I have 7 Ibanez guitars. 6 of them made in Indonesia, and 1 made in Japan. And I have to say that Ibanez is kicking booty with this model. At under 300 dollars, the AZ Essentials is the best bang for the buck out of the 7 models I have.Now I didn’t expect it as good as it is, but this guitar in Ivory finish arrived ready to play out of the box. The action was good out of the box, and the intonation was good as well. The frets had no sprout and the frets were relatively smooth. A beginner would be able to buy one of these guitars and take it to a lesson, and not have to pay for a setup prior to using it. Seriously, a pro set up would be 1/4 to 1/3 the price of the guitar. I went through my new guitar with a fine tooth comb. What I discovered is that some of the fasteners weren’t adequately tightened, and some of the frets were slightly uneven, which I have found to be true on every new guitar I’ve ever bought, from 300 dollars all the way to my Gibson Les Paul at 2200 dollars. The difference being that this AZ required very little effort to take the guitar from good to spectacular.

Sound
Believe it or not, the stock pickups sound great, even when using high gain, and especially good clean. I got the SSS model. There are a lot of different tones to be had out of the five way selector, and the mini toggle switch. My favorite sound with high gain is with the toggle set pointing to the neck, using the first position on the 5 way switch. It gives… read more you the middle and bridge pickups together in series, in effect giving you the sound of a humbucker. Also, positions 2 and 4 on the switch give you a very Fender like quack, especially with playing through a clean amp.

Features
The mini toggle is the most useful feature of this guitar, but also quite useful is the split shaft tuning machines, which are common to a lot of Fender guitars. Makes changing strings easy, and the tuners are solid and smooth to turn. Also, the jack assembly is one piece, so you will never have to worry about the jack come loose.The fretboard is a little bit rounder than a typical Gibson, but not as rounded as a vintage Fender. You can make big bends on it without fretting out, but due to the smaller radius (approximately 10 inch radius) it is more comfortable to play chords on, especially barre chords.

Ease of Use
There isn’t too much of a learning curve on the AZES31, especially for those that are familiar with Strat style guitars.

Quality
The fit and finish are really top notch on this one. The saddles appear to be bent steel, like many S style guitars, but the saddle height adjustment screws don stick out of the tops of the saddles and dig into your hand when resting it on the bridge. The bridge is a Hardtail on this one.

Value
Definitely a bargain, this guitar has features that aren’t available on most other guitars until you spend 2nor 3 times the price.

Manufacturer Support
You will probably not have to deal with Ibanez customer service. Everything you need to know is in the owners manual. Be sure to read it.

The Wow Factor
The Hardtail model comes in two nice colors, but I found the HSS tremolo equipped models colors to be rather bland.

Musical Background:
Playing guitar s and basses since 1983.

Musical Style:
Classical, rock, hard rock, metal and blues read less