Ibanez S521 BBS Electric Guitar - Blackberry Sunburst
Ibanez' marvel of form and function, the S Series, continues to evolve for today's player. Cloaked in a dramatic burst finish, a rosewood fingerboard features jumbo frets. Lurking beneath the S Series graceful 3-D shape is mahogany specifically chosen for S Series instruments. Light enough to amaze in terms of comfort, heavy enough to provide the tone and sustain that players expect from the S Series. As the originators of the thin, fast neck, the Wizard III neck is yet another achievement in playability, providing the kind of comfort that translates to responsiveness and speed. Infinity pickups, along with 5-way switch, were chosen for the inspiring way they complement each other to create a wide pallet of tonal options that add fire, retain clarity, and improve sustain.
Ibanez' marvel of form and function, the S Series, continues to evolve for today's player. Cloaked in a dramatic burst finish, a rosewood fingerboard features jumbo frets. Lurking beneath the S Series graceful 3-D shape is mahogany specifically chosen for S Series instruments. Light enough to amaze in terms of comfort, heavy enough to provide the tone and sustain that players expect from the S Series. As the originators of the thin, fast neck, the Wizard III neck is yet another achievement in playability, providing the kind of comfort that translates to responsiveness and speed. Infinity pickups, along with 5-way switch, were chosen for the inspiring way they complement each other to create a wide pallet of tonal options that add fire, retain clarity, and improve sustain.
Ibanez' marvel of form and function, the S Series, continues to evolve for today's player. Cloaked in a dramatic burst finish, a rosewood fingerboard features jumbo frets. Lurking beneath the S Series graceful 3-D shape is mahogany specifically chosen for S Series instruments. Light enough to amaze in terms of comfort, heavy enough to provide the tone and sustain that players expect from the S Series. As the originators of the thin, fast neck, the Wizard III neck is yet another achievement in playability, providing the kind of comfort that translates to responsiveness and speed. Infinity pickups, along with 5-way switch, were chosen for the inspiring way they complement each other to create a wide pallet of tonal options that add fire, retain clarity, and improve sustain.
Ibanez' marvel of form and function, the S Series, continues to evolve for today's player. Cloaked in a dramatic burst finish, a rosewood fingerboard features jumbo frets. Lurking beneath the S Series graceful 3-D shape is mahogany specifically chosen for S Series instruments. Light enough to amaze in terms of comfort, heavy enough to provide the tone and sustain that players expect from the S Series. As the originators of the thin, fast neck, the Wizard III neck is yet another achievement in playability, providing the kind of comfort that translates to responsiveness and speed. Infinity pickups, along with 5-way switch, were chosen for the inspiring way they complement each other to create a wide pallet of tonal options that add fire, retain clarity, and improve sustain.
in 5 offers
The lowest price for Ibanez S521 BBS Electric Guitar - Blackberry Sunburst right now is $577.79 at Studio Gears, compared across 5 retailers.
The all-time low was $437.44 on 5 June 2026 — today's price is 32% above the lowest ever. It has been notably cheaper before — worth setting a price alert.
Prices last updated 1 July 2026.
Last updated at 01/07/2026 23:58:29
Ibanez S521 Electric Guitar Blackberry Sunburst
Delivery between 7–14 July $267.23
Ibanez S521 Electric Guitar (blackberry Sunburst)
Free delivery
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Ibanez S521 Electric Guitar (Blackberry Sunburst) Solid Body Electric Guitars... White
Delivery $17
Ibanez S521 Electric Guitar (Blackberry Sunburst)
Delivery $17
Ibanez S521 BBS Electric Guitar (Blackberry Sunburst)
Free delivery between 7–14 July
originally posted on scan.co.uk
Lovely guitar - got this as an upgrade from the Secondhand Squier Strat I had been learning on, and it's like going from a Ford to a Porsche. Beautiful finish, nice wide fretboard, and a sweet tone from those twin humbuckers.It was really well set up too, by those good people at Scan.Can't fault the customer service from Scan - it arrived on time, was well packaged to avoid damage, and the price was really competitive too.Very pleased.
originally posted on ebay.com
This is an awesome guitar for the money. The Wizard III neck is very thin and smooth, while the flatter radius fretboard is very slick and fast. It holds tune very well, but even though the tuners do seem ok for the price range I will most likely upgrade to a slower 18:1 ratio set of HipShot locking tuners. The guitar is definitely worthy of the upgrade. The "S" model is very thin and super lightweight making it extremely comfortable to play sitting or using a strap. It does have a bit of neck-dive due to such a lightweight body, but not an issue at all. I'm very happy with the sound and the 5-way switch covers a lot of sound options including what seems to me to split the pickups to a single coil yielding a very clean sounding option. I own a few guitars including ... MoreThis is an awesome guitar for the money. The Wizard III neck is very thin and smooth, while the flatter radius fretboard is very slick and fast. It holds tune very well, but even though the tuners do seem ok for the price range I will most likely upgrade to a slower 18:1 ratio set of HipShot locking tuners. The guitar is definitely worthy of the upgrade. The "S" model is very thin and super lightweight making it extremely comfortable to play sitting or using a strap. It does have a bit of neck-dive due to such a lightweight body, but not an issue at all. I'm very happy with the sound and the 5-way switch covers a lot of sound options including what seems to me to split the pickups to a single coil yielding a very clean sounding option. I own a few guitars including a Gibson Les Paul, PRS custom, and a Fender MIM Telecaster and feel that this Ibanez S521 is by far the best deal for the money being several hundred dollars cheaper. The PRS is my favorite of the bunch , but the Ibanez is a close second place. It is a great guitar for the price range and really a lot of fun to play.
originally posted on pmtonline.co.uk
I bought this guitar from the Manchester store a few months ago (thank you Steve, your advice and knowledge is excellent as always!).The quality and setup were excellent straight from the manufacturer! And it looks fantastic!I really didn't know what I wanted because I had only been playing guitar for a few weeks. My main requirement was a guitar that would make my life easier as a beginner ( I am sure you remember those days when every note and chord is a fight with the instrument :-D ) This is a great guitar. The flat and thin neck helps a lot, specially with small hands. It is very comfortable, the light weight makes playing standing up quite easy without getting a backache.Five positions for the switch makes it very versatile. I would say it has a lot of low ... MoreI bought this guitar from the Manchester store a few months ago (thank you Steve, your advice and knowledge is excellent as always!).The quality and setup were excellent straight from the manufacturer! And it looks fantastic!I really didn't know what I wanted because I had only been playing guitar for a few weeks. My main requirement was a guitar that would make my life easier as a beginner ( I am sure you remember those days when every note and chord is a fight with the instrument :-D ) This is a great guitar. The flat and thin neck helps a lot, specially with small hands. It is very comfortable, the light weight makes playing standing up quite easy without getting a backache.Five positions for the switch makes it very versatile. I would say it has a lot of low frequencies to it so rock or metal sound incredible! It is good for rhythm as well on the bridge humbucker. It has a very sweet clean sound but growls with the two humbuckers on and a bit of distortion! One thing I would say though, if you like blues, it is not a sound I find natural to this guitar compared to other Ibanez or a Strat but you can always program your amp to help you with that!It also stays in tune pretty well despite my heavy handed rhythms.It is a great guitar not just for beginners, always a joy to play. The better I get, the more I appreciate how lovely it is. Excellent value for money.
| Neck type | Wizard IIIMaple neck |
| Top/back/body | Meranti body |
| Fretboard | Jatoba fretboardOff-set white dot inlay |
| Fret | Jumbo frets |
| Number of frets | 24 |
Ibanez S521 Electric Guitar Blackberry Sunburst
Delivery between 7–14 July $267.23
Ibanez S521 Electric Guitar (blackberry Sunburst)
Free delivery
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a small commission for purchases made through this link at no extra cost to you. This helps support our site. Thank you!
Ibanez S521 Electric Guitar (Blackberry Sunburst) Solid Body Electric Guitars... White
Delivery $17
Ibanez S521 Electric Guitar (Blackberry Sunburst)
Delivery $17
Ibanez S521 BBS Electric Guitar (Blackberry Sunburst)
Free delivery between 7–14 July
Lovely guitar - got this as an upgrade from the Secondhand Squier Strat I had been learning on, and it's like going from a Ford to a Porsche. Beautiful finish, nice wide fretboard, and a sweet tone from those twin humbuckers.It was really well set up too, by those good people at Scan.Can't fault the customer service from Scan - it arrived on time, was well packaged to avoid damage, and the price was really competitive too.Very pleased.
This is an awesome guitar for the money. The Wizard III neck is very thin and smooth, while the flatter radius fretboard is very slick and fast. It holds tune very well, but even though the tuners do seem ok for the price range I will most likely upgrade to a slower 18:1 ratio set of HipShot locking tuners. The guitar is definitely worthy of the upgrade. The "S" model is very thin and super lightweight making it extremely comfortable to play sitting or using a strap. It does have a bit of neck-dive due to such a lightweight body, but not an issue at all. I'm very happy with the sound and the 5-way switch covers a lot of sound options including what seems to me to split the pickups to a single coil yielding a very clean sounding option. I own a few guitars including ... MoreThis is an awesome guitar for the money. The Wizard III neck is very thin and smooth, while the flatter radius fretboard is very slick and fast. It holds tune very well, but even though the tuners do seem ok for the price range I will most likely upgrade to a slower 18:1 ratio set of HipShot locking tuners. The guitar is definitely worthy of the upgrade. The "S" model is very thin and super lightweight making it extremely comfortable to play sitting or using a strap. It does have a bit of neck-dive due to such a lightweight body, but not an issue at all. I'm very happy with the sound and the 5-way switch covers a lot of sound options including what seems to me to split the pickups to a single coil yielding a very clean sounding option. I own a few guitars including a Gibson Les Paul, PRS custom, and a Fender MIM Telecaster and feel that this Ibanez S521 is by far the best deal for the money being several hundred dollars cheaper. The PRS is my favorite of the bunch , but the Ibanez is a close second place. It is a great guitar for the price range and really a lot of fun to play.
I bought this guitar from the Manchester store a few months ago (thank you Steve, your advice and knowledge is excellent as always!).The quality and setup were excellent straight from the manufacturer! And it looks fantastic!I really didn't know what I wanted because I had only been playing guitar for a few weeks. My main requirement was a guitar that would make my life easier as a beginner ( I am sure you remember those days when every note and chord is a fight with the instrument :-D ) This is a great guitar. The flat and thin neck helps a lot, specially with small hands. It is very comfortable, the light weight makes playing standing up quite easy without getting a backache.Five positions for the switch makes it very versatile. I would say it has a lot of low ... MoreI bought this guitar from the Manchester store a few months ago (thank you Steve, your advice and knowledge is excellent as always!).The quality and setup were excellent straight from the manufacturer! And it looks fantastic!I really didn't know what I wanted because I had only been playing guitar for a few weeks. My main requirement was a guitar that would make my life easier as a beginner ( I am sure you remember those days when every note and chord is a fight with the instrument :-D ) This is a great guitar. The flat and thin neck helps a lot, specially with small hands. It is very comfortable, the light weight makes playing standing up quite easy without getting a backache.Five positions for the switch makes it very versatile. I would say it has a lot of low frequencies to it so rock or metal sound incredible! It is good for rhythm as well on the bridge humbucker. It has a very sweet clean sound but growls with the two humbuckers on and a bit of distortion! One thing I would say though, if you like blues, it is not a sound I find natural to this guitar compared to other Ibanez or a Strat but you can always program your amp to help you with that!It also stays in tune pretty well despite my heavy handed rhythms.It is a great guitar not just for beginners, always a joy to play. The better I get, the more I appreciate how lovely it is. Excellent value for money.
Great guitar for the price. Lots of nice features you only find on nicer guitars. My only issues are the bridge has nuts that are cheap and have been stripped over the years with adjustments and they have developed rough edges that dig into my hand a little. It doesn't greatly affect the play-ability of the instrument, just an annoyance. I looked into swapping it out and for around $70 you can get a much higher quality bridge, if you choose. The other issue I noticed is some of the notes, especially on the treble strings. However, this is an easy fix, as swapping in a graphite or bone nut should fix that issues, so another $15 fix, if you are tone obsessed. The pickups are much better than I expected and actually sound pretty good. Don't get me wrong, you could ... MoreGreat guitar for the price. Lots of nice features you only find on nicer guitars. My only issues are the bridge has nuts that are cheap and have been stripped over the years with adjustments and they have developed rough edges that dig into my hand a little. It doesn't greatly affect the play-ability of the instrument, just an annoyance. I looked into swapping it out and for around $70 you can get a much higher quality bridge, if you choose. The other issue I noticed is some of the notes, especially on the treble strings. However, this is an easy fix, as swapping in a graphite or bone nut should fix that issues, so another $15 fix, if you are tone obsessed. The pickups are much better than I expected and actually sound pretty good. Don't get me wrong, you could justify a swap out, but they are more than fine and the shortcomings can be masked pretty well with effects. Besides that, it is super lightweight and while it isn't a wizard neck, the neck is still very playable and relatively fast. Overall, for the price, this is a tremendous guitar and has quickly become one of my favorites to play, as it is super comfortable to play. This is a guitar that is great for a beginner to an advanced player and can be a gig guitar with some minor upgrades. I am very happy.
Have owed this guitar for a few years now. It was my first electric guitar, but I had been playing an acoustic for a few years. I'm a 36 year old adult who was a beginner at age 30. This guitar is the reason I actually learned to play, and continued to play. I went to GC with an Epiphone LP that was on sale on my mind. The set up was terrible, and I started just playing everything else on the wall. I picked up the s521 and fell in love instantly. The neck is perfect for a beginner, but not just for a beginner. The thin neck makes it easy to fret, and the setting spacing seems wider than other guitars, so it helped me with chords. (I have thick hands, so other guitars were tougher to play without accidently muting other strings). The electronics are solid, and I ... MoreHave owed this guitar for a few years now. It was my first electric guitar, but I had been playing an acoustic for a few years. I'm a 36 year old adult who was a beginner at age 30. This guitar is the reason I actually learned to play, and continued to play. I went to GC with an Epiphone LP that was on sale on my mind. The set up was terrible, and I started just playing everything else on the wall. I picked up the s521 and fell in love instantly. The neck is perfect for a beginner, but not just for a beginner. The thin neck makes it easy to fret, and the setting spacing seems wider than other guitars, so it helped me with chords. (I have thick hands, so other guitars were tougher to play without accidently muting other strings). The electronics are solid, and I would consider them very solid for the price point. This guitar is worth every penny, and truly worth more, especially when compared to Fender and Gibson products. To get a guitar of this quality, set up ready out of the box like this in Fender or Gibason, expect to pay close to double the price of this guitar.
Stunning guitar and the sound from those Quantums is amazing.The neck is super slim which works really nicely with the ultra slim body. My fretboard had two defects (deep gouges in two areas near to the edge) when it arrived, I couldn’t be bothered to return the guitar as I’ll fix those myself. The overall quality is exceptional though and the deep gloss lacquer finish on the body is a nice detail. Overall the looks of the guitar really suit the shadow chrome fittings and it plays sooooooo well 😎I re-strung mine as soon as it arrived as I’m not a fan of the stock strings, my preferred Ernie Ball Extra Slinky 8’s being my goto. I smoothed out the fretboard and treated it to some lemon oil as it was as dry as a nun’s chuff when it arrived……PMT deliver great ... MoreStunning guitar and the sound from those Quantums is amazing.The neck is super slim which works really nicely with the ultra slim body. My fretboard had two defects (deep gouges in two areas near to the edge) when it arrived, I couldn’t be bothered to return the guitar as I’ll fix those myself. The overall quality is exceptional though and the deep gloss lacquer finish on the body is a nice detail. Overall the looks of the guitar really suit the shadow chrome fittings and it plays sooooooo well 😎I re-strung mine as soon as it arrived as I’m not a fan of the stock strings, my preferred Ernie Ball Extra Slinky 8’s being my goto. I smoothed out the fretboard and treated it to some lemon oil as it was as dry as a nun’s chuff when it arrived……PMT deliver great service at competitive prices, buy with confidence 🙌
I purchased this guitar because of the lightness and play ability. Incredible!My leg couldn't handle having the weight of a les paul since i had ankle surgery half a year ago and my small hands could only practice for about an hour on the neck of my les paul traditional.The intonation at the 24th fret is on par to my $2k Taylor acoustic at the 12th fret, not sure if this is an alright comparison lolThe electronics are great, I set my amps dirty/clean settings and adjusts controls on the guitar to fine tune the tones I want.The guitar finish is gorgeous, dark blue near the bottom and gradiently/gradually becomes more light blue towards the neck. Images online don't really show.Overall if your like me looking for a guitar with great neck play ability to ... MoreI purchased this guitar because of the lightness and play ability. Incredible!My leg couldn't handle having the weight of a les paul since i had ankle surgery half a year ago and my small hands could only practice for about an hour on the neck of my les paul traditional.The intonation at the 24th fret is on par to my $2k Taylor acoustic at the 12th fret, not sure if this is an alright comparison lolThe electronics are great, I set my amps dirty/clean settings and adjusts controls on the guitar to fine tune the tones I want.The guitar finish is gorgeous, dark blue near the bottom and gradiently/gradually becomes more light blue towards the neck. Images online don't really show.Overall if your like me looking for a guitar with great neck play ability to practice your scale improvisations endlessly without hand fatigue. Give it a try!
The input jack for the cable there's a terrible design, you can actually chip the wood of the body because it's not an all metal input, also you cannot use a wireless system they don't fit at all none of them not even an extender. Plus I had string buzzing that the tech at the store was not capable of getting out of the strings. What I did like about this guitar was how lightweight it is and it did have a beautiful paint finish. But as always Guitar Center took it back I bought another Ibanez guitar that I'm now completely happy with.
Simply one of the best options on the market if you want something ultra light (and suffer of a bad back like me) and need an affordable hardtail guitar.Pickups are not bad for the money ; the neck pickup is definitely a bit sterile but the bridge has got plenty of bite. These are fairly low output pickups (under 9K for both) so you metal-kidz might want to swap them out for something higher output as it would make a great mod platform.Well impressed to see Ibanez put Rosewood on the fingerboard of the Wizard neck! Fretwork is really good too with no sharp frets sticking out or snagging to my hand.Quality Control can be hit or miss with Ibanez in this price range (like most guitars to be fair), as I had to return the first S521 to Andertons due to a few ... MoreSimply one of the best options on the market if you want something ultra light (and suffer of a bad back like me) and need an affordable hardtail guitar.Pickups are not bad for the money ; the neck pickup is definitely a bit sterile but the bridge has got plenty of bite. These are fairly low output pickups (under 9K for both) so you metal-kidz might want to swap them out for something higher output as it would make a great mod platform.Well impressed to see Ibanez put Rosewood on the fingerboard of the Wizard neck! Fretwork is really good too with no sharp frets sticking out or snagging to my hand.Quality Control can be hit or miss with Ibanez in this price range (like most guitars to be fair), as I had to return the first S521 to Andertons due to a few blemishes in the finish and fretboard ; they managed to get me another from the warehouse which is pristine! Really appreciate Andertons for doing this as they sorted me out propa :)Overall, really impressed with this guitar for the price as Im hoping it will become the daily workhorse for slugging it around on my back and teaching from place to place.
Beautiful Ibanez model. Light and comfortable to play all day. Just feels like quality throughout. Blackberry colour is to die for. I've owned a swamp ash RG from Ibanez which was a back breaker. This guitar is light, ergonomic, thin outer edges thickening up in the centre of body, so sustain is spot on. This S521 is perfect and a joy to play. Perfect fret work, no fret buzz anywhere, fret edges perfectly smooth. My last Ibanez RG 421 felt like it had an allergic reaction to quality control. This S521 came perfect right out of the box. Truss did not even require adjustment (which was handy because no Alan keys with this guitar) a real finger print magnet. Can't think of a negative at all. I own a Les Paul, a thinline Tele, and a mex strat all of which are great ... MoreBeautiful Ibanez model. Light and comfortable to play all day. Just feels like quality throughout. Blackberry colour is to die for. I've owned a swamp ash RG from Ibanez which was a back breaker. This guitar is light, ergonomic, thin outer edges thickening up in the centre of body, so sustain is spot on. This S521 is perfect and a joy to play. Perfect fret work, no fret buzz anywhere, fret edges perfectly smooth. My last Ibanez RG 421 felt like it had an allergic reaction to quality control. This S521 came perfect right out of the box. Truss did not even require adjustment (which was handy because no Alan keys with this guitar) a real finger print magnet. Can't think of a negative at all. I own a Les Paul, a thinline Tele, and a mex strat all of which are great guitars and this Ibanez is as good if not better than most.
| Neck type | Wizard IIIMaple neck |
| Top/back/body | Meranti body |
| Fretboard | Jatoba fretboardOff-set white dot inlay |
| Fret | Jumbo frets |
| Number of frets | 24 |
