Ibanez AEL50SERLV

The first time I saw my Ibanez AEL50SERLV in the shop, just the detail and the look of her and the way she was put together won me over. I tried a couple of other Ibanez acoustic electrics but kept going back to my original choice. After a small hickup, I've found the guitar I've been looking for for ages. I love the low gloss finish and the full roundedness of the jumbo body (a bit like me, small breasted and big hipped). The neck is a dream to play on, smooth and easy on the fingers. The only feature I'm not totally happy with is the Squeel Repeal Pick-up.

I play mainly folk and soft rock both on stage and in studio work and my Ibanez fits my style like a second skin. Her highs are bright and clear and her lows are full and rich. Acoustically she has enough resonance to stand out in a crowd. Electronically her lows are powerful and clear. I've found that when she's plugged in she lacks a little in the highs, they don't seem to ring out as much which is a shame because the lows are so good. With recording this can be modified but on stage it is harder to do without maxing the top end out.

The set up was pretty alright when I got her but I did have the action lowered a tiny bit and the neck set just right for me. She seems to be put together really well. However, I looked at another of her model in a shop the other day and there were a few flaws that I noticed in the neck feature, the finish and the tuning pegs that mine does not have.

I've used my Ibanez for both stage work and recording and she stood up to all the tests without much of a problem. The only real problem I've had with her is a little feed back while recording. The Squeel Repeal pick-up doesn't seem to be doing the job it is supposed to do all the time. I do gigs with her without a backup and am very confident that she will do the job without a problem and if there is a problem with feed back my partner has been able to sort it out with the mixing.

When I first got an Ibanez AEL50SERLV it worked really well for the first 6 months but then the pick-up suddenly refused to work and I couldn't get any electronic sound out of it at all. As it was under warranty, I took it back to the shop and they tried to fix it but had no success. They wanted to replace the pick-up but it was going to take weeks to get one into the shop. The dealer spoke to Ibanez and, instead of all the waiting, they simply gave me a whole new guitar within days. I thought this was the ultimate in customer service. There was no hassle, no arguements and no wait, just how it should be under warranty.

I've been playing guitar for about 25 years now and while I'm not the greatest guitarist I know what I like in a guitar. I've always loved Ibanez and have owned 4 of them in my time, 2 acoustic and 2 acoustic/electric. The AEL is definately the best of the bunch and I love playing her, she seems made just for me.

I just purchased this guitar on Ebay, a slightly scratched 'new' guitar for $350 delivered, which is $130 off the discount retail price of $480. It's a cutaway modified jumbo acoustic electric, with a solid spruce top, flamed sycamore sides and back (plywood) and a mahogany neck with rosewood FB with 22 frets. It's finished in "resonant low gloss". The decoration on this instrument is nice, with a leaf and vine maple fingerboard inlay and all maple body and neck binding with b/w/b/w/b purfling. The back has a maple strip with b/w/b on either side down the center joint. The rosette is abalone and b/w/b strips. It comes with adjustable tension sealed gold finish tuners that have a nice feel. The neck is Les Paul thin and the fretjob is very good for a factory made guitar. Electronics are B-Band, with the SRT preamp/sound shaper and onboard tuner.

I can't believe that a factory made Chinese guitar can sound this good. I tuned it and began playing, and it was fine out of the box. I will lower the bridge saddle a trifle, but it really is a personal preference. Very nice bright sound with a good middle and strong lows, and since this is a solid top, I would expect the sound to improve with age. I play mostly old folk tunes and classic rock, with a lot of finger picking, and it's perfect for that stuff. "Blackbird" sounds awesome on this guitar! I can't say anything about the electric sound, since I don't have an amp for it yet.

The action was great out of the box. Personal preference will dictate what you need to do to this guitar, but Ibanez has thoughtfully provided an extra bridge saddle and some shims (in case you lower it too far!). The average grade solid spruce top is bookmatched, as is the sycamore plywood back.
Although this guitar is superficially beautiful, like a Vegas call girl, on closer inspection it harbors many small flaws, none of which affect it's sound or function, but which you would not tolerate on a $1000 guitar (or call girl). There is an inordinate amount of filler used on the inlay and binding work, and in my opinion the "resonant low gloss finish" is a scam to avoid the final polishing steps. Regardless, this is an awfully nice guitar for less than $500, and I'm sure that the uninitiated will be duely impressed.

It looks to me like it would hold up to stage work well, at least the low gloss finish won't show scratches much. Many Ibanez owners have complained about the lack of a second strap button on the base of the neck heel, but this guitar has a nice gold plated one there- I guess Ibanez heard the grumbling. It also has both phone jack and xlr outputs, for direct connection to a mixer if required.
Only time will tell about the durability. I'll check back in 10 years or so.

Don't know, since I bought it on Ebay I guess I don't get support anyway!

I'm 58 and I've been playing off and on since I was 15. My other guitar is a 20 some year old Alvarez 5040 (reviewed here also). This axe sounds fuller and brighter than my 5040, but that's to be expected with the solid spruce top. I looked at the other acoustic electric guitars from Ibanez, but settled on the AEL because it has the largest body, and I play mostly acoustically these days. I hate the "resonant low gloss finish". Give me the good old nitro lacquer gloss finish please! It plays as easily as my old Alvarez, even without any adjustment. The only things I wish it had was a gloss finish and no ding in the top!