatile instrument with tone in all the right places and the sustain to match.

[dandoosh101]

Guys, if you are having consistent tuning problems then the solution is to take it to you nearest guitar luthier for a good setup. Factory setups are not always made to cater for dropped tunings. Aside from this, you can never really trust the factory setup. Take it to your guitar tech, describe what you require from the guitar and they will set it up accordingly. I've had this guitar for just on a month and have been entirely happy so far. A well made versatile instrument with tone in all the right places and the sustain to match.

Damn straight... this guitar is a bargain and a masterpiece .. looks as good as it plays

[tom_martin_123]

bought this guitar yesterday! I love it its brilliant.. especially for the price. If you want something similar in terms of sound and quality, with a fender badge on it... it will cost thrice as much at least.

[shelovemyguitar]

I got this guitar for almost 1 years and a half and I just love it. I also use a Tonebone Classic witch uses a 12AX7 tube. The distortion is just amazing. I've never had any probleme with the tune even in drop C. But if you use a lot the tremolo you will be tuned off with any guitar anyway...

[tom_martin_123]

/\/\... ye if u use the trem alot it will go out of tune but thats true for most guitars so it's no big deal.

[cackamverett]

gettin this soon
my friend says he got one n its better then a fender stratocaster
hope hes right

[shelovemyguitar]

If you have a good amp with it (And maybe a good effect pedal) Yeah you're on your way...

[Bubbles516]

I have it and all i have to say is I don't really like the pickups. Mine holds decent tune, it looks good, easy to play. I don't use the trem.

I think its a decent intermediate guitar.

[sbinlb]

i play any thing from sublime to as i lay dying would this guitar suit both styles of music? if not a recommendation on which guitar would around the same price.

[Joe Moer]

Hmmm, SAS36FM or SA260FM?? Both look really nice!

[Niki (guitar)]

Is there any difference between this and the SA260M?

[mzorko]

Niki (guitar) wrote:

Is there any difference between this and the SA260M?

- The SA260FM has a flamed maple top and a rosewood fretboard.

- The SA260M has a maple fretboard.

Other than that, both are the same: some truly great guitar.

[DANTE_DEMONHALF]

hay guys! this one or rg370 ???
pleas can anybody help me I'm so confused :[

[mzorko]

DANTE_DEMONHALF wrote:

hay guys! this one or rg370 ???
pleas can anybody help me I'm so confused :[

It depends on the music you play. The SA260 could manage almost any style, though if you're up to metal or something with distortion up to 11, maybe the RG suits you better.

[sam-i7]

people keep saying how this guitars goes out of tune quickly - well ive had this guitar for over 3 years and ive done no modifications to it, and ive had no more tuning trouble than you would do from any other guitar