« Ibanez GAX70 »

I bought it at Guitar City in Hollywood, CA (sounds glamorous - it?s not ? but the top guitarists have left their handprints in the concrete area outside and it turns out that my hands are identical to Joe Satriani?s. Is this a sign from God?). I am 49 and have decided to take up the electric guitar. Being an attorney (smart, well paid, very thorough) but also being incredibly cheap, I: (a) decided to spend as little as possible in case it turned out that my manual dexterity and/or patience weren?t up to the task of learning to play it; and (b) spent hours doing internet research. So far, so good; indeed, a no brainer - this guitar had rave reviews from everyone (not one of whom knew less than I did) and, like me, was virtually the cheapest around. Thus armed with (admittedly secondhand) knowledge, I went into three music stores, where I found that (possibly due to my affluent and suave appearance and English accent) the salespeople tried to sell me much more expensive stuff. However, to my ear, this one sounded really nice ? clearly superior to a really horrid Squier - and with fit and finish superior to some much more expensive ones. The humbucker pickups give it both a richer and broader range of sound than single coil. I was very impressed that such a machine is available at this price. I paid $199.

Let me count the ways. First, if you want to learn to play guitar properly then you need a clean tone because buzz and fuzz (which are easy to create) get very tiresome, very quickly. You can make VERY clean sounds out of this. Second, the action seems just right to me (but what the hell do I know). Third, construction and quality are excellent (see below).

Not much. The tone knobs seem more or less useless although there is some difference between zero and 10. Might have been better if the cord outlet were located on the front instead of on the edge/back.

Outstanding. Everything fits right and tight. There was a scratch on the back which I didn?t notice. Not Ibanez?s fault. I was particularly impressed: first, that it?s reassuringly solid. There is absolutely nothing (ok, except for the nut) which seems cheap about it. The weight seems to be in exactly the right spot on that vast continuum between this-reminds-me-of-that-plastic-guitar-I-had-when-I-was-five and the QE2?s anchor; second, by its silky smooth, easy turning gears; and third, by the beautiful finish (mine is black). Is this actually made of mahogany? Ah, screw the rain forests.

If you are a beginner, I really don?t think you can go wrong with this guitar. If you?re not, then you probably aren?t reading this.

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