Ibanez AZ Standard Shootout | Should you buy the HSS or the HH model? In-depth Guitar Comparison

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Today, we’re comparing the two models in the 2025 Ibanez AZ Standard range to find out which one could be the best affordable workhorse guitar for you and me!

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Get an AZ Standard at Thomann (EU):
Or at Sweetwater (USA):
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Ibanez unleashed the AZ Standard in January 2025, and it was about time. Until this year, you couldn’t pick up an AZ guitar between the sub $400 budget entry level guitar AZES (ES = Essentials) and the $1000+ Premium models.

But now, the China-made AZ Standards guitars complete the Ibanez AZ family and, at $549/€549, they’re at a pricepoint that makes them achievable to almost every player.

There are two AZ Standard models: an HSS version (also known as the AZ22), and a double humbucker-equipped HH (aka the AZ24). The guitars share most of their specs, but there are a couple of key differences that will make one more suited to you than the other depending on your personal tastes.

Both AZ Standards feature an alder body with a flame maple top. They also both have a roasted maple neck with a jatoba fingerboard and jumbo stainless steel frets, with locking tuners at the headstock. However, the HH model has 24 frets, whereas the HSS model has 22.

The other big difference is going to be in the tones, as these guitars feature different pickup layouts and types. The HH model has a pair if Ibanez’s Modern Custom alnico humbuckers. The HSS model, on the other hand, features an Ibanez Classic Custom set: these are lower output than the humbuckers in the HH model, and here you get a ceramic bridge humbucker alongside alnico single coil pickups in the middle and neck positions.

Thanks to Ibanez’s dyna-MIX switching system and Alter Switch, you get a whopping 10 different sounds to play with on the HH model, and 9 on the HSS. This lets you split the humbuckers on both guitars, and generally combine pickups in ways you simply couldn’t on more standard instruments.

Being Ibanez guitars, you can expect a top level fit and finish here too, so the AZ Standards look like being an awful lot of guitar for the money. But just how good are they. And, crucially: which model is going to be the best guitar for you? And for me, of course 😉

That’s what we’re about to find out! In the video, I put the two AZ Standards through their paces in as many different musical styles as I can, from country, folk and indie, to pop, rock, punk, metal, and more. This lets us really hear the differences and the similarities between the two guitars, and hopefully you’ll be able to decide which one would be your top choice.

Let me know if you prefer the HSS or the HH AZ Standard in the comments!

Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits:

00:00 Hello!
00:17 Introduction to the AZ Standard range
01:24 HH model specs and info
04:48 HSS model specs and info
07:42 Today’s rig and plan

08:45 Clean tone reference chords on all pickup settings
10:10 Clean tone samples (folk, country, pop, indie, blues, funk, etc.)
13:14 Indie and alt rock tones
16:52 Classic rock tones
18:44 Hard rock tones
20:34 Alternative rock tones
20:56 Punk rock tones
22:20 Progressive rock tones
23:00 Metal tones

24:51 My thoughts
25:26 Looks and first impressions
26:21 Price
26:31 Build quality and hardware
27:00 Playability and necks – 22 vs 24 frets
27:50 Weight
28:47 Sounds and pickups discussion
33:45 What other similar guitars are out there?
35:09 My conclusions on the AZ Standard range
35:48 Which AZ Standard model is best? Which should you (and I) buy?

My setup was as follows: I ran the guitars into my Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 head, also using my Greer Lightspeed, Marshall 1959 Super Lead and Revv G3 pedals for overdrive and heavy distortion sounds. The amp went from the Red Box DI straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. That's it. No post-processing on the sounds was done.

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Get all this gear at Thomann:
Get all this gear at Sweetwater:
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Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Duck In The Alley – TrackTribe.

#Ibanez #IbanezAZ #AZStandard #IbanezAZStandard #RichWordsMusic

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