SAS36FM Review

The SAS36FM 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:	8.7
Sound:	9
Action:	9
Reliability:	9.3
Impression:	9.3
Overall rating:	9.1
Users rating:	8.1
Comments:	71

overall: 9

Featured review by: sixstringbandit, on june 19, 2006

Purchased from: Pinkston's Music Store

Features: The Ibanez SAS36FM is part of the '06 line of guitars; therefore there is not much documentation availible. It comes in 2 colors: transparent grey (TG, it is the most common) and dark red sunburst (RSB). Both finishes look amazing on the flamed maple top, I have the TG. Mahogany body, SA series shape (countoured edges with a flat back; very small). Flamed maple top (much more noticeable on the TG. S/S/H configuration (True Duo humbucker, which I will describe later in the review). Set neck (maple, 3 piece, 22 frets). // 9

Sound: Very versatile, I was able to achieve amazing clean and distorted tone on the single coils, the middle pickup sounds the best. The True Duo humbucker is specially made so that when you pull the volume knob out it becomes a single coil. It actually does have a difference in sound. It sounds more like a single coil than a traditional coil tap, but not quite as authentic as a real single coil. Altogether the humbucker is very agressive, well suited for heavy distortion. Altogether this guitar sounds great and offers a wide variety of tones. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: My guitar actual wasn't set up well, the action was respectable, but the intonation was horrible, I baught it from a local store so of course I brought it in and they set it up free of charge. When set up the action is perfect. Other than that there were no flaws, and most likely the intonation was messed up at the guitar store. The neck is not as thin as a Wizard II. It is very comfortable, and curved. Reminded me of a Les Paul, but a lot thinner. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This is a beautiful guitar and it has a set neck so I personally would not thrash around the stage with it, but I'm sure it could if needed. The strap buttons were actually quite nice, but I immediatley installed strap locks. This guitar really has quality and I expct it to remain in great shape for a long time. // 10

Impression: This guitar is only $580, its actually very cheap for its specs, but it in no way feels budget or cheap. I feel like I can use this guitar professionally. It's great for players that play a wide variety of styles. It can go from clean blues riffs to quick aggressive metal. I would say that I love it clean, it has a very responsive and dynamic sound, it seems like each not evolves as you hold it. That reminds me, it has great sustain, due to its mahogany body with set neck. I hope this review helps, it's almost 5:30 in the morning so I'm sure some parts are mispelled or perhaps don't make sense. // 9

overall: 9.4

Reviewed by: D1D8ING, on april 27, 2009

Features: The Ibanez SAS36FM is a solid Stratocaster, mahogany guitar. It has a flamed maple top, mahogany neck with 22 frets and a rosewood fretboard, a humbucker pickup (which is split-able) in bridge position and single coil pickups in middle and neck position. A 5 way selector Switch, 1 volume knob and 1 tone knob. The bridge is an Ibanez SAT Pro tremolo. // 9

Sound: I use a Roland cube amp, 30 watt. I know it's embarrasing but I have not gotten a tube amp myself yet. I run it on a clean setting and uses the Vox Satchurator (an amazing pedal) for my distortion. The bridge pickup (humbucker) is called the True Duo humbucker. It is a IBZ stock pickup. It's splitable so you can split it into a single coil.

I find this pickup to sound quite good but to be rather weak. It does not have a lot of sustain or output. I found it hard to get a rich sound even through an expensive tube amp. And when you split it you can hardly even hear a difference.But it's got a good punkish/metalish sound if you have lots of gain on. It's also nice for riff playing, but not solos.

The single coils are far more impressive. Through the neck pickup you can get really nice sustain and sound and it sounds great on a clean setting but even better with some smooth distortion. Perfect for those long solo notes, and shredding as well, I really like that pickup. The middle is more "funky". It got a really twangy sound to it which combined with the humbucker sounds incredible. I barely use this pickup (well part from playing Hendrix songs) but it sounds great on a clean setting, especially for the more funky riffs. The humbucker is not noisy at all and the single coils are not noisy either.

I play everything from blues to punk to metal and this guitar can deliver! I have to say that I expected a little bit more from the humbucker but it does the job. Hey if it's not a DiMarzio pickup you can't expect it to be perfect. I've changed my humbucker pickup to a DiMarzio Super Distortion (also splitable) and I recommend this to everyone! You get rich, really fat tones because of the mahogony. A hell of a lot of sustain and power. If you add the 140 bucks you will never regret it. Sure if this will not be a primary guitar for you then you don't need to do it because the stock humbucker is still good but it's not as good as the Super Distortion.

The sound is very all around, you can play practically everything. I'm giving the sound a 8/10 because the single coils are really good but the humbucker is only good, not very good. I still recommend to replace the humbucker, it's worth it. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: When I got the guitar the action was set up perfectly. The intonation was right on. The SAT Pro tremolo has a feature which allows you to change the tuning from the 12th fret so the octaves are perfectly in tune, this needs to be done in order to make the tuning last longer. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I've played Live with this (3 times I think) and will play with it Live for hundreds of more times. There is nothing to complain about here either. Although because it is not a bolt on neck you might wanna be a bit careful on stage because if you damage the neck you can't replace it.

The hardware will seem to last forever and the finish as well. I've accidentally bumped this guitar into some sharp ends and such but it hasn't even made a scratch on it. The finish it perfect. // 10

Impression: I love this guitar. It has an amazing feeling, looks awesome and sounds awesome. The neck is also very thin so you can shred away very easy. It's an absolute dream to play on. My favorite feature is the fact that this guitar is made out of mahogany but it is not heavy. I prefer mahogany before other wood types because of it's fully, fat sound and this guitar really has that despite it's thin shape. Also I love the pickup configuration, humbucker-single coil-single coil... That's my favorite!

The tremolo works good as well, it's not a Floyd Rose so you can't go crazy with the whammybar or else the guitar will go out of tuning quick. The only thing that I think Ibanez could've done better would be the humbucker pickup. But stick a DiMarzio in there and you will be 100% satisfied. If this guitar were stolen I would find the bastard who stole it and take it back and hit the guy in the head with it... The guitar would not even get a scratch! In case I did not find the guy I would buy a new one.

This is an amazing guitar that will last for years and you should not even hesitate buying it! // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on september 30, 2008

Price paid: $ 470

Purchased from: Marshall Music (South Africa)

Features: This guitar is very special to me. Frankly, for the price, this guitar is an absolute angel.

Body: firstly, a thin body and neck makes this guitar quite compact. Set Standard with a mahogany body and a flamed-maple top, the guitar is peticularly light (for such a heavy wood). Its very shapely and easy on the eyes, even moreso than my girlfriend (I'm dead serious =P). The neck is rediculously thin, in fact, Im yet to find a guitar with a thinner neck. Bridge: the Ibanez SAT Pro II bridge is just great. Can't really say any more than that... It's a floating bridge, without the Floyd Rose clamps at the top and small tuners at the bottom, meaning you can't go racous with the whammy bar or else you'll be going out of tune within minutes. I like the fact that Ibanez guitar whammy bars work on ball bearings, meaning you have very smooth control of the bridge. The pro's and con's of the floating bridge are rather obvious. Pots and Pickups: S/S/H setup is very effective on this guitar. A True Duo Humbucker at the bridge allows you to Switch from hum to single (I'll talk about the sound later). The two Axis single coils sit at the middle and neck.

The guitar comes with a single volume pot and tone pot and a 6way pickup selector. The volume pot can be raised to control the True Duo Humbucker. // 8

Sound: Well, I listen mainly to older Rock, from say the 60's and 70's... However, I feel this guitar's sound is very, very versatile to almost all players styles. I play through a Line 6, Spider 3 75 watt (which I will be changing shortly). Though I have not played this guitar through as many amps as I've liked to, I believe the sound is great and has great potential for guitarists. The humbucker is thick and creamy, and sounds best with some distortion. On clean the humbucker seems to twangy for my personal liking. Switching the hum to a single creates a thinner sound (duh), though I've heard better single coils before. The middle single coil is effective for clean and maybe a few bluesy numbers. It has a great soft clean sound. The neck single coil works well distorted and clean, and gives a thin enough sound to play rhythm on both settings. This guitars sound is, just, spectacular. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: When I purchased the guitar, everything was set to perfection, action and all. I've never found any flaws with the guitar, and I've been meticulous with my searchings. Pickups at correct hight, and so forth. The most irrating thing is changing strings for the bridge. The notorious floating bridge must constantly be adjusted for a new set of strings. This usually happens when you buy strings with a higher or lower gauge. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I've had the guitar for almost a year now and I'm yet to encounter any serious issues. Other than adjusting the bridge occasionally my guitar is completely flawless. As a gig guitar it seems almost perfect, forgetting the floating bridge. If you break a string, the bridge tends to detune all the other strings. This can however be solved by buying a specialised spring (forgot what the damn thing is called). Other than that. Your good to go. Believe me, this guitar will rock your socks off. // 8

Impression: The Ibanez SAS36FM is a gem in its range. Complete value. I am absolutely in love with it. There are few other guitars out there in its price range that could match its value. If it was stolen, obviously I'd see what new products were available, but I'd definetly buy it again. Anytime. I love the variety of my guitar. How I can Switch from playing heavier rock to soft jazzy numbers. You can actually do about anything with it. In the future I'd like to look at different pickups, but thats just my curiousity looking for new sounds. // 9

Comments

[Miegol]

Yes! I bought it this weekend and I'm very pleased with it! \m/

[hepzibahbaptist]

its pretty thats for sure

[black_blood]

if it only comes in 24 frets !!

[schwedengitarre]

I have the SAS32 (2 humbuckers) and its great!

[OpposingForce]

I think this looks like a good guitar. I might buy it (once I get the money later this summer)

[The Demiurge]

looks like fun

[foundation_7]

thats a great looking guitar!!

[foundation_7]

but i have never gotten whats the difference between just regular pick ups and humbuckers

[nick louw]

less noise on a humbucker- reversed polarity

[zark1989]

Very nice guitar. Ibanez is always one to turn to for a comfortable bass or guitar.

[the spiker]

If I were to buy another Ibanez, I might end up getting this very guitar, or an SZ520 something or other.

Looks like a very nice guitar. I love how good it looks.

[killthelights17]

That is one sexy-looking guitar, and at a great price.

I have enough money to get it! Hurrah

[Green_Jelly]

I was looking for this guitar, but I didn't feel like buying it through the internet, so I bought an SZ520FM. Maybe when I got some money again.

[OttovanZanten]

looks sweet

[fullamularky123]

sounds like a great guitar but how much is it?

[simonzwaan]

thats a sexy guitar

[playone5]

that guitar is sweet

[schwedengitarre]

i bought mine for 485? i think the price is nearly the same in the usa

[absinthe5765]

Ive had one for a little while, its absolutely amazing, Definaly my favorite guitar.

[Rockwillnevrdie]

im definitley gunna buy this geetar when i get the money...haha...im so broke right now :P

[broken_strings]

awesome looks man

[broken_strings]

i want it now

[jp_cheif]

looks awesome, looks like it could shred well, but i wish it was a 24 fret..all well, still a kick ass guitar

[Dani California]

awsome as i want this guitar!!!!!

[Prowler15]

Where was it made? Japan? Germany? The Green Planet?

[Taiwanese]

There's another color: dark amber sunburst(DAS), you can see it at Japanese Ibanez site or online store.

[guyver01]

I bought a guitar which seems to be very similar to this guitar, the Ibanez SA260FM. It's a sort of blue sunburst and has the features listed here and i got it for 249 pounds. It was worth every penny!

[pocallaghan2002]

I just got one. Oh my god it is beautiful!!!!!

[glenndo4000]

i have this guitar and it is perfect, although it can go out of tune quite easily at times, maybe just the way i play.

you can download the ibanez catalogue off the website i think, other colour is the same grain but grey/charcoal. also there is a pearl inlay around the body of the guitar if you look closely and it's beuatiful. 10/10

[pocallaghan2002]

This is an awesome guitar. Gorgeous AND sounds great. All for a pretty reasonable price (I paid 662 CAD)

[samtottmanwanab]

yer its f***ing sweet but i am wondering is it as thin as the s520x because my mtae bought one of those recently and tht is sweet and very thin

[CorkHunter]

got one yesterday, it is a dream to play

[XPandaXBear]

i have this guitar and it is perfect, although it can go out of tune quite easily at times, maybe just the way i play.

you can download the ibanez catalogue off the website i think, other colour is the same grain but grey/charcoal. also there is a pearl inlay around the body of the guitar if you look closely and it's beuatiful. 10/10[/quote]

Mine did go out of tune in the beginning.
like for drop C
and now its okay

[hemi-san]

no all ibanez go out of tune easily. this guitar looks sweet i want the one in transparent black.

[CorkHunter]

my jetking is rarely out of tune

i tune it once a month

my sa36fm is really random, sometimes i have to tune it really really frequently and sometimes i never have to tune it

[XPandaXBear]

You nca get those tuning locks or somthing at some guiar shop.
This guy I know reccomened that, but i blew off mycash on a metronome.

[Shwizzy]

oo i have had this guitar for about half a year now... i really love it, i havent had much experience with the thousands of other guitars lol but i can tell you this guitar is very versatile. I dont have a problem with tuning either. just once in a while it will go out of tune, but thats rare. Plus this guitar is freakin sexy!!

[medium mike]

Very nice looking guitar and the neck feels awesome. I have a high gain amp so I get a bit too much noise from the pickups though. But this guitar is so comfortable to play

[koRnruEls5]

i just bought this guitar it is amazing

[TheFuegoMiester]

is it just me, or is that one of the sexiest paint jobs ever to grace a guitar?

[R-Man]

this is like a PRS a bit isnt it?

[bambusa]

I've changed the pickups out for active EMG's....Mwahahahaaaaa

[eggy1991]

wow, this looks stunning.

I may consider purchasing

[medium mike]

I own this guitar as well, have for around 6 months or so... it is not the one I went in the music store to buy when when I picked it up I found the fret board was very fast... the guitar plays itself pretty much. The guitar stays in tune, no problem there as well. Very nice guitar, go play one and I bet you leave the store with it...

[SilverSpurs616]

I'm hoping to get this guitar next week, the store I go to has it for £380

[Jeroen HP]

Which one 's the best: a 'SAS-36 FM TL' or a 'SAS-32 FM DRS'??
I think the '36' is more beautiful then the '32'. But on the other side I think the '32' is better. Or maybe not, I don't know...

[unknownpunkrock]

does this guitar have a really fast and thin neck?

[ivan987]

Got it a week ago, I wanted extreme versatility and that's what I got. Someone from the shop messed with it0s truss rod so I had to do a new setup and now it's great, action is low, neck is relatively fast and very comfortable. The tone is not as fat as I want it to be, but it's great because of the versatility, it can do very beautiful cleans and a nice distortion, ranging from blues-rock tone to even metal.

[unknownpunkrock]

does anybody know what the difference between this and the 32 is?

[GuitarGuy92]

can anyone tell me which they recommend.. this or the SAS32FM?

[ivan987]

unknownpunkrock wrote:

does anybody know what the difference between this and the 32 is?

Well, the difference is in the pickup configuration. SAS36FM has two single coils and a humbucker in bridge position, while the SAS36FM has only two humbuckers. I think SAS36FM is a better choice because it's more verstile (neck single coil pickup does great cleans), humbuckers are better if you play with a lot of distortion, but then I just use my bridge pickup.

[ivan987]

Sorry, I made a mistake, SAS32FM has humbuckers, it was a typo

[matt likes axes]

ive got the SAS32FM and its pretty darn cool =]

the same as the one in the picture but with a neck humbucker and and a bridge humbucker, no middle pickup

i got mine for £230 from a local store in portsmouth, (www.nevadamusic.co.uk) but i got it a couple years ago and they no longer sell the model, however they do have the SAS36FM there so you might want to check it out if you live in the area =]

btw as some people have mentioned it does go out of tune occasionly, but thats the price you pay for a tremolo bridge, if you want a guitar that stays in tune forever get a les paul lol

[jonas1452]

i ve got those guitar, i think it looks great and has a very good sustain, but the bridge isn't very good at all.

[kyle_adams]

they have the trans grey one at a pawn shop here for 179. i'm gonna pawn my epiphone g-400 and then pay for the rest myself

[kyle_adams]

kyle_adams wrote:

they have the trans grey one at a pawn shop here for 179. i'm gonna pawn my epiphone g-400 and then pay for the rest myself

oh and i forgot, the one in the pawnshop had a wilkinson tremolo, which makes it even more of a steal

[arnob_oblique]

I use this live, n its awsome! the only problem is that the tuning falls very fast.. it gets very irritating sometimes..Can anyone give me any suggestion on that? pm me.

[Sasms]

I have one and it is one very durable guitar, I smashed its headstock into a wall on accident before and when I yanked it out, not a single scratch and it still sounded flawless as it always did.

[sid222]

awesome guitar at a bargain price

[Druminstyl]

Beautiful Guitar. Just bought it this weekend . its light weight and quick action. --Keeper__

[Genetic Blue]

I'm not sure weather to buy a ART320 or one of these.

[mmac64]

i have had this guitar for a few months now and it does sound great, when its in tune. i am having this issue where when i tune the low E down to drop D all the other strings get tighter, i think it distributes the tension evenly, or somthing like that. but i was wondering about this specialised spring that was mentioned in the review, an am wondering if anybody knows what its actually called. other than that, the guitar sound beutifull, when its still in tune.

[DANTE_DEMONHALF]

Hay.... anybody knows what the different between this
one and the SA260FM !!!
I'v seen them both in the catalog and thay'r the same
except that the SAS36 has a set-in neck
anyway if anybody knows the different please tell me ;D

[jsnpark]

HOW MUCH?

PLZ REPLY =)

[rich246]

I love this guitar it was the best thing I have ever bought in my life!

[stratomaster 94]

cant wait to get this for christmas

[travislausch]

jsnpark wrote:

HOW MUCH?

PLZ REPLY =)

First review says: "This guitar is only $580"

[moses132049]

i got mine about 3 years ago and its still in perfect condition, and its still by far the best ive ever played (ive played 5 lol)

[stratomaster 94]

www.guitarvillage.co.uk, you can get this for £364

[Drakhiei]

travislausch wrote:

jsnpark wrote:

HOW MUCH?

PLZ REPLY =)
First review says: "This guitar is only $580"

yea its only $400 now

[Benikka]

got it for 490€. Excellent guitar.