Ibanez S670QM Review

Looking for a cool metal guitar on a budget? I’ve always loved Ibanez guitar models not only for their sleek design and awesome playability but also for their low prices. The Ibanez S670QM is a great alternative to consider even if your first instinct is to go for an overpriced Fender. In this short review, we’re going to take a look at the Ibanez S670QM to see if it’s got a great value for the price.

Overview Of Ibanez S670QM Electric Guitar

 

Ibanez – The Brand

The brand Ibanez is well-known for its affordable line of metal guitars and attractive high-quality instrument models. The Prestige Series is popular among guitarists and it seems to nail electric guitars as far as looks and tones are concerned. If you are looking for a guitar idol to learn songs from, Steve Vai is a pretty good one. He uses the guitar as a lethal weapon and explores an impressive palette of tonal ranges on the instrument. The Indonesian-made S670 QM guitar is well-made and seems to be built with good materials.

Aesthetics

This Ibanez guitar has got cutting-edge aesthetics going on for it. Then again, it’s nearly impossible to find a bad-looking Ibanez. In my opinion, there is only a subtle difference in the quality of Indonesian-made Ibanez guitars from those made in the US. Still, the sonic differences are barely noticeable, if any. Even though it’s made in Indonesia, and Indonesian guitars get a lot of bad rap for being poorly finished, this one is quite good.

Tuning

The tuning is handled by a set of locking nut tuners. It’s a well-made standard cast, and if you’re new to locking tuners, you’ll find a certain learning curve to it. I’m a fan of learning new things, and this doesn’t bother me at all. The tuning stability is also nice but if you’re lazy, you may want to look into an Ibanez that does not have locking tuners. It also doesn’t hold tune well if you’re trying out drop tunings, so you should keep that in mind as well. The Edge Zero II bridge is also a quality bridge that helps keep the strings in tune.

Neck

The Ibanez S670QM has got standard Wizard III neck on it. The material used is maple and it’s pretty good. The full-scale neck has a scale length of 25.5” which is pretty standard on most guitars. If you want to switch to some other guitar or would like to effortlessly play some other guitar, it’s great as your skills will transfer to that one! Maple has excellent acoustic characteristics and sounds warm and earthy on acoustic. I don’t think it matters much on an electric guitar but some players like to think otherwise. It’s got an Indian rosewood fingerboard which is a nice surprise as rosewood tends to get pretty expensive. Having a bound 24-fret rosewood fingerboard tends to bump up prices by a lot, so most manufacturers prefer to opt for cheaper woods like laminated maple. The frets on this beautiful instrument are standard medium-jumbo ones that make playing very easy. The white dot inlay on the fingerboard adds a touch of elegance to the beautiful instrument. There is also a luminescent side dot inlay so players don’t have to look at the frets while playing.

Body

The Ibanez guitar has a maple top with a mahogany body. It’s got a good weight to it which makes it feel like an expensive guitar. It’s not too heavy, so it’s easy for you to play it on stage while wearing a strap around your shoulders. The body looks stylish and has an Edge-Zero tremolo bridge that holds tune well. A beginner may need some time to adjust to the floating bridge but its part of the learning process, so it becomes second nature pretty soon. If I was getting this guitar, I would probably swap the strings out for heavier strings as it would give a better tone.

Pickups and Controls

The Ibanez S670 QM has three great-sounding pickups. The humbucker – single coil – humbucker combination allows a wide variety of tones to be possible. I would use the thin sound of the single coil for rock or classic blues, and the punch and fuller sound of the humbucker for dirty blues or rock. The pickups on the slim neck and bridge positions are Quantum Ceramic ones that sound fantastic. A Quantum Alnico single-coil pickup rests in the middle position. These are pretty hot despite being passive pickups. I would prefer active pickups but it’s understandable considering the price. There is a 5-way pickup selector switch similar to the ones found on most guitars with three pickups, so there are no surprises there. It feels nice and allows for smooth switching.

How It Sounds

The Ibanez S670 QM sounds fantastic when paired with a decent overdrive pedal. Exploring different guitar effects pedals can further sculpt your sound, offering a wide array of tonal possibilities beyond what the guitar's natural output provides. If you primarily play Rock and Blues, you’ll find that the Neck position works specially well. The middle pickup position is great for adding punch to your tone. You can use the bridge pickup position for a brighter sound that cuts through. It also works well for country as well as jazz styles. Most players think that they need a proper hollow body archtop guitar to play jazz but in my experience, you can play jazz on just about any guitar if you know what you’re doing. After all, it’s the musician and not the instrument in most cases!

Who it’s For

Now that we’ve gone through the features on the S670 QM, it’s time to talk a bit about who this guitar is best suited for. It’s pretty cheap and has excellent playability. The jumbo frets seem to be set up well and have no rough edges. The hardware is also decent. So, it makes for a great beginner guitar. You will love learning basic shapes, arpeggios, scales, and your first songs on this. If you set up the action low, you can also shred on this. As you get advanced, you’ll probably outgrow this guitar and will acquire new tastes in music as well as gear. Still, you find it useful as a practice guitar. The inexpensive element also makes it ideal as a non-crappy electric guitar to gift your loved ones. If you’re going to gift an instrument, you should be giving something that is actually good value, right? This guitar is for both beginners and intermediate players alike. You can get a great sound of it if you hook it up to a decent PA with overdrive and a bit of gain. For convenient practice or small gigs, it pairs excellently with a portable mini amplifier.

Score

 

Bottom Line

The Ibanez 670QM is an excellent choice for guitar players looking for an inexpensive upgrade. It’s also a great choice if you want to play metal but don’t know where to start. The case is sold separately but you can get some quality gig bags for pretty cheap.

FAQ

Is the Ibanez 670 QM a good guitar for beginners?

Absolutely! The 670 QM electric guitar offers an excellent sound for anybody starting on a budget. As such, it makes for an ideal practice guitar in the affordable range.