2025 Ibanez AZ Standard | The new $549 workhorse vs the Premium and Prestige versions with Henning

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Today, we’re taking an exclusive first look at the brand new 2025 Ibanez AZ Standard lineup of HH and HSS double cutaway electric guitars – and shooting them out against their more expensive Premium and Prestige counterparts too!

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Get these guitars at Thomann (EU):
Or at Sweetwater (USA):
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These affordable do-it-all modern Stratocaster-types are made in China, and they really fill a budget hole in the AZ catalogue. Previously, you went from the (excellent) Ibanez AZES models – which cost between $300 and $400 depending on model – straight to the Premium guitars at around $1,200-1,300.

High time, then, to add in a model at around the $549 mark – and this is exactly where the AZ Standard comes in! The HH model is named AZ24S1F and the HSS model is the AZ22S1F, and both offer various flamed maple top finishes. Both have alder bodies and 25.5” scale roasted maple necks, topped with jatoba fingerboards that feature jumbo stainless steel frets.

The pickups are Ibanez – Modern Custom humbuckers on the HH, and a Classic Custom set in the HSS – and the Alter Switch gives you all manner of coil splits and extra pickup configurations. You also get locking tuners and Ibanez’s T106 vibrato bridge.

All in all, then, the AZ Standard looks like an excellent new offering in the world of the Super Strat – but how good are they really? And are they worth it over the other options out there? Here, Henning Pauly and I check out the AZ Standards, and we also compare them to the rest of the AZ range, from the budget AZES line to the more expensive Premium and made-in-Japan Prestige models.

Hopefully, by the end of the video you’ll know which AZ model is going to be the right choice for you. Let me know your thoughts on the AZ Standard in the comments!

Here are some links to the various parts of the video:

00:00 Intro and what we’re doing today
03:51 First specs and info
07:54 HSS model sounds and discussion (with a bit of theory thrown in)
10:54 Clean tones
11:37 Overdriven tones
15:00 Who is the AZ Standard for?
17:30 HH model sounds and discussion
21:24 Comparison vs the AZES Essentials
24:15 Comparison vs the AZ Premium
27:18 Comparison vs the AZ Prestige
31:36 Why Henning loves the Prestige so much
35:22 A brief argument about Taylor Swift
37:54 Thank you and goodbye

Enjoy!

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Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Duck In The Alley – TrackTribe.

#Ibanez #IbanezAZ #AZStandard #IbanezAZStandard #Ibanez2025 #IbanezAZSeries #RichWordsMusic

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