Ibanez SGT120

It has a transparent, shiny finish on the entire guitar. Top is a reddish / brownish sunburst, back is a red-tinted natural sunburst. Sides and neck alternate between red-tinted natural colour and solid black colour.

The body style is a standard dreadnought, with no cutaway. The tuners are diecast tuners, made by Ibanez as expected. The neck is a U-profile neck with a rosewood fretboard in dull, natural finish. Body and neck feature yellowish, slightly translucent, vintage-coloured bindings.

This piece I bought was made in China, and is a 2008 piece. 20 frets, top, back and sides are laminate wood. No built-in pickup but there is a built-in tuner. The top is spruce, and the back and sides are mahogany. Neck is also mahogany.

I play a lot of folk and CCM on acoustic, and this acoustic guitar suits them all. It has a vintage yet bright tone, really fat with lots of mids, so it sounds very different from a Taylor, but it sounds very nice and is loud despite being of all laminate wood make. There is not much variety of tone as there is no built-in pickup, unfortunately, but there is a lot of difference in tone and volume when playing with different pick thicknesses, fingernails and fingers. Fingerstyle is very good on this guitar, tone-wise.

I'd have liked the guitar to have a solid-top so the tone will improve over time, but it sounds good anyway so it is only a minor gripe. I didn't pay high price for this guitar.

Guitar setup was fine, but the action was a little high. Very well-made piece, no inconsistencies with the finish, hardware was brand new, pegs were responsive, and everything seemed just perfect. However, the nut seems to have a few bumps on it but it does not affect the string distance or action. Not sure about whether the top is bookmatched but it does look very nice.

This guitar's a far cry from the PF60 and V series of Ibanez acoustics. It feels like a professional guitar, and sounds like one too, and I'm confident that it will excel live, even if I put a million dings in it. Finish is very thick and tough, yet smooth. Strap buttons are made of solid metal, and feel very solid. They are very well fitted in, too, the type of strap buttons I'd expect to find on a high-end guitar. I would use it for backup because it is the only acoustic I have that is in good condition, and I have no worries because it is a good guitar.

Never needed to deal with Ibanez before, all repairs for me are handled by a cool little guitar shop not far from my home, which I didn't buy this guitar from, but they stock up on Ibanez electrics every now and then.

I've played acoustic for around 6-7 years now, though most of my improvement was quite recent. I also own a beat-up Samick acoustic whose tuners are not reliable due to the low-grade neck wood soaking too much moisture. I also own an Ibanez GSA60 electric guitar which was also very impressive for its price.

I wish this guitar had a built-in pickup, and if it were stolen or lost I'd try to replace it with a pickup-equipped model from the same Ibanez Sage series. It is a very good guitar, it impressed me from day one and I still love it. It's definitely a good guitar for the money. It cost around 400 singapore dollars but I bought it at a sale.