Show Full Spec Comparison
| Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar | Ibanez AZ22S1F | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Fender | Ibanez |
| Year: | 2026 | 2025 |
| Configuration: | SS | HSS |
| Strings: | 6 | 6 |
| Made in: | Mexico | Indonesia |
| Series: | Vintera III | AZ |
| Colors: | Green, Pink, Red | Black, Blue |
| Left-Handed Version: | Yes | No |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Solid Body | Solid Body |
| Body Material: | Alder | Alder |
| Bridge: | 6-Saddle Vintage-Style Adjustable with “Floating” Tremolo Tailpiece | T106 |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Bolt-On | Bolt-On |
| Tuners: | Fender Vintage-Style | Locking machine heads |
| Fretboard: | Round-Laminated Rosewood | Jatoba |
| Neck Material: | Maple | Roasted Maple |
| Decoration: | Aged-White Pearloid Dots | White dot inlay |
| Scale Size: | 24" | 25.5" |
| Shape: | Mid '60s "C" | AZ |
| Frets: | 22 Vintage Nickel Silver | 22 Jumbo Stainless Steel |
| Fretboard Radius: | 7.25" | 12" |
| Nut: | Bone | Plastic |
| Nut Width: | 41.9mm (1.65'') | 42mm (1.654'') |
| Electronics | ||
| Bridge Pickups: | Vintage-Style Mid 60s Single-Coil Jaguar (Single Coil / Passive) | Ibanez Classic Custom (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Middle Pickup: | Ibanez Classic Custom (Humbucker / Passive) | |
| Neck Pickup: | Vintage-Style Mid 60s Single-Coil Jaguar (Single Coil / Passive) | Ibanez Classic Custom (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Switch: | 0 Way | 5 Way |
| Knobs: | Bell | Bell |
| Pickup Mods: | Multi-Voicing | None |
| Volume Controls: | 1 | 1 |
| Tone Controls: | 1 | 1 |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | No | No |
| Hardware Color: | Nickel | Chrome |
Show Diagrams Comparison
Reasons to Get
Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar over Ibanez AZ22S1F
Reasons to Get
Ibanez AZ22S1F over Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar
Other Key Differences
Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar vs Ibanez AZ22S1F
Shared Features
Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar vs Ibanez AZ22S1F
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Frets
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar favors large hands more than the Ibanez AZ22S1F. But it's still more comfortable for people with small hands, as you can see in the score meter below.
Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar:
Ibanez AZ22S1F:
Beginner Friendliness
The Ibanez AZ22S1F meets 92 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar meets only 83. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Locking tuners
New Player Friendliness
Ibanez AZ22S1F- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Locking tuners
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.
Woods Used in the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Woods Used in the Ibanez AZ22S1F
Roasted Maple is just maple without a finish. It's technically cheaper than regular maple, but it doesn't have any extra disadvantages because of this. The color is darker, and it's lighter weight and very stable even when there's a lot of humidity.
Jatoba is a hard and dense wood that emphasizes the mid-lows, giving a fuller, more round sound than, for example, Mahogany. However, it also has a lot of clarity in the top end. Find out more about Jatoba.
Winner: Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar.
Pickup Configuration
The Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar has an SS configuration while the Ibanez AZ22S1F has HSS pickups.
SS is the classic Telecaster configuration. It's used mainly for playing clean or with low-gain distortion, and it's very popular for the country genre because of their brightness. It doesn't give you as much versatility as a Strat SSS configuration, but you might like the cleaner look of a guitar body with fewer pickups.
On the other hand, HSS provides a great balance if you like to play with a lot of distortion, but also love to use clean tones. You'll get a lot of output at the bridge position, but you'll be able to play bright clean tones at the other positions.
Pickups Quality
The Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar has pickups from a more specialized brand than the Ibanez AZ22S1F. Its pickups should simply give you a better, fuller sound, although it all depends on what type of music you're going to play. We recommend these pickups for Country and similar genres.
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
The Ibanez AZ22S1F gives you 5 switch options while the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar gives you 0. This means that the Ibanez AZ22S1F gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Only the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar comes with some kind of pickup modification: Multi-Voicing.
Multi-Voicing means the pickups come with multiple ''voices'', which means they can change the tone and gain by a simple switch or knob. Piezo, Fishman and similar are considered multi-voicing pickups.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Ibanez AZ22S1F.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar compares to the Ibanez AZ22S1F.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar is built in Mexico while the Ibanez AZ22S1F is made in Indonesia.
Mexico has been for a long time where Fender has built their semi-premium series. If you don't want to overpay for a wellp-built instrument, a guitar built in this country by a good brand always offers good value for the money.
Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar has a Bone nut. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.
On the other hand, the Ibanez AZ22S1F comes with a Plastic nut. This is a low-quality nut that you might want to consider upgrading soon. Bone and TUSQ nuts are the best for guitars with a fixed or simple tremolo bridge.
Winner: Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
In this comparison, the Ibanez AZ22S1F is the only one that has stainless steel frets. These frets will basically last for the entire life of the guitar. They will never need polishing nor replacement. And not only that, but some people also notice that bending and vibratos are much easier to perform when they upgrade to stainless steel.
Winner: Ibanez AZ22S1F.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
Both come with a similar bridge: Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
The Ibanez AZ22S1F has the best tuners of the two because they are locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.
Winner: Ibanez AZ22S1F.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
Both have a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar
- Expensive Wood
- Bone Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Multi-Voicing Pickups
- Weight Relief
- Luminescent Inlay
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Mexico
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Ibanez AZ22S1F
- Stainless Steel Frets
- Locking Tuners
- Tremolo
- Made in Indonesia
- No Expensive Woods
- No High-Quality Nut
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Ibanez AZ22S1F has the wider nut with 42mm (1.654'') vs 41.9mm (1.65''). This is a 0.1mm (0.004'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Ibanez AZ22S1F, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The Ibanez AZ22S1F has the longest scale: 25.5". The Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar is only 24" long. This is a 1.5'' (38.1mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
Both the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar and the Ibanez AZ22S1F have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Ibanez AZ22S1F's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Ibanez AZ22S1F.
Fret Size
The Ibanez AZ22S1F has Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Fender Vintera III Mid '60s Jaguar's Vintage frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.
