Ibanez MSC650 Montage Acoustic-Electric User Reviews at zZounds

"It's mine and I'm keeping it." submitted June 19, 2008

By a customer from sympatico.ca

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: I play live once a month. I've done some engineering and I write songs.

Music Style: Country, Blues, Classic Rock

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Sound: First and foremost I'm a keyboard player. I play once a month in a country and/or classic rock band. I wanted a do it all guitar that doesn't need a guitar amp. I run into my keyboard amp. Sounds great. The acoustic tone is typical for a good saddle pick up. The electric is a usable (clean and dirty). Reverb is usable (with only a level control) and chorus is on or off (sounds like intro to "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House" Unplugged the guitar is quiet and balanced. Super for late night practicing. Feature: Guitar included a spare bridge and a few shims which I presume will allow you to go with electric strings instead of the acoustic strings it comes with. I switched from the light .012 to .011 strings and the neck adjustment features worked as advertised. Set up was easy. The tuner works fine but you need to have a cord plugged into the output to use it. The switches, knobs and effects are simple and intuitive. It would have been nice to have a level control on the chorus but it's very useful as is. This Ibenez DOES NOT have an XLR output but it does have TWO outputs as shown on the Larry Mitchell video. When the MIXED OUT is used, the EQ, REV and Chorus are applied to both the Saddle and Mag PUs (Cabinet Modeling and OD are applied only to the Mag PU). Makes sense to me. When using the MAGNETIC PU DIRECT OUT, the Mag PU bypasses the EQ, REV, Chorus and Cabinet Modeling but the onboard OD can still be used. The MIXED OUT now becomes your acoustic output with EQ, REV and Chorus available. Again, this makes sense to me. Ease of Use: It's totally simple. The manual is lacking but who cares. Just plug it in and play it. Flip the switches and twist the knobs until you find what you like. If you can't figure out how to adjust the action on your own leave it to the pros. Simple electric setup? Plug the MIXED OUT into your clean amp channel and the MAGNETIC PU DIRECT OUT into your effects/electric input and use your channel footswitch to go from acoustic to electric instantly. Quality: Slight blemish on the back of the neck so the dealer gave me a case to avoid having to send it back. I'm good with that. This is my only guitar and I probably won't buy another for some time. I won't bother with a backup as I've got my keyboard to play. However, lets face it, Ibanez guitars are pretty reliable. Value: It does exactly what I want and sounds great (maximum music with minimum gear). I've tried the Crafter Hybrid and it's very good but not as versatile. I've tried the Taylor T5 (WOW) but it's not an all in one and very expensive. Manufacturer Support: No need for service yet. The web site had very little information about the technical end of the guitar adjustments but I figured it out on my own. The Wow Factor: Okay you got me. This guitar is beautiful. Everybody loves it, especially me. I play it everyday and I'm a keyboard player. I've never had such an emotional bond with a musical instrument. Overall: This guitar is not for everyone! It fills a specific niche for me. One guitar, delivering good acoustic, good electric and usable overdriven sounds into a keyboard amp is a huge order. This guitar delivers as advertised and no more. If you want a GREAT guitar, buy one. That being said, I would buy another exactly like this if it was lost. It's a high quality instrument with a good sound. The hybrid nature of this guitar also gives it some unique sounds that you won't get out of a regular acoustic or electric. Some players might like it as an addition to their collection and only play it now and then. I play it every day and at every gig. I expect to wear it out and then have it rebuilt. I intend to be buried with this guitar.

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"Diamond In The Ruff" submitted October 8, 2010

Overall

Sound

Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: The tone quality of this instrument is amazing. I own several other guitars from Gibson, Alverez, Fender and Taylor. If I was to rate tone quality in this ibanez , it would be a 9. Thats saying a whole lot, considering what its competition is. Feature: The onboard toys are nice, the pickups are responsive, and the effects are good. They even throw in a tuner in the package. Ease of Use: The best feature of this axe is the tone quality. Its easy to go from a mellow tone, to a distorted tone with a flip of the switch. If you like ZZtop, that tone that Billy Gibbons gets , sounds very similar to the Montage. Quality: This is a beautifully crafted guitar, not bad for an assembly line product. The neck is reinforced correctly, to keep it true, and adjustments are totally easy even if needed. Mine came in the box in true to form shape, not a scratch on it. The first thing I did was to play it , and it was actually in tune 440. So Im thinking the folks at Zzounds take great care to make sure we all recieve a great product. Value: In short, if this is your cup of tea, the investment would be in a guitar that is beautiful well crafted, tone quality that is amazing, and well worth the dollars you spend on it. Manufacturer Support: Ive had this guitar now for several months, and I have changed strings on it 6 times, due to the amount of not only me playing it, but the other guys in the band, play it alot because it is so easy to play and the option of tone you can derive from it. I did alot of research on this guitar before I invested in it. Ive havent had to contact anyone for repairs, exchanges and just to complain because of being a poor product or a lemon. The Wow Factor: Like Ive said before, this guitar is beautiful. Overall: I am a guitar collector and when I see, feel and hear something beautiful, its like Im buying my first guitar. Check it out, you wont be sorry.

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Ibanez MSC650 Montage Acoustic-Electric Guitar

User Ratings

"It's mine and I'm keeping it." submitted June 19, 2008

"Diamond In The Ruff" submitted October 8, 2010