The AZ242 is an AZ series solid body electric guitar model introduced by Ibanez for 2020. It is produced in Indonesia as part of the mid-tier Premium line.
The AZ242 features an American basswood body bolted to a roasted maple neck with a roasted maple fingerboard with 24 stainless steel frets, black dot position markers and luminescent side dots. Components include a pair of Seymour Duncan Hyperion humbucking pickups, a T1502 two-point synchronized tremolo bridge made by Gotoh, a Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut, Sure-Grip II knobs, and Gotoh locking tuning machines with height-adjustable posts.
The AZ242 employs a dyna-MIX10 switching system (see diagram below) with an "Alter switch" toggle which allows the user to access ten distinct tones. The Alter switch appears to tap one coil of the humbucker (as opposed to a traditional coil-split which disables one coil completely) to achieve a sound similar to a single coil without the drop in output which typically accompanies a coil split.
The AZ242F and AZ242BC are similar models with a flamed maple and bocote tops, respectively. The AZ242PBG is a similar model with a poplar burl top and gold hardware.
