Ibanez S, Parker Fly or EVH

[gibsongaz#1]

I'm torn on what purchase to make next! I want something with a fast neck and a trem. The options I fancy are the
- Ibanez S series
- Parker Fly Deluxe
- EVH Musicman / Peavey

[Doadman]

Thought carefully about this but realistically, I can't see past Ibanez guitars and the S is a beautiful instrument

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

I'm all for a Japanese made S series, prestige or not.  Here's my '91 that I love to show off:



Are you looking to buy new or used?

[Jonny]

S Series.

[the_bleeding]

parker fly. one of the nicest guitars i've ever EVER played.

[Afghan Dave]

Jap Ibanez S

[noodleplugerine]

Parker.

Or an Axis - Both brilliant guitars.

[mecca777]

That's a really tricky one. I agonised and eventually went with the Fly, but I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. The new Ibanez SV guitars look particularly incredible, and the EB/MM Axis and Peavey Wolfgang are killer as well. It also depends on how important weight, pickup configuration and locking/non-locking tremolo are in your equation.

[Keith Crossen]

I have an S520EX & an '87 Ibanez 540p power.
The ZR trem is superb.  Without doubt it's the best Floyd Rose adaptation yet.  The neck is fast as f***.  The lighweight slim body is really comfortable - the only bother is that the strap tends to overlap to the front of the guitar which is a bit of an irritation during gigs.  Soundwise it ain't a Les Paul so don't expect lush sustain... it's a mahogony body, but very thin.  There are a few noticeable 'dead spots' and 'high spots' through the tonal range which are probably down to the limited resonance form the skinny body.  INF1 & INF2 pups are ok, but I'm planning an upgrade to Holy Divers.  I find the volume pot to be a little far forward for my liking.  There are no position markers on the fingerboard, just on the top edge binding on the neck which took a while to get used to.
I bought the guitar as a backup, but I'm finding that I am using it more and more.  We play a 3 hour set so a lightweight guitar makes life a litte easier for an ageing rocker!
The S520EX ain't the top of the range by any means, so check out some of the Jap models, but I can't fault the fit and finish on my example.
Hope this helps.

[sgmypod]

Love my parker is unusual I love it but a lot of my freinds don't...and the S ibanez guitars are nice

[Catalyst77]

Cant say about the ibanez as ive never owned one.

I have a parker and cant get on with the shape; Apparently you can't change the pickups either they can only be re-wound - so it remains in my stand gathering dust.

I voted for the music man; its got the best neck of any guitar ive ever played; its light but resonant and seems like a good alrounder.

[Matt77]

I've got a Music Man Axis Super Sport. It's has an unfinished maple neck and maple fretboard that feels really comfortable and is easy to get around quickly. It's a bright sounding lively guitar.  The Van Halen inspired Peaveys play fairly similar with a slightly warmer tone and ever so slightly wider neck, but both are really good guitars.

I've played all 3 types of guitar and would buy all of them if I had the resource. The feel of the wood on the neck is what made me go and buy the Musicman in the end

[Philly Q]

It also depends on how important weight, pickup configuration and locking/non-locking tremolo are in your equation.

And neck shape, as the two guys above have mentioned (an awful lot of 77s in this thread!   ).  I think neck shape is hugely important, it's usually the deciding factor for me so long as nothing else is drastically wrong.

The Music Man has a narrow but fairly deep asymmetric shape (rounder on the bass side, more of a V on the treble side).  The Peavey's similar, don't really know about the Parker or Ibanez but I assume the Ibz has the skinny-but-not-super-skinny Wizard II shape (I do like the look of the ZR trem though!).

[Twinfan]

I found the EVH necks to be too thin for me (with regard to string spacing), you need to try one before you buy.

The Parkers are great guitars if you like the shape, or don't care what people think.  They do polarise opinion.

The Ibanez is the safest bet, but a lot of the S series are made in Korea now (even some of the Prestige series ones).  If you go for one I would recommend buying a Japanese model as they are nearly always a better guitar than the Korean ones and worth paying a little bit extra.

[Matt77]

The Musicman can sometimes be a little too nippy for it's own good. The frets are very smooth on the edge of the neck and it's quite easy to slip off with the high E string. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone with big hands, but if you have spindly girly hands like mine it's ideal.

The Parker has stainless steel frets, which might make a small difference to the tone, but means your probably going to wear out the tendons in your wrist before the frets need replacing.