fender stratocaster or ibanez?why? please explain?

Question

is ibanez better?

Answer 1

thats like saying "whats better? Dodge or Chrysler?" they both make, cars, trucks, and things that are kinda in the middle.

it depends on what model of vehicle you want, and what do you prefer, and how much do you want to spend? a monster truck and a sports car are both really cool, but they do very different things, and depending on what you're gonna do with the vehicle, one will work better for you than the other. if you wanna race, you dont want a truck, and if you wanna plow through the woods and get dirty, you dont want a ferrari.

guitars fall into different categories as well as cars and trucks. from either brand you've listed, you'll see guitars that are starter models (starting at less than $200), and you'll see much more well crafted guitars that go for several thousand dollars.

i'd recommend forgetting about the brand name, and looking at three distinct areas of the guitar:

the neck joint - the type of pickups - and the bridge/tailpiece

neck joints generally fall into 2 categories, set necks, and bolt on necks (theres also neck-thru, but dont worry about that now).
set necks are glued in, and give a stronger connection, so they transfer vibration better, giving you more sustain. bolt on necks are going to give less sustain, but they are a lot easier to take apart and fix if something needs attention. you can take your favorite neck and put it on a new guitar, or put a new neck on your favorite body. neither is "better", its just picking what you like. Eddie Van Halen only uses bolt on necks, Jimmy Page only uses set-necks.

pickups - these are big magnets that hear and feel the vibration of the strings and the guitar body. they'll typically fall into 2 types, single coils, which are what strats normally use, and humbuckers which many ibanez guitars will use. single coils give you a thin, twangy, treble-ish sound, think Hendrix, and Stevie Ray. humbuckers look like 2 single coils stuck together. they put the magnets next to each other in opposite alignment (since magnets have a north pole and south pole), and doing this cancels out a lot of signals, specifically the ones that give off noise and unwanted buzzing or hissing. humbuckers also give a much thicker, beefier sound, not so much twangy bite, but much more girth, think AC-DC, Metallica, Led Zeppelin. keep in mind that if you play in an area that has a television, or a computer monitor... anything that gives off an electro-magnetic signal, will cause a buzzing or humming from your amp, and humbuckers will get rid of a lot of that noise. which one is bettter for you?

last up, the bridge, or the tailpiece. ibanez and fender tend to use things that use a "tremolo arm", most of us call that the "whammy bar". this whole piece utilizes a set of springs inside the guitar. this is hard to explain without showing you in person, but since the whole thing is anchored by springs, any time the tension on ONE string changes, it affects ALL the strings. needless to say, this means you'll go out of tune if you're not aware of whats going on with your guitar, BUT, in return for your tuning troubles you'll be able to make those cool trem sounds. you can also get a "fixed bridge" system, which is more along the lines of what a les paul uses. these parts dont move at all, so they'll maintain a set tuning a hell of a lot better, but you dont get all the cool trem tricks. so, its a trade off, easy tuning without additional tricks, or cool tricks without as stable tuning. again, neither is better, you just need to pick whats right for you.

OK..... so, now that we've been through all that, you'll notice that i didnt talk much about brands, i talked more about specific aspects of a guitar. you'll need to pick a guitar that has all the components you want, regardless of what brand.

once you've found a guitar that has the construction you prefer, pick it up and see if it feels right. just squeeze the neck of the guitar in your hand. dont worry about the weight of the guitar, just the feeling of the neck. a lot of strat guitars will have a traditional neck, kinda medium thickness and round shaped. many ibanez guitars will have a much thinner neck, flatter, less bulky. again, neither is better than the other, but you'll probably find that you prefer one over the other.

so, get off the internet and head to the music store, because everyone here will have a different story, and most players will tell you "what's the best guitar", but you need to pick that for yourself. theres a lot of us out here that will recommend something different, strats, les pauls, sg's, hollowbody guitars, "superstrats" like ibanez or jacksons....... go experience them for yourself, and to hell with online reviews or what anyone else thinks. you need to just pick up some guitars and make a decision as to what guitar works best for you.

a few other notes -

the other guy is right, american strats feel different than mexican ones, but since fender first began building guitars, the idea was always "interchangeable parts", meaning its a very machine made guitar. the american ones do feel nicer, but these guitars actually feel better than the classics that lots of people grew up with. its like getting a new pair of italian leather shoes, but even though they're "better", you still prefer to wear your old beat up sneakers. if you play a strat from the 60's or 70's, which many older players grew up with, they feel more like the mexican ones made these days, because those ones are less refined feeling. many players prefer that feel because its closer to what the old ones are like.

Answer 2

Depends on where the Strat was made. If it's an American model then I would say the Strat is definitely "better" in terms of quality and finish. It the Strat is a Japanese or Mexican model then the Ibanez is likely comparable. There is nothing wrong with a non-American Strat, it's just the the quality is usually noticeably better and the resale value is much higher. Of course they cost more to buy as well.
Ibanez makes a great guitar too. I would choose an American Strat over an Ibanez though. There is nothing like the feel of a Strat!

Answer 3

It's really personal preference. The strat is a rather timeless design, you might even consider a Gibson - going to be more pricey - but a nice Les Paul or SG would likely be more comparable than an ibanez.

Answer 4

I prefer Strats, as I just like their Tone better.

Never been a fan much of Ibanez's tones.

Answer 5

I just gotb a red ibanez and it is realy good I like it bedder than my finder.ibanez

Answer 6

Just get the stratocaster. It's a better guitar.