Ibanez AW100

I purchased this guitar while looking at much more expensive instuments at Bud's in Peterborough Ontario. It was about $400 CDN including case. I later added a Lace soundhole pickup.

This guitar has a very clean sound. In short it rings like a bell. It is well made and lightly braced and demands light strings. I have played many other heavier instruments and found them to be finger breakers. I have made up for it's shallowness by adding a soundhole pickup. I can give the instrument a bass boost using the EQ on the mixer I play it through. The light fingering is something I'd forgotten since my "Strat" Days. A joy to play!!

As above it can be a little shallow in tone. This is more than made up by overall versatility and cleanliness/purity of sound. For whamming away on 3 chord stuff I would have picked a more robust guitar.

The instrument is flawless. Inside the bracing is impeccably glued and no rough edges. This is not an expensive guitar and I am more than pleased with overall quality. The neck is slim but no buzzing on even the high frets. The fret material is however soft and requires dressing more than usual. I will replace frets soon with harder material.

Wow..Good bang for the buck!!! I have really played this guitar to death and it really belies it's delicate nature. Much more robust than first impressions would indicate. Neck stays straight, no tuning/humidity problems.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I had been shopping around every weekend for about 5 weeks in a row until I decided on this guitar. I was shopping for a guitar under $500 and it eventually came down to this guitar or a Martin 000X1. I chose this one because I liked the tone about as much as the Martin, and I felt weird about buying the Martin since it's not real wood. I bought the AW100 at Guitar Center for $309.

Well, first off and most importantly it has a clear, full tone. Well balanced from lows to highs and can be loud and strong. It has a great booming dreadnaught sound when really strumming and stays clear when quietly fingerpicking. The guitar looks pretty good too with the abalone rosette and logo and the binding around the body and on the neck.

The finish is really thick and makes the guitar look a little "plasticy". You can barely see the grain on the soundboard through this finish and it adds to the plastic look. There are some things(like tiny rocks or chips or something) inside the guitar that I can't get out that are really bugging me. There really isn't anything I don't like about this guitar yet.

The AW100 is built pretty solidly and feels that way. The binding and inlays are well done and make the guitar look really more expensive than it is. The tuners are pretty solid and stay in tune. The bracing inside is pretty fuzzy and there are a few glue marks. The finish is probably too thick but the mahogany back and sides look really "lush" and reflect light pretty sweetly. A few frets have rough edges but the fingerboard is nice overall. The neck is mahogany, but feels real light and seems more like a veneered composite.

I am happy with this guitar and happy with my decision to buy it. It is my second acoustic and is noticably better than my Washburn D-10N.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Bought online, after playing a few at local store for $290.

Very nice bright sound. Sounds like guitars costing much more.

The sides and back look like layered laminated wood, which, is ok since the sides and back are actually layered and laminated.

Very high quality construction. The Solid spruce top has some minor cosmetic defects, but the sound overcomes any blemish in the wood. In fact a very high grade Engelmen spruce top (no cosmetic defects) and high quality tunners cost more than this guitar. My guess is that all AW100 have cosmetic defects in the top.

This Ibanez guitar is actually made by a Korean company that makes many inexpensive guitars for many different brands. It is the Hyundai of korean guitars (not a bad thing). What I liked about the Ibanez branded version was the sound quality of the Englmen spruce top and higher quality tunners (grover). For the price, this gets a 5 out of 5.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this acoustic at the Guitar Center near Cincinnati, Oh. It was on sale at $309 and it was the first guitar I bought. I haven't done much shopping before I paid for it, but I played it and it sounded like a full toned instrument. It didn't have a whinny sound nor did it have a muffled sound.

I like the down to earth sound that it carries. It has the depth and hollowness that can carry any tune or style. It has a good feel to it and handles like a solid piece of wood!


I didn't like the way the Guitar Center sells it's supplies. They took it right out of the box and didn't even bother to do any adjustments to it. The hammer was too high, the guitar out of tune and they weren't even able to place a screw in to hold a strap. Other than that, I have no complaints from it's sound or performance. Although, in hindsight I would have opted of the model that had a cut in the body in order to hit the higher notes without straining.

I'm not sure about the construction or the quality, but can assure you that it is a well built piece of equiptment. I've shown it too my brother and he says it sound so much more like a guitar that the Yamaha he just paid $300 for. My music teacher says it has a strong solid sound to it and thinks I chose a great piece for not knowing what I was buying!

I would recommend this unit to anyone who is interested in not paying an arm and a leg for a guitar. It is an all around fine instument and you won't have any regrets in it's sound or performance! I'll rate this piece a 4 out of 5 just because I would prefer that cut in the body to enable a more dirverse playing field. If your a first time guitar player... make sure you "listen" to your piece... it will be the guitar's sound that inspires you to play more. This guitar is one that will do that very thing.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com