IbanezGIO Series GRX70QA - Transparent Red Burst

I just took delivery of the Ibanez GRX 6 guitar in transparent violet sunburst. This is my third venture into less expensive but highly rated guitar brands. I now own over 20 assorted. Most are upline and from Martin, Gretsch, Gibson, Fender, and Epiphone. This guitar plays and sounds as well as my Fender Telecaster. Delivery was two days earlier than promised. Box arrived in pristine condition. Set up was almost in tune. All strings tuned down 1/2 pitch from standard. Took about a minute to get it up and running. Finish is flawless, and it plays nice up and down all the frets. The HSH pickup setup is great. I get five distinct voices and all are great. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a real looker and player. Plays as well as any guitar costing $700 +. This was on sale and in stock just in time for the Holidays. The tuners are smooth as glass, and the OEM strings are even good. I will leave the OEM strings on for a month or so.

Pros:An ergonomic cut out strat style shape. My favorite guitar shape for playability as sometimes I like to practice sitting down. It feels good to sit and have the guitar body curvature fit in shape to your leg and body. Also the double cutout makes upper frets easy.An amazing thin modern C-shape neck. I love this neck profile.A light and comfortable weight. For example: I have a friend that has a Les Paul standard that weighs 11 pounds. I used it before and when playing for long periods of time it begins to be uncomfortable. This Ibanez is nearly half that weight.The bridge pickup is bright, punchy, I love it! One of my fave tones after only a few days.Neck was flat. Action was a little highe out of the box, I had to lower the saddles but it's got really good action. No fret buzz. It feels great to play on this neck.Cons:The single coil middle pickup sucks. It's got that stratocaster style quack but worse. I just use the neck and bridge, and avoid it entirely (even when split with the neck and bridge).Fret edges are a little scratchy.The wood on the fretboard is dry, but a little lemon oil fixed it instantly.The strings it came with are rubbish. But that's always to be expected. I immediately weswitched it to some fresh Ernie Ball super slinky's and it's much better.Is it a perfect guitar? No... No such thing exists. But the small problems it has are solvable. A little change of strings, a little fret polish, a touch of lemon oil on the fretboard, a little adjustment of the saddle and it plays incredibly well. I may switch out the middle and neck pickups, that middle pickup would have been better not existing... However, I love the bridge which has a very nice bright sound clean and a very punchy and crunchy grunge sound with distortion.However after a little setup, the playability is amazing. I love this neck, it is thin, and comfortable. I love the weight, it's a light guitar. I love the cuts and the contours. That's what is most important to me, the playability. The neck is perfect too, no need to touch the truss rod. I was surprised how good the fretwork was with this, the frets are level, and aside from slightly unsmooth edges they feel good.But you know the best part: it's cheap. Because let's be completely honest most musicians don't get paid much (unless you are lucky). You are playing covers in bars and local joints sometimes making nothing but tips. Playing guitar is a hobby that costs a lot of both time and money. I don't have the luxury to buy a 5,000 guitar.

I owned an Ibanez GIO back in the early 2010s and always thought it was a decent guitar. So, after several years hiatus and wanting to get back into playing, I found this GIO GRX70 on sale at the Amazon Ibanez store. The big selling point for me: the HSH pickup configuration...a nice setup for the dollar. So the guitar arrives. I unbox and find a beautiful piece of craftsmanship! The finish on the body is stellar! The fretboard is smooth with perfect fret height across the fingerboard and no protruding fret ends. The knobs have a smooth glide indicating higher quality; not too loose or too stiff. You get a volume and tone knob that serves each switch position. The switch is a standard 5-position rotater, nothing special. This will let you switch to the following pickup sets: bridge, bridge-middle, middle, middle-neck, neck. The tremolo is an Ibanez branded generic 2-point tremolo that I will most likely seldom use. Out of the box, the action is a bit high for my taste, but not bad, and intonation seems really good. I will nonetheless trip to Guitar Center for a full setup and new strings. The sound of this guitar, pumped thru my Orange Crush 20 Combo is beyond expectations! Each switch position gives a truly unique sound experience, from mellow acoustic-ish to brassy and warm like a clean Tele to hard metal crunch a-la Strat. I find the HSH pickup config to offer more versatility than the typical Strat HHS, which in my opinion is geared toward more high-octane rock only. The neck has a nice arch, thinner than most and very playable for my short, stumpy fingers. And the guitar is very lightweight, yet has an incredibly solid feel. To sum it up, I would consider this GRX70 to be the Subaru of guitars: stylish, rugged, well equipped, versatile, and a lot of bang for your buck. You would have no shame taking this on stage at any skill level, be you a garage band or signed. And a newbie wanting to start your journey down the six-string highway would be so lucky to have this piece of hardware. Needless to say, I HIGHLY recommend this.

Guitar shipped 2 days earlier than expected. A little nervous with the packaging originally. Once I opened it and saw that the guitar was adequately packaged. The guitar looks great out of the box. It does need some setup (as do all guitars). Overall, playability is fantastic for a $200 guitar. It's fast and action is good. Will be making some upgrades but this is personal preference. Pickups are good, himbuckers are fine, not great, but for $200 they are good. The single coil not the greatest, should be upgraded but easy to play around it with a decent amp. Overall, this is a good bang for your buck and have no issues with the guitar. I would recommend this for beginners or intermediate players as it has a great feel but will need some upgrades to bump it to the next level.

Love it. It’s a beautiful guitar and sounds nice, and it’s easy to play.