Ibanez AEG10-TRS Acoustic/Electric

Well, E-Acoustic with Fishman-Piezo and Ibanez preamp (4 Band-EQ.... very tricky and good: the phase shifter whish should eliminate feedbacks (which does it and good), which also comes handy for a second tone here and then).

For an Acoustic the neck is thin... for someone playing mainly thinner Ibanez necks it is kind of heavy...

Oh yeah... the second strap-pin was missing (quite usual for an Acoustic... but hey... one pin... that isn't too expensiv... it should have have it in the first place...)

Made in China... and I do not want to know why someone in China has to built these guitars for that few bucks.

Unplugged... well, it has a very thin body, so it doesn't sound too loud and full. It wouldn't stand a chance against a dreadnought... BUT that was not the reason I chose it for... I was looking for a stage guitar (as I am playing in a Rock-Band) though my rating goes to:

Amplified: we ran a test.... this 'cheap' thing against 2 guitars which are both around 1000 Euros (Lakewood and Martin). Yes, unpugged it lost (both other guitars being dreadnoughts), but amplified it gave the best tone of all, and the most versatile.

Whilst the others preamps seemed to have nearly no influence on the sound at all the Ibanez preamp reacted on every smooth change on the eq. Quite amazing.

While in another review someone wrote it sounded bad over amps I have to mention that you do not use e-guitar-amps for an e-acoustic ;)

Between my AEG10 and the PA I am right now using Boss a AD3 (and a Volume-pedal and a tuner-pedal, but they do not do anything 'bout the sound)... and that combination sounds very good (and hey, the AEG 10 sounds good without the AD3 too, but it gives the last kick... puls Chorus and Reverb and another feedback-eliminator).

My rating here goes for the amplified sound... if it were for the unplugged tone.... naah, I didn't want it for unplugged sessions, thats what my Yamaha dreadnought is there for ;)

The setup was fine, strings were D'Addarios (standard for Ibanez I think).

The finish is good (also I have the first scratches on it, but that's because I use it... wasn't so when I received it ;) ).

Dislikes: the nut wasn't cut properly, but that never resulted in absent tuning-stability, it just doesn't look so nice.
The output-jack loosen very fast.

Hm.. before I put one Strap-Locks it fell down twice... our singer knocked it over once.

No crack from that, though that is where the scratches came from.

Since the preamp needs a 9V-Block you should always have a psare lying around when you gig (but that counts too for my E-Bow).

So far it hasn't failed me, thus I can depend on it.

When it comes to the question of a backup.... well, I do not have another acoustic with Pickup, but I am using the AC2 in my electric-setup (not because I am afraid it might fail me, more because I play some songs where I play the verses acoustic and the chorus electric...).

Haven't dealt with IBanez support yet (my main guitar is an Ibanez Radius, which I play since 91, this guitar since 2001).

Right now I am playing guitar for 15 years, mainly e-guitar.

Since this is an acoutstic I will not tell much about my e-guitar setup... only that I am playing an Ibanez Radius and new an Ibanez Artcore.

Beside that I am having a Yamaha dreadnought and a No-Name Classic-Guitar.

If it were stolen or lost... I'd get another one.

Before I chose it I tested it against guitars from the Yamaha APX-series, the more expensive versions of the AEG-series, some Ovations and lots of other E-Acoustics (washburn, fender stratocoustic, Lakewood, Martin etc.).

One reason for choosing was definetly the price, another that my Radius never failed me. But the main reason was the amplified sound which is superb.

Anything I wsh it had???? Yeah, 12 strings from time to time :D

But serious now... I think I will get the Nylon-version too. I played the 12 string version, but since it would be my first 12string I'd go for a dreadnought, even though all the AEG-series are great stage-guitars.

9 out of 10 because overall, for the job I have it for, it is a great guitar.

Made in China by people making far too little money but who are probably very happy to HAVE a job. Over a billion people over there...sheesh! I'm not sure of the year, probably 2001 or 2002.
Translucent red sunburst (TRS), spruce top, mahogany back and sides,
sealed tuners, Fishman pick-up with active Ibanez AEQ Shape-Shifter control
(bass,middle,treble and "shape" cut/boost with phase switch and volume control). Single cut-away, body,neck and center back binding with Abalone(?)
rosette. Rosewood fretboard and bridge. No case. The "bang for the buck" is pretty damn good.

It sounds pretty good for its price. All A/E's that I've been exposed to seem to vary only slightly in quality of sound. I bought this to
be a "beater", a guitar I can take outside or to open mikes and not
care if it gets bounced about. By tweaking the EQ you can get a very useable sound. I play this right-handed guitar left-handed (high "E" on top). The main reason I chose this guitar is that the controls reside on the shoulder, which means they are still accessable even when upside down. Most other A/E's I've tried have the control centered in the middle of the guitar, which would then be sitting in my lap, unreachable and subject to change with movement. I have yet to
use it at any venue, so the jury is still out on its "electric" sound, however, it sounds rather trebly due to its smaller body size when played unplugged.

This guitar was sold as a "second". It has a very minor gap between the binding and the fretboard at the nut. Other than that there appears to be no problems. I had to change the strings immediately, as the "factory" strings would not stay in tune. When I removed the strings, I was amazed to find that each one had no extra length to it.
Ibanez has it goin' on in the high volume/ moderate quality manufacturing process! Inside is pretty clean, no globs of glue on joints. The action was quite reasonable considering that other similar priced guitars are nearly impossibe to fret. I rated this category without consideration to the "seconds" status.

I believe this guitar will withstand "open mike" type of playing,
since one only plays two or three songs per session. I wouldn't count on it for a full two to three hour gig. It seems to have some difficulty staying in tune, which may be problematic. The finish
appears durable,and I've bounced it into stuff without consequence.
For the money, I find it a superb value.

I got a 30 day warranty from the store I bought it from. No factory warranty (hey, its a second!). I've never dealt with the factory,and I can't fathom sending a $300.00 guitar all the way to China to be repaired! You can't buy a plane ticket to China for $300.00 for goodness sake!

I've been playing guitar for about 27 years. I own 2 other acoustics,
a Taylor and a D'Agostino, and a bunch of electrics. If it were stolen or lost I'd be bummed because this guitar is a very good value, again, for the price. Frankly I find it amazing that they can make money on these things, but when you're paying your employees pennies per hour I guess there is money to be made.