Best Electric Guitar Small Hands (2024 Update)

I always liked the Ibanez instruments and products. This guitar for the money has a great sound, is light and small, very practical for people with small hands, or for children. Playability is nice, the pickups are good, hardware is good. It's versatile also for all types of genre's. Ideal for rock and metal, shreds real nice. If you're looking for a good but inexpensive guitar, this one is a good purchase. It's not only for beginners, it's for all level players.John

Classic Ibanez body shape, neck, tuners and lightweight, like a scaled down Soundgear (SGR) series only sans the unnecessary active bass junk. Knobs are solid metal, not cheap plastic ones found on other low end Ibanez basses. Only thing bass needed out of box was intonation set. No neck adjustments needed and no significant buzz. Strings are round wound (my pref). Would not recommend this bass if you think you need (tone killing) flat wound. I'm not aware of anyone making flatwound strings for a 28.6" scale bass. Note: scale length of this bass (28.6") is shorter than typical short scale (30"). The strings on it are proprietary (Ibanez). You might be able to make some cut down long scale strings work (pain, wouldn't recommend) but the proprietary Ibanez strings are the way to go. MF doesn't sell them for some reason. You can find them online for a very reasonable price online. Buy a couple of extra sets. Pickups are jazz bass style and config (two volumes + one tone) which is my pref. I had zero issues with tone or volume controls. Pickups are all passive. Yah! And tone sounds great, classic jazz bass tones available including a nice Jaco-ish tone with 100% bridge pickup and tone rolled way down. Be wary of review comments from guitar players that don't play bass and buy this bass and suddenly have a lot of opinions about what this bass should and shouldn't be. This bass does not need the bridge, pickups, tuners or electronics replaced to make it a "pro" instrument. All this bass needs to be a "pro" instrument, is a "pro" player playing it. Tone is in your fingers. I highly recommend for beginners and I think experienced players will dig it as well, especially those that appreciate shorter scale instruments.mark5211

I always liked the Ibanez instruments and products. This guitar for the money has a great sound, is light and small, very practical for people with small hands, or for children. Playability is nice, the pickups are good, hardware is good. It's versatile also for all types of genre's. Ideal for rock and metal, shreds real nice. If you're looking for a good but inexpensive guitar, this one is a good purchase. It's not only for beginners, it's for all level players.John

Classic Ibanez body shape, neck, tuners and lightweight, like a scaled down Soundgear (SGR) series only sans the unnecessary active bass junk. Knobs are solid metal, not cheap plastic ones found on other low end Ibanez basses. Only thing bass needed out of box was intonation set. No neck adjustments needed and no significant buzz. Strings are round wound (my pref). Would not recommend this bass if you think you need (tone killing) flat wound. I'm not aware of anyone making flatwound strings for a 28.6" scale bass. Note: scale length of this bass (28.6") is shorter than typical short scale (30"). The strings on it are proprietary (Ibanez). You might be able to make some cut down long scale strings work (pain, wouldn't recommend) but the proprietary Ibanez strings are the way to go. MF doesn't sell them for some reason. You can find them online for a very reasonable price online. Buy a couple of extra sets. Pickups are jazz bass style and config (two volumes + one tone) which is my pref. I had zero issues with tone or volume controls. Pickups are all passive. Yah! And tone sounds great, classic jazz bass tones available including a nice Jaco-ish tone with 100% bridge pickup and tone rolled way down. Be wary of review comments from guitar players that don't play bass and buy this bass and suddenly have a lot of opinions about what this bass should and shouldn't be. This bass does not need the bridge, pickups, tuners or electronics replaced to make it a "pro" instrument. All this bass needs to be a "pro" instrument, is a "pro" player playing it. Tone is in your fingers. I highly recommend for beginners and I think experienced players will dig it as well, especially those that appreciate shorter scale instruments.mark5211

The quality and set up of this gorgeous instrument (ibanez mikro)is still blowing my mind. I personally own many high end guitars and this is every bit the same quality of a mim fender, an ibanez 400 series or better, or ltd 400 series or better, which is incredible. Gigging quality for small hands and short arms. A real instrument that will inspire instead of discourage. Dont waste your time and money with a nylon string/classical guitar for a beginner child. Get one of these and set them up for success, I cant stress this enough. Ty Ibanez!!. Photo is of a 3.5yo boy holding his new ax for size reference.iamdavislove

This guitar ended my good luck streak in buying open box items. When I first took out this little guitar, the high side of the neck could easily be used as a saw. It's pretty scratched up, and the craftsmanship is nothing compared to my Ibanez MiKro bass. My bass is immaculate; this thing was evidently built on a Tuesday after a four day bender. Although the back is painted black, the split between halves is pretty apparent, with a slight height difference where the two pieces were not planed to the same measurement. Sounds like it should go back, right? Well, I paid one twenty and the Walnut Sunburst is pretty. I decided to give it a chance to acclimate and sure enough, much of the fret overhang went away. I've never seen anything like that much change! The guitar is going to require a complete setup- fret end filing, fret dressing, intonation and string height setup, and I'm going to file the nut to install 10s. But even with the 8s, it stays in tune, and other than the still-protruding fret ends, the neck feels great. With what I paid, and needing no more than consumables and elbow grease, it's still a decent deal. The pickups aren't up to gigging, but the tone is fine for home play, and the little guitar makes it easy to play anywhere. I do have better quality short scale guitars – I have two T-15 and one T-30 Peaveys which are Byrdland scale, a bit longer than this 22.8" monster but still considerably shorter than standard Gibson scale. And the little Ibanez can be properly intonated, unlike the Peaveys.Mike W

I always liked the Ibanez instruments and products. This guitar for the money has a great sound, is light and small, very practical for people with small hands, or for children. Playability is nice, the pickups are good, hardware is good. It's versatile also for all types of genre's. Ideal for rock and metal, shreds real nice. If you're looking for a good but inexpensive guitar, this one is a good purchase. It's not only for beginners, it's for all level players.John

Classic Ibanez body shape, neck, tuners and lightweight, like a scaled down Soundgear (SGR) series only sans the unnecessary active bass junk. Knobs are solid metal, not cheap plastic ones found on other low end Ibanez basses. Only thing bass needed out of box was intonation set. No neck adjustments needed and no significant buzz. Strings are round wound (my pref). Would not recommend this bass if you think you need (tone killing) flat wound. I'm not aware of anyone making flatwound strings for a 28.6" scale bass. Note: scale length of this bass (28.6") is shorter than typical short scale (30"). The strings on it are proprietary (Ibanez). You might be able to make some cut down long scale strings work (pain, wouldn't recommend) but the proprietary Ibanez strings are the way to go. MF doesn't sell them for some reason. You can find them online for a very reasonable price online. Buy a couple of extra sets. Pickups are jazz bass style and config (two volumes + one tone) which is my pref. I had zero issues with tone or volume controls. Pickups are all passive. Yah! And tone sounds great, classic jazz bass tones available including a nice Jaco-ish tone with 100% bridge pickup and tone rolled way down. Be wary of review comments from guitar players that don't play bass and buy this bass and suddenly have a lot of opinions about what this bass should and shouldn't be. This bass does not need the bridge, pickups, tuners or electronics replaced to make it a "pro" instrument. All this bass needs to be a "pro" instrument, is a "pro" player playing it. Tone is in your fingers. I highly recommend for beginners and I think experienced players will dig it as well, especially those that appreciate shorter scale instruments.mark5211

This guitar was so hard to find but was well worth the wait! The quality is outstanding and the sound is incredible. Being a huge Nirvana fan also helps 🙂 but even if you're not, this guitar will not disappoint. A big thanks to Hope from customer service who answered my many questions. Excellent communication, pricing and super quick delivery to Melbourne. Thanks a million team!DAN O.

I am a huge Nirvana fan and was living in a figurative cave for a long while so when I finally opened my eyes and knew about this signature KC guitar, I knew I wanted it badly! The overall craftsmanship is great considering it is a MIM but many MIM's nowadays are great too. The only "cheap" part on this guitar is the synthetic nut but that can easily be replaced. The Dimarzio PUPs really scream! The neck is very smooth and playability is awesome! I took it to a guitar tech who set it up. He said he had to shim the neck because the TOM bridge is not stock to the guitar which is no problem and he also had to do a minor fret dress on a few that were a but off.JR

I have played guitar since age 12 or 13. My first guitar I purchased and took lessons at the store was a Fender Squier I believe I can't remember exactly. After that I had to upgrade from a squire.I couldn't stand a squire and never will again. After that I purchased a nice Fender strat. I can remember I kept searching stores looking for a guitar like Kurt Cobain played in Nirvana. And after this guitar purchase I have found the guitar I've been wanting since way back!!! All I can say is WOW!! I am astonished at how great a guitar this is. I recommend this guitar to anyone. The guitar is not just for Nirvana fan's. And you can go spend way over thousands of dollar_s for a vintage strat. To me this guitar looks better and the quality is great and sounds different than a Strat but of course it's a KC Jag. I would love to have a particular vintage strat but not for the vintage prices no way on this earth. The guitar is great with distortion. I recommend to buy this guitar. I don't believe you'll be disappointed. Very cool, very great overall. I give a star rating of 10/10 stars!!!Jimmy

What can you say? Epiphone has always made a good guitar, even before they became part of the Gibson family. The Epiphone SG and Les Paul models are top notch guitars, and are a great value for the price. So if you're looking for a good starter electric guitar, I recommend Epiphone all the way.krimzo_96

Great guitar, looks good, plays quite easily. Barely had to tweak it at all. A lot more economical than a Gibson(most don't realize it isn't.) I am very happy with this guitar and would recommend it to anyone who wants quality on a budget.richa.schau

I am a professional musician and play 5 days a week — I play my Epiphone SG full time. I don't have to take my Gibson 335, Les Paul, SG or Tele. This guitar holds it's own with any of them. I've been a player for 50 years. Highly recommend…musiclane301

Ultimately, this guitar is terrific! It seems to be one of the few Squiers that has better than not appointments (considering the fact that they are generally "bare bones" in terms of body woods, etc …) If you're new & want a good single coil strat sound…..yep…….if you know what you're doing already & want a strat you can woop on……yep…..if you want a nice sounding guitar that would normally cost a few $$ more for equal quality?? ……..still yep…… Automatically, add a couple sets of strings to your cart too (I snagged a couple DR Blues 10-46 sets, although the stock Fenders don't sound bad at all honestly) & stretch em on! The only tuning issues I experienced was due to needing to stretch em out a few times to stay tuned (***….tug the string from bridge to nut, back n forth like you were playing a chello with a bow hahaha ….., while also continuing to tune them back up repeatedly). From there, you should be dialed & throughly enjoy this killer, cost efficient strat just about as much as you'd appreciate one that cost a grand!!! Cheers!!T Dogg

This is an incredible guitar ! I bought it as a modding platform, but after having spent a few hours with it, I quickly decided it what mostly stay untouched. These are economic tuners, but man do they stay in tune. After polishing and dressing the frets, graphite-ing the nut, and replacing the strings, I had to tune twice in a 2 week period ! The original plan was to replace them with vintage style tuners, but why waste the money, they're great ! I bought the shell pink, and the color, fit and finish are perfect. It weighs 7.5 lbs, so on the lighter side, which I love. The neck has a better looking wood grain than my Vintage Modified '70s, and about the same feel, at least I don't feel a difference. I don't know if it's because of the top load hard tail bridge or what, but this guitar is VERY resonant, and sustains forever. The pick ups are definitely not top of the line, as the price implies, but they sound really good. My original plan was to replace them with Kent Armstrongs, but I really liked the neck PU a lot, and while I don't have strong opinions either way about the middle and bridge, I thought I would try replacing the electronics first. I installed a Gunstreet Wiring Shop Blender harness (blends neck and bridge PUs), and now I get all the tones I could possibly want. I'm definitely keeping the stock PUs ! Like I said, with a little fine tuning of the set up, it plays and sounds like a dream, looks fantastic, and is priced incredibly well. I couldn't recommend it more.Playin for fun

This is my first electric guitar. It is well made and arrived in great condition. The Scan set up is a real plus and ensured it was ready to play straight out of the box. Everything you need to start your guitar journey is in the package. The included amp is small and simple to use. More than adequate for practice and home use. The Fender Play Instruction is well worth looking into. Overall an excellent package worthy of serious consideration.Heathpk

One might assume with a description as a "student" guitar that somehow this is "less than". Well, any youngster that is fortunate to receive one of these could go "cradle to grave" if it met their sonic desire. The point is, this is a full-blown tone machine, the stepchild of the Telecaster and Stratocaster with a vibe all it's own. I barely notice the smaller scale, the fit, finish and build quality is excellent. For the price, this is beyond anything I could have expected. Out of the box, the set-up let me plug in and play. And boy did I play. 2 hours of pure joy. The neck profile fits my hand perfectly, satin finish on the back, a lightly tinted poly on the fingerboard, very comfortable. Weighs 7 pounds even, no neck dive, very balanced. The color is very easy on my eyes (first Lake Placid Blue guitar). As with all guitars, likely not for everybody. I am sure many may look down on this "budget" least expensive Fender, and that's a shame, as you could be missing out on something really special. Well, that is one person's opinion. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.matthew

Fenders Mexican-made guitars have a well deserved reputation for giving players a great value and the Duo-Sonic is no exception. The features, fit and finish are great, especially for the price point. But even setting aside the price and value, this Duo-Sonic is a great-sounding guitar thats a ton of fun to play. The neck pickup is nicely complemented by a splittable bridge humbucker and both produce good tones. The compact body and short 24 scale give the guitar a different feel than the other electric guitars I own so its a great change of pace after playing a Strat or Tele. I think all guitarists should have a Duo-Sonic in their arsenal!ragboz

Cool guitar in a beautiful color. Neck plays fast. I know it is a shorter scale, but it feels comfortable even in my huge hands. Unique look. Jangly, quacky pick ups. The selector switch works but it is super wiggle and I suspect was damaged sometime before getting to me. Good deal when I snagged it on sale.Graham

I bought this for my son's 6th birthday. I checked it before giving it to him. It was filthy. It looked as though it had been handled by a car mechanic who had not washed his hands. I could see fingerprint patterns.The grime on the face of the pick guard was no big deal because of the cellophane covering, but the grime on the beveled edge of the pick guard was in the plastic. There was grime on the nut, on the back of the headstock, and in a few places on the body. The Musician's Friend customer service guy was great. He arranged an exchange, and was truly sympathetic. Since I couldn't give it to my son for his birthday, I decided to save it for another occasion. I left it unopened for a few months. Today, I opened it just to check it. Filthy with the same kind of grime. I checked the serial number against a photo I had taken of the original mini. It's a different guitar. Says a lot about the quality control at Fender. Too late to get an exchange, so I'm going to do what I can to clean it. I'm also going to write to Fender to complain. Musician's Friend was great on their end. I only recommend that they open some of the mini Squiers to check them for condition and give Fender some grief for any that they find to be less than clean.Joe with an old Strat.

Received this the other day bought for my Grandson. I am a starting Luther so I have some knowledge about guitar work. Overall I'm impressed tuned it up, stretched the strings a bit and plugged it in. Pickups not bad sounding , tone, vol and switch work fine. Tuners are not great but slippage was minimum and caused no problems. Intonation was close played in tune up the neck. It does have sharp fret ends (which I will take care of) in addition along with some normal set up stuff, neck adjustment maybe some work at the nut. Set up stuff is normal with guitars costing allot more so I consider this normal. The 3/4 body and 22" scale make this fun to play and a great guitar for kids and people with small hands. It is so much better than the minis with the 16" inch scale length as you can tune this to normal E. Over a very nice guitar for the price.Jimbo

This was my first guitar, and it served me well for a few years. Eventually it got a bit too small, but it's a decent guitar at a great price. The sound overall is decent and it's easy to play, but it's got serious fret buzz and mine never stayed in tune. There's really not much to say, if your 6-10 year old kid wants to learn guitar, get them this.Miles

I bought this for my son's 6th birthday. I checked it before giving it to him. It was filthy. It looked as though it had been handled by a car mechanic who had not washed his hands. I could see fingerprint patterns.The grime on the face of the pick guard was no big deal because of the cellophane covering, but the grime on the beveled edge of the pick guard was in the plastic. There was grime on the nut, on the back of the headstock, and in a few places on the body. The Musician's Friend customer service guy was great. He arranged an exchange, and was truly sympathetic. Since I couldn't give it to my son for his birthday, I decided to save it for another occasion. I left it unopened for a few months. Today, I opened it just to check it. Filthy with the same kind of grime. I checked the serial number against a photo I had taken of the original mini. It's a different guitar. Says a lot about the quality control at Fender. Too late to get an exchange, so I'm going to do what I can to clean it. I'm also going to write to Fender to complain. Musician's Friend was great on their end. I only recommend that they open some of the mini Squiers to check them for condition and give Fender some grief for any that they find to be less than clean.Joe with an old Strat.

Received this the other day bought for my Grandson. I am a starting Luther so I have some knowledge about guitar work. Overall I'm impressed tuned it up, stretched the strings a bit and plugged it in. Pickups not bad sounding , tone, vol and switch work fine. Tuners are not great but slippage was minimum and caused no problems. Intonation was close played in tune up the neck. It does have sharp fret ends (which I will take care of) in addition along with some normal set up stuff, neck adjustment maybe some work at the nut. Set up stuff is normal with guitars costing allot more so I consider this normal. The 3/4 body and 22" scale make this fun to play and a great guitar for kids and people with small hands. It is so much better than the minis with the 16" inch scale length as you can tune this to normal E. Over a very nice guitar for the price.Jimbo

This was my first guitar, and it served me well for a few years. Eventually it got a bit too small, but it's a decent guitar at a great price. The sound overall is decent and it's easy to play, but it's got serious fret buzz and mine never stayed in tune. There's really not much to say, if your 6-10 year old kid wants to learn guitar, get them this.Miles

A lot of the reviews posted here are for Strats, so I'm not sure what's going on. Anyway, I bought the red sparkle Squier Bullet Tele. The finish is gorgeous and that's what prompted me to do a spontaneous purchase. I have only experienced owning USA Teles, but I've played some Squiers that really impressed me. This one? Not so much. I don't detect any finish on the back of the neck although I'm sure it has a sealer of some sort. The body finish is nice, but the bridge hardware is cheaply made and I'll be replacing that for sure. Same goes for the tuners. I'm pretty sure it has some high frets because it goes dead starting at the 10th fret, but some of that was back bow. I loosened the truss and got rid if it, but now when I sight down the neck the forward bow is pretty obvious. I don't notice the frets being sharp on the ends. It now plays plays pretty good after sitting long enough for the truss Rod to settle, but I may need to tighten it just a little to get rid of some of the forward bow. The neck has a very comfortable profile. The body is thinner than my American Teles, but it doesn't bother me – in fact it's lighter which I enjoy. The body is Poplar and that's fine by me. I may leave the back of the neck alone for now because it actually feels pretty good, aesthetics are certainly lacking, but the body makes up for that. I'm sure with a little patience and help from my friends I'll have a nice instrument. All the basics are there. As is, it's not all that great, but still better than my first electric guitar! -!an old Kalamazoo single pickup thing with a bolt on neck back in the mid sixties. Like the title says, this thing has potential. I probably couldn't buy a finished body for what I paid.Ronnie

I bought my black metallic Squier Bullet eight years ago when GC was having a Columbus Day sale. I was looking for a guitar to which I could permanently mount my Roland GR-33 guitar synth's GK2a pickup. Previously I had the pickup mounted on my '96 Strat, and I didn't like this fit because I couldn't close my Strat's case with the pickup installed. I have a gig bag for this Squier, and it fits fine in the bag with pickup installed. Anyway, about the guitar. Right out of the box, it played great, requiring only a minimal amount of action adjustment. I was surprised at how good the pickups sounded, it being a Bullet and all. But the humbucker sounds especially nice when playing the guitar through my Marshall. The neck pickup has a decent sound, but not quite up to the snuff of a good alnico pickup. Still, for what the guitar cost, I really can't complain. If I want to, at some later date, I can always change out the neck pickup to a better alnico model. One thing I especially like about this black Bullet is its looks. The photos here at GC don't show it off all that well, but the guitar body's finish is metallic and the pickguard is a heavy metal flake. It looks spectacular under the lights. And the black hardware does a great job of completing that black look. The Bullet's body is thinner than a typical Strat or Squier Affinity or Classic Vibe body. The result is a light weight guitar, but there is no sacrifice in tone.Michael

I would first like to begin with- I normally would be giving a 5 star rating of this unit/Squier, as I have typically never had problems prior to the recent/earlier this year upset regarding shipping containers/etc being paused/sitting in the ocean/etc, delaying container delivery. PLEASE READ ON FOR FULL EXPLANATION. Two imperative points- 1. The fret ends were so sharp, when I say it was not playable (both sides/neck in its entirety), I mean, it was not playable (THE DATE OF INSPECTION WAS EARLIER THIS YEAR, AND I IMMEDIATELY ASSOCIATED THE FRET ENDS PROBLEM BEING DUE TO THE SHIPS BEING DELAYED/SITTING IN THE OCEAN/ETC- It looked to me like maybe between March and July of this year, although, I couldn't quite make out the stamped month). As well, the serial # of the guitar, of course, was of this year/'22. I maintain/work on most all my guitars, and I normally would've tightened up the fret ends myself, however, there was a hairline crack on the red sparkle finish at the bass side neck joint (which i just couldn't accept, visually), as well as a small tooling gash along the top edge of the headstock. The replacement/reordered guitar arrives tomorrow. 2. THE NEWER UNITS (AS, ONCE AGAIN, THIS IS A 2022-BUILT UNIT) ARE TOP-MOUNT/STRING THROUGH THE BACK OF THE BRIDGE, NOT "STRING-THRU" as the description indicates (and, with Squier bridge mounting, these are 5-screw mount plates, which, if ever you want to upgrade your hardware, particularly, w/the bridge, you must find an aftermarket unit that is "string through the back", along w/the correct string spacing (with Squier, they're 54mm, typically), and you'll typically need to redrill given it's rare to find plates that have Squier mounting dimensions that provided string through the back holes. I'm upgrading to a Babicz, given the results found. Also, there are two string trees (the second being a tree for both the D and G strings), and it looks great, actually, with both. Overall, I was impressed with the finish, as it was nearly flawless (aside from the hairline finish crack mentioned previously). The fretwire/fretwork, felt great….I found maybe two or so "slight" dead spots, which weren't enough of a "ping", or string buzz to be of concern, or critiquing the fretwork negatively. Rather, I was impressed with the fretwork. As well, it's important to note that the mounting of the bridge, along with the neck positioning/etc, was spot-on. No misalignment of the bridge mount/etc (and the same goes for the nut spacing). I've always been impressed with what Fender/Squier/Jackson are putting out. The quality is typically quite high…as for this unit, the quality is high, but the results of the environmental dilemma with either being stuck in a container offshore, or, sitting in a facility for weeks/months/etc, have had quite the impact on this guitar. As an important example, I had purchased a Bullet Tele last year (the unit in Burst color offered here through MF), and it was/is flawless, and I completely upgraded every part. As I own approx'ly 53 guitars ranging primarily from ESP to Jackson (some of which in the better than $2K range), I love to take what's titled as a "beginner" guitar, and totally hotrod it with high end parts (such is the case w/this guitar). As mentioned above, I've reordered the guitar, as MusiciansFriend provided me a generous discount (without having to ask) to accommodate me. Upgrades- 1. Babicz Full Contact Tele "Ashtray" bridge Gold, 2. Genuine Fender Gold control plate, 3. Fender Infinity Gold strap locks, 4. Gold input jack Ferrule, 5. Custom built Gold Sparkle w/star cut-outs Tele pickguard, 6. Philadelphia Luthier Tools "Fat" neck plate/Gold w/gold neck mounting screws, 7. Earvana compensated nut (Ivory), 8. Philadelphia Luthier Tools Gold string trees, 9. Fender locking tuners, Gold, 10. EMG T-52 set (black), or, EMG T-set, Red., 11. EMG Gold Telecaster knobs. 12. Powder coated Red pickguard screws, 13. Gold pickup mounting screws. Beginner guitar?……no more (ha).Dave

There is plenty to like about this guitar, and I got it for the features I was looking for: locking tremelo, 24 frets, fast neck, 5 way pickup selector, and nice looks. My first impressions of the guitar was slight disappointment with how sloppy Ibanez was. The tops and bottoms of the frets needed to be beveled as they were pretty sharp, there was a noticeable nick on the fretboard, and there was a black smudge on the back of the neck. None of those was a huge deal. The main two issues I have with the guitar are that the middle pickup, the single coil, has such low output that the middle three positions are much quieter than the neck or bridge pickups alone. I do like the tone of the single coil in conjunction with the humbuckers, but those positions are somewhat useless considering how quiet they are, and I have ordered a humbucker to replace it. The single coil alone (middle position) has too much noise AND is too quiet. Not a big deal to replace a pickup, but why they are selling it this way, I'm not sure. The second issue is the volume control. Instead of a gradual swell, there is a sharp dropoff in volume at one point in the rotation of the dial, making it pretty much useless other than having it full on or all the way off. I am not sure if that is fixable, but if it is, I'll need to have that done as well. All that said, if the guitar had not arrived in such sloppy condition and the two problems were resolved, I'd give this guitar 5 stars.hickory spork

The Ibanez RG 450 or any of the RG's are with the exception of the factory p/u and electronic. capable of becoming one of the best performance guitars to own. The base Ibanez Floyd Rose system is fiddley but, after learning how to adjust/tune quickly becomes appreciated for holding tune no matter the severity of attacks you use with the tremolo. The Wizard(ll or lll ?) You would need to go to custom built to exceed the easy play and comfortable frets you will find on and RG. This recent RG450 I upgraded to equal the higher priced models by adding the De Marzio Tone Zone (B), Air Norton (N). And instead of going with the True Velvet. Added the Seymour Duncan Vintage Hot Stack for the middle position and added better electrics to even out the upgrades.. End result; This guitar plays and sound equal to guitars costing over $1,000.00!! Good bones! Yes this can be played well and many will find happiness with this as stock., and, will perform well against the competition dollar for dollar!ikeus

I used to own an '89 Ibanez VBK JEM that I regrettably sold to buy a gaming pc. I wanted to get a newer entry level RG so I could have a floyd,HSH superstrat in E standard. I've had this RG for long enough to know it's a keeper. This thing has the same feel and vibe of my old JEM! Minus the monkey grip and other features obviously. The neck feels fantastic and I only had to do very minor setup adjustments to my liking. I would have liked a rosewood or ebony fingerboard but of course this is the lower end model. The Jatoba feels good under the fingers, similar to rosewood but with a slightly lighter shade to it. Like most guitars you buy online mine came desperately needing some good oil and cleaning. The Jatoba fingerboard seems to require a bit more lubrication than rosewood. The neck binding is done well, not perfect but to a good standard. I do wish the trem was an Edge lo-pro… But again, this is the lower priced model. There is nothing wrong with the Edge tremolo, it stays in tune well with whammy bar abuse but it is one of the bulkier Original Floyd Rose style bridges. The stock Quantum pickups are among the best stock Ibanez pickups I've tried. They are hot but versatile. However I did swap them out with the classic Dimarzio Air Norton/Steves Special combo and a True Velvet middle. I do believe a higher end Ibanez will obviously sound better than this but for the price it really is hard to beat! Well done Ibanez and AMS!Nevin

I bought this for my 5 year old after debating whether it would be worth it to go with a Jackson Minion instead. I ultimately decided that since he's so young I'd go with this disposable until/if he becomes "serious" about playing. For now, he's more interested in mimicking C.C. Deville, Jay Jay French, and trying to get "the keys to the Lamborghini." With this in mind, I found this guitar to be perfect. I must admit the first one I received had to be returned due to the B and high E strings laying on the first fret no matter the action or truss adjustment (the nut appeared installed too deep). The second one, while without the fret/string problem, simply doesn't feel as "solid" in all other aspects when compared to the first. We kept this second one, though, just because I cannot justify being too picky for a guitar in such a price range. That last point is really what one should take from any review on this guitar — or what one's expectations should be when they receive it. If one wants something with better hardware or quality, then you will spend three times as much. Granted, we're not talking thousands or even hundreds more, but this is what a decision to purchase this guitar is going to boil down to. With all of that said, should one have an issue with this guitar after receiving it, just know that the process for exchange couldn't be any easier. One other thing to point out — if you want to start doing your own guitar setup, this would be the perfect way to learn. Considering one will spend around fifty for a setup at the local shop, just buy one of these and learn to do it yourself. If you aren't willing to attempt setting it up yourself, then buy one of the name-brand short-scale guitars as it seems absurd to pay for a setup what one pays for this guitar in the first place.Where's my Aquanet?

This little Rogue is a really nice guitar. It's very well built – solid body & straight neck. It's simple, too – volume knob & a rockin' little humbucker. It's slightly smaller than normal, making it perfect for a kid or small-framed adult. It's even good for the full-sized player that travels/moves a lot & doesn't want too much guitar to have to pack around. This guitar is great for a beginner & for an accomplished player, too. I've also got the full-size RR100 guitar by Rogue, and they both play equally well. Both my RR50 and RR100 are the red/black color, and they're absolutely gorgeous. My advice to the beginner — Buy a Rogue acoustic or electric guitar for a great price, start learning to play, and as you get better & better, THEN you can go buy a $2,000 Gibson, Fender, Martin or Taylor. Mostly, though, HAVE FUN.jej-texas

I travel to Europe every month for business and wanted a practice guitar that would fit in my carry-on. I bought one of these and reshaped the headstock and positioned two of the tuners on the opposite side, and reshaped the body – cutting away everything not needed to play. With the neck unscrewed it fits perfectly in my carry-on luggage and often gets interesting comments from TSA screeners, but they've never had a problem with it. I could not have made a 100% full length guitar fit, but this 7/8th size is just right. The guitar needed set up work when it arrived, which I know how to do so it didn't cost me anything. The next was straight and the frets surprisingly level. The nut on my example was pretty close so relief, action and intonation were not terribly hard to set and are now about 98% of where they should be – a very serviceable practice travel guitar. The strings were junk so I replaced them with EBs (as I use on most of my other "real" guitars). I play it through an iRig into my iPhone and it sounds just fine. A better PUP would improve the sound, but the installed PUP is satisfactory for my purpose and most likely for any kid learning to play. The volume knob does get in the way of playing occasionally, as others have mentioned, but not so much and I have not bothered to change it out. Surprisingly, the tuners hold tune pretty well. Not as well as the Grovers on my Gib LP, but they hold pretty well over a week of playing in a hotel room. In the end, for a child that needs a reduced sized fret board or is more likely to just bang on the strings, or as in my case as a reworked travel practice guitar, this is a pretty good deal. However, if your child is likely to be a modestly serious student, or for an adult playing at home, I would buy a Squire Bullet or Affinity for a bit more.LarryC

I've been dabbling with learning how to play the guitar for several years, I've even took a guitar class at the local community college but have gotten frustrated easily to where I quit. I'll say that I have had a "on again, off again" relationship with guitars for the last 15 years. I am not an expert in guitars and am steadily learning the process – how they are built, the electronic parts, etc. I decided to give it a go again with this inexpensive guitar that is a great little learning tool for the novice player like myself. One thing I did do when I got this is change the strings. I watched several review videos on this model and one the the first things people recommended was to change the strings. So I bought a box of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky's (10-46) and re-strung the guitar immediately after I got it out of the box. I am pleased with my progress so far. Could be the fact that I found a great website that gives excellent beginner lessons and helps me to understand the fundamentals of guitar playing. Things that the college instructor didn't teach very well. Of course, it helps that I can play the videos over and over! I'm upgrading to a Fender Mustang LT 25 amp, which will give me a huge range of different tones that I can get out of this guitar. As my skills develop and I get better (hopefully), I will look at upgrading to a higher price point guitar. I would love to get an SG! If you are looking to get started in the guitar community, I would recommend this model to get started. I've watched many videos of experienced guitar players jam some pretty cool riff's with this thing!Jason

This is an incredible guitar for the money. Only thing that needed serious help was the action at the nut. Using the stock nut and a set of nut files, I set it up to my preferred specs of 1/64th of an inch a two the first fret. This ensured comfortable playing as well as tuning stability. After cutting the nut slots to the right height, looks like the file made sure the strings wouldn't catch and now the guitar stays in tune much much better. I would replace the pickups with p90s if I could. Some modification to the pickguard might make this a possibility. Sometimes, I forget I'm playing an Epiphone. With the nut corrected it really is possible to get it feeling pretty good. Here are my personal specs: .005" neck relief measured at the 8th fret. 1/64ths action at the first fret across all strings. 1/16ths of an inch action at the 15th fret. It does not play as well as my Gibsons do: the explorer feels much lower and faster with the same specs and my les Paul traditional does reel in some "big time" tone. In spite of this, the Epiphone SL really does hit the mark. It's capable of all the same specs after adjusting the nut, making for a very playable guitar. I also don't believe the tuning issues are due to the economy tuners since after I adjusted the nut the guitar stays in tune much better. I bought a replacement black tusq nut but have not installed it. I wonder if there's even really a need to do so. This action at the nut is very low but the guitar pulls it off very well. I'm sure that with better pots (remember this is an economy guitar) andLeón

It came from the swamp! (Swamp Ash Body) This swamp creature is a tonal monster that screams like a Yeti and growls like a Lion. This Typhon is the father of all monster guitars. It came flawless and perfectly set up and intonated which is rare but it can and did happen to me. It outshines my Fender Strat and Fender Acoustasonic. As I struck a chord ON it, IT struck a chord IN me, and the bond was instantaneous. Guitar is about having fun and enjoying music not about snobbery. I'm preparing to entertain with my mastery of the musical arts and I'm going into battle fighting against fears, insecurities, and self-doubts but I can now face these foes fearlessly because I'm equipped with my new weapon of choice – this purebred sexy swamp beast axe. I was standing in a swamp, with my head hung low, not enough tickets, for my sold out show. Hear the roar of the crowd? Can you picture the scene? Put you ear to the swamp, hear my guitar scream. Can you hear it now? Are you blown away? You'll see stars for a couple of days! This S570 AH SWK is beautiful and thanks to MF my dream became my reality. MF jumped through hoops and went all out in helping me get this guitar. Call them up and they will assist you in overcoming any hurdles standing in your way of purchasing this guitar. They excel over Sweetwater IMHO. My EVERY experience with these MF'ers has been a 2 thumbs up, 10 star rating. What are you waiting for? Get your own S570 AH SWK Today! You'll be glad you did! As for me, I'm as happy as a slime covered swamp creature in a black lagoon playing guitar. The black on this thing is gorgeous and the silver waves ring out like silver bells at Christmas. When you hear it Roar, you'll be imprisoned in it's melodiosity (I coined that phrase) Metal, Alternative, Rock, Country, Blues, Pop, Reggae, Jazz it does it all. Just do it my friend! Pull the trigger and blow the brains out of your savings account and you too can start playing "FOR REAL" today. Costs less than a Prestige or a Joe Satriani Signature JS2GD-Gold Boy but I must dispel the MYTH… it's just as good and no one in your audience will be able to hear any difference.James

Sound: The guitar came with Quantum pickups. I have Quantum pickups on another guitar, and they sound alright on my Jem Jr. However, they sound spectacular on this guitar. This may have something to do with the ash body on this guitar, vs. the Mahogany body on the Jem Jr.It is amazing that Ibanez can offer ash on a guitar in this price range, when Fender has stopped using ash on more expensive guitars. Features: The most useful feature on this guitar is the Edge Zero trem. As a matter of course, as I’ve done with my other trem equipped Ibanez guitars, I replaced the springs. The springs that come on these guitars are awful and won’t let the trem return to pitch. I replaced them with Floyd Rose extra strength, silent springs. Now the trem returns to pitch as good as my Floyd’s and original Edge trems.There is no string retainer on this guitar. If you put a few extra winds of strings around the post, it will increase the break angle from the back of the nut, where the strings exit. If you get the break angle right, you can lock down the nut without having to retune. Ease of Use: The guitar is quite playable out of the box, with the exception of the trem springs. There were a couple of high frets, but they weren’t high enough to cause buzzing with a normal action. I always do a level and crown as part of the set up anyway. Quality: The fit and finish on this guitar is excellent. I love the grey and black top on this. Definitely a looker. Also, the description of the guitar on the website, when I ordered it, said that the fretboard was Jatoba. Well, as it turned out, my guitar came with a rosewood board, which according to Ibanez’s website is what the guitar comes with for 2021.Also, the jack placement on the top, is really nice. The end to the cord doesn’t stick out. Just be careful plugging in. Value: This guitar is worth every penny I paid. I am quite pleased that the guitar is less than 600 dollars. Great bang for the buck. And zZounds makes it a no brainer with their payment plans. Manufacturer Support: I haven’t had to call Ibanez personally, but I have gone through the dealer before, and they have got fast service from Ibanez for me. The Wow Factor: This guitar not only looks good, but plays great as well. If you aren’t able to do work on a guitar yourself, spend the money for a pro set up. It’s so worth it. Overall: Well, I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I took a chance and bought one that was listed as minor blemish on zZounds site.It took awhile to get to me, but that isn’t zZounds fault. The FedEx hub in my state doesn’t have enough truck drivers, and delays at the Troutdale hub are just a reality at this time.It arrived well packed and it turns out that the minor defect was just a small crack at the neck pocket. This would have probably happened anyway, and it is really small.I did have to call customer service, due to a saddle adjustment screw rounding out when I set the intonation. Sounds got me a new set of these screws through Ibanez, and it only took a few days. So good on zZounds and good on Ibanez.Scott

I purchased this guitar as an intermediate player. I had the tech at GC do a set up on it. It looks, sounds and plays great. The workmanship out of he box was very good. Very nice fret work, no sharp edges. Very happy with this guitar. Just keep in mind that to get its full capabilities it will likely need a set up but this is common with most any guitar you buy. I would definitely buy this guitar again.Michael

I have several Ibanez, some of them being slightly on the higher end of the mid-grade lines. I didn't need an inexpensive Ibanez, but the looks of this Gio caught my eye and I had been pining for it for awhile, but everyone was either out or on preorder. When I saw this marked as used and $40 less than the regular price, I jumped on it. I expected some cosmetic wear maybe, since it was used, but when it got here two days after I ordered it, it was still in the original wrapping with the plastic on the pickguard and pickups. I don't think it was ever touched. Everything was set up very well right out of the box. The pickups aren't great, but they aren't bad. The neck and fretboard feel fantastic and the blackout finish of it all is what really sold me. The body is polar, so it's a bit lighter and that makes it feel a bit cheap, but it scream and I'm really diggin it. Proaudiostar is 3/3 for me.Scott W

A great humbucker pickup guitar for beginners. Has great tone and feels smooth to play. Only issue was the action, which was too low when shipped and caused lots of buzzing. Had to increase it by quite a lot to get a good feel – a beginner might not know how to do this. Guitar looks amazing, makes me want to play whenever I look at it.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Overall: I read some of these negative reviews and can't understand what they're talking about. This guitar is probably the best guitar for $200 I ever played , right out of the box it was setup perfectly. All I did was tune it , I've even got the same strings it came with. Which I normally change whenever I get a new guitar. The tuners are unbelievably tight , this guitar barely goes out of tune even if it has been sitting for weeks. Also I never attached the whammy bar , so I can't speak on that throwing it out of tune. Since I have over a dozen guitars I don't usually play it daily , but when I do it always makes me glad I purchased it. This is a very versatile guitar , I play mostly metal and this thing shreds. But I also play blues and it sounds just as good as my custom strat. I bought an Epiphone SG special in the same price range and let's just say the setup is night and day , the tuners absolutely sucked , "already replaced them" and the intonation was off. It was a mess , I've already put it on Craig's list and bought a G400 Pro instead , 10x better quality and setup , but I digress. I've got many high priced guitars but always go back to the GRX , the playability and neck feels so comfortable to play. The only thing I'm going to do eventually is throw in a Seymour Duncan humbucker and I'm definitely keeping this guitar. I don't know how Ibanez can sell this for $200 and keep the quality , but I'm certainly not going to complain. Whether you're a beginner or experienced this guitar delivers. Definitely will be purchasing another Ibanez down the road.Mike

I read a lot of reviews on this guitar before purchasing. Most common complaints revolved around tuning stability. I was expecting mine to go out of tune every 2 minutes. Not my experience at all. It seems to be strung with 10's, and holds tuning very well. Pick ups sound warm and tight. When I eventually upgrade I'll probably do the nut and tuners, but those are by no means urgent. There are so minor finish flaws, but i bought this guitar to play, not to stare at it. For less than £200, you really can't go wrong. Delivery was on time and without hassle.Ben A.

Sound: Does not have the cleanest sound due to the picks. Putting the right pedals and effects in line and cranking up the distortion makes it an awesome beginner / intermediate metal guitar. Features: For the price the materials feel great. Ease of Use: It sounds great on my Fender Champion 20 or Positive Grid Spark amp. Not the cleanest tone but a great metal sound and extremely easy to play. Quality: It feels made well, especially in the $200 range. I feel like this is one I'll have for years and once I get better definitely see this is a good platform for future mods. Value: This guitar is excellent value and at this price an amazing guitar. Manufacturer Support: I have not dealt with Ibanez. The Wow Factor: I must admit the aesthetic. It's extremely hard to find good looking purple color-based guitars. If I could dream up what I want a guitar to look like this is it. It helps that its quality is awesome. Overall: I love this guitar. Purple is my favorite color and a hard one to find good guitars in. It looks great. It feels great and I have yet to find any significant issues with it. No problems with the frets or fret buzz. Action is easy and low. It sounds great with my Positive Grid Spark amp. The pickups sound great. The HSH setup is very versatile. Not the greatest with clean tones like my Stratocaster, but amazing with the right effects.Josh

Great guitar for beginners. Looks better in your hand than in the photo. Quite loud acoustically (without amp). Came tuned with strings provided no extra fee. Delivery as stated next working day. Very satisfied overall.Dean

Received new guitar – fret buzz all over, bridge saddles were touching each other and causing vibration buzz. Originally, I raised action (still buzz) and then adjusted truss rod – still buzzing. Almost returned guitar due to bad buzz. (Utter frustration at this point) Tried one last thing: Loosened strings and started on low E string string (thickest string) – moved bridge saddles so not touching for all strings one by one ( string order E, A, D, G, B, E). Fret buzz or general buzz gone. Lowered string height first — still no buzz and then adjusted truss rod back to original position ( I added more relief originally but not necessary since neck bow was not problem) . Fret buzz still gone and now action is much lower and fast. Great guitar super light in weight – Have Vintage natural finish, finish has no gloss or very low gloss but looks great. Watch bridge saddles that our touching too much, mine had almost no space and jammed next to each other causing buzz or vibration. Watch for this problem on string changes, only need a tiny space.SolarEclipse

I really like everything about this AG75. I was pleasantly surprised. The pickups are very sensitive and responsive, over the full aural range, and with utmost clarity. The slim D neck and finely finished fretboard affords comfort with low and fast action! The overall body integrity is impressive with attention to detail. I have been playing it exclusively for three weeks, and like a good book, it's hard to put down! Makes hours of otherwise monotonous practice FUN and enjoyable again! Just a slight problem with "honking," but it was very easy to adjust it away with the pickup height adjusters. I prefer this over my other two Ibanez Artcore AF types, and they are fine as well. My highest recommendation, especially if you can buy it for under $500.00, total! Sounds and plays like a $2-Grand Gibson when set up and intonated properly.rgwhitlock

It's an Ibanez. I am a long time Ibanez fan. Even when they started the Artcore series. I own for PRS CU24's; American Fender Strat Deluxe and Tele; Les Paul elegant and Explorer. Except when I'm playing with our group I'm usually on one of my Ibanez. If they are lower end units like this I expect to change the electronics, nut and tuners. I did the tuners and had planned on installing Seth Lovers. Mean while I put some A4 magnets in the pickups and… NO SETH LOVERS! I love the tone, the responsiveness/sensitivity. See can be smooth as silk with the volume back or nice and crunchy @ 10. Pinch harmonics reach out and grab you in a nice way. Other than the tuning pegs, nut and strap locks she'll stay this way for at least a while. I got her for the color (I'm not into green guitars or fade finishes but she caught my eye for some reason) and what a friend "the Pickle" has become.Mondron

This is an extremely nice guitar, especially for the price. Great action, set-up, and play-ability straight out the box. Humbucker pickups are nice and warm, giving a nice "dark" tone to the guitar (strong bass and mid-tones) to my ears. Good variation of range of tone from the bridge and neck pickups and so is quite versatile. Lovely overtones/ harmonics going through a Blues Driver into an Orange Micro Terror — you can rock with this! — and the guitar combined well with a Roland Jazz Chorus 22 cancelling out some of the brightness of this amp. Quality of components and finish is very good. It's also a light guitar in terms of weight, so it's a practical instrument to play on stage, especially if you have a long gig — and are starting to get on a bit, like me. Of course, it's green, which might put people off, I guess… Then again, it's very eye catching and people won't miss it on stage! In summary, a great guitar at a great price that provides a different blues or jazz tone in addition to your other instruments.Damian F.

How could it not get 5 stars. A fantastic guitar at a great price. Plays well,easy to mod if you choose too, and a overall quality that ibanez always producesRich

Overall: Mine was almost returned until I took a chance and installed a different bridge pickup. Stock bridge came in outputting super low volumes. This guitar is more or less for metal but offers some versatility than just that. For starters the 5 way selector gives you some single coil options for chimey cleans. The pickups don't need to be changed out unless you got defective one like I did. The neck pickup is very clear and warm which is more than I can say for stock neck pickups on other brands. Those tend to produce an over bassy muddy tone. The neck itself isn't what I would call s fast neck. It is rather thick and felt really dry (unfinished) out of the box. Currently as I am writing this I hit the back of the neck with a few coatings of lemon oil so I hope this remedies that feel. I'm not to keen on how thick the neck feels with me having smaller hands but I haven't got any cramps playing it. Strangely enough, players advertise this on having a slim neck. It's not. The star of this guitar is it's bridge. The fix bridge is heaven to someone who loves to palm mute. No screws indenting in your palm and more sustain with no tremelo system. To me it's the reason I'm keeping it. So many strat styles for something I don't use. Overall it's a good guitar. Set up was decent out of the box. I had some sharp fret edges that I lightly filed down in a matter of minutes. The guitar comes equipped with extra light gauge strings (.09-.42). If you are wanting to put thicker strings on you're looking at a new set up so your guitar can handle the gauge differences.There's better out there for the price. The grg20 is fifty bucks cheaper and it's around the same quality. Squier makes decent starter guitars around the $200 mark and if Silo3 was still in production that would be my top choice.Matt

Overall: If you handed me this guitar before I knew about it I would assume it costs at least double what it actually does. For only 200$ you get a mahogany body with a beautiful finish, solid hardware, an amazing neck with nice inlays, and overall high quality fit and finish. This thing plays great. It's very comfortable and easy to play. I would say with confidence that this is the best guitar in its price range. It even competes with guitars in the 300-400$ range. The only thing I plan to change are the pickups, literally nothing else needs to be done. It even came setup spot on. I also can't get over how good this thing looks. The finish is a very attractive dark red wood grain and is complimented by the black hardware. I play extreme metal (death, black, thrash, doom, etc.) And I mainly use this one for death and thrash because its great for fast accurate playing. Overall, it's a great addition to my small collection and didn't set me back much. If you can only afford a 200$ guitar, please get this one. You will be glad that you did.Raymond