Ibanez vs. Fender

As you all probably know, i carry a rep here for being pro-ibanez and anti-fender. So I just decided to challenge you all to tell me one advantage fenders have over ibanez guitars or any other brand for that matter. After all, as Christoph pointed out, they are all probably made in the same sweat shop in singapore anyway.

I don't think any brand has a paticular advantage over another. As a matter of fact, most every company out there ripps off everybody else.

But: A classic Fender design usually has more mass than a classic Ibanez. More mass=better sustain and better tone. They're also usually made a little more solidly. Ask Pete Townsend.

Regardless, this is a personal preferance issue, if you're happy with your guitar, I'm happy for you.

how solidly a guitar is built doesnt matter that much unless you are like the who or jimi and smash your guitar into everything you see. and as far as mass goes a les paul is a good option. i used to hate them because of how heavy they were, but ive been bulking up on wheaties since then :)

blackrose i have a question for you
if fender sucks that bad, how can it be that every known player in this world, exept for maybe angus young uses or used fender??

first off, im not saying fenders suck, its just that there is a lot better stuff you can get for the same price. secondly, not every known player on earth uses/has used a fender. if fact, nowhere near every known player has. and anyway, those players that do use or have used a fender that are well know believe it or not own more than one guitar and fact is more likely than not they arent all made by fender. and anyways, if a guitarist is well enough know for you to know what types of guitar he uses/has used he has probably been playing long enough that he has tried just about every type of guitar there is including fender, as you pointed out, gibson, and of course ibanez. so really you dont have any more backing your argument than i do if even that.

Any gigging musician knows how important solid construction is. It's usually accompanied by better tone too. Also, the less mass the body has, the more the guitar's tone comes from the strings and the pickups. As Lordathestrings is fond of saying "if a guitar doesn't have good natural tone then better pickups just make it louder."

i agree with you on that, but i guess it just depends on what type of music you play. for playing more classical less intense stuff a fender might not be all that bad because they generally do have more body than an ibanez. but on the other hand, tone doesnt matter quite as much with the type of guitarists that ibanez is associated with, like johnny and korn, and ibanez guitars generally are better made for that type of music. so i guess it all comes back to you saying its all a personal thing with the way you play. back to square one, i guess.

well if korn is a good music to you, then i should keep my opinion to myself.. i thought you'll give somebody like vai as example of player who uses ibanez.. but korn?!
to play their music you dont need a real guitar at all

every instrument has its good qualities, it's all a matter of preference. fender has benn making great guitars for fiftey years, so has gibson, i don't know how long ibanez has been around, but some some of their guitars are of high quality. everyone has their own personal choice. Jow Satriani and Steve Vai like ibanez, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and others like fenders, while John Petrucci likes Ernie Ball, and Carlos Santana likes PRS, and still many people like Slash love Gibsons.

if you don't like a brand, it doesn't mean they suck, it just means that you prefer another kind. i personally don't like ibanez's neck and the sound i got when i played my friends ibanez, to me, didn't even come close to my telecaster. but that's just me. i don't go around saying ibanez sucks, just because i don't like them.

also Korn's music can be played on any kind of guitar, if you check out the issue of guitar world where it's tabbed, you'll find it's tabbed on a six string.

The range with an Ibanez is...
...about four rows, if you have a good arm! LOL :D (thanx, Rask)

I don't happen to like Fender guitars either, blackrose, m'man, but it has nothing to do with style, or who plays 'em. 'Fact is, my fingers aren't long enough to be comfortable on the fret spacing that results from their long scale length. But then, I don't own any Gibsons either, (since my '66 SG), because although their scale length is a better fit, their price isn't.

As I said in my reply to one of your other posts, dig around in the archives on this site. There's a lot of years of real--life experience contained in those threads.

Originally posted by Zeppelin
well if korn is a good music to you, then i should keep my opinion to myself.. i thought you'll give somebody like vai as example of player who uses ibanez.. but korn?!
to play their music you dont need a real guitar at all

I dont like korn at all. if fact i really hate it. the reason i didnt use vai as an example is because fact is most of the guitars he plays are not made by ibanez, he probably only plays them just because of the money he gets paid for endorsing them.

And just so everyone knows, i dont think that fenders suck, i just dont think that they are the best guitars you can get for their price.

That's why I shop from the "Used" rack.

Just to clear things up. Ibanez didn't come to Vai with the Jem. Ibanez came to Vai and he gave specs for his prototype guitar and told them that if they could make it, he'd endorse it. He does have a lot of guitars. But trust me. Most of them ARE Ibanez. If you check out his website you can see about forty of them. The Jem isn't like any of the other Ibanez guitars either. I love my 7420, but am planning on changing the pickups very soon.

Fenders are great... so is ibanez. Ibanez is low priced with a good enough tone, the Fenders are more pricey, but they do have a considerable amount of better sound. like they were syaying before, the natural tone is great. I think if anything i'd go for the telecaster. But to me, if you want the real deal, its a Gibson. It doesn't matter what youre lookin to play theres a guitar for evey style....even Korn...if you consider that a 'style' rather and a noise.
The fact to me is that the Gibson has the great natural tone, and theres many types of set ups you can have elctronically, coil tapping to get those single coil tones and such. Fenders do have their own sound which is ideal for certain songs, but you can come damn close, if not better with a Gibson. If youre lookin for low price with a great sound, im Ibanez all the way. But if you dont mind putting a dent in your wallet for the real deal get a fender or even better get a Gibson. (and dont buy epiphone god they suck, get an ibanez if someone tells you an epiphone is gonna sound like a gibson smack them)

You wanna see a real fender in action, look up the video of Jimmy Page playing in the BBC sessions. But look... even he turned to Gibson after that.

I agree with Raskolnikov
Shop the used rack.
Another thing i think if you got a good amp,
it could make almost any brand sound great!
I own a Tele,Strat,Gibson-335.
I retired the gibson a few years back.
Now every guitar i,ve bought plus own has been a used guitar,even the 2 non-electrics.
At one time i owned plus played just about every brand,
thro the years.
My first guitar was a (Silver Tone ->made by Sears&Robuck ,
it was also used.
To Tell you the truth i can't think of all the names,
of the guitars i've owned thro the years.
But if you name some guitars i might remember them?,
a few comes to mind like Rickenbacker,Les-Paul-Gibson,Gretch,Mosrite,Guild,all the fender models,plus,
a few other gibson models.
My son just picked up a used solid body Washburn that,
i've been trying to talk him into letting me play a few,
jobs with but he's stuck on it right now.
Both of the fender's i play now are hot-rod guitars.
Really if i still had those old guitar's i would play,
them once in awhile.
I think if you like your guitar what ever brand it is,
plus like the sound,feel,ect,its the best.
I would have kept the les-paul but i did'nt like the balance of the neck when standing.
P:S I think an Amp can be a very important part of your,
sound when playing an electric guitar.
Plus it don't hurt to have a good neck,finger-board,
and some hot pick-ups on your guitar.

just my 4 cents...........

Mark

P:S I've never bought a guitar just because some artist,
played it i,ve alwasy went by the feel of the neck,plus,
how it sounded thro my amp....................

[Edited by skee1 on 09-12-2001 at 10:31 AM]

ok now no 1 guitar is better than the other its just more of what u perfer and the sound and style u r trying to get ive played many ibanez guitars there great guitars and ive play many fender guitars also great guitars problems ive had out of fenders is when using whammer bar the guitar goes out of tune fast so floyd rose models would be better in whammer bar cases but i play a esp-ltd 300 and it kicks alot of ass just play what your comfortable with many great guitar players play fender guitars and many great guitar players play ibanez actually 2 of the best play ibanez and slash playa a gibson the awsomest guitarist alive plays a gibson Zakk wylde and kirk hammet mainly plays esps dimebag plays washburn so no 1 guitar is better than the other

so think about this it dosent matter what u play on its how u play it steve vai is going to sound like steve vai on any guitar he plays

I own both, Fender wins by miles.

But its all down to taste and personal choice.

No guitar is a bad guitar if you like it yourself and get enjoyment out of playing the beast.

I own both an Strat and an Ibanez as well, and I find significant differences between the two. I don't like one better than the other, but I do realize that they have different features and qualities for different situations. The strat is the best sounding guitar I've heard for clean tones, and I use it for that. I dropped in a DiMarzio Evolution humbucker into the bridge a while back, and it sounds ok, but for whacked out fingers-flying fretwork with 56 gallons of distortion, I look to my '79 Ibanez Destroyer. I bought it used at a Guitar Center a couple of years ago (I also agree with Raskolnikov about looking through the used stuff) and it is the sweetest sounding thing I've ever heard; goes from 0 to thrash in 4.3 seconds and yet also sounds smooth and warm. It's been said before, but its all personal preference.

Its not the guitar its how you play it that counts.

But haveing a guitar that is of such brillience that words can't explain such as a fender add's too it.

I have Ibanez and fender guitars, the Fender is the best and thats my opinion and I sticking to it.

If we spent less time worring or debating which guitar is best we would play more and be happier.

I'd rather play a guitar, any guitar than have no guitar at all.

Youre right.
You cant DEBATE this subject, 'cause its like
trying to figure out who tastes best,
chocolate or vanilla.
I not saying that youre doing that, but still....

Its been said like 50 times in this thread only,
so if I say it again it wont matter:

Its all about personal preference.

ohbythewayfenderisthebestthereisevergottagobyehehehehe...