![Ibanez GAX30 [2004-2017]](https://img.audiofanzine.com/img/product/normal/4/7/47420.jpg?fm=pjpg&w=300&h=218&fit=max&s=71071feb2d296bd0bdf9831b570516fa)
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salastyle007 « A solid guitar »
Published on 12/28/23 at 11:10
Best value:
Excellent
Audience:
Beginners
The Ibanez GAX30 is an SG-style guitar with the lower body of a Les Paul. It punches well above its price range and can rival the standard Epiphone or Squier Classic Vibe models in terms of quality. Construction and finishing are great all round with a great neck, good pickups and nice ergonomics. It’s the perfect beginner to intermediate guitar, as you can easily upgrade the pickups later on and get a nice-sounding, mid-priced instrument. It’s easy to recommend for most styles of music like blues, rock or jazz. A cool modification can be changing the pickguard and pickups so it resembles Joan Jett’s double-cut Gibson Melody Maker.
My second ever electric guitar. I bought it due to the cool colours, solid build quality, comfortable neck, and classic rock vibes. It's reminiscent of a Gibson SG or Melody Maker DC. It was purchased brand new with a basic gigbag and accessories. The neck is very easy to play with a satin finish. Otherwise you get basic volume and tone controls, no coil splitting at this price level. It's a relatively light guitar when compared to a Les Paul, and plays easily. There is some level of neck dive, not horrible though.
Suited my blues and classic rock style fine, the sound was fat and full, but could be played clean without issue. Played it through a Fender FM15. I didn't use any effects with it and just cranked up the gain a little when playing AC/DC, Hendrix, etc. It's not a noisy guitar. You can get a wide variety of sounds, although I wouldn't play Metal or anything too heavy, go for a Jackson or ESP in that case. You could get away with really heavy stuff but I've found that EMG-equipped guitars handle that best.
The guitar was well set up by the shop. I did need to adjust the truss rod several times over the years, but nothing dramatic. Wiring and finish were all fine, good quality there and no complaints. Same with the frets, nothing to flag. All in all a solid instrument that looks and feels more expensive that it is. There were no flaws upon purchase. The pickups needed a little raising that's all. I was very impressed by the out of the box nature of its playability. Well done Ibanez! This is how it should be.
I would use this as a second live guitar, or rehearsals and home practice. Reason being the sound quality could be better but it's unbeatable at this price point. Durability is fine. It's dependable and looks quite cool. I had fun using it and it never let me down. It lasted me around 5-6 years before I eventually sold it for a Les Paul which suited my playing style better. It's a great feeling and sounding guitar, I would easily recommend it to anyone looking for an alternative to Epiphone or Squier.
My second ever electric guitar. I bought it due to the cool colours, solid build quality, comfortable neck, and classic rock vibes. It's reminiscent of a Gibson SG or Melody Maker DC. It was purchased brand new with a basic gigbag and accessories. The neck is very easy to play with a satin finish. Otherwise you get basic volume and tone controls, no coil splitting at this price level. It's a relatively light guitar when compared to a Les Paul, and plays easily. There is some level of neck dive, not horrible though.
Suited my blues and classic rock style fine, the sound was fat and full, but could be played clean without issue. Played it through a Fender FM15. I didn't use any effects with it and just cranked up the gain a little when playing AC/DC, Hendrix, etc. It's not a noisy guitar. You can get a wide variety of sounds, although I wouldn't play Metal or anything too heavy, go for a Jackson or ESP in that case. You could get away with really heavy stuff but I've found that EMG-equipped guitars handle that best.
The guitar was well set up by the shop. I did need to adjust the truss rod several times over the years, but nothing dramatic. Wiring and finish were all fine, good quality there and no complaints. Same with the frets, nothing to flag. All in all a solid instrument that looks and feels more expensive that it is. There were no flaws upon purchase. The pickups needed a little raising that's all. I was very impressed by the out of the box nature of its playability. Well done Ibanez! This is how it should be.
I would use this as a second live guitar, or rehearsals and home practice. Reason being the sound quality could be better but it's unbeatable at this price point. Durability is fine. It's dependable and looks quite cool. I had fun using it and it never let me down. It lasted me around 5-6 years before I eventually sold it for a Les Paul which suited my playing style better. It's a great feeling and sounding guitar, I would easily recommend it to anyone looking for an alternative to Epiphone or Squier.