Ibanez GAX30

Mine was made in 2005 I think, in Indonesia. It has 22 medium frets, 2 controls (volume and tone), a 3-way switch and two humbuckers. The body is made of basswood and the neck is made of Maple. It had a rosewood fingerboard. The neck had a pearl dot inlay. The tuners are standard. The guitar had chrome hardware. I have the white version of this guitar, which is obviously the best looking.

I mostly play (hard)rock, punk and some alternative rock. I have only one other guitar(starter pack). This guitar is a cheap Epiphone SG copy. Actually, it's crap, but it has a nice pair of humbuckers (I might try them once in this Ibanez). I also have only one amp, which was part of the starter pack. The amp's distortion is crap, but the clean sound is pretty good. This guitar can make a really good clean sound, which I hadn't expected out of this cheap guitar's humbuckers. I sometimes play the guitar on my friends Line 6 Spider II (the 15-watt version), and you can get about any kind of distortion out of the amp and the guitar makes them all sound real nice. For this price, it's just a real good sounding guitar.

When I bought the guitar, I thought the setup was just nice. The action was quite right, maybe a bit high, but I haven't changed it. The pickups were also in the right position. The guitar just sound and plays real nice, so why would I change the setup?

Though I do not play in a band or something like that, I think I will get in one on short term. This guitar could be a good guitar to start playing in a band, and I also think it could be possible to play this guitar live. But, if you want to play it live, you definitely have to change the tuners. The tuners are actually the worst part of this guitar. They just can't stay tuned right. Though I haven't changed them yet, I should have don't this as soon as possible. Another bad part of the my GAX30 is that the tone control is loose. I have to turn it about two times instead of one. I think I can easily fix this. The strap buttons of this guitar are just okay. I haven't had any problems with them. If you want to play this guitar live, you have to make sure you're output-jack is allright. Mine sometimes gets loose. I think I would use this guitar on a gig, but I wouldn't do it without a backup. Never play without backup. You never know when something brakes down.

I have been playing for about a year and a half now. As I said before, I own this guitar, a Keytone SG (Epiphone copy) and a Keytone 20-watt amp. If my GAX30 were stolen, and I thought about buying a new guitar in the same price-class, I would buy a GAX30 again. This guitar is just way better than all those no-name copies. Though I bought it for only 139 euro, I think this guitar even is better than, for example, a standard Squier(which costs 250, almost twice as much). The only things I would like to change on this guitar are the tuners, they are just not as good as the rest of the guitar. After all, I like this guitar a lot, but I wish it had 4 controls (2 for volume, 2 for tone) so you would have had the possibility to change the settings of your humbuckers independently.

It's just a great guitar for this money, I think the best.
But if you buy one, don't forget to change the tuners ;)

Made in China, i'm not shure when. 22 jumbo frets. 2 Ibanez humbucking pickups, basswood body, jewel blue finish, string-thru body, non-locking tuners, and a rosewood fretboard.

I play funk, indie, rock, system of a down, black eyes, almost anything but country and metal, and its sound fits for almost everything. My only complaint about the pickups is that the neck position pickup sounds like crap on distortion. It has a good clean tone, but is better with distortion. With it I am using a Peavy rage 158 amp, a Boss DS-1 distortion, and an Ibanez Weeping Demon wah.

The finish is flawless. Probably the only flaw is the input jack is constantly coming loose, but it doesn't effect it so it's fine.

It is incredibly reliable. Its taken a beating from me, and it is in al most the same condition as when i bought it, which is pretty incredible. I would definately use it in a gig without backup.

I've been playing for a few years now, and i'm still using it. If it was stolen or lost, i'd be angry, but would probably get a different guitar. Other than the finish, my favorite feature is that it is incredibly lightweight, so if you play long sets with it, it wont hurt your shoulders or back at all, which is nice.

22 Frets on rosewood fingerboard, maple neck into agathis body.
2 x humbuckers (basic ibanez ones) with 3 way selector switch. One tone and volume control. Basic tuners and fixed bridge.
Solid white finish with black scratch plate & headstock.

This is a no frills guitar, exactly what you need for playing rock, metal, punk, grunge - which is what I do. With basic humbuckers and controls, it isn't going to provide many different sounds - but perfect for knocking out some crunchy chords. Sounds good, although a little noisy due to the cheap pickups.

This was set up perfectly - straight out of the box. Not too low, but low enough to be very comfortable. Everthing feels very solid and the neck feels great. Quite chunky, and the matt finish to the neck feels really nice. I hate gloss finish on necks! The finish is a very simple, solid white which looks cool. All controls feel smooth, but firm. The tuners are ok, bearing in mind the cheapness.
The body is nice and light and is very comfortable to play, although it is a little biased towards the neck. You will find yourself holding up the neck a little!

I've only had this a week or so, so I can't really say how it would hold up against, say, a tour or something. It's probably not a first choice guitar for serious gigging, but it would make a perfect back up. It certainly feels solid enough to me to withstand a fair bit of abuse.

n/a

This is my first guitar (I am actually a drummer - but I've always preferred playing guitar) and it feels great. I would highly recommend anyone to look in to these guitars, whether it was their first guitar or 50th! It really is nice.
It looks cool, sounds nice, feels great, and for 100 quid....What more do you want?!
Nice work Ibanez.

Tone & Volume pots. 3 way switch. 2 open coil Humbuckers. 22 frets. Nice and simple set up. Midnight blue finish with black pickguard. Nice looking guitar.

Excellent. I have this guitar, as most all of my guitars, always locked on bridge pickup. Sounds great. I actually prefer it over my Epi Les Paul Classic Plus. It doesn't squeal as much with distortion on.

This guitar was set up extremely well, which is primarily why I bought it. I'd imagine that the action varies from guitar to guitar, so make sure you try it out before you buy it. If you get one shipped from Urgmenistan, Zimbabwe, or some other wierd country, the action might suck. Never know though.

Only had it for a few months. but it's been holding up quite well thus far, and I'm generally a lot harder on my guitars than most people I know. One thing that did happen, was one of the knobs fell off, so I replaced it with one from a strat. I have a few wierd ass mods I made to this guitar. I added a light activated theremin through the guitar output with an on/off switch. I'm impressed that it's been holding up, with the back plate off for so long.

I believe there was a 1 year warranty on parts and crap. I'm pretty sure I voided that sucker when I made all those mods. But whatever. For most people, I'm sure it's not bad.

This is probably the best guitar for the price you can find. Just make sure you get one that's set up well. You won't be sorry. Been playing for about 6 years and had several guitars and this is probably my favorite guitar I've owned, despite owning a few more expensive guitars.

Purely stripped down, no bells and whistles, just what you need to rock. 2 Humbuckers, 1 tone and volume control, fixed bridge, 22 frets.

I play a variety of music. Mainly: blues, classic rock, metal. I dabble with classical and jazz.

Metal- Use bridge pick up
Pick up able to handle the gain well.

Rock/Blues (Led Zep/Foo Fighters/SRV) - Use pick up of your choice
Clears up a lot.

Jazz - Use neck pick up
The neck pick up is only good for clean. On a gain scale of 1 to 10, don't use more than 2 on this pick up. It can't handle it

Overall, very versatile in sound

From the factory, this guitar was great. Action hardly needed setup, and intonation was near perfect. The tuning pegs slip alot, so I would replace them.

This guitar would withstand live playing. Hardware won't last while I'm playing the guitar, it'll go into the trash to make way for new things. YOU MUST REPLACE THE MACHINE HEADS. Strap buttons are nice and big. I wouldn't use it for a gig alone, there's always a chance that a guitar would fail. But I have gigged with it alone.

I have been playing for 1 year and a half. I play this through a MG100DFX (soon to be replaced by a tube amp of some sort). This guitar is all one needs to start up rocking, or as a cheap thrill. If it was stolen, I wouldn't get it again, as I am saving up for another guitar.

Great Value For $

Made in China, Agathis body with 24.75" scale maple bolt on neck and rosewood fingerboard. 1 Vol and 1 Tone with a 3 way switch and 2 humbuckers. Black gloss finish, Strat style hardtail bridge, cheesy budget tuners. No frills just the basics for under $150 bucks.

I play alot of rock, punk, metal and blues. This guitar works well for the first 3. I have a couple of Strats and a Tele for the Blues. The Pick-ups have a good crunchy sound for any overdriven work. At lower volumes it tends to lose some of the high notes. It likes to be driven hard.

Out of the box this has to be the best action on a guitar that I have ever owned. No setup work needed here. I noticed however the neck did not want to sit still in its pocket. I improvised a fix for it and have not had it shift since. The tuners are sort of notchy but I haven't bothered changing them since I made them insignificant by installing a floyd rose locking trem system into the guitar about a year ago. I'm actually more pleased with the sound quality since then. I get better sustain. The actual appearance of the guiatr was top quality from the beginning. i only give a lower score over-all here because of the tuners and the neck shifting.

In its present condition it is a true work horse but it did take a couple of mods to get it there. It is however a great entry level guitar because of the smooth action.

Never had to use support

I've been playing for 30 years. I mostly jam with friends and relatives but still have an occasional gig. I have a Peavey Classic 30 and a Vox AD30VT and use a Big Muff Pi (Russian) and an old Cry Baby. I have 2 Strats, a Tele, an old lawsuit Les Paul copy, a few accoustics and now this Ibanez. I was sold on this guitar the moment I felt the action even before I plugged it in. I couldn't believe how awesome the set-up was for such a cheap guitar. I originally bought this as my son's first electric but after fixing the neck and installing the Floyd, he has a hard time getting from me. The only reason I give a lower rating here is because I did have to tweak it to make it reliable but what do you want for $125

Rosewood fingerboard on a mahogany neck bolted on to a basswood body with 2 open coil humbuckers.1 volume knob, 1 tone knob, and 3-way pickup selctor switch.chrome hard-ware.

I play rock(AC/DC, Aerosmith, Led Zepplin, Van Halen) and alternative rock(12 Stones, Creed, Kutless). these pickups are really good for heavy distortion but not for clean sounds or overdriven sounds. VERY muddy when clean. i put chrome covers over the pickups and the bridge pickup did not sound as nearly as loud as the neck pickup. so i took the bridge pickup cover off and left the neck cover on, raised the bridge pickup and it is fine. i might replace the pickups with a pair of Gibson Classic '57s(they really SCREAM!!!) but the only problem is i dont know how.'_'

VERY durable. ive had it for about 6 months and it has been fine.

This is a really nice guitar for the price.Ive been playin for about 3 years now and i own a crate amp(dont know model,120 watts), Digitech RP-50, Ibanez Ts-7, Boss DS-1, Jay Turser JTA-DS NG acoustic, and Ibanez GAX-30.

made in USA
22 frets
solid top
volume, tone, and pick up
Chrome tuners. String-thru body bridge.
What can i say that hasnt been said. there are not many features. just a basic guitar

for the price, it sounds like a god. the bussing sound is due to the dust in your pick up. When i first got mine i had to clean the pick ups and then the buzzing stoped.
What i love about this guitar is that it gives a really low tone. THis works really well with heavy metal songs. ALso when useing the bridge pick up the tons is high which sounds badass when playing solos

slim body, thin, sleek, small. THis is the main difference between the Ibanez GAX30 and the Fender strats (which i also own). THe strats have a slightly dirtier sound which is good for lunk music. But who wants to play punk, its only good to listen to, the music itself is boring. ALso anyone that has ever owned a strat can say that the fretboard is really dirty. After a while scratch marks on the fretboard become annoying. The Ibanez does not have this problem, which is why i love it. The tuning is faily lose, which becomes annoying, when you hafta retune ever 3 songs you play, but thats fine once you get the hang of it. The finish is really nice, polishes, no scratches, except the pick guard, which is obvious lol. um....controls are faily easy to use. Sturdy guitar, i recommend it for anyone that needs a cheap guitar to being wherever and not have to worry about damaging it.

Thie guitar will last as long as my guitar playing goes. I've had it for 8 months. Not a single thing wrong, besides the dirty pickups. Strap buttons are extremly solid, seeing that i'm the type of guitarist that likes to switng his guitar and play and do the wild solos. Extremly dependable. I have used it in gigs because i'm not afraid to hit things with it, whereas with my Gibson SG special faded, i'm afraid to even touch the pick guard. lol. i recommend it for any guitarist.

never tried

ROCKSOLID GUITAR! Awesome addition to any musician!

Nothing fancy, but Goddangit! You really can't expect more in this pricerange! In fact, it's great value for money.

I have tested it through a tiny marshall 10w amp, a peavey classic 50 combo, and Amplitube. I'll have to repeat myself; GREAT value for money. I look forward to hooking it up to my boss me50,fender concert 60w tube amp, and my beloved rivera 4x12 cab...

Okay, it buzzes a bit here and there, but not nearly as much as my friends Musicman J. Petrucci-signature which, by the way, cost 10 times more... We'll see how it handles '10 strings though. I might have to fumble a bit with the bridge-height and trussrod... Also, a minor flaw in the paintjob, just below the back strap-button, but do I care? Great value for money, i tellzya!

Seems good. I'm not much of an acrobat on stage anyways, and this will never be more than a backup for me. It will probably last a good while.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for fifteen years. Have covered most styles imaginable, and owned lots of guitars; Fender Strat. (both usa and jap.) a Fender Prodigy, an Aria Pro II, a Washburn "Nuno", an Ibanez AR 200. I currently own an Epi. Sheraton(II?), an Ibanez 70's Les Paul copy (aka. "the lawsuit"), and this little wonderboy. If it was stolen, it wouldn't take me more than a couple of days of work to afford a new one... Did I mention it's great value for money?

2003 made in China, dual humbuckers with 3-way selector, single tone and volume knobs. String-thru-body bridge, med-fat frets. Bought this for a friend that is left-handed but plays right-handed guitars because the GAX30 has the symmetrical artist body that makes it easy to access the upper frets when playing it left-handed. Looks nice and has a great feature set for the price.

Fairly bright for humbuckers. Sounds okay with the right EQ tweaks at the amp. Volume and tone controls work well. At high gain settings it is noisy despite the humbuckers, so maybe the shielding is bad.

The guitar looks nice for the price and the construction seems solid. Tuners are cheap but the guitar stays in tune even when I changed to heavier strings (10-46). In the store I noticed buzzing but I was not using a pick and it did not seem too bad at the time. When I brought it home the buzz was a lot worse with a pick. With the 10-46 strings if I raised the action to reduce (not eliminate) the buzzing then the action was so high that I could not adjust the intonation within the limits of the bridge adjustments. Even with the light strings that the GAX30 comes with the buzzing is still too much and ruins an otherwise nice guitar. With light strings you could probably raise the action enough to stop the buzzing but that would make it hard to play. I will put a new set of light strings on it and see if I can return it to the store.

Seems solid. The nut for the jack came loose but that is easy to fix.

I have been playing in a rock/jazz band for 20 years using a tired old Ibanez blazer. The blazer is a great guitar so I thought the GAX30 would be decent but you get what you pay for. With cheap guitars I understand that for a given model the action can vary a lot from guitar to guitar so the thing to do would be to go to a store that has several that you can try. Next time I will try them with a pick. This is not a guitar to buy via mail order. If the action were better and the noise/shielding problem were fixed this would be a great guitar for the price.