Ibanez GAX70

The standard 2 humbuckers 3 way switch with volume and tone for each pickup. Nothing spectacular, but more versatile than even some PRS guitars. (Which i admit are my favourite.)

Ok, this is where i start ranting. Many people gave this guitar terrible reviews, and i just don't understand it. They complain about things that i think have more to do with thier setup than the guitar. I play through several pedal with a Boss NS and Ibanez Delay in the effects loop of an old school Peavey Studio Pro 112. Some people complained about too much feedbackwhen standing close to the amp. I play in a small room only about 10 feet from my amp and i never get feedback unless i try for it. My guess is they just have the distortion set too high. More distortion does not equal better tone! Look at TOOL, or AC/DC, or U2. They are hailed as kings of tone and use far less distortion than you think.

People mentioned the pickups. I found the bridge pickup a little bright i admit, but i found it very suited for classic Led Zepplin tones, and Jimmy used $3000 Les Pauls! People also said the neck pickup is too muddy. I feel this is great for B.B. King style blues. I was playing through light distortion through the neck p/u with a B.B. song and the people listening could not tell what was him and what was me!

People mentioned that the pickups were a little thin. I found them to be no thinner than the strats these people rave about, in fact this guitar makes some Strats sound paper thin. There is a reason that you can adjust pickup height. The closer the pickup to the strings, the louder and thicker the sound will be! That's guitar 101!

Primarily, i use the neck pickup for blues solo tone and the bridge for classic rock Les Paul tone. Anybody who can't get great tone out of this guitar either needs a new amp or a lesson in general guitar customization, like pickup height or string gauge. (I have the pickups very close and use GHS TNT boomers or Elixir lgt top hvy bottom (.52 .44 .30 .17 .13 .10)

Not every guitar will sound perfect through the same setting on the same amp. I can make this guitar sound like a Les Paul, a hollowbody, even a strat just because i know how to adjust the amp. Please take the time to learn how to use your gear to the best of it's potential before just writing it off as crap.

I got this from a local guitar shop. The action was good, but i needed to adjust things a little to compensate for the heavy strings i use. (I hate high end, so i use heavier bottoms to overpower the high strings, and allow for my style which includes a lot of bends while soloing.)

I have beat this thing, slapped it, even thrown it on the ground when my other gear started acting up. It now has to small dings that are only noticable if i point them out, and that's after droping it on a concrete floor, This guitar is built like a tank and has had no wiring problem what-so-ever.

n/a

You can't just plug in any guitar to any amp and expect to immediately get whatever tone you want. You're gonna have to have a little patience and fiddle with things a little. I own a Squier Strat, a Dano Hearsay, a Samick Strat, a Fender Fat Strat, and 2 acoustics. This guitar has become my primary guitarfor everything for Matchbox 20 to Pearl Jam, from John Mellencamp to Evanescence to U2 to Green Day. Of all the entry level (and even professional) guitars that i have the played, this is absolutely the best. I am amazed the price keeps dropping, and i am currelty buying another one for whole step down tuning for Godsmack and System of a Down. If i had the money, i'd buy 2 or 3 more!

Indonesian made Gibson Les-Paul double cutaway copy (made 1999 or 2000). Two powersound hb's, 3-way toggle, 2 tone and 2 volume knobs. Called "Transparent Butterscotch" finish, looks more like current "Red Transparent" finish. Finish is very durable.

It has a 24.75" scale, rosewood fretboard, 22 frets. Black painted headstock. Standard non-locking sealed tuners. Tune-o-matic bridge with stop tailpiece.

Problems with set-up, switch, and tuners lower this score (see below).

Open-coil hb's sound good to my ears. Body feel resonant after some work. I use it with a Nady rack-mount compressor/gate/limiter, Digitech RP-100 and an old peavey tube amp for a nice straight rock sound. Not good for bluesey, jangly, single coil sound (obviously).

Okay, there were some problems here. I don't do much guitar maintenance myself but I gave it to a friend who is an amatuer luthier and he discovered some problems.

There was a major mess-up on this guitar at the factory---someone screwed in 3 of the 4 bolts crooked and then took them out, and used the same neck and properly installed the bolts--so my neck has 7 holes in it!! Had a big problem fretting out around the 20th fret on the high strings and it turns out the neck pocket was also not properly routed and someone stuck in a sandpaper shim to compensate.

My buddy properly sanded the neck pocket to fit and the body started to resonate properly for a much improved sound. Still have a slight problem fretting out if we set the action too low. Also, the neck pickup is not properly aligned with the strings.

Finally, the guitar was not staying in tune and it seems two of the original tuners were missing the plastic washers under the key. Upgraded the tuners to grovers (non locking) and fixed the intonation and now it is much better. Will upgrade to locking tuners soon.

One more beef--the pickup selector switch is right below the bridge pickup so I'm always hitting it on the downstroke and switching if it's not on the bridge pickup. Stupid design.

All that being said, for $189, this guitar is very servicable and after some good work by a competent person this guitar plays really well---truly a thin, fast neck.

Despite initial problems, this has been a rock solid guitar once it's been set up properly. I'm a poor graduate student, so this was my only guitar for a long while. Strap buttons had to be tightened, but now they're cool. The finish is really great. I've been playing it every day for 4 years and there is no visible wear except for a small dent when I dropped a heavy metal straightedge on it. No pick scratches (and no pickguard).

Unknown.

I've been playing guitar for 10 years or so, and keyboards longer than that, but solely guitar for the last 5 years. I also play an Ovation acoustic, and a Schecter C-1 and Yamaha Pacifica from time to time (my friend's guitars).

I liked the Les Paul styling on this guitar and the finish and the non-trem bridge. I used to have a cheap strat copy with a tremolo that went out of tune if you sneezed and so I knew that a cheap guitar would have a better chance of staying in tune without a trem. I wanted a straight-ahead rocker and I liked the transparent finish too. Ibanez makes cheap, solid guitars, and this is no exception.

If this were stolen and I only had $200 to replace it, I would seriously consider another one, but I would not order it online again without a chance to check it out first. More likely, I would spend $300-500 to go up to the next level of quality---there's nothing in this price range that doesn't have some basic flaws.

I really enjoy playing this guitar---it feels nice in my lap when I'm noodling around and watching TV, and it sounds good and solid amplified. There is nothing I really hate about it, except maybe the positioning of the pickup selector switch.

I just ordered a new Schecter PT-Custom, but the GAX-70 will remain in my posession---as a backup or drop-tuned alternate. I also have thought about keeping it around and raising the action to make it a slide guitar. All in all, I am really happy with this guitar---a real workhorse for small $.

Transparent Red finish, sg style guitar, look pretty nice.
Tune-o-matic style bridge. Two tone, two volume pots, 3 way pu selector.

The powersound pups are really sub-par. They're best suited to heavy high distortion settings but are really pathetic clean...very limited in their range of tones...bridge is shrill and the neck is muddy.
I bought this as a first guitar after having not playing much for 10 years and thought it was okay at first, then MF had a close-out sale on a Yamaha rgx-121 for $115 so I jumped on it and I can tell you that the Yamaha so blows the gax70 away it's not even funny. With its HSH pickups it has a vast array of tones and sound so much better than the gax70 that I am hardly playing it anymore.
I was, and sorta still am, thinking of upgrading the pups to seymours but find it kinda hard to justify spending almost as much on pickups as the guitar cost itself.

The first one I got from MF had to be sent back as it was impossible to get it properly intonated..ie the bridge saddles were maxed out all the way back and it was still out. The second one i got was almost prefectly intonated right out of the box.
It has a really decsent neck for a $200 guitar, width at nut is 1 11/16 so it's not too cramped feeling which I like cause I have fairly chunky fingers...the Yamaha has a really skinny neck which is the only thing I don't like about it.
The gax70 is really poorly balanced. With the wide ass-end and cutaways so far forward it's very uncomfortable to play sitting down.
When standing up, the neck tend to want to fall straight down making you constantly hold it up in position.

The input jack came completely out after a couple of weeks. Screwed it back in but the wood was stripped out so I jabbed a toothpick in them..

I currently play thru a marshall mg30dfx,and a digitech rp200a. I've played off and on since the 70's and mainly like to play classic rock type stuff. With a new set of pickups, it could probably do the Gibson sound pretty well and it might make a fun guitar to mod out with coil tapping switches as such but I'm reluctant to do so because of its poor balance.

Nothing that hasn't been talked about before...two volune and two tones...two pickups...not sure what they are but they sound good. Standard tuners and tune o matic bridge. and the rest is standard also.

I LOVE THE SOUND. I PLAYED THIS AXE IN MIAMI FOR THE SUMMER AT GUITAR CENTER. IT ROCKED. I LOVED IT...PITY I DIDNT HAVE THE MONEY TO GET IT RIGHT THERE AND THEN...

I'm not a really good professional...but when i played this guitar i did things that i never thought possible. I played it through a marshall amp stack. I nearly cried (mostly because i couldn't take both guitar and amp with me). I Play Gospel and Christian Music (Rock, Reggae, Blues, Church Gospel) and i tried the rock and reggae styles on it and it sounded sooooo sweet.

The Stuff was pretty good don't own it so i guess the time will tell when i do get it.

The guitar was set up pretty good...no complaints at the time.

The Guys at Guitar center are Great. I only spent the summer there in miami before i came back to the caribbean but those guys know everything about anything. I'd send anyone to guitar center.

This is a guitar I WANT. I want i want i want. Of course it can't beat a PRS custom 22 but i am going to get it as soon as posibble.

bought it in 2000. my first guitar. 22 fret, solid top, hh config., agathis body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, solid black finish, a fat sg, tune-o-matic bridge, 25.5 scale neck with medium frets. basic.

i play a wide variety of things from old skewl metal to blues to hard rock to punk and this can keep up pritty well. the stock pu's are desent (esp. for a 200 guitar)versitile guitar but the bridge pu is a bit to bright, but then again i like warmer tone.

this is were this thing shines, the action is great. after a sligh lowering it felt like ive been playing this thing for years.

has the standard sg problems. neckjoint has a hairline fracture, but other then the jonit its build like a tank.

this is probably in the top 3 guitars for under 200$. wonderfull first guitar and will probably end up modding it. 3 guitars later this still gets alot of playing time mostly because of its playability.

but if i could start over again i would save an extra 50$ and get a ic120, or a articore.

The following guitar is from Indonesia
it is a 21 fret neck guitar , with maple neck, and rose wood fret board its solid top, 3 way selecter 2 volumes and two tone controls it has two humbuckers, theres a gibson 496T ceramic coil guitar humbucker on this guitar, the body is bass wood or agathis im not sure much lighter make than strat, the neck is slimmer, the finish is cherry red and the construction is quite solid for a 200$ guitar
much better than i thought t would be. The biggest problem
is the inability to stay in tune after two hours, there is no adjustable tremelo, and the body style is towards that of a bloated sg
so a guitar you would want to play standing up. Other wise its quite decent especially for the price.

The pickups buzz little, how ever the stock neck pickup seems thin , but so does the gibson 496, i think this may be due to the strings and amplifier. The sound is a brite sound, from stock and the gibson pick ups, but the pickups are high pitched.
The amplifiers i use is Behringer GX210 w/ Ibanez TS7, Crate Vintage Club 50, and roland cube 15

the best you'll find on a 200$ guitar

this guitar is very hardwearing
in comparison to other 200$ guitars,
i would use it as a backup at a gig
the finish is very well done , there are no signs of chipping and the guitar is two years old

its a used guitar
no customer support
and from what i've heard
warranties on guitar are bull shit
unless you pay extra for them

this is a great guitar for a beginner
suitable, for punk rock, and metal,
if it broke i wouldnt replace it, but if it was stolen, i'd definitlely consider buying it agian. This guitars sound is similiar to a gibson or epiphone lespaul and definitely worth a try.

not sure what year mine is. made in indonesia. i love the dual volume knob feature. works for the tom morello toggle technique.

sounds very nice and bright. i play all kinds of rock & metal so its usually being distorted. nice good crunch. great clean tone too.

i bought the guitar used. and it only had one scratch on it. everything is still nice and tight on it. nothing slopped out or out of place. finish is a little weak to scratches.

like everyone has said, this is one tough guitar. hardware is all solid on it. finish is weak and chips easy. definatly withstands live playing. totally a durable guitar.

never dealt with them.

i've been playing for about 5 years. and i own 5 guitars, and this one is definately the toughest. its a good one to have as a backup or to use at a gig if you play in multiple tunings. if this were lost or stolen i dont know if i would buy another one because i got a deal on this one, and i dont know if i would pay full price for it because i'm not crazy about the body style, but it is a very nice guitar and sounds great.

You know what the features are. Mines a butterscotch finish model 1999 i think. Basic features but real good.

I play a lot of classic rock, and it sounds pretty good on a lot of the stuff but im def thinking about changing the pickups. Youcant beat it on the hair band stuff and the clean channel even sounds pretty good (like it works fine for Sweet Home Alabama) It seems like its that in-between thats harder to get sounding good

The neck is amazing.strings seem to break easily on this guitar tho, youd probably want to change the bridge or something. even still, i would upgrade this guitar before buying a different one bc it plays so well.

this guitar is tough. I have been playing on it for a few years and dont really have any noticeable marks. Its been gigged and at numerous practices.

they were awful I admit i called for what they probably considered a petty reason (the marker at the 17th fret was pushed in some) but it was a brand new guitar. i spent two hours on the phone just to get some kind of stupid form so i could send the thing off. I never did bc if i rememeber correctly they were going to take months to fix it. just make sure you buy from a dealer with good customer suppport, like musicians friend or interstate. oh yeah, the warranty is five years

You just plain cant beat this guitar as a starter guitar, and with upgrades it would be hard to beat with any guitar. With some new pickups and a new bridge to fix the string problem, this guitar would be amazing. i know when i get the money it will be upgraded.

says Sep 1 2000 on then end of the neck...so there ya go.
All the features that have been mentioned, except for the ungodly amount of changes I've made.

Sounds ok stock, but great with a new set of pickups. I put a pair of Gibson PAF's in mine, and it sounds as thick as a really thick thing now. I play it thru a CryBaby wah, Boss NS-2(noise suppresor), Boss CS-2(compressor/sustainer), and Boss CE-2(chorus) pedals, into a Fender Prosonic head and ToneMaster 4x12. I don't like Gibson guitars, just their p/u's. For about $350, this guitar sounds as good as any Les Paul I've ever laid my hands on, and it plays 10x better because it doesn't weigh a ton.
I play alot of stuff, mostly metal. Everything from Dokken, to Ratt, to Pantera, Hatebreed....extreme is how I like it. I also play some clean stuff, ie.-Dave Matthews, and it sounded ok for all of that stock, but the output wasn't quite there. 6 stock, 10 now.

The action is great, neck is fitted beautifully, finish has been super durable considering my abuse. There were no flaws on the guitar from Ibanez, but there was one from the store. Apparently, someone dropped it on it's head(stock) in the store, which left two small cracks between the neck p/u and the neck itself, but they don't affect the guitar in the slightest.

I've put this guitar thru hell many times over. I threw it across a parking lot(in the case)about 12-15 feet, and when it hit the ground, the case popped open(cause it's cheap), the guitar popped out, and a nice chunk about 1 1/2 inches wide x 3 inches long popped out of the top bout of the guitar, on the back. I attempted the "rock star" move by spinning it over my head, and the rear strap button ripped out(whcih was my fault because I put straplocks on it and the screws were smaller...boy did I learn), it flew away, hit the ground, and took out another nice chunk, right by the input jack, about 1/2 in. wide and 2 in. long. For all of the flying this guitar has done, it still stays in tune, looks pretty(except for the missing pieces), the neck is still rock solid, and hey...it's got character now. I've used it numerous times onstage, with and without a backup...I feel safe.

Haven't dealt with them, b/c the guitar is built like a tank, and I've voided the warranty anyways...new p/u's, ripped off the tone knobs for a hotter sound, moved the switch(I put it where the old neck tone knob was...that fixes the problem many people complained about...the switch being too light to the touch doesn't matter, b/c it's out of the way), etc.

I've played for around four years now, and this guitar has been my main guitar for about 2 1/2, which is how long I've had it. I've obviously put it thru it's paces, and for the price, it's easily the greatest guitar I've ever played. If I lost it or it got stolen, I wouldn't buy a new one, b/c I'd kill my self out of despair, thus making me dead, thus making me unable to buy anything.

Made in Indonesia, 2001 model. It's a double cutaway in the spirit of Gibson's LP, butterscotch finish (really just a nautural stain). 3-way selector, not very good (it knocks out of place easily, and the middle and low end settings are almost identical). There's two volume knobs and two tone knobs, both leave a little to be desired but still function nicely. Stock tuners are excellent in my opinion; I've never had a problem keeping it in tune, even after hours of playing. Really, a nice set of features for the price.

I play alternative style rock, sometimes bordering the grunge sound. This guitar is perfect a grunge/hard rock sound, but I find that the guitar is pretty much limited to that style. I've attempted sludge and thrash on it, and it sounds alright, certainly one of the best for the price. The tone is bright, but you can roll the tone knobs down for a less than perfect fix. The guitar puts out a ton of feedback when standing close to an amp, the pickups are not very versatile and lack high quality. Changing them out probably makes or breaks your opinion of this guitar. This guitar is good for musical styles in the vein of grunge and nu-metal, maybe even some of the more technical metal because of the brightness of tone, but that's really about all. However, it can be argued that for the price, you could do a lot worse.

The factory setup required a little adjustment, not much. The action is nice. Everyone I've talked to that's owned an Ibanez always mentions how fast the neck is, and I'm inclined to agree. It's a little heavy, but very comfortable to wear.

The finish on the guitar looks very good, but it's ultra delicate. I've put a few nics and even a crack in it, and I'm not very rough with my instruments. Despite the delicate finish, this guitar is built to last. It will take some pretty heavy abuse (If you've seen Marilyn Manson's John 5 try to break this guitar at the end of the live show they released, notice that it takes him several tries) and still sound like new. It's quite dependable. I wouldn't gig with it as my main guitar, but it makes a very nice backup. In fact, the only reason It wouldn't gig with it as my main is because I rely on the clean channels just as much as distortion.

I've never dealt with them, but I imagine they'd have a relatively reliable customer support team, because of how large they are.

It's a nice guitar for those players whose styles rely on a fair amount of distortion. I find that for the price, any metal or hard rock player should be satisfied. Most of Ibanez's guitars are the same, so if you are thinking about an Ibanez, this is probably the best way to go. If it ever got stolen, I'd probably just save my money a little longer and purchase an epiphone Les Paul or SG to replace it. If I had to compare the guitar to others I've played, I'd say it's less than a Jackson, but much more than the "specials" put out by Epiphone. Good guitar for the money.

This is very much like a gibson Les Paul DC. Two Tone, Two Volume, Pickup Selector isn't very good. doesn't take much to knock it back to the middle. 22 Frets. Made in Indionisia. Black No Pickguard. This is very simple looking but it is possibly the nicest looking guitar ive owned. It has a stop-bar tail peice, non locking tuners, very thin neck, but makes it easy to play.

This has a pretty bright sound. But if you roll the tone down it fixes it. Pickups squeal if you have the action set too low. Works VERY well with distortion but if you like jazz/blues you might want to consider a stratocaster or something

This was set up like a $1000 guitar. nothing wrong with it. action was a little bit high but i like it that way. no problem.

Haven't played live with this guitar yet, but im sure that if i had to it would play beautifully. The strap buttons are awkwardly placed so the top one falls off, just get a locking strap and you'll be fine.

never had to deal with them
1 yr warrenty

Ive been playing for 3 years. I have owned a Barracuda SG580, and a Yamaha Pacifica. Both of which I smashed onstage at one point. And i have my Gibson Les Paul which has been my favorite guitar for more than 2 years since i got it from my uncle. this makes an amazing backup for an experienced player or for beginner/intermediate it is amazing. If it were stolen i would be upset but id get a new one because of the price. The only thing i dont like is the strap button and the pickup selector. but that can be fixed quite easily.

It was made in Indonesia:
22 frets, double Powersound humbuckers, 2 volume/2 tone, 3-way switch, I think the body is agathis, maple neck, nice transparent red finish, tune-o-matic bridge... You've already read all this stuff from other reviews. It doesn't have anything extraneous, just the basic features plus a pretty finish and a decent selection of tone controls.

My clean stuff is mostly Collective Soul, Carbon Leaf, and Flogging Molly-type music (all hail the kings of Irish punk!!!); as for distorted I'm all about Metallica, System of a Down, Deftones, Tool, and a lot of more mellow bands, plus of course what I write myself. The GAX70 works well for pretty much everything I play, but it's built for hard rockin' so if you always want a clean crisp tone it's not bad but you could definitely do better. I run it through a DOD Extreme Distortion (don't remember model number), a DOD chorus (ditto), and an Ibanez DE7 delay/echo, into either a Crate MX15R or a used Fender Princeton 112. It sounds great through both amps, the sound is a little more clear through the Crate but unfortunately it's just not loud enough so the Princeton suits it fine. It's not too noisy, in my opinion much better than any single-coil guitar for that exact reason. The bridge pickup is way too twangy on clean, great for distorted leads. The neck pickup is good if you want a really mellow or muddy sound. I use both pickups and just tweak the tone/volume knobs until I get the right sound, and switch to just the bridge for cutting solos. This is a more versatile sound than you'll get from most low-end guitars. And it sounds EARGASMIC with DOD chorus or distortion or both. I just wish it didn't twang and buzz as much on clean.

Set up pretty well, I've had to mess with the action and pickup positioning a bit but it's all right. The bridge and tuners are almost perfect, I only have to tune it every week or less... No flaws that I've noticed in a year and a half, and it was the floor model! That's not bad folks. One thing: the strap button at the butt has ripped up the threading in the wood and it's slipping out now. But that shouldn't be too bad if I can just get the right glue and fill 'er up. And as I mentioned, it's a beautiful finish!

It's a pretty tough guitar, although I don't get too rough with it when I play. A few days ago though, I was driving back from practice when my Princeton (about 30-35 pounds) tipped over in the trunk and fell on it. It was in its gig bag but it got two strings knocked loose and the pickup switch is damaged. The strings are okay, I retuned them and they seem to be holding. The switch still works but it's wobbly and moves in directions it shouldn't move in. But considering how big my amp is I'm surprised it didn't sustain worse damage. A pretty strong guitar in my opinion, with the exception of the strap button ripping the wooden threading after 18 months. It's my only electric so I guess I'd gig without a backup wouldn't I?

Don't know

Been playing 4 years, have owned two acoustics. I'm glad I bought this guitar, although I'll probably be getting a higher-end one in a year or two. All I can say is if you're cheap you can't really go wrong with it.

Read the others. Same features. I was at the MF Clearance center just to buy a cheap guitar to play at the office.

I play all types of music, but seems to be better when heavily distorted. The moment I got it home, I put on a set of .010's and set it up. Plugged it into a HRDx and was I suprised. Not bad at all. A little on the bright side.

Set up was marginal, but I always adjust everything. I never expect the factory setup to be any good anyway. It was marked as a blem, but I couldn't find anything except for some discoloration on the fretboard. Used some lemon oil on it, seems to look ok after a couple of days. Tuners were loose, but tightened them up, no rattles.

Wouldn't use this for a gig, unless I had to. Seems durable enough.

No need for Customer Support. It's basically a throw away if I can't fix it.

For the money, this is an unbelievable guitar. I own a Gibson LP Standard, an AM Std Tele, an AM Std Strat and a PRS McCarty. Even if it were $200, you couldn't go wrong. If it were stolen, I would buy another.

2002 Korean made Ibanez with 22 frets. Two volume and two tone knobs, one for each humbucker. Comes with stock Powersound humbuckers. Comes with a Tune-O-Matic bridge and a thin neck. I decdided to go with the two volume and tone controls on this guitar istead of going for one tone, one volume, and tremolo bar offered on other guitars at this price range since all the low end trems suck anyways.

Pickups are okay, but you'll definately want to replace them with some new ones. I'm personally looking at getting a Bill Lawrence L500XL in the bridge. The pickups are noice when I'm not playing and I get way to much feedback no matter where I stand in relation to my amp. The pickups would be my only complaint.

Guitar was perfectly set up when I got it. Action was just right, no damage or anything.

I'm sure that this guitar could definately withstand a gig. I've had it for a month now with the same set of strings, and none have broken. Of course you normally would want to change strings about every 2-4 weeks to keep a bright tone. It holds tune very well and the finish is amazing. I've got the grey metallic finish, and I can just wipe any fingerprints right off. I would not however use this guitar during a gig without a backup. I actually never would recommend not having a backup guitar at gig, anything and everything can and will go wrong.

I've never had to deal with Ibanez, but their web site has a lot more to offer in the way of support than other manufacturers.

I've been playing for three years. If it were stolen, I'd probably go for an ESP LTD EC-100. The only differences are that it has only one tone knob, but it also has 24 frets and cooler body + headstock look. The ESP is also $20 less at Musician's Friend.

I really like the double humbuckers on this axe. For the price, the features are great. 3 way selector. Double cutaway (SG style). Volume and tone knobs for both pickups. (les paul style)

This guitar does have a bit of a bright sound, nothing that the tone knobs can't fix however. I am running this through a solid state Fender Deluxe 85 amp. I'm still trying to get a perfect sound with that amp. I ran it through a Marshall PCM-80 tube amp and I was really impressed with the sound. Just watch using the bridge pickup, if the tone is turned up too high, you can really do a number on the eardrums.

This is the only downside to this guitar. When I got it, the action wasn't too bad, but it's not where I want it. I tried doing some adjustments to the bridge and truss rod, and now I'm having a problem where the low E string is buzzing out on the first fret. It almost looks like the neck isn't installed into the guitar correctly, kinda looks bent up. I noticed that when I'm ripping out some good leads, the high E string actually slips off the fretboard and gets stuck under some of the fret wires at the high end of the fretboard. I also had to resolder the wiring inside, this was due to the volume and tone knobs not being tight enough. I had to tighten all of the knobs, and I am having problems with the jack coming loose as well. I plan on taking it to a repair shop soon.

The guitar does great with live playing, no complaints here on that. As far as the hardware goes, after repairs I'm sure it will last awhile, I've only had the guitar for a year so we'll see. I mostly play at home but I plan on playing out more. The finish on this guitar is great, looks like its built to last. Strap buttons are very solid and built very well. I feel I can depend on this guitar, but I am saving up for a Gibson Les Paul so once I get one, this will be one of those "other tuning" guitars. I feel I can use this guitar on a gig without a backup.

Have never dealth with Ibanez

I have been playing guitar for two years but I am very well established. I have been playing for 4 to 6 hours every day since I started. I own a Fender Deluxe 85 solid state amp. I own an Alvarez acoustic guitar also. I asked all of the questions needed before purchasing this guitar. I was really smart about choosing it. For the money, you can't beat it in my opinion. I would buy this again if it were stolen. Hopefully that will never happen because this has sentimental value as my first electric guitar. I am satisfied with the sound with this guitar. I don't like how poorly the electrical work was installed however. I had compared this guitar with many others in this price range and this guitar is the best value by far.

I'll skip this part cos most of the features have already been mentioned in the previous reviews anyhow. It has no trem, which can either be an upside or a downside depending on your preference; personally I hate trem because the guitar gets out of tune so easily, the only trem I would use would be the U-bar on the K7 model.
Great body, but otherwise nothing extra-special.

In my opinion it's pretty decent; although I would probably prefer something with a bit higher output, but with the setup I have at the moment it doesn't make a difference anyway I just run it through my zoom gfx-7 pedal and it sounds fucking sweet. This guitar has little to no problem with noise, and I have no problem playing the styles that I do on it: punk/metal/blues/classical/jazz. Nice rich sound.

The action on this guitar was perfect from the very beginning, pickups were fine, however I did encounter a problem with the jack; after reading the reviews it seems I'm not the only one, because it really does need tightening. The neck was a bit bent also, which I repaired, but probably the most serious of problems was that I needed to resolder the wiring inside because at one stage the guitar didn't work at all. Overall, a little disappointing, but I feel maybe some of the problems could've been my fault. Then again, they could've not been.

This guitar is fairly durable to my knowledge, as long as you don't smash the shit out of it (why?the jack comes loose). This guitar withstands live playing very well, I've had absolutely no problems with it for playing gigs. For people who keep snapping the strings, learn to not play as goddamn hard.I play a LOT of lead guitar and solos so I use thin strings, but I also play a lot of heavy riff shit and I haven't had any problems with the strings snapping. You wanna play like a dickhead buy thicker strings problem solved, or just turn your amp up louder.

No idea I have fuck all experience with Ibanez customer support, but from what I've read they're really shit.

I've been playing for 4 years, and this is the second guitar I've bought which I've had for about a year now, my previous one seriously did get stolen (it was also an Ibanez but it was cheaper).
If my gax70 did get stolen, I'd prolly buy a different one cos I'm already saving up to get another guitar (RG470 probably), but I'd be extremely depressed for a while. I would hate to part with this guitar because its design is perfect, and for this sort of money its features heavily outweigh the price, it is a very decent guitar I must say. I choose this guitar against the RG170 because its body is magnificent, and I'm quite pleased with its sound.
Even though the factory may have fucked it a bit, I'll still give it a 10 for the simple fact that it really is fantastic value.

2 humbucker double cutaway, mix between a Les Paul and a SG, volume and tone knobs for each pu, stays in tune through a jam session, nothin real fancy, but i dont want a trem anyway, at this price level they suck and do nothing but detune the guitar. Beautiful finish, i fell in love with the body style the first time i saw it.

The pu's are the weakest part, the neck is too muddy, I use it for chording in church that's about it, the bridge is way too bright clean, it'll shatter your eardrums,but it distorts all right. I can pull off a decent lead tone with the selector in the middle, but it's built for crunch and that's about it. I'll be upgrading the pu's soon,

Ibanez has great QC, this guitar beats the crap out of all of my friends Strat copies, which are all falling apart. The finish is great, came set up great

Ibanez builds their guitars to go through the hell of 15 year olds playing in their garage bands, and this one has survived for almost a year now

George's Music is great, never had to deal with Ibanez directly

This is the best value in the price range that I've seen. I've been playing for almost a year now and played lots of other cheap guitars, this one beats them all, and it isnt a knockoff of anything else too. Sounds all right with stock pu's through a 15 watt Peavey, it'll sound great with good pu's throgh a real amp

90 other reviewers list the features. You either like lots of features or you don't. Don't get on here and say that it didn't have enough knobs- why did you buy it then? Volume and tone for each h/bucker is fine. Nice paint (transluscent red). 1 complaint: because the body is so light, every time you let go of the neck it falls straight. Gets really annoying! I guess the solution is to have a thick, leather strap.

Very ordinary pickups - has been well discussed here - but above what I expected for the price. Neck p/up is far too bassy. No noise at all from selector or pickups or anywhere else.

Everything was fine. Bought 2nd hand but paint perfect and no scars at all. Needed setup but what 2nd hand guitar doesn't?

I have gigged with it without a backup. But you should always bring a spare. I learned the hard way. I've actually just sold it because I want to upgrade but I'm good friends with the guy I sold it to and he raves about it.

N/A

I have been playing for 13 years and use an Ibanez CT strat (the ultimate cheap gem!), a Godin Radiator, generic (but excellent) Tele, Ibanez Roadstar II, Ibanez DML10 modulating delay, Boss OS-2 combination dist/o'drive, Boss ME-30, JEN Wah and Peavey Studio Pro amp. W#e play light/alternate (Coldplay, Something for Kate etc) and it suited me fine. It's no Godin but a great, cheap guitar.

Purchased this for my son as a Christmas gift 2 (?) years ago, paid wayyy to much but then again it was a newer model, now I see the guitar for about $150 new, for what I paid ($289) this is an ok guitar, for you you could pick one up for now... its a lot of guitar for the money... Raed the previous reviews for the lowdown on all the features.

The pup's on this guitar are useless to me, they sound like mudd, no definition, without doubt my least favorite sounding guitar we own. For my 14 year old however, they sound pretty damm good, the difference is the music we play, me: blues, classic rock, rockabilly, and some really queer mellow stuff... him: Korn, Metallica, Ozzy, Blink 182, Linkin Park... I play through a Vox Cambridge 15, and a fender Champ 12, he plays through a 65 watt Marshall Valvestate (The original VS series in case you are wondering why its a 65 watter) When you crank the distortion, they sound Nu-Metal Good... Ibanez knows what 14 year olds want... Hot, brash, High Gain pups. Fot this type of music its a great guitar stock, for real music change the pup's!

Again, for what I paid, I would expect some decent workmanship, for what you can get this guitar for now... It's very good, alot of others dont seem to agree based on what I've read in this forum... I dont understand why, The frets are fine, no sharpies, well finished, the hardware is fine, especially the tuners which are precise feeling, the setup out of the box was fine, low without any fret buzz, the nut is well cut, the body finish is glossy amd rich looking without any overt flaws. The fret board was cut a bit ragged however. This one is "Butterscotch" My son put crome covers over the PUP's, which didnt to my ears improve or degrade the pups, and he replaced the plastic speed knobs with Chrome Dome Knurled Knobs. Very pretty looking guitar. I have noticed that some of the others I have seen in this color have very obvious "splotches" of dark grain on the body, this one is perfectly uniform, the others I have seen are, IMHO ruined by these color variations. For the new lower price I give this puppy a 10, for the price I paid I wouldnt have any complaints either, I mean I know $298 is not alot for a guitar, but production quality on these Korean models are getting brtter and better, so I would expect nothing less!

This guitar is used alot, it travels daily to and from school with my son in a soft gig bag. He plays in the chapel band at school and at church on some sundays, he also "gigs" with his buddies in a garage. so far I have only had to resolder the 1\4 inch jack connection, no big deal, The finish has held up well, and the rest of the hardware is perfect.

Dont know...

For $150 a tremendous value, even with the crappy pup's, the kind of guitar that would be worth upgrading with better sounding pup's. I wouldnt buy it again, unless the kid wanted another one, He does LOVE this guitar and of the two others in the house (a Tele and a p-90 equipped cheapo Gretsch) this is the one he almost always reahes for, although at church and school, he is beginning to develop an ear for tone, and nu metal style pup's dont cut it, so he brings the tele alot more often.

I like most of the features on this guitar. The dual volume and tone knobs, it is convenient when switching from bridge to neck or neck to bridge becaws you don't have to change settings.the thing I don't like is when using both pickups both volumes work as masters, it is gay becaws if both aren't maxed it will mess up your sustain.
The strings set kinda high off the body and I like that. the bridge is kinda hard to adgust, but nothing majour. it has a suprisingly good neck for its price. this guitar is worth buying depending on the person, I would seggest it for home jammers.

This guitar has a pretty good warm clear sound. I now have 60 and 85 EMGs in it. Segjestion, don't get EMGs, unless maby for neck they do ok.my EMG set costed more than the guitar and the guitar sounded better with its stock pickups! It makes me mad!!!!

This guitar wasnt too hard to get above average action on. The tuning pegs are a little loose but its ok, once its stringed they dont viberate.The pickups are a little krooked to the strings, but i think i need new springs. The wood is my main problem, screws strip through it too easily, but nothing a little wood glue wont fix.

The GAX70 is a tank of a guitar, I've droped my Crate GFX212 (about 70 pounds) on it before and it didnt even break the necks alignment! Electroically and physicly its very dependable, it could make a twenty year guitar. Its bridge makes strings break quickly so I don't know about playing a show with it without a backup.

Overall it's a good to just have fun with and practice with.

THE FEATURES AREN'T GLAMOROUS,BUT IT HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED.THE PICKUP
SELECTOR IS A BIT NOISY BUT WHO GIVES A FUCK.THE PICKUPS ARE PRETTY GOOD,THERES NO REASON TO CHANGE THEM.THE BRIDGE IS GREAT FOR PALM MUTING,AND THE NECK IS NICE AND WIDE.

THE SOUND OF THE NECK PICKUP IS NICE AND WARM,GREAT FOR CHORDS.THE BRIDGE PICKUP WITH A GREAT AMP AND DISTORTION(I USE A MARSHALL AVT 275 AND BOSS MT-2 METAL ZONE) IS GREAT FOR SOLOS AND POWER CHORDS.

THE ACTION WAS A BIT HIGH FOR ME,BUT IT CAN BE EASILY FIXED.

THE STAP PIN SCREWS CAME OUT BUT I JUST GLUED THEM IN.

THIS GUITAR IS AMAZING.IF SOMEONE STOLE IT I WOULD GO INTO A DEEP DEPRESSION FOR A WEEK AND THEN BUY ANOTHER ONE.

Two power sound humbuckers, separate volume and tone for each pickup, three way switch, non-locking machine heads, fixed bridge.

With the stock pick-ups, this is a 5. The Ibanez power sound pickups are not great pickups. I replaced the bridge pickup with a Armstrong distortion pickup. Much much better! A $30 upgrade

I had to have a guitar tech look at the guitar, and fix the intonation. It was not setup up very good. This helped the guitar stay in tune. The guitar tech is a friend, so this was free.

Seems like a solid instrument. No problems with electronics or anything else ... aside from being setup wrong when I got it.

Never dealt with them.

With the stock pickups, and factory setup, this thing is a 6!

The other upgrade I am considering is locking machine heads.

With replacement humbuckers, and the proper intonation, this thing quickly moves up to an 8, and maybe even a 9.

This is really a great deal. But be prepared to spend a few more dollars to turn a fair guitar into a very good guitar! For people looking for a fixed bridge on a limited budget, this is a guitar to consider. I love mine ... now.

see above, below, wherever, they're all the same. mine has an aidan swafford (awesome guitar player, think he uses this guitar) signature scratchplate on it. i put it on this red beast mostly for looks, but it's taking some scratches too.
i got it from Cash Converters (not an authorized guitar dealer, price is either too high or too low, i got it pretty good) with some dings in the transparent finish and a few nicks in the neck and head. it still has its original ibanez stock pickups (more on them later). nice simple LP electronic configuration. everything i need and nothing i don't (except mabye a drop-D-lever if it stayed in tune).

this guitar is perfect for my musical style (rock, metal ie. Creed, Linkin Park, P.O.D.-christians, cool!). at the moment my amp is a roland DAC15 30 watt 1x8" amp (awesome amp for its size, see review on that, too), and this guitar can give me a lovely warm sound on clean for playing in church, or a really full-out distortion with heaps of midrange for chugga-chugga palm-muting. AWESOME!
the only thing i don't like about this guitar is the neck p/u (bass). it's really to bassy for anything, even warm, full clean playing. huge bass with no treble definition, even when both pickups are going. good for some people maybe, i just like to hear my high notes. i turn this pickup right down and use the three-way switch to 'turn the guitar off'. thinking of putting a treble distortion pickup in the neck position to give me to treble sounds, and use the amp to get my bass back, but i'm not sure yet if this will work or not.
i've been playing for like 5 years, and i have never played a Gibson or a PRS, but this is the sound i hear and want in my head, although i'm not sure my tonal desires are necessarily shared by the parents (must not be a genetic thing!). give me an ibanez any day!

this guitar is secondhand or older. when i got it the intonation was off a bit, i'm trying to sort it out at the moment. no physical flaws except for the dings, and that's not ibanez's fault. all the components seem to fit...apart from the tone and volume pots that stick out of the guitar at weird angles...bit cheap, and the the jack nut and strap buttons kept coming out. i've fixed them with some wood glue, or something. pickups a bit rusty, but that's my fault for sweating so much when im dampening low riffs with my palm! 9 for ibanez because of the pots...5 for the guy who banged it up before me.

broken a few strings, jack plug's come loose, usual consequences for being a guitar player. i play it in church without a backup...but i'm not really about to break a string in church, am i! used it for a couple of small gigs, but i didn't have any backup for in case strings break. my problem is with strings, not the guitar.

never had to deal with them, but the local guitar shop is pretty good to talk to...i'm going to try to trade in a ibanez seventh heaven tone-lok pedal i bought from them new for a smash-box...we'll see how i get on.

really, REALLY cool guitar for the price. if it were stolen or lost, i would probably save up and buy an AX1220BBK ($2000...bit of an upgrade, eh!--same shape, nicer finish, better pickups, etc.), but for now, this ol' red guitar will do me fine! for $400 you can't go wrong. great guitar for the transitional phase from beginner to tone-freak!

just a follow up on my previous review.

NA

NA

This is where some gripes have begun. First of all, one of the strap buttons came loose and i had to do the toothpick and glue thing. that kinda pisses me off... little things like that shouldn't happen. Second of all, one of the tone knobs came loose and I had to open up the thing and duct tape it down, actually, my friend did that for me, but the fact remains that little things like that should NOT happen. So, I'm just giving this section a slightly lower rating, a 7.

I can't really give it any lower than that, because these are relatively small and easy to fix problems. The actual body of the guitar is still just fine, not a nick or a scratch or whatever else.

NA

NA

99
Dark Red
24.75 inch scale neck
agathis body

nothing really special

This guitar has a great sound. And when you look at the price it sound 10X better. It has a very warm sound good for rythm playing. It's really not made for shredding but can be played fast. It just loses clarity. There's no buzz and as i said has a warm thick "bassy" sound. sounds like meegs from coal chamber. Good for new or goth metal. Or stuff like hatebreed. But no faster. Has a nice warm clean sound too. It's all around warm and heavy.

It came fine. Nice color. Finish stays nice. Just clean every 6 months.

This guitar can take a beating. i've had it for 3 years and it is working fine. The only problem i ever have is that i have to tighten the jack. but i thinks it's probably my fault. Other than that it's solid. This thing has gone over, hit the floor, been sweat on, wet, and beaten an inch from death and it still sounds great. It stays true to the ibanez custom of being a tank.

Never dealt with them

Fantastic guitar. It's cheap, sounds great, and'll last you forever. I don't think i'd have the heart to part with it. If you're short on cash and you're looking for a great guitar pick this up.