Ibanez Review: AK-85 DVS

History:

Purchase: Bought it from Music123, at a total cost of $517 with hardcase and shipping.(Customs not included.)

What I Like About This Ibanez AK-85 DVS: The quality feeling, and tone of this guitar is probably not matched by many others in its price category.Very easy to play, and set up with relatively low string action. Finish is spotless. Very nice crafted neck inlays.Very stable tuning, even in long sessions. And last but not least, Nice tone! You can tweak a real smooth Pat Metheny like tone, or you can set it up for some growl to play the blues or some fusion. Works very nice for either. I bought it with the AF-100 hardshell case and the case is nice to. The guitar fits snuggly and securely in a lovely fluffy fabric. Enough space for lots of extra strings, a tuner and a few tools.

What I Do NOT Like About The Ibanez AK-85 DVS: Some minor drawbacks: Its factory strung with .009 strings,so you might have to adjust the neck if you prefer heavier gauges. On my model there is a very small gap between the headstock binding and the string saddle on each side. The plastic toggle switch knob is not sufficently tightened. A tiny screw on the pickguard has been screwed in a little bit to one side, resulting in a barely noticeable flaw.

Ibanez AK-85 DVS Quality Rating: The guitar seems to be very well built apart from the aforementioned flaws. Nice craftmanship for the money! The intonation is near perfect. No buzzing in any frets.

Review Summary: This is a keeper. I am never getting rid of this one! Might change the pickups in the future, but they work very well for now.

Rating of this Ibanez product: 4

This Ibanez AK-85 DVS Electric Guitars Review Submitted By: Reviewer

Review Date: 2005-01-24