Ibanez AZ Standard vs Henry’s Snake II | Which is the best sub $1000 HSS? In-depth Guitar Comparison

Today, we’re comparing the Ibanez AZ Standard AZ22S2 model against the Henry’s Guitars Snake II in a battle to find the best sub $1000 HSS Fender Stratocaster-style guitar on the market! ----- Ibanez AZ Standard at Thomann: https://thmn.to/thoprod/640599?offid=... Ibanez AZ Standard at Sweetwater: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/NGeYe2 Henry’s Snake II: https://www.henrysmusic.com/products/... ----- I should start by saying that these are both excellent guitars – they both play beautifully, look great, and offer that exceptional tonal versatility that makes HSS Strats (and Super Strats) such a great all-round option. The China-made Ibanez AZ Standard is one of my favorite guitars full stop, and for the price it’s a behemoth of performance and function. The 2026 AZ22S2 model comes in at $549/€499, and you get an alder body, a roasted maple neck and a jatoba fingerboard with 22 jumbo stainless steel frets. You also get Ibanez’s T106 vibrato bridge and locking tuners. Sounds-wise we have a set of Ibanez’s Classic Custom pickups, and the HSS switching plus the dyna-MIX9 switching system with Alter Switch gives you nine different pickup switching combinations, from the full-fat bridge humbucker to a mix of classic biting and quacky biting single coil Strat tones. It’s a whole lot of guitar for anyone. That said, the Henry’s Snake II – also made in China, but set up by a Henry’s luthier at their Prague HQ before being sent out to buyers – offers perhaps even more for the €699 asking price, and that’s not even including the not at all bad relic job (you can get it without the aging too!). Here, you get a lightweight Paulownia body along in a beautiful matt Blue Aged finish, with a roasted maple neck and a rosewood board. Like the Ibanez, you get 22 jumbo stainless steel frets here, plus a bone nut and a set of Henry’s locking tuners. The pickups are Henry’s Snakebite models, and the bridge humbucker can also be split down to single coil mode for even more tonal versatility. Elsewhere we get a 6-saddle vintage-style synchronized tremolo vibrato bridge. Extras-wise, the Snake II comes with an excellent gig bag, strap locks, and plenty of other case candy. The two guitars share a Fender- friendly 25.5”/648 mm scale length, and both have flat boards: the AZ Standard is 12”, and the Snake II 14”. The neck profiles is where they differ: the Snake II has a Thin C shape, while the AZ Standard’s AZ profile is a chunkier Modern C. Both necks feature a satin finish, so they’re extremely slinky. Two great Strat-type guitars, then… but which should you buy? Well, hopefully this video will help us find out! Here, I put the two guitars through their paces in as many different musical styles as I can, from country, folk and indie, to pop, rock, punk, metal, and more, so hopefully by the end you’ll be able to decide which one is right for you. Let me know which guitar you prefer in the comments! Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits: 00:00 Introduction and what we’re doing today 01:05 Henry’s Snake II specs and info 04:39 Ibanez AZ Standard specs and info 08:36 Today’s rig and plan 09:29 Clean tone reference chords on all guitars/pickup settings 10:59 Clean tone samples (folk, country, pop, indie, blues, funk, etc.) 13:39 Indie and alternative rock tones 15:39 Classic rock tones (AC/DC, Hendrix, etc.) 17:21 Hard rock tones 19:09 Punk rock tones 20:15 Progressive and modern rock tones 20:57 Metal/chugging/heavy distortion tones (all in Drop D tuning) 22:36 My thoughts 23:24 Looks 24:20 Price and value for money 25:06 Build quality and hardware 26:27 Playability, neck and feel 27:20 Weight 28:00 Sounds and pickups 30:39 What other affordable HSS options are out there? (Harley Benton ST-Modern, etc.) 31:43 Which guitar is best? Which should you buy? My setup was as follows: I ran the guitars into my Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 head, also using my Greer Lightspeed, Crazy Tube Circuits Heatseeker, and Revv G3 pedals for overdrive and heavy distortion sounds. The amp went from the Red Box AE+ DI out straight into my Zoom H6 recorder. That's it. No post-processing on the sounds was done. --- Get all this gear at Thomann: https://thmn.to/thocf/jkhog8l06m Get all this gear at Sweetwater: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/LXqdE0 --- Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Duck In The Alley – TrackTribe. #Ibanez #IbanezAZ #AZStandard #IbanezAZStandard #Henrys #HenrysMusic #HenrysGuitars #HenrysGuitar #HenrysSnake #HSSStrat #HSS #Stratocaster #RelicGuitar #RichWordsMusic Note: certain links in the description are affiliate links. If you click said links and purchase anything as a result, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help to support the channel. So, if you do that, thank you very much! ‪@henrysmusicglobal‬ ‪@IbanezOfficial‬ ‪@IbanezGermany‬