On 2004-06-26, greg gave this Ibanez Electric Guitar a 5...(9249)


Purchase: Gamlins music Cardiff £300
Pros: smooth and fast neck, the humbucker sounds very nice with plenty of distortion. Many sounds can be achieved with this guitar.
Cons: The middle pick-up sounds too muddy but the neck and bridge pick-ups sound great.
Quality: Made in Korea • SA neck • Quilted Maple top/Mahogany body • Large frets • SAT 30 bridge • AS2 (S) neck pu • AS2 (S) mid pu • AH4 (H) bridge pu Very good quality for the price looks and sounds great. ideal for gigging

Summary: This is one of the best guitars I have owned and for the money it's incredible! I have owned around 10 guitars now and I like this one the best. Right now I also own a Ibanez RG 320FM. This guitar blows my expectations away. A real steal for the money. I urge all serious players to own this beauty. A very versitile axe.

On 2004-05-18, Cantrell gave this Ibanez Electric Guitar a 4...(8924)


Purchase: Bought it at the Lindberg Music Shop, Munich (Germany) and it costed EUR400,00 (this corresponds to USD450 or so). Taxation is a bit heavier over here, so it's probably cheaper elsewhere. Also, at least in Germany, you can get a good discount (10 or more per cent) at music stores (you get even more discount if you end up buying the guitar case and a tuner, for example). I acquired it because, after a five year pause, I wanted to start playing again - so, to celebrate this I wanted to make myself a nice present.
Pros: I originally wanted to buy something else, something more Les Paul-ish. I used to play a Strat, and - after the mentioned pause - I thought this is a good opportunity to try out something else. While shopping, I was trying out different Epiphones, which do really sound nice. Then, just for a comparison I took the next best 'strat-ish' guitar around, which happened to be this one. It was immediate love... Maybe thess are the reasons: The fretboard is longer and broader than the typical 'Les Paul' (22 medium frets). For my style of play, my fingers and such, this was the best fit. The 'feel' of the neck is as smooth as it can be (Maple Neck Material, Mahogany w/Quilted Maple top Body, Rosewood Finger Board). It has a 5-way switch and a tone-knob (chrome-coloured), which allows for a wide and finely tunable range of sounds. (more specs: 2 single coils - mid and neck, and one humbucker at bridge) It's incredibly light and the design is beatiful. The price is absolutely fair. Last but not least, the case (an optional, which I strongly encourage buying) is cast-on the guitar and is also robust and comaprably thin.
Cons: The tremolo bar does have its obvious disadvantages: a) If you use it too much, or like an animal, the guitar will detune. b) Bending and simultaneous playing another string is a problem to a certain extent. But then again, to me, this is of minor importance. The design is very soft, you cannot use it making badass metal poses without looking ridiculous. Not that this is important to me, but if you're playing badass metal, you'd probably buy something that *looks* better.
Quality: The neck is *glued* to the body, this gives the entire guitar more resonance, a warmer sound. Knobs and switches don't make that cracking sound - at least not right away. Replacing strings is easy. All innards of the guitar are easily accessible and it all looks terribly easy to maintain.

Summary: A beatiful and versatile guitar. Buy it. (I don't give it a 5 just in case a miracle happens and I find an even better one.)

On 2002-12-17, Bernard Piller gave this Ibanez Electric Guitar a 4...(3459)


Purchase: I was looking for a versatile guitar at a reasonable price. I bought it in April 2002 at Klangfarbe in Vienna, Austria for EUR 375,-
Pros: I changed the weak stock pickups for Seymour Duncans and changed the strings to .10s I like the sound and the manufacturing quality of the guitar. Especially the SAT-30 tremolo is great, much better than on a Fender.
Cons: I don't like the slim neck with the flat fretboard, I think it is harder to play than a Gibson or Fender neck.
Quality: Very good quality, the quilted maple top of the mahagoni body looks awesome.

Summary: For the price this is a great guitar. After I changed the pickups it even sounds fantastic.

On 2002-08-28, Sam Carter (phuktheindustry@hotmail.com) gave this Ibanez Electric Guitar a 5...(2630)


Purchase: This is the best purchase i have ever made! I asked to try out an Marshall MG50 amp a few weeks ago, and picked up this guitar at random to play through it, i instantly fell in love with the ibanez and bought it yesterday!! I paid £249 for it, but its worth a great deal more.
Pros: Beautiful finish, plays excellently and the neck is really smooth and easy to play, hardly any effort is need to glide up and down the fretboard, and on a clean channel the guitar sounds really great, lots of great tones can be gained from this guitar by using the shiny metal tone control control, very good for deep, heavy metal. The pickups are INCREDIBLY good quality for a guitar at this price.
Cons: There is nothing i don't like about this guitar, it really is that good.
Quality: Sturdy Construction and very Solid, its light and easy to carry around.

Summary: All i can say is go out and buy it! Its great! I'm so pleased with it you wouldn't believe!

On 2002-02-04, Jeff gave this Ibanez Electric Guitar a 3...(1534)


Purchase: I came across the SA160QM at Guitar Center. It struck me first with it's appearance, the flame maple top being quite striking. It played well enough for my price range, so I paid a good $410 for it.
Pros: It plays well and looks sharp. Stays in tune very well, while I creep it to dark lows or crank it to screeching highs. The 5 tone switch is much appreciated.
Cons: After purchasing the unit, I later found out that for about the same price I could have gotten a locking tremolo and better pickups.
Quality: Construction is of a fine quality. Playability is great, and tonal output is of a moderate level. It gets a little fuzzy and not too clear when you're playing higher on the fret boards, but not too bothersome.

Summary: The bottom line is that it was worth what I paid for it. It's a great beginning guitar for one such as myself. Great for standard riffs, and nothing too fancy.