Ibanez AW900

Korean made. SN 97093097
A beautiful guitar with pretty nice inlay. Craftsmanship is very good overall. One complaint is that the spacing between the notches on the bridge are uneven between the g,d, and a strings. Not a big deal, but definitly a mark of the level of craftsmanship that went into the guitar. In contrast, both my Martin (HD-28) and Taylor (614ce) show flawless craftsmanship. But this guitar is not in the same catagory, so I guess it's not a fair comparison.

I play finger picking style with a thumbpick. Folky, bluesy, bluegrass. Not much rock. Definitely a loud guitar that stands out in an acoustic jam. Overall sound is ok, but very unbalanced, i.e. - too bright and crunchy on the high end and not enough richness and clarity in the low end for my tastes.

Action is decent. Higher than my Martin and Taylor, but again, not the same "class" of guitar, so not a good comparison. The visual appeal is the best thing about this guitar.

Have only played this a practice guitar that I keep at work. Seems like it would do just fine at gigs.

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I have been playing guitar for 18 years. I also play banjo, pedal steel, and a little piano. I bought this guitar on an impulse. It seemed so nice at the time, and I still like it. But now that I have a Martin and a Taylor, I rarely play this Ibanez. Actually, I was looking to sell this guitar, but have decided to hold onto it for "collectors" reasons, though I'm not so sure that this guitar is going to stand the test of time as far as a collectors item goes. We shall see.

A beautiful and great playing guitar. I bought the guitar new and I spent most of an afternoon in the music store playing both a Martin and the Ibanez AW990. I finally decided I liked the feel and sound of the AW900 better. IThe guitar was made in Korea and I think the amber colored natural finish and beautiful abalone inlay work makes it a great looking guitar. You can tell a lot of hand finishing went into the inlay work and the finish as the finish is flawless. I have played it for five years and still like it as much as when I bought it. I realize a Martin would have a higher resale value if I ever sold the guitar, but I keep guitars for a long time and after getting to know this guitar, I will give it to my son when I no longer play.

I play rock and roll, blues, country and bluegrass and this guitar is loud and has a bright and clear sound. It is very versatile. I do not play it through an amp.

The guitar came set up very well with nice action. After a few days of playing, I did set the neck action a little lower to suit my style. When I look into the soundhole, the quality and workmanship is as good as on any Gibson or Guild I have owned. It is strong, light and very playable guitar. The quality of the gold plated Grover tuners is excellent. I can play it hard and it stays in tune. Once I set up the guitar in itially, I have not adjusted anything - I just change the strings every few weeks.

The guitar is very well made and I expect to enjoy it for as long as I play. The finish has held up well and the guitar still looks fabulous. The strap buttons are strong and I can depend on this guitar when playing out with friends. Everyone who sees it thinks it is great and say they have never seen one before.

Do not know about Ibanez customer support since I have not had a problem with the guitar. The guitar is now out of production.

I have been playing for about 50 years and still play lead guitar in the Fabulous Whitewalls, an Albuquerque '50s,'60s and 70's rock and roll band. I play a Fender Strat and Epiphone Sheraton when I play with the band. If the AW900 guitar were stolen, I would try to find another one. I really enjoy it. If you find a nice used AW900, play it, you will probably want to buy it.

I bought this guitar second hand for 500.00. I have had it appraised and according to ibanez and tarheel music, it was the flagship of the ibanez line. It was created to match the taylor and martin lines of the early 80's.
I have had an offer of 1000.00 but dont want to selldo to collective value.
I would rate i 9.5 playability/10 on design/10 on sound resonance and
10 on looks
It is definately a keeper original list was 1980 in 1989

Purchased 1996 Korean made new (old stock) Ibanez AW900 acoustic guitar Original 1996 list price of $1099.00. This was considered the flagship of the mid to late 1990's Ibanez acoustic line yet is no longer available. According to Tarheel Music, this was Ibanez's attempt to compete with Taylor's and Martin's. The guitar is a looker with a solid Englemann spruce top and rosewood back, sides and neck. It is abalone appointed at the sound hole and the entire top binding of the body. It has abalone snowfakes on the rosewood fretboard and on the rosewood bridge. Even the bridge pins have abalone accent!!! The headstock also has the Ibanez name and the "AW" model type in abalone. Gold Grover tuners with an antique gloss finish. No case was included.

I received the guitar with a poor set of strings which I immediately
replaced with a fresh set of John Pierce phosphor bronze light acoustic. The guitar has a bright full sound that I would say rivals
many high end acoustics. It did not come equipped with a pick up and
I am considering a fishman rare earth humbucker soundhole pickup.
I am very pleased with the acoustic sound this guitar delivers.

The guitar appeared to be a factory setup. It has an excellent
low action which provides ease of play. The finish was flawless
and I could not find any defects whatsoever. The extensive abalone
appointments are impressive with excellent color and finish. The Gold
Grover tuners are precise and hold position as the guitar stays tuned.
It is clear this guitar was manufactured with attention to detail.

This guitar is solid built with excellent quality woods and hardware
and should withstand years of playing. It has a limited lifetime
warrantee to the original owner.

No experience with Ibanez.

I've been playing for over 30 years mostly acoustic and own a 1975 Guild D25 (bought new), 1999 Aria Pro II SPL electric, 1999 Washburn J9VG semi hollowbody electric, Peavey KB/A 100 keyboard amp with a Line 6 Pod. I bought this guitar based on a new 2000 Ibanez AW300 that I previewed at a local music shop. The AW300 sold new for $469.00 and felt that at $390.00 on Ebay the AW900 was a steal. The more I play it the more I like it. It is a beautiful, quality guitar that closely rivals the sound of any Taylor or Martin.

'98 Model, Englemann Spruce top (very nice!), Mahogany back and sides, grover tuners, gold hardware, abalone binding, case included. The only problem was the lack of a pickup and a strap. I had to install both of those. It is for that reason alone that the guitar only gets a nine because otherwise it is a beautiful guitar.

I play a lot of Led Zeppelin and this sounds great on their acoustic songs. I have a Martin active transducer that I installed and I run it through a clean channel on my Line 6 Axsys212 combo amp. Because the pickup is active their is little noise and it picks up the sound of the guitar very well. Believe it or not, I have compared its sound to a top of the line Martin and the Ibanez blows it away. My first guitar was an Ibanez acoustic (one of the cheapies) and it sounded terrible and I was reluctant to even try this guitar but once I sat down with it, my mind was made up. This guitar is really LOUD!. It almost doesn't need an amplifier.

The action was set reasonably well at the faction (rather low). It has a light glossy finish which does not hinder its tone at all.

It seems very reliable so far. I am in my church's contemporary worship service and it sounds just incredible live. Although the finish is rather thin so I will just have to be careful with it.

Haven't had to deal with Ibanez yet.

I've been playing for five years now and own quite a few guitars and other gear. I own a Peavey EVH Wolfgang, Hamer Custom Shop Chapparal, Line6 Ax2212, Zoom 4040, Epiphone EDS-1275 Doubleneck SG. If I lost it I would definitely buy it again because it sounds as good as if not better than a Martin which costs 3 times as much. I only wish it had come with an installed pickup, but that wasn't such a big deal.