Ibanez AZES Essentials AZES31 vs Fender Strat | Which is better value for money? Guitar Shootout

Today, we’re comparing the Ibanez AZES31 against my Fender Stratocaster to see how well the affordable Ibanez stacks up against the real thing. I’ve been so impressed with the AZES line of guitars since they came out. The AZES31 is just a fantastic guitar for the $299/€299 it costs – its features and specifications, its range of usable tones, its looks, its playability and its hardtail bridge are all excellent, and it easily competes with any Squier I’ve played. I currently don’t own a Squier Strat, so it was straight to a shootout with my 1993, made in Japan Fender Stratocaster. An early 90s Japanese Strat will set you back around three or four times the price of the AZES31 (I paid €900 for mine) and the Fender should be a higher quality instrument in terms of pure specs. Mine has an alder body, nitro-finished maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard, and a previous owner added Fender Custom Shop Texas Special pickups and an Emerson treble bleed kit to improve the tones. It’s a vintage-playing and feeling neck, though: 21 medium frets and a 7.25” fingerboard radius, with a 25.5” scale length. The AZES31 is more modern feeling, and has been designed to be as comfortable as possible for students and learners. That means you get a maple neck with a 25” scale length, a jatoba fretboard, 22 medium frets and a 10” fingerboard radius. The AZES31’s poplar body is slightly smaller than that of a regular Strat, and the hardtail bridge should mean improved tuning stability. The...