Ibanez GAX70

My GAX70 was made in 1998 in Indonesia. I bought it new back then. As the other reviews say it has two humbuckers four knobs, 3 way selector switch, 22 frets, double cutaway, stop bar with a tunomatic bridge etc. Being made in Indonesia I just wonder if it wasn't actually made by Samick for Ibanez. It is solid agathis which is a cheaper wood similar to Mahogany but not quite the same. It has a little less bass and is an ugly wood so needs a color coat. At least it has better tone qualities than Nato, another cheap tropical wood also similar to Mahogany. The neck is maple and it is quite nice. It is a bolt on and unpainted but at least the maple looks good.

The sound was generic cheap humbucker. The bridge pickup was especially weak and especially needed changing. It is the same muddy sound whether it is on my all tube Marshall amp or Gibson tube/solid state combo. I play a variety of styles and play different guitars for the various styles but prefer the Gibson shorter 24 3/4 scale length due to my finger length/width. Shortly after I bought it I put in a shaller bridge pickup and that did OK for awhile. But I found that I always took my other guitars to play in public but rarely took the GAX70. So I decided it needed a fusion of better sound. I put a PRS humbucker in the neck position and a TV Jones TV Tron Gretsch type pickup in the bridge pickup with a coil selector on a push pull pot. I also added a bigsby and using the reverse phase pickup on the TV Tron in combo with the neck pickup I get nice classic surf rock tones. So now it is completely different and I am much happier. I have other guitars for rock so this add a new dimension. With a bolt on neck the sustain is not so great.

The guitar was set up OK and the red color is still good looking on the body. The neck is unfinished and a bolt on so the heel joint gets in the way so I am a bit disdappointed in it. The input jack kept coming lose for years until I cranked it down hard. The intonaton and setup were OK. No real complaints except for the lose jack and cheap humbuckers.

It has done OK until recently except for the lose input jack. While sitting on my stand it tipped over and the body cracked at the neck joint on both sides. The neck still seems tight and no problems but I haven't changed the strings since the incident. The neck joint is real thick and is a handfull to get around when playing up the neck and I don't know if that hurt or helped it in the fall. It still sounds good so I won't worry about it. I have had other guitars tip over and only my Ovation broke the head off, other guitars held up through such accidents. So this guitar is not quite as well built as most of my guitars but at lead the head didn't break off.

Never had to deal with them.

It is an OK guitar if you are willing to change the pickups or live with a generic cheap humbucker muddy tone. It is pretty and has nice shape and balance. The neck is real easy to play and that is what Ibanez is famous for anyway, nice necks. Apparantly lots of people have bought one so it is quite popular. Change the pickups for the style of music you want and you have a real nice guitar for a cheap price.

I bought my first guitar at 12 years old back in 1966 and have been playing since then. My electric guitars include a Gibson Les Paul Firebrand, PRS Santana SE, Gretsch Thinline Synchromatic, Washburn J-6, Rickenbacker 330-12 and a recently purchased Silvertone Rockit 21 that also needed new pickups for an acceptable tone. For the price it is an OK guitar. I paid more for the pickups I installed than I did for the whole guitar. There are two ways to get a good guitar. Buy a good guitar or buy a cheap guitar and put in better pickups. In the short run buying a good guitar costs more but you get a set in neck for better sustain and better wood for better tone and an overall better guitar. The Ibanez AX series has much better guitars with this body style and a set-in neck but the catalogs don't advertise them. If you want the nice Ibanez neck for a cheap price and good tunomatic bridge with stop bar tailpiece and four knobs this is a good bargain, but the pickups need changing. After really needing to change the pickups on this guitar and the Silvertone Rockit 21 I think it may be better to save up for a better model to start with. Would I buy a new one if it were lost? Probably not. I think I'd go for a model with a set in neck and better pickups to start with. Ibanez has such models available as do many others.

Not much to say about this guitar that a lot of people probably haven't already said. Pretty common features...H/H layout with a tune-o-matic and a tailpiece. 22 frets, 4 control knobs (2V/2T), and a 3 way p/u selector.

This guitar plays relatively well for it's price, but there is definitely some room for improvement. It can play clean alright, but the tone sounds horrible. With medium distortion this guitar sounds a little too muddy with too little clarity.

After only a few months I purchased some used Kramer Quadrails ($41 including S/H) and they have made a world of difference. With coil-tapping and crisp output they have really made this guitar guitar into an 8 for this category...but the numbers must reflect what it was stock.

Action was a little high, but the rest of the fit and finish is about how you would expect from a low-end ibanez...adequate. The guitar is definitely not a $1000 gibson LP, but it is put together well and has decent playability.

The guitar has been very reliable for me and the finish has held up with no digs through anything I've put it through. Ibanez definitely made that guitar look good and hold up well to everyday abuse that begginer guitarists put it through.

n/a

It's a decent begginer guitar and can be made into a good intermediate guitar. I'm not sure if this guitar could ever rival the tone and quality of a Gibson, but it could definitely give it a run for its money.

Four tone knobs, dual powersound humbuckers. Blah blah blah.....

Okay, I don't really understand how this guitar has been given any GOOD reviews. I mean, yes it's a good beginner guitar. But in the sound rating i give it simply a 2, because it's just that, "SOUND." There's no beauty or finesse to the sound it produces at all. The clean sounds like someone took a bag of dirt and threw it in a fan. I suggest that if you've never owned an expensive or at least more expensive guitar, buy one before putting down 10 in here for sound. Don't get me wrong, i'm not a Gibson snob. I actually play Hamer and Fender guitars. But in all reality, spending at least $400 MORE to buy something else would be the best decision you'll ever make as a new musician. As far as, "This thing can do ANYTHING! Jimmy paige, Hendrix, SRV...." Um, no...This thing can do one thing, pound out a wall of distorted sound through a big cheap solid state amp. Play SRV with a texas special guitar and a good fender tube amp. then you'll REALLY know what the SRV sound sounds like. Yes I know stevie didn't actually use the texas specials, but the tone that comes from those.....ouch....it could fry a bird in midflight and bring it back to life. Well. sorry for all my ranting, but really....this guitar should not be bought by anyone serious about their music. By the way....."Tool the king of tone?" Someone must be joking I hope.....

Nice finish for a cheap guitar. I like the colors it comes in. The finish is rock solid, moreso than any fender i've ever owned.

This guitar DID get me through a few years ONLY after I put EMG 85's in it........

Never dealt with them.

2004 GAX70.Artist style mahogany body and GRX style neck, 22 fret rosewood fretboard, 2 powersound humbuckers, 2 volume and 2 tone controls and 3-way selector switch,full tune II stopbar tailpeice, transparent red finish

I really like the sound of these guitars. The pickups sound very good for a $200 guitar. Everyone wants to change the pickups and that is good if your trying to get a certain sound for what you play, but I buy guitars that already have the sound that I am looking for. The pickups are not crap. They...well they sound like humbuckers. This is my classic rock guitar(Eagles, Peter Frampton,Styx, etc..)in which I play rhythm and some leads. My setup is a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Boss OS-2 overdrive/distortion, digitech RP50, and talkbox. I don't find it very noisy at all. Overall I am very pleased with it's sound.

The setup on this guitar was not bad. The intonation seemed a little off but no big deal. The action was nice and low. On the back it looks like their was about a quater size chip out of the wood just deep enough to feel. You have to catch it in the right light to see it and who sees the back when your playing anyway.

Only thing I can say about this goes with every guitar, if you take care of it it can last you a lifetime. I do have a telecaster as a backup but I don't exspect this guitar to ever break down on me.

Well guitar center didn't have the color I wanted so they let me take home a black one until it came in, I thought that was cool, but as for dealing with Ibanez directly I never have had too.

I have been playing for about 2 years. I also have a telecaster and Ibanez acoustic and a Dean practice amp. If it were lost or stolen I would definately buy another. Wish it came with a case but for $200 that ain't happining. This guitar is sweet!!

Hi,i bought this guitar back in '02 for $350 new.
6 strings,22 medium frets,rosewood fretboard w/ pearl dot inlays.
Hardware includes 2 tone,2 volume knobs, and a 3 way pickup
switch.Also 2 humbuckers,(not sure what brand,sorry).Input jack
comes loose every so often,but not really a big deal,just make
sure to check it before you go on stage and you should be, ok.
Transparent red was the body color i picked out,the website
makes it look more like a glittery red but once you get ahold of
it you can see the wood very clearly.Personly i dont care to much
for the look of the wood in the light.Actually it looks best in the
dark,on stage the wood look dissapeers and turns to a dark red tint,
almost like a blood red.Looks good though,lol.
The neck is really comfortable in my opinion,nice and thin,
good for fast playing.The strings are kind of high at first touch
but after awile you get used to it.No other accesories included other than a warrenty.

Fits my stile quit well actually,its no music man,but gets
the job done.Im lead/rythem guitarist of a prog rock band,
(so incase you havn't guessed already...i play prog rock.If
you dont know what prog rock is,think of Dream Theater)
Right now i use mainly an Ibanez half stack for gigs.
Affects include,wah ,delay ,phaser ,and the ever assential
distortion pedle.This is a good guitar,but also has many flaws.
The bridge pickup sounds really bad,very high and twangy,almost like
a cheap telecaster.Also it has a terrible sound on clean channels,
(not even a mesa boogie could save this bad boy).Artificial harmonics
and pretty tough to pull out of this guitar as well.So i always
keep the neck pickup switched on,and always with distortion
unless absolutly nessicary.

Action, as i mentioned before is a little high at first, and the input jack comes loose every so often.
Pickups havn't given me any trouble yet,i should probably
replace but ill wait and see how long they last.
I've never had a buzzing, so ide say the truss rod is set
in pretty good, ide much rather double truss rods though and
5 bolt aligment(you know, to make you feel safe with the guitar).
There is a flaw on one of my tone knobs, it looks like in the factory
it wasn't pushed in all the way, and sticks up a little higher
than the rest.

For me it's pretty durable,(it took a liking for me right from the start) i guesse it depends on the user really. The hardware...hmmm,
not the best, but still not the worst. The finish is actualy pretty
tough, ive havnt had a scratch i couldn't rub right out(does leave streaks though,just use an old rag when you clean it and there shouldn't be any problems).
Im sure your all wondering,"Well Chase, it sounds nice and all,but
is it durable?"
Yes, believe it or not i use it in the studio and on
all my gigs. I have no fear of it ever failing on my, i've
gotten into the habit of not even taking a back up with me.
But like i said, it likes me. So if yours for some reason doesn't,
be smart and please take a back up.

Sorry, ive never had to deal with costomer service.
But im sure the people at Ibanez are very nice :)

Ive played for 6 years now.
Other guitars i own include: Fender Strat(mexican made though,bleh) Ibanez RG, Peavey Mantis(very rare,hehe), Ibanez acoustic, and last but not least an Epiphone x-plorer.
If this guitar were stolen ide be very mad, i would defenitly buy
a new one, but still...it wouldnt be the same :(
Do i compare to other guitarist?
I dont like to say how i play but since you cant hear me
you'll just have to take my word for it.
Ive spent all my time mastering John Petrucci,
Steve Vai and Yngwie Malsteem's methods of playing,
and have no trouble what so ever.(so dont judge a man on what kind
of guitar he plays, but insted by his skills)
I hope this reveiw has been helpful.
And always remember if you decide to buy this guitar, you dont pick
it, it picks you.
So have a great day,man. I gotta run :)
-Chase

I believe mine was made in Korea. 24 frets, solid mahogany (cheap mahogany ofcourse, dont expect the wood that Gibson uses to make their guitars), 2 volume, 2 tone knobs, 3-way selector. Powersound humbucker passive pickups (pieces of crap). It has transparent red finish. Artist body style (which will give you a hard time if you got used to the Strat body). Tune-O-Matic bridge. Gigbag & cable included

My music style is almost everything but i play mainly metal and i started playing Rhythm. Therefore i seek for a tight "chugga" sound. And i think the powersound pu does this job pretty good. D'addario was the original string on it. I use Boss MetalZone and SuperChorus, run them through a Marshall AVT2000, it satisfies me at the beginning. But the more i play it, i realize that its sound has no definition. It sounds really dry and awful, all it has is the power. You can get some harmonics out of it, but not really nice and sustainable( I couldnt get all Zakk's artificial harmonics out of it). Without the distortion pedal, it's even worse. Again: no definition, the body doesnt seem to absorb & resonate the sound. Lately, i switch to lead playing and found the neck pickup was not too bad for a warm, smooth tone, but forget it if you want to lead w/ the bridge pickup. There's still a problem, almost all the notes i play on high E string dont sound good, it has some kind of vibration. Bad bad bad.

The hardware was setup pretty good. Clean frets, bridge and tuner.. But loose output jack, not a big problem though.
The finish is transparent so i can see the poor quality pieces of wood under it, lol.
The action was painfully high when i first got it. I spent time lower the action, adjust the intonation, and got a pretty low action. 1-2 months later, it started buzzing on the first fret, i dont know if it was because of strings wear or not, but i dont play on those frets much hence ignored it. A few weeks down the road, the second fret started buzzing and the low E string buzzed on every fret, and i had to highten the action (like 1.5 time as high as it was). 1-2 weeks later, it started buzzing again, this time worse. I was like "screw it" it and throwed it into the closet. End of story :D

Never gig w/ it, so i dont know...
The hardware will last coz i dont sweat. The finish doesnt easily pickup fingerprints and scratches. I thought i could keep it like new for at least one year but one day, a mo-fu from Harvard (yea, f@#& that) came and managed to let it fall from the stand to the ground, leaving a big crack on the finish. The worst part was he didnt pay for it :(

I've been playing for 5 years and owned some Yamaha and custom guitars. This is the worst one :|. If i lost it, i wouldnt buy it again. The reason i bought it was the fame of well-known Ibanez. I would rate it 7 because i developed alot of techniques w/ it.

2003 model, made in China, 22 large frets, Rosewood fingerboard, agathis body (black), Full Tune II bridge, 3 way selector switch, chrome hardware, PSND1 (H) Neck PU and PSND2 (H) Bridge passive pickups (stock).

I play mostly death/grind/hardcore/crust, and I bought this guitar to play on a Crust/Hardcore band. The stock pickups sounded like crap, so they where the first thing to go. I've since put an EMG 81 active pickup on the bridge, and this baby really came to life. On rehearsals I use a Marshall amp (head+cabinet), I don't know its specs, but I think it's a 200w cabinet and a 100w head (again, not sure). With the stock pickups, the sound was really tiny, it hadn't any punch at all, but with the EMG 81... It even sounds good on my Peavey 15w practice amp!

Since I'm mostly a rhythm guitarrist, all I use is distortion and clean sound, no effects here. Harmonics are really easy to do, even with the old stock pickups. So, in terms of rating the sound, I would rate it a 3 with the old stock pickups, and a 9 with the EMG 81.

Factory setups are kinda lame to my liking, since I like to use lower tunings. There was some fret buzz on the 10th fret, but since I had the setup done, this was fixed. I use D tuning on this guitar, so I had to put some new strings too (0.11 Ernie Ball Medium Gauge). The finish was quite good, I haven't noticed any apparent flaws. I was really surprised to see such a good finish on a cheap guitar like this one.

Well, I haven't played live with this guitar (yet), but I think it would take some abuse on stage with no majour problems. The hardware seems solid enough, but you know that nothing lasts forever, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. The strap buttons also seem solid enough to take some abuse. I think it's a reliable guitar, once you setup it the way you like, but even if I had a Gibson I would use a backup guitar. But in the eventuality of not taking a backup guitar to a gig, I wouldn't be too worried.

Well, I haven't dealt with Ibanez directly, just the music stores that sell their stuff. And note that this is my first Ibanez, so...

I've been playing for some 10 years now (which doesn't mean that I'm an experienced player, but hey), and I also own a ESP LTD H207 7-string guitar (amazing guitar) and a Jackson Perfomer PS4. If my Ibanez GAX70 were stolen or lost or whatever, I would be pissed. Just because I invested a lot on improvements (did I mentioned the EMG 81? lol). But yeah, I guess I would go out and buy another one. It's a really good looking guitar, even though I would change some things if I could, like the headstock. It isn't ugly, but... If it had a PRS-style headstock, then I would be a really happy man!

So, in conclusion: the Ibanez GAX70 it's a good buy, if you're in a budget. And with time, invest on some improvements, like pickups. With some new pickups, this guitar will definitely rock!

I hate these shredder thin tone sucking Ibanez necks, but Ibanez has a lovely clean and price at the same time.
Reliability/Durability has the nightmare I experienced with this guitar which was my first guitar that I have bought( I inherited a REAL Gibson Les Paul Standard from the 80s that would for for about $2500 new, and I inherited an old american Stratocaster from the late 60s)

These guitars have been switched to 10-46 gauge strings like I like from the 9-42 strings.
It helps the tone a lot.

With the stock pickups, I would give it a 3 for overdrive and a 7 for clean, but after I gave it a seymour duncan 59 in the neck and an Alnico 2 in the bridge, it sounded like a 8 in the overdrive and a 9 in the clean.
Good amount of tone with the new pickups and better sustain.
Reliability/Durability has my nightmare

It was all good, except the horrible action.
Reliability/Durability has the nightmare I experienced.

Yep, right now I am afraid it will fall a part. I have had this guitar for 8 months.

I had my local guitar tech put 10-46's on this guitar and it went well for a week....
The guitar has a massive split down the back of the body now that looks like it will cut my guitar vertically in half... I am afraid it will fall apart any minute.
Ibanez is putting out some real crappy bodies if they can't even handle the GUITAR PLAYER STANDARD gauge of strings, a simple 10-46.

I am guessing it will would have broke with the original 9-42 strings, because these things don't "just happen"

This guitar was fine before..
I took the strings off and am going to use the professional wood glue on all the cracks and the massive gap/fault in the middle at the base of the neck. Hopefully this combined with a nice 2 week clamping will work, but the looks of my guitar are ruined now...

I did call Ibanez, and they said that they got a bad wood shipment recently that they WILL NOT be disposing of because it would lower company profits.
Umm ok... I could understand that.. Could I have some of my money back though?

The answer was simply "no, I am very sorry"

Sorry does not cut it for me or the cut in my axe!!!

Lesson learned kids, Stay the hell away from Ibanez guitars, they are selling crap.

I could get a way better fender standard for the same price or a squier and then just modify the pickups(but the original sound is already awesome)

If you are getting an Ibanez for metal, just go get an ESP, Epihpone, schecter, gibson, or a Fender Deluxe Double Fat Strat(duel humbuckers, killer guitar for all music styles, I am going to buy one to replace this one)

The ibanez needs too much modding anyway. It is not worth it with how much good pickups cost these days. ya know?

Imported, solid-body, bolt-on neck, 2 open coil humbuchers, 3 way switch, 4 control knobs, metalic grey finish.

The sustain is great for a bolt-on neck guitar. Rich, warm tone from the bridge pickup and assertive, bright tone from the neck pickup. I tend to play ultra-heavy, doom/stoner rock (think Wino) and find the sound pretty good. I could use a little more richness but this is a great starter axe. I'm running it through an old-school Boss DS-1 and it's pretty thick.

I bought it from a pawn shop ($150.00) and the low E buzzed a lot up to the 7th fret. I adjusted the bridge and tooc care of that issue. The neck pickup was too high and I had to sink it a little to get rid of the violently bright tone. The bridge pick up is perfect. This is a really pretty guitar. The bright chrome hardware really pops and the finish is deep and glossy. The neck is smooth but a little thin for me. It is perfect for people with smaller hands.
It's really heavy and you will need a good strap to avoid shoulder strain, but it is as solid as a rock.

The guitar stays in tune wonderfully. The workmanship is solid and the finish seems like it will last. There is no pick guard, so if you are a manic shredder, you may want to install one to protect the body. The 3 way switch had a short but access was easy from the back.
I don't play ot but I do feel confident in this guitar's reliability.

This is a great guitar for a beginning player. It's solid and versitile offering many features for little cash. I recently upgraded to a Samick AV3 as I wanted a warmer tone and a fixed neck, but I will keep this Ibanez as a backup. I may replace the bridge pickup for a higher quality one down the road.
This is a great guitar for starting out and getting your chops. I recommend it if you're looking for a cheap axe.

i bought mine in '04. beatiful agathis body, 3 way toggle, 2 tone and 2 volume knobs. i have the black finish, because it looks more elegant than the transparent red. 2 humbuckers, called POWERSOUND. the body style is Les Paul SG. non-locking tuners (schaller), 22 frets. the setup was fine - the neck was perfect, the strings quite ok.

this guitar is perfect for rock/punk/metal ... this is my opinion ;) ... the humbuckers aren't noisy, and have the sound you need. full and bright ... i think, that the guitar doesn't make many types of sounds, but it does the esential sounds. the body is the most important thing of this guitar - the sustain is amazing!!!!

the set-up at the factory was perfect. there were only two things i dislike:
.) you can not really play this guitar in a sitting position, because of the cutaways.
.) the guitar is out of balance ... to much weight on the neck - so the guitar always goes down to the horizont ;) - it will not stand in an ancle of 20?-30? ...

the pickups are great, they make the right sound for rock/punk.

i don't have any problems with the frets, my guitar doesn't go out of tune. the electronic inside is perfect - not a single cable too much ;)

i think that you can smash this guitar against a wall, and it would happen nothing ...

i will soon gig with this guitar, and i think that i will not make a backup - everything at this guitar seems very durable to me.

none ... unknown

the guitar is perfect for the price ... 275? ...
2 perfect humbuckers (i know they are not the best), a perfect fretboard, ...
i played already 5 hours with this guitar non-stop ... and it didn't go out of tone, but my shoulders hurt ...

if it breaks i will buy another one, because i love the sound and the shape of this guitar so much.

i have also played with an ax125 (the "better"-verison), and i prefere the gax70, because it is cheaper, it has nearly the same features, and i didn't noticed any difference!

i think that this guitar is a beginner guitar - for sure - but it is also good for pros ... i play since 7 years now, and i played a lot of guitars ... ovasion, gibson, ibanez, fender ...

ovasion has got the perfect fretboard, but a shit of a body - gibson has got a fine body, perfect humbuckers - ibanez has got a lot of variety (i own a rg220 ... i think the gax70 is much better) - fender has got such a bright sound, i would not miss for lead ...