An awesome looking guitar with solid tone, and wonderful sustain. Great build quality, and just a pleasure to play. Compare this to the Squier, Yamaha, etc., and I think the choice is clear. In fact you can hear the tone difference 'unplugged'. You can always upgrade the pickups, but your stuck with the tone and sustain, so you gotta make sure whatever you buy "has it", and IMHO the SA160 "has it".

Sound
Simply put, a warm, full tone, amazing for such a light, slim guitar. The sing-sing-hum pickups, allow for a wide range of tone, from bright 'strat-ish', to warm, full 'gibson-ish'. I found the single coils a bit noisey, little weak, but not enough to be distracting. IMHO great blues / jazz tone using the bridge and mid pickups (4th setting). Sustainnnnnnnnnn is stunning on this guitar, despite its size and weight.

Features
The tone, and volume controls are responsive, and well placed. Unlike some guitars, where the tone control is either dull or bright, this control provides a complete range of tone, and is very sensitive. Don't miss the 'extra' tone control at all, not required for this guitar. The pickup selector allows for all the reasonble pickup combinations (5 in all), although in my opinion the selector looks a bit tacky. I don't use the tremelo with the whammy bar, just 'palm trem', so won't comment on trem. One thing I did notice is the way the whammy bar is attached, may easily fall out if… read more you lean forward and are using a strap.

Quality
I have the 'flamed maple' edition which looks way too cool for the price. No pick guard, but the finish is so tough, don't need it. The hardware on mine is brushed steel, which looks awesome. Everything about the guitar is solid, don't even mind the bridge. The bridge holds tune, easy to adjust and seems solid enough.

Value
I really doubt you can get an equivalent axe for this price all things considered. Forget about the fast neck, quality build, awsome looks, it is the tone and sustain that really provide the value. Combine that with the sing-sing-hum pickups and you get a very, very versatile guitar, for a reasonable price.

Manufacturer Support
Don't know, have not dealt directly with Ibanez. IMO the support comes from where it is purchased, and hopefully you won't have to deal with the manufacturer.

The Wow Factor
Did I mention this guitar simply looks awesome, regardless of price.

Musical Style:
Blues, Rock, Alternative read less