Ibanez AW200CE-VV

AW200ECE-VV. Probably a 2005 model, marked down for clearance. Solid spruce top with cutaway, flamed maple back and sides. Attractive "vintage violin" finish with gold Grover tuners. Fishman Prefix + T electronics.

I had NO intention of playing this guitar. I have a Harvey Leach Franconia-style dreadnought, cedar top, mahogany body which sounds and plays great. I went to this store because I was looking for another acoustic, preferably with a cutaway, and they had advertised select solid-wood guitars at 1/2 off retail. I looked past this one as I played seven or eight different guitars and finally picked up this Ibanez because it was substantially discounted. I was stunned when I played it: it sounded great. Nice tone and volume, not too bright but not boomy, muddy, or subdued. I put it back and played about 6 more, including a Taylor 355ce that wasn't on sale. Only the Taylor sounded slightly better to my ears, but at more than 4x the price. I took the Ibanez home.

There were two of these for sale. One had the action fairly high - okay for some chording but not much more. The one I bought had nice, low action and plays great all the way up the neck. The finish is very clean - the paint looks great with no spots, streaks, or runs; the inside is very clean and well-assembled with no visible glue areas or rough-cut wood. Nice work on the binding around the body and neck. I'm a big guy with big hands and on many acoustics I don't have enough room to fret my chords well. This neck feels good, has a pleasant width and thickness.

This guitar has performed well in it's first month, and shows no signs of faltering or failing. I have no problem relying on it during live play.

Unnecessary so far. Rating based on the web site, which is marginally informative.

I've been playing for over 27 years, from rock to country to bluegrass to jazz to worship. I have a Larrivee 12-string, Alvarez 12-string, a Leach dreadnought, a Kramer Baretta American (from the rockin days of the 80's) and an Electra LP rip (from the pre-Kramer days). I'm still coping with the fact that I bought an Ibanez acoustic, but I would replace this with the same model if lost or stolen, but ONLY at the below $400 clearance price. I would not pay the closer-to-street price of near $600. This guitar is a fantastic value at <$400, with stellar sound, quality workmanship and features, and a very pleasant feel and appearance. Look for a deal on this guitar, and BUY IT if you find it at a price you're comfortable with.

Great stuff for under $500.00 - Sold Spruce top, flamed Maple back and sides. Abalone inlay. Rosewood neck and fretboard. Fishman Pick-up and On-board electronics. GOld Grover Tuners. Cutaway style body. Full size dreadnaught body. Ibanez Ivorex Nut and Saddle.

Amazing sound. Don't take my word for it - Read all the other reviews. This guitar produces an amazing sound that belies it's low cost. I have read many reviews about how an inexpensive guitar of this or that type sounds like some other more expensive well know brand, but that is exactly what you get with the AW200CE-VV. It's just mind boggling that you get a sound that is so close to that of a Taylor or Larrivee for hundreds less.

Built and set up very well although I did have the action and intonation set up professionally. I play very hard and need my guitar set up for my particular style of playing

top notch fisnisha dn hardware, will be around for a long time.

Great results thus far.

I've owned many acoustics over the past 10 years, including top of the line Takamines and Taylor 312ce and 110. Hands down this guitar beats 'em all. No contest. I will keep this guitar for a very long time.

Here are the highlights: Solid top, Cutaway body, Fishman Prefix Plus preamp, Grover Tuners,

I have used the guitar in several sound configurations: direct to a mixer, through a preamp, through several vintage fender amps, unplugged, unplugged with diaphram mics, etc.,etc. I am blown away with how versatile this guitar is. I cannot say enough good things about the Fishman setup. This is the same rig you get when you buy a Taylor or some of the other high end guitars.

I bought mine very slightly used so I'm not sure about how it came out of the box. The finish on mine is absolutely beautiful. The back has flame that just won't quit. Wehn I first got it, it needed a little action tweak, but now it plays like bud-dah. Normal corrosion on the gold hardware as one would expect.

I play regularly with some buddies who do an accoustic gig. I've never had it fail me, and my friends often use it if they have issues. This axe is rock solid. The finish is tougher than it looks. I've bumped mine hard enough a couple of times to scratch it, but I guess I've been lucky. I would be comfortable gigging without a backup. No failures ever. My only complaint about this guitar is that it only came with one strap button. Actually, this can be a good thing, depending on where you like the placement of the front button.

Never had to deal with Ibanez directly on any issues, although I understand they aren't easy to get in touch with. I guess the good thing about Ibanez is that for the most part they build pretty solid axes for the price, and if you are lucky, you won't ever have to deal with them.

I"ve been playing for 12 years. The only other guitar I currently own is a '92 Gibson LP Studio. I play through a vintage Fender Princeton tube amp. I've had the luxory of playing some of the most expensive collectable guitars anywhere. For what this guitar is you cannot beat it. It performs at the same level as other accoustics running $1000 or more. If it were stolen or lost, I'd go buy another just like it without even thinking about it. Do yourelf a favor and save yourself some cash. Go straight to your local music store and buy an Artwood.

2004 model. solid spruce top. VERY NICE Fishamn Prefix-Plus with under saddle pickup. Flamed Maple sides and back. Nice 'Vintage Violin' glossy finish. Gold Grover machines. Mahogany neck. Very attractive guitar with fairly low action.

Sounds good unpluggerd, GREAT thru the Fishman.

Action and intonation very nice straight from the factory. I had one Major problem though. Fishman under sadlle pick-up was damaged. When i plugged the guitar in it had a Ground hum. I talked to Ibanex (Just TRY to find their phone number) and they wanted me to ship it back to them. Guitar Center (where I bought it) offered me a new one or a warranty repair. As i liked the way the guitar played I didn't want a different one and i wasn't keen on shipping it or leaving it with Guitar Center for 2 weeks. Fortunately Fishman to the rescue. I bought a replacement part from them, installed it myself and everything is fine. Kudos to Fishman for their EXCELLENT customer service. I'll give this category a high grade even though someone at the factory was careless with the pickup.

I have only had it about a month. So far, so good.

Althought the product is outstanding, customer service was a little dissappointing. Zero personality and no desire to help me find a solution to my problem that worked for ME.

Been playing 35 years. Besides this guitar, I have a Tele, Strat and Fly Deluxe. I would replace this with the same thing if lost or stolen. I tried a bunch of guitars in the 400-650 price range and the Ibanez was the best of the bunch. It is silly that the guitar lacks the 2nd strap button. Ibanez case was cheesy so I ended up buying a G & G case.

i got a really great price on this guitar. when i got it i also got a hardshell case for $75. it's a 2003 and i actuallly got to help the salesman take it out of the box. it has a solid spruce top so that it wont bend over time....if you take care of it like you should. my fingers easily glide up and down the neck. and i love the gold, groever tuners. no complaints!!!

i play alot of michelle branch annd stuff i write, and it sounds amazing when it is plugged into a system or a good acoustic amp. it had a nice, bright sound when i got it, and i didn't think that would last, but i was wrong. i have had this guitar for 9 months and it still sounds great. i use light, polyweb, elixir strings on my guitar and they make it sound any better.

the appearance of this guitar is amazing. doesn't look bad when a girl plays it. some guitars look kind of strange when a girl is behind it, but not this one. the cutaway is great for doing solos and it looks good to. no flaws in the finish and the color is great! no complaints here!!!

Bought it brand new off an ebay auction, it's a 2003 model. I would guess it was made in Korea, but I couldn't really tell you. It's a standard dreadnought with a cutaway. Solid engelmann spruce top (which I like a lot better than sitka spruce or cedar) with flame maple back and sides all in a nice "vintage violin" glossy finish. The neck is a satin finish so it isn't slick, very nice touch, along with a rosewood fretboard. Other touches: gold grover tuners and Fishman Acoustic Matrix Pickup with Fishman PREFIX PLUS EQ. Craftsmanship was wonderful on this guitar, almost as good as the Martin I have, it really suprised me. Only complaint here is that it didn't have a second strap button (the connection for the electronics serves as the bottom button). Especially for the price it is offered at, this guitar has great features. I got this guitar for an EXTRAORDINARLY low price from a generous guitar shop on ebay after their reserve price was not met. Even at full price, the guitar is a steal though.

My musical style ranges from the various forms of rock to bluegrass.. basically anything that sounds good on an acoustic. Dave Matthews is my favorite guitarist if that helps too. The guitar sounds amazing. The maple gives it a much better sustain with a little more clarity than mahogany (in my opinion). The bass side doesn't suffer either, it can sound boomy when it needs to. I'd say it gives a very balanced and full sound, maybe leaning a bit towards the bright side, though not overly bright like a Taylor sound. The electronics are Fishmans, so they sound good already. However, the maple body is highly resistant to feedback so it makes them even better. This guitar must be played to be believed really, Ibanez does a hell of a job on its guitars and gives them at a great price.

The action would be my only complaint here. It's very low, which is a good thing on all but the low pitch E string, which has slight buzz when playing near the top of the fretboard (for example an F or G bar chord). This is easily fixed though. Everything else was in perfect form. I give it an 8 since it had fret buzz on the E string, although this may be the work of the guitar shop I got it from, not Ibanez.

I've played it live a few times, held up really nicely. I did not have a backup (well technically I did, but it was in C tuning) and the Ibanez performed wonderfully. The finish seems like it will hold up, and the look of the guitar is just amazing under lights. The whole guitar has a sort of orange/gold look which is really cool. Finish looks like it will hold up, though you may need to polish it quite a bit since it shows the oils from your arm and hand pretty easily. Seems like a very sturdy guitar--has a nice solid feel and it's pretty heavy, but you should always baby your guitar and never let it get damaged anyway.

My guitar has a limited lifetime warranty. I've never dealt with Ibanez on the support front though. Therefore, no rating in this category.

I've been playing for about two years now and I play rhythm in a band, I'm not much of a solo type. I have an old ~1990 Epiphone Orville guitar and a Martin D1. The Ibanez is a lot better looking than the plain Martin, but only Maritins have that tone. The Ibanez has a slightly different type of sound though, so I'm not sure you can really compare the two evenly. If something happened to this guitar, I definitely would get a new one. I did compare this guitar to tons of others (every guitar at the four local shops in fact, I think they all got sick of me). I wouldn't even consider another guitar (not even a Taylor) for the cutaway/eletric type. For a pure acoustic I may lean towards a Gibson or Martin though, since they are their own beasts. You will not be dissapointed with an Ibanez though. A buddy of mine offered to buy mine from me on the spot for a lot more than I payed for it, and he always swore up and down never to play anything but Martin.

nice grover tuners, great-sounding fishman electronics, beautifully crafted for its price.

amazing sound for the price. played completely acoustically, i love the rich sound, warm yet bright (if that makes sense)...plugged in, and it kills. it sounds SO very nice for what it costs.

the action was alright. straight out of the box, the intonation was better than the taylor 614CE that i bought last year...though the taylor didnt come in plastic wrap and a cardboard box.
i slightly adjusted the neck so the action would be a little more even across the entire neck...but had i not, it still would have had a nice feel. im just pretty particular when it comes to how i like guitars to play.

the flamed maple back and sides look amazing...the vintage violin burst adds even more character to a great looking (and sounding) guitar.

it feels like a very, very solid guitar. well built, nice weight, no cracks or hairlines in finish or laquer, joints are not apparent, frets are tight and lined correctly and do not hang over the edges of the neck, grover tuners are VERY nice...always have loved grovers.
etcetcetc...the guitar is great.
im giving it a 9 because i would not give any guitar a 10 in this category. if you treat them well then they will hold up well.

the folks at ibanez are very nice. i wanted to see what would happen if i called them to tell them that this guitar was great, haha. so i did. i ended up talking to a support rep. for about 20 minutes about vintage amplifiers...nice people.

if you are looking for a taylor and have the money, buy a taylor. if you are looking for a taylor and DONT have the money, buy an ibanez aw200ce. they are not taylors, but REALLY nice guitars of there own category. seriously, chances are you will not dislike this guitar.