Ibanez WY21092 Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsAlthough I wasn't particularly startled by this guitar at first glance, I was convinced of its virtues by an employee and a fellow customer at a local music store. I paid $375 + tax ($406 total) and, while I was sad to see the money go, I don't regret the purchase one bit. I haven't found any information about this guitar anywhere on the net, so hopefully I'll help someone out with this review.
1. The looks: This guitar screams rawk! Mine is gloss black with chrome hardware. The basic body style is like a Les Paul and a Strat smashed together... the result looks like a Strat with a carved top and no pickguard, or a Les Paul with uneven double cutaways (not like an SG) and a slightly more angular head. There are six circular (and not aligned, which is cool) holes below the bridge where the strings pass through the body.
2. The feel: It has a solid mahogany body and a carved maple (I think) top, and a neck-thru design. The guitar as a whole feels very solid. I also love the feel of the neck. Although this is only my second electric guitar, I'm giving the best review I can... I don't think anyone would be disappointed with this guitar, unless perhaps you're Joe Satriani. The neck is quite thin, narrow and fast. The action is very low and the strings feel firm (not sure what gauge strings are on it right now but they're pretty light) so, unlike with some guitars, it's relatively easy to bend the strings but not easy to do it accidentally, so your notes (or more often chords) come out fresh and clean.
3. The sound: It is equipped with two humbuckers (no name on them, I assume they're made by Ibanez). It's got pretty damned good sustain, and, like I said, chords don't feel or sound sloppy.
1. This isn't really a problem for me, but I'm sure it might be for a lot of other people. Mine doesn't have a whammy bar. I'm not sure if they're available or not. I personally don't care, and I like my guitar to stay in tune, but if the absence of a whammy bar is a problem, you might have to check out another model.
2. As with any guitar, you may want to try it out on your amp or a similar one before buying it. When I played it on a friend's Peavey practice amp I was amazed with the clean tone. On my Kustom 80-watt I can get a great range of overdrive sounds out of it, from Billie Joe to Angus, but I can't get that same beautiful clean tone. It sounds good clean, but not jaw-dropping good.
3. Another "not a real problem" problem: I can't figure out the knobs! There are three unlabeled chrome knobs and a three-way pickup selector switch, and it seems that the function of the knobs depends on the position of the switch. Very strange. One of the knobs also seems to have a little static in it... but it's not enough to worry about, and I don't use the knobs enough to worry about it either.
4. I don't like the sound of the neck pickup. But then again, I don't like the sound of neck pickups on any guitar I've played. It's just too muffled for me. I use the bridge pickup mostly, and sometimes I use the middle position, but in most cases I avoid using the neck pickup alone.
Discussed in the "what I like" section above. Like I said, it's very solid and it feels great.
Great guitar. I bought this guitar on the fervent recommendations of a music store employee and a fellow customer who nearly wore out every guitar in the store in the two hours I was there and told me that if I didn't buy this guitar he probably would. I left and came back two days later, and to my relief he hadn't bought it.
I actually went into the store to look at a Fender Standard Strat or Fat Strat (which is in the same price range) and was told that this Ibanez would be a better choice for rock music. A friend's father, who plays country music professionally, subsequently told me that "You can't beat a Strat for country music," but that I made a very good choice with this guitar.
That friend whose father plays country music made the cryptic comment, "Dude, it looks the Gibson." His dad also told me it looks a lot like a Les Paul. I still think it looks like a very pretty Strat (is that an oxymoron?).
While I think all music equipment is overpriced, Ibanez has a reputation for making guitars whose quality rivals that of much more expensive guitars, and from what I can tell, they definitely live up to it.
~DarkWinD~ rated this unit
on
2003-03-02.
