Ibanez Grg120Bdx Electric Guitar White For Sale (Jan 2023 Update)

First impression?s it looks well made (for the money) plays well, the fret board and action fits me well. I?m not as familiar with other electric guitars of this generation as I was comparing this one with my old Kay electric guitar I had over 50 years ago. I am impressed with the tone from the pickups though my Pevy practice amplifier. Time will tell how in holds up, I suspect it will do well.Fredrick

I am a experienced player who has tried a variety of guitars from all different price ranges and this was the first guitar I was lucky to get. For a guitar this cheap it played amazing. I don't know if I just got lucky but the guitar hasn't had many tuning and electronic issues. As of right now I use this guitar as my main. I am planning on putting in Seymour Duncan blackouts for a more fatter tone and louder and better sound. I really recommend this for any player at any skill level. It's good for any tunings and any gauge strings. I at one time had 13 to 65s and it still played amazing and doesn't take a lot of adjustments.Chase C.

I got this guitar plugged into my Bulgera V22 amp and immediately thought, this is blowing away my Fender Players Strat (MIM)…how can this be? I did have to adjust the string height was easy to do I figured eh? its new thats why I think its so great. Then I get on here and read the other guys review…saying the exact same thing, about his Fender MIM on the Bulgera V22 (which is an incredible amp by the way). I, like him feel it kinda sux my much more expensive Fender can't out do it. I'm gonna dare say after adding good strings? It may well give my EVH Wolfgang Special a run!…thats gonna sting. My first guitar was a Green inexpensive Ibanez, I traded up to the Fender MIM….and was disappointed. Ibanez is no Joke and for the money, you can't beat it.AJ

This guitar is a great value for me, here's what I like; Looks great (and headstock is beautiful) 24 fret (dot inlays, didn't want shark) Upper fret access couldn't be better. Tremolo bar Really dark fretboard (not ebony of course, but super nice) Dot inlays and side inlays are BRIGHT white, easy for me to see. Fingers slide up and down the fretboard with ease, which is not true of some of my other guitars, fingers tend to hang up on some, I could not ask for better frets. Cons/what I don't like: Set up was INCREDIBLY HORRIBLE, really omg, I don't know who was responsible, vendor/ibanez, hard to say, but the neck was BOWED like 1/8th of an inch or so , I mean ackk!! I thought I would need to send it back. The allen key that came with was a sloppy fit, too loose which could have stripped out the tension rod, so I found a tighter one in my tool bin, cranked the neck to about flat, then , NO MORE problems. The pickups seem to be muddy, definition in chording seems weak, single note lead playing is perfect, it's just 'chording' , my other guitars seem to have better clarity for chording, I haven't swapped out the pups yet, I have a set of SD Sat Night Specials, ready to try. I say seems, because, since I haven't chgd' pups yet, I don't know for sure the source/why it feels muddy. This is the only neg thing I would say about the guitar. I have some name brand guitars, and have owned hundreds, this is my main guitar right now, I love it !! Great value.riverstrat

These guitars do not come from Ibanez very well setup,but after i did a proper setup on this guitar wow it sounds and plays great. The finish on this guitar is much better than i expected. It has a little smaller body than i am used to but it is a full 24 fret. I would say for the price i got a very good deal and i am very happy with my new guitar… Thank you American Music Supply.Gary Grey

Overall: First impression:Out of the box, this thing is downright beautiful. The Candy Apple Red just shines in the light without a flaw on it. In my personal opinion, it's the only one that the Tortoise Shell pickguard really works on and that's why I picked the color. Not disappointed. The Pao Ferro fretboard is gorgeous.I had the same Elite pickups in an old GAX 70 that got destroyed and the great sound out of them didn't catch me off guard, but the quality of the tuners did. They're smooth, just tight enough, and not catchy or jumpy at all. I actually get to keep a stock set for a while. I learned how to tie a "locking knot", so no need to replace them.The switches and knobs feel good, too. Nice and clicky switch, and smooth turns from the pots. The balance and feel are extremely nice, and the neck profile is just butter.I can't really say a bad thing about this guitar as it sits right out of the box, and then when I remember that it was only $199 it just blows my mind. This will go up on stage with me if I ever get up there again, no doubt.P.S. – We love you, zZounds!Robert

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

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 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.

Cheap guitar that's all that should be said. But very nice looking and sounds much better than I expected. Great purchase for the money. Regarding the price I would recommend this one comparing to other, more expensive Ibanez GIO ones.ivaboyarki-0

Gio, being ibanez china cousin brand, but still carries the ibanez name. This being "black knight" version, strat type 2 humbucker design. This has an overall good feel to me, nice shape, comfortable neck…easy player. The body routing is actually hsh design, there's an empty single coil pocket between the humbuckers. Simple master volume master tone and 3 way slide selector switch. Pots are dime size, wiring is ok but basic, pickups are ok but mine had plastic base plates which was not happy with. Fat 6 tremelo is ok, zinc small block, larger top plate than fender style, decent cast saddles, but screw pattern is gio specific and can't be easily changed/upgraded. Plastic string nut just basic as well. I changed to a bone nut, changed pickups to a decent alnico 5 pair, put roller saddes and locking tuners on this guitar, at that point it became a great player! But keeping in mind the price, if you are looking for a quality guitar "out of box" you come up short…you have a nice looking, balanced, decent neck and body but the parts are sub quality for anyone past beginner. I have noticed that gio features 2 different types of tuning machines also, 1 being the 10mm sealed (better) and the other the smaller hole dia. Schaller strat style with the inserts… Neither are very good quality but the 10mm makes for an easy relatively cheap upgrade direct replacement.kbak2353

Bought this guitar for my son for Christmas. He loves it. The color is awesome! I am by no means a guitar expert, but this guitar is very nice. It plays and sounds great. It is affordable and is a genuine Ibanez. It was packaged well and shipped quickly. Would definitely recommend.shadywright10

I received my guitar today. Blue Metal Chameleon. I love it. It sounds great. No flaws, great packaging. Just a great guitar at a great price.John

I received my guitar today. Blue Metal Chameleon. I love it. It sounds great. No flaws, great packaging. Just a great guitar at a great price.John

I reviewed this guitar a couple of years ago. I was just browsing GC to look for another L/H I can get my hands on quickly (sheltering in place without access to my gear!) and came across my old review. So, my nephew came by one day with his luthier gear, set up the action, etc. — and this became my #1 go-to guitar! Really playable, wide range of sound using the switches from somewhat strat-like to a more shreddy humbucker sound. So, as it turned out, the guitar is really nice, but it helps if you (or someone) knows how to set it up. I would give it 5 stars, but that would kinda assume it arrives in the properly setup condition mine is in now …Sheldon

So this guitar ended up being like that girl at a party you wish you hadn't started a conversation with. Good looking, but not much else going on, and then after spending some time together, you're looking for a way out. Resale and trade in value is nothing, as I found out. Now I've loved Ibanez products for years – but those were my younger years in the late 80s. Stock pickups are okay, nothing special, neck was easy on the hands. This is an acceptable one if you want a guitar that will be your training wheels while learning to shred. Basswood is near bottom of the list for good tone wood, it is cheap and used for budget guitars – so it's not meant to last. Nice looks at first glance – shark inlays are pretty. The red burst finish is hot. But that basswood tho. Hard to shape the tone into something likable if you're an experienced player. If your budget is 200, by all means grab this one up, the action on mine was okay, I lowered it a bit for playability. The hardware is nothing special, especially the tuners. It's a guitar for a younger person, for sure – it's a matter of taste and after 27 years of playing I just don't draw inspiration from this guitar. I can't recommend this to anyone who can hold out and save a little while longer for something better – otherwise, by all means pick it up and start playing – don't stop EVER.Subsonikk

Thought I'd jump on the SDoD for this axe and glad I did. Out of the box, the first thing you notice are the great looks of this budget guitar. Fit and finish are perfect. Next, the setup. This action on this was setup perfect and the neck is perfectly straight (I checked using tool for that). Tuned the stock strings after stretching and checked intonation. It was almost spot on, minor adjustment on a couple strings and its done. Plugged into amp and very little buzz or hum. I've had other budget guitars that are so bad that I can't play them, amp buzz way too annoying. Probably need a rewire. The humbuckers have decent enough sound that I have no intention on replacing them. Anyway, this guitar is a good buy at the regular price and even better on sale! Highly recommend.idjut

Great action , and great feel very very comfortable to play, and the paint finish is amazing i still cant belive i got this dealndc81167

I've been practicing for years on a fake Chinese Fender stray copy – needed a good, REAL guitar; and one suitable for my rather small hands. This absolutely works. It's sexy, fun to play, and sounds like a beast!kentzibernabe0

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

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

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

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

Overall: I have spent a lot of time just staring at this guitar and thinking of how it was constructed. From the different types of wood that were used to how they were put together and finished and all I can say is that this guitar is a beautiful piece of art that would satisfy anyone like myself who loves the look of wood and truly appreciates how it is brought together to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. I have and do own other guitars that use exotic wood for the top of the body but in most cases the guitar is made of one type of wood and the exotic is a very thin piece of veneer, the top of this guitar however is a little more than a half inch thick. That doesn't sound like much but is about 6 times thicker than most guitar tops that use an expensive exotic wood including my other Ibanez guitars and considering the thinness of the "S" series guitars, that's almost half of the overall thickness. The rest of the body is the African Mahogany and in my opinion is beautiful enough to be the front / top of the guitar. The neck of this guitar is just as impressive and beautiful with the 11 pieces of wood combined to look great and more importantly feel and play wonderfully. All of the hardware on this guitar is top notch. This is the first guitar I've owned that uses the Gotoh machined tuning heads and I didn't quite understand the hype until I received the guitar and seen what actually makes them different. The same for the Zero Point Bridge / Tremolo system. The combination of this bridge and tuning heads and of coarse the lock nut makes this guitar stay perfectly tuned even during the most aggressive playing and whammy bar usage (I've put it to the test). Ibanez cut no corners on this guitar and it all makes for probably the best guitar I've ever owned out of the 80 – 100 Ibanez guitars I've had and played over the last 30 years. I highly recommend to anyone who seeks a guitar with great Playability, Tone, Quality and Beauty to spend a little more (or less, whatever the case) for this guitar and you won't be disappointed. If you are, I will personally refund all your mon…. Okay not really, but I will gladly take it if you don't like it and want to ship it to me.Fred

Overall: This is the first IbAnez in my stable for nearly 10 years. I have always admired the S series for its thin neck and petite frame. This guitar carries that perfectly. The fret board is nearly perfect being responsive and high quality —both pad and thumb side ( like porous wood – feels incredible). Trem placement and response is exactly what you would expect. Pota and toggle are smooth and static free. Stays in tune without flaw. The complement of action and electronics is beyond perfect . Playing is smooth and the added technology would make this guitar incredibly versitle in low light conditions ( fluorescent dots on dorsal side of neck). Case candy was nice. No complaints on stuff it comes with. Concerns – jack – not deep enough for Bluetooth jack ( bevel catches on side and does not allow for proper seating ( for my gear). Finish pattern – it is a gorgeous finish just confusing to my eye. Very busy but, that is just my impression. On arrival – high e was broken at nut but was playable – until tuning – likely shipping process My opinion is this is a keeper – pro level for studio and stage. With zero hum in electronics exacerbated by the tactile aspects and premium aspects. Will be my go to for studio due to ergonomics and zero hum.Tony

This guitar is the epitome of world class craftsmanship. Every single detail is attended to with pristine precision. The playability is unmatched and quality unsurpassed. I own many quality guitars ESP Japan made, Gibson USA made. But there is just something special that makes me only want to play this guitar. Well done Ibanez this will be a lifelong keeper. Better then I could imagined or expected and I expected a LOT at this price point. Did not disappoint. I purchased the stallion white and it is breath taking in person. It has a pearlesque look which I love. If you are on the fence don't hesitate you will not be disappointed. This is top notch quality in every way and don't know how it could get better. A+++++Joe

I dreamed of having a guitar like this after seeing a cased Ibanez Jem about twenty years ago. Words cannot describe the disappointment I experienced after finally having them money to get something like this only to have received a dud. I bought this because the Pia looked so much more dignified than the Jem. I was excited to play this after reading so much about how Ibanez uses the highest levels of craftsmanship and standards for their top of the line guitars. Unfortunately, I'm afraid they've lost credibility with me. Here's why: – The frets were so sharp that I worried if cut myself. – The whammy bars (it came with two) were not tightly fit into its tremolo. They would make a clicking sound as they loosely rocked back and forth using some vibrato. – One area of the guitar was not finished being painted (or so it appeared). – The body was not smoothly sanded down as I could visibly see imperfections in the wood as light shined on the paint. I ended up finding another person on YouTube doing a review who experienced the same problem with the whammy bars along with some other issues. I wish so badly this guitar would have been the last I would have ever purchased.David

It is a great privilege to leave the 1st review for this guitar at Guitar Center. It is my 1st personal review at guitar center as well. First, it is a little surprising to see this review will be the 1st since this guitar has been released for half a year. But whoever reads this, right now is 2020, the pandemic year, and we do not know how soon this is going to end, maybe next spring, maybe even longer. Probably that is the reason. Please let us remember this difficult time that many people lost their lives, many people got laid off, we might get another recession… I am a Steve Vai fan, I made this impulse buy at this difficult time, but not regretting it. The PIA is fantastic, absolutely the best guitar I have ever played so far, although I handed on a few more expensive ones. I compare it with Farreri. It is just smooth on every cover of the guitar. Fingerboard and neck are just gorgeous. Frets are stunning. If I use one word to describe PIA, it is going to be "Harmony". Handsome but beautiful, energetic but soft, Yin and Yang. It is very light, but still holds a decent amount of weight (not as light as the Herman Li's guitar, that one is a little too light from my point of view). The newly designed Dimarzio Utopia pickups, together with the pickups covers are sweet and beautiful. It is interesting they named it Utopia, as the ideal society, but also like U to Pia, maybe it is part of the reason for the name of this guitar.Zens Tone

All the things I will say here are just my opinions, because everybody's hands and ears are different. But, having said that, I do feel qualified to give an insightful review having worked full time in a guitar repair shop through much of the 90's. I was originally just going to buy a backup guitar for my Ibanez 7-string that I use onstage. But then I thought, why not have a little fun and push myself out of my comfort zone? I can stiil play all the same songs I play on my 7-string. So why not? I could tell right away I liked the design of RG8 (from the strighter-string pull headstock to the flat-mount bridge) better than the Schecter8 in the same price point. The RG8 came with D'Addario .09-.64 strings on it, and it felt very similar to playing a .10-.46 set of strings on a standard scale length guitar, bends and slides were no problem (as well as slapping and popping the lower strings). But plan on putting a heavier strings on this axe if you want to go any lower than F#, a .10-.74 set works well for chords and rhythm riffing. the RG8 sounds and plays almost more like a short-scale bass in this configuration, and rings out better as well. Ibanez seems to know where to give you the biggest bang -for the-buck, and thankfully, it seems to be in the construction of the neck. I have never seen a guitar in this price range with a five piece neck, that's for sure. The neck seems very stable and is either unfinished or has a very light sealer on it, it feels nice and satin-y, but I'm unsure how well this neck would do in extreme temperature changes. But, having said that, mine hasn't moved at all, even after a string change with a different brand and gauge. Of course, that means they need to skimp a little in other areas on the guitar, and the most obvious of course, are the pickups and electrontics. The stock pickups have a fairly clear tone and are little lower output than I was expecting (when compared to my 7-string with a Dimarzio Evolution in the bridge position). Luckily, these are easily replaceble, and not difficult to find at all. Seymour Duncan and EMG make perfect retro-fits for this guitar. I did disconnected the tone control from the volume knob, and it does actually make a small diffence in clarity in the tone. The tuning keys are of the no-name variety, and seem to work well, but the heavier strings I installed just barely fit through the hole in the key, and I thought I detected a small amount binding in their rotation afterwards. The 27" scale works well for keeping those lower notes clear and is really not that noticable for me except maybe in the lower regions of the neck (This is another reason I like the Ibanez design…Schecter has a 26.5" and LTD has a 25.5").I'm sure I will upgrade the pickups and electronics in the future, but overall, I'm excited about playing this guitar and the additional creativity it will bring.Locknutmonster

This guitar made me not only hate extended range, but music as a whole for a while. Ibanez as a brand is absolutely phenomenal, and I have been a fanboy of them since the moment I picked up guitar. This guitar delivers virtually nothing I expect from Ibanez – even the gio line. The rg8 series is plagued with shoddy craftsmanship, atrocious fretwork, horrendous out-of-box playability, and they just FEEL disgusting in the hand. An unfinished neck =/= an utterly raw neck. Such has been the case with each of the 6 individual rg8s I have played – when porous, grimy feeling, roughly sanded, horribly profiled necks that seem to fight your fretting hand with a samurai's zeal meet mile-high action that can only be nominally corrected due to atrociously leveled frets, the experience of playing an Ibanez RG8 can be likened moreso to the experience of trying to play a fretted shamisen. If ungodly fit and finish, horrible feel, and the flat plate bridge haven't turned you completely off, the disgustingly poor pickup choice should seal the deal. There are many things that these pickups aren't – but I can confirm that they are without character, flat, unimpressive, and unbalanced. Their response to gain is practically null. I have never enjoyed a tone that has come out of an rg8. tl;dr? run for the hills. or buy the entry level Jackson 8.mamasrockstar

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.

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