With a Koa body and Abalone Rosette, this acoustic eletric combines the classical sound with modern aesthetics without being extravagant.
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Sound and playability are the two most important components in an instrument. But very few will deny that a standout visual aspect enhances your performance. The appearance and sound of the unique Exotic Wood Series were designed for the player who is looking for a completely new and different voice. You won't find anything else quite like the EW guitars - even among guitars that are much more expensive.
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Ibanez products.
BodyShape: EW Body with Cutaway
Neck: Mahogany Neck
Guitar Top: Koa Body
Rosette: Abalone Rosette
Tuners: Ibanez Gold Die-Cast
Pickup: B-Band UST Pickup
Electronics: Ibanez SRTn Preamp with Notch Filter and Onboard Tuner
Outputs: Balanced 1/4 in. and XLR Outputs
Fretboard: Rosewood Bridge and Fretboard
Saddle: Ivorex II Nut and Saddle
BridgePins: Advantage(TM) Bridge Pins
Strings: D'Addario(R) EXP(TM) Strings
Ibanez WarrantyIbanez Non-New Product Warranty Information
Ibanez Electric Guitars and Basses have a 1-year warranty on NEW instruments only for the ORIGINAL purchaser with a Sales Receipt. All used or factory 2nds products are not warranted.
If you have additional warranty questions,
please call the manufacturer at 800-669-4226
What Our Customers Are Saying About zZounds
"Outstanding purchase experience with zZounds. Free shipping, and my complete order arrived in one day! Ability to spread the costs over 4 payments for a low fee is extremely helpful. Highly satisfied customer." - customer on April 30th, 2012
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"Killer amplified sound, great looks, terrific value"
Sound:
I played a whole slew of acoustic-electric classical guitars before I ordered this Ibanez from zZounds. I was hoping to find something for around $500, but I was becoming frustrated because even the $1200 Cordobas sounded horrible, with brittle sounding pickups and hissing preamps. I thought I was going to have to put off buying a classical guitar until I saved more money... until I started playing the Ibanez offerings. Because this is a thin-bodied guitar, the unamplified sound is small and unable to compete with other instruments. However, when you plug this thing into an acoustic guitar amp or PA, it is absolutely gorgeous. Three band EQ, notch filter and phase switch give you lots of options for adjusting your tone to suit your music or style. The pickup is simply outstanding... transparent, with almost no detectable piezo quack. And with the balanced output, it is DEAD quiet. It sits beautifully in a live mix, and I've just started experimenting with recording it direct, where again it sounds fantastic. I normally wouldn't expect to be this blown away by an Ibanez product, but if you're concerned with amplified tone rather than brand cache and you don't have a bazillion dollars to spend, you must check out this guitar.
Feature:
Quality tuning machines, outstanding pickup/preamp combination, onboard tuner that's actually precise enough to use on stage, balanced XLR and 1/4" outs... not sure what else they could have put on it except for maybe an ashtray. It would be a 10 except for the fact that I think the 1/4" output should have been unbalanced. Some acoustic amps do not have an XLR input, and how many players shopping for guitars in this price range have TRS guitar cables laying around?
Ease of Use:
Only a 7 here, and I'll explain why. As far as getting "great sounds" from this instrument, it's a snap once you have everything set up right. I keep the bass at ten o'clock, the mid flat, the treble up around three o'clock, phase out and notch filter at one o'clock, and it sounds through my Mackie/JBL PA just like it should: a classical guitar, but louder. It took me about five minutes to find these settings. HOWEVER, this was after I had to deal with getting rid of fret buzzes and an odd noise coming from inside the body. Adjusting the truss rod and changing to D'Addario's super-hard tension strings solved the fretting problem, and the internal buzz was a wire from the electronics touching the top, so I moved that. It was an evening's worth of tweaking to get it set up properly, but once that was done the actual use of it (plugging in and getting a killer tone) could not have been easier.
Quality:
Well, it's a Chinese Ibanez, so stay realistic in your expectations and you won't be disappointed. The top has some finish irregularities around the sound hole purfling, and there's the occasional discoloration in the wood or bubble in the varnish... but nothing truly offensive. And from ten paces away (like an audience's perspective) it looks like a $2500 axe. The tuning machines are solid (and gold... pretty!), the fretwork is clean and accurate, the truss rod works properly, everything seems to be glued together nice and tight, and the electronics are flawless. So, given that all the functional stuff is first-rate, I'm willing to forgive a little cosmetic sloppiness at this price point. Again, compare a $1200 Cordoba sporting a finish that looks like it was slapped on with a brush....
Value:
All-koa, plays great, sounds stunning through an amp or PA, light and well-balanced, solid build and hardware... all for $550?!? Yeah, it's a terrific value!
Manufacturer Support:
Don't know, I haven't dealt with Ibanez directly.
The Wow Factor:
EVERYONE comments on how beautiful this guitar looks on stage. My fiancee says it's the prettiest guitar she's ever seen. The koa is drop-dead sexy... maybe I was lucky and got a particularly good top, but it truly is striking. I've seen the other two exotic wood versions of this model, and find the bubinga homely and the flamed sycamore... ummm... "interesting." But you can't go wrong with the aesthetics of a koa guitar.
Overall:
At a higher price point this would be a 7 or an 8 overall. But at under $600 it is nearly perfect. One point off for not providing an unbalanced 1/4" output, and for a bit of slovenly work in the finish department. But trust me, I played just about every make of acoustic-electric classical from $250 to $2000, and you can't touch this Ibanez unless you're willing to pay more than double for your new guitar.
Style of Music: Americana, alt-country, neo-folk, deconstructed 80's new wave
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"Get One While You Still Can"
Sound:
As others have said this guitar was designed to be played through an acoustic amp or PA system where the overall sound and tone is precise and beautiful. Unplugged it is just a whisper of its amplified self.
Feature:
The B-Band System is very easy to use and allows the player excellent control over his or her sound. The tuner works great and is easy to use and having an XLR output is a bonus.
Ease of Use:
The thin body is very comfortable to wear and it is great for finger style players. The EQ and volume controls are intuitive and easy to work with as you play and allow a good range of sounds to choose from.
Quality:
I've owned two of these guitars. The first was "B" stock and I got a great deal on it. The seller said the tuning keys had to be replaced and they work fine and the wood grain on that one is much better than the $1,350 Takamine EF-508KC's that I've owned and played and not too far below the Taylor K-14ce that I have. The second one had a serial # within 12 of the B stock guitar and it was beautiful but not quite the varigation of the B stock guitar and didn't have the upgraded Gotoh tuners the refubished one had. I kept the B stock guitar because of the upgraded tuners and slightly more interesting wood grain. Fit and finish on both were good but I do recommend considering upgrading the tuners.
Value:
If you plan to play this plugged in, you won't get this kind of sound from any guitar for less than twice the cost plus you get the stunning looks of a full gloss koa guitar.
Manufacturer Support:
Have not needed service with this guitar. I've also owned Ibanez 12 strings and lower end Ibanez nylon string gutars as well as the AS-73 electric and AEB10 acoustic electric bass and have had no issues with any requiring customer support. I currently own only this guitar and the AEB-10.
The Wow Factor:
Two of my friends bought this model guitar and seeing and playing mine.
The koa finish definitely gets your attention...its beautiful.
Overall:
I would buy this guitar again if something happened to this one. I love Martins and Taylors but can't justify the added cost when I compare the looks and sound together.
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We'll beat any price
Really. It's not a problem for us. In fact, we'll thank you
for the chance to live up to our lowest price guarantee!
It's fast and easy
Just tell us where you saw the lower price - another
website, an email offer, your local store - and we'll send
you our lowest price offer in a matter of hours.
Simply click the Seen it for less? link
Next to the item you want, or give us a
call at 800-zZounds (800-996-8637).
A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.
