Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain vs Ibanez PIA3761
Reasons to Get
Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain over Ibanez PIA3761
Reasons to Get
Ibanez PIA3761 over Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain
Other Key Differences
Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain vs Ibanez PIA3761
Shared Features
Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain vs Ibanez PIA3761
Common Strengths
- Retainer Bar
- High-Quality Nut
- High-Quality Frets
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Top Pickup Brand
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Weight Relief
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Table of Contents
Price History Comparison
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Which One is Better Overall?
After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that both instruments scored 79 out of 100, which makes them similar in terms of quality.
The Ibanez PIA3761 wins when it comes to build quality. On the other hand, the Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain has the upper hand when it comes to sound.
If you got small hands, you'll probably feel more comfortable playing the Ibanez PIA3761.
Which One is Better for Beginners?
Both meet 3 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness. 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. If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, you can't go wrong with either of them.
New Player Friendliness
Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain- Comfortable shape
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Comfortable neck
- Locking tuners
- Easy-to-use bridge
New Player Friendliness
Ibanez PIA3761- Comfortable shape
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
- Easy-to-use bridge
Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.
Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain Overview
- From Jackson's 2016 Artist Signature series
- Phil Collen Signature
- Made in United States
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 12" to 16" Fretboard Radius
- 1/8 Quilt Maple top
- Caramelized Mahogany body
- Quartersawn Caramelized Flame Maple neck
- Caramelized Flame Maple fretboard
- Bridge pickup: DiMarzio Super 3 DP152 (Humbucker/Passive)
- Middle pickup: DiMarzio HS-2 DP116 (Single Coil/Passive)
- Neck pickup: PC1 Sustainer Driver (Single Coil/Active)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
- 5-way Switch
- Floyd Rose Original Double-Locking Tremolo bridge
- Phil Collen PC1 Bolt-On neck
- 24 Jumbo frets
- Jackson Sealed Die-Cast tuners
- Compare Specs >
Ibanez PIA3761 Overview
- From Ibanez's 2020 PIA/JEM/UV series
- Steve Vai Signature
- Made in Japan
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 17" Fretboard Radius
- Alder body
- Maple/Walnut neck
- Rosewood fretboard
- Bridge pickup: DiMarzio UtoPIA (Humbucker/Passive)
- Middle pickup: DiMarzio UtoPIA (Humbucker/Passive)
- Neck pickup: DiMarzio UtoPIA (Humbucker/Passive)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
- 5-way Switch
- Edge tremolo bridge
- PIA Bolt-On neck
- 24 Jumbo Stainless Steel frets
- Gotoh machine heads tuners
- Compare Specs >
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 the Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain
This wood has beautiful patterns only found in specific types of maple.
Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.
Woods Used in the Ibanez PIA3761
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.
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.
Winner: Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain.
Pickup Configuration
The Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain has an HSS configuration while the Ibanez PIA3761 has HSH pickups.
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.
On the other hand, HSH is a versatile pickup configuration that will give you the high output, full tone, and quiet sound of humbucker pickups, but with the possibility of using a single coil for cleaner tones. The disadvantage is that the middle single-coil pickup will have a noticeable lower volume, so you might want to adjust the height of the pickups. Another problem is that if you set the middle pickup too high, it might interfere with your picking hand.
Pickups Quality
Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.
You can purchase similar pickups to the Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain's and use them on any guitar:
We found the same or similar pickups to the Ibanez PIA3761's online:
The Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain's pickups are Active while the Ibanez PIA3761's are Passive.
Passive pickups are what most guitars use. These have a normal output that works well for most genres. However, Active pickups are the preferred choice of heavy metal players because they offer extra output thanks to their 9v battery, which results in a heavier, more distorted sound. Bear in mind that achieving a completely clean tone with them won't be easy. So if you want to also use clean tones, you might want to avoid Active pickups.
Winner: Tie.
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
Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.
Only the Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain comes with some kind of pickup modification: Sustainer.
The pickups with Sustainer are able to recreate the 'feedback' you get when you hold your guitar near a speaker without muting the strings. This allows them to produce infinite sustain that you can use for as long as you want to create interest sounds and harmonics.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain.
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 Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain compares to the Ibanez PIA3761.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain is built in United States while the Ibanez PIA3761 is made in Japan.
The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.
Japan has a long history of high-quality guitar building. Little has changed in terms of their manufacturing and quality control over the years. Many guitars made in this country can be compared—and even beat—others made in the US.
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.
In this case, both have Locking nuts. Instead of a regular nut, this guitar has a locking system that will lock down the strings at the nut, preventing it from getting out of tune. It removes one of the disadvantages of tremolo bridges, tune stability.
Both models come with a retainer bar, which is helpful when changing the strings on a double-locking tremolo. Without it, the strings would change pitch once you lock down the nut, so you'd have to make more micro-adjustments at the bridge to tune it correctly
Winner: Tie.
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 PIA3761 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 PIA3761.
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.
The Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain's brige is a Floyd Rose. This is a double-locking bridge system that allows you to perform techniques like dive bombs and pinch harmonics. The locking nut allows your guitar to stay in tune even after the most intense tremolo usage. The disadvantage is that it takes more work to change the strings and set up everything correctly.
On the other hand, the Ibanez PIA3761's is a Edge. This is a double-locking tremolo system designed by Ibanez. It's a tremolo inspired by Floyd Roses but with its own design improvements, like a push-in arm, better-positioned fine-tuners for more right-hand comfortability, replaceable knife edges, and more mass for more sustain. These bridges offer tons of versatility, but they also require more work than simpler tremolos to set up.
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: Ibanez PIA3761.
Tuners
Both come with regular tuners. The Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain's are Jackson Sealed Die-Cast while the Ibanez PIA3761's are Gotoh machine heads
Winner: Tie.
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:
Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Sustainer Pickups
- Tremolo
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Retainer Bar
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Ibanez PIA3761
- Stainless Steel Frets
- Made in Japan
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Luminescent Inlay
- Tremolo
- Retainer Bar
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- 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 PIA3761 has the wider nut with 43mm (1.693'') vs 42.9mm (1.688''). This is a 0.1mm (0.0050000000000001'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Ibanez PIA3761, 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.
In this case, both have a scale length of 25.5".
This is the scale used in most Stratocasters. It's slightly longer than the typical 24.75'' size found in Les Pauls, and it's one of the main reasons why Stratocasters have such a bright sound in general. A longer scale also means that the strings will have higher tension. This will help you get lower action without suffering fret buzz, which will also be helpful when playing in lower tunings without having to increase your string gauge.
However, this also means that there will be more separation between frets, which can make it more difficult to play. Also, bending the strings will require more strengths due to the increased tension, but remember that a tremolo guitar will offset this difficulty.
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.
In this case, both have different neck shapes:
The Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain has a Vintage type of neck. This means that it's thicker than most modern necks, and makes it a better fit for playing chords and slow solos. Some people prefer this type of neck because it gives them a better grip thanks to the extra mass. Still, the vast majority prefer a thinner, faster, and more ''modern'' neck.
The Ibanez PIA3761, on the other hand, has a Wizard neck. This is thinner than most C-type necks. It won't get in your way if you want to play fast solos. It's not as slim as 'Super Wizard' necks, so it might fit you better if you don't like ultra-thin necks.
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 Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain is the only one with a compound radius. This is a huge win because it will give you the best of both worlds: a more curved radius in the first few frets for chords, and flatter as you come closer to the body for soloing.
Hand Size Comfortability
Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain favors large hands more than the Ibanez PIA3761.
Jackson USA Signature Phil Collen PC1 Satin Stain:
Ibanez PIA3761:
Fret Size
Both have a Jumbo fret size. This is one of the tallest frets you can get. You won't feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings. It will give you the best sustain and all types of chords will be easier to play. However, you can end up changing the pitch of your notes if you press too hard, which is something people used to feeling the fretboard do when trying Jumbo frets for the first time.
