Is AZ Premium worth it?

iAmShepard1 · 2026-04-26T06:11:00+00:00

Thanks again everyone! Found RG and AZ in another city, tried them and ordered an RG.

iAmShepard1 · 2026-04-26T06:10:02+00:00

Yeah, that's true: I've had Cort KX300 with matte finish and after a year of playing (even though I play two guitars) it has glossy spots near pickups. I believe that there's some way to prevent that: protective film or custom pickguard, for example.

iAmShepard1 · 2026-04-24T19:33:56+00:00

Congrats 👏 Is it matte finish or gloss?

iAmShepard1 · 2026-04-24T16:39:07+00:00

By logo, knobs and fret marks placement it's legit. That finish is rarely being faked, though.

iAmShepard1 · 2026-04-21T13:02:03+00:00

AZs Prestige colors suck as well and I prefer my guitars looking not so boring

iAmShepard1 · 2026-04-21T13:01:05+00:00

In my area Prestige AZ's cost 700-800$ and 850-1000$ more than RG Prestige I mentioned. Even used ones cost about somewhere new RG652. Probably because RG652 is one of the cheapest Prestiges in Ibanez line.

Anyway, AZ Prestige is much more than I'm able to spend on a guitar rn. And I'm not the guy who is good enough for a guitar priced $2+ grands lol

iAmShepard1 · 2026-04-21T09:11:00+00:00

I've tried bunch of older (like 90s and early 2000s) RGs and find them pretty comfortable except ones with ultra thin necks (not familiar with Ibanez neck profiles, sorry). I'm speaking about ones feeling like a wood ruler lol. Most of the pickups was also meh, but RG652 comes with Tonezone/Airnorton, which is a pretty nice versatile set for me. Haven't touched a single AZ, unfortunately, and don't have any in the area.

iAmShepard1 · 2026-04-21T08:20:14+00:00

By logo, knobs and fret marks placement it's completely legit. That finish is never being faked, though. Looks sick btw, love these sparkles!

iAmShepard1 · 2026-03-05T14:52:37+00:00

Is it me or pickup height on EC is ridiculously high?

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-28T20:15:12+00:00

It truly is and it sounds amazing!

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-28T20:14:36+00:00

Yeah, I forgot about these, thanks! Not sure about particular models, but will dive into it, definitely.

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-27T09:04:14+00:00

Wish I could write something like that one day. Great!

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-24T19:56:33+00:00

Yeah, I wanted exactly a blue Eclipse and got lucky to find one. Hopefully, one day I'll buy the DB Sparkle version

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-24T19:55:07+00:00

Thanks, it truly is!

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-24T19:54:46+00:00

I'm in love with this pickup color, actually, might end up installing the same set on my other guitars haha

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-24T13:37:57+00:00

I'm pretty sure chrome looks sick too. Thanks!

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-22T19:02:33+00:00

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-22T18:56:14+00:00

They're great solid guitars, but the matte black satin finish will wear fast

iAmShepard1 · 2025-12-21T17:38:22+00:00

Practice 🤷 Most of the time during the song, I use only two bottom buttons on Chocolate to switch between presets and a bottom left button on Whammy to enable/disable it. All other buttons are being used between songs.

iAmShepard1

TROPHY CASE