Ibanez AE245NT Review 

I am very happy to hear that you like the guitar. It not only looks great but it plays great too. If you ever make any videos with it please do post here ok?

@@yamahamusicians sure! yes, it does sound beautiful 👍👍

So did I however received it, it is second hand but it's a pile of shit to he honest, plays like a nonse.

I have seen that description before. It's an odd thing though. They describe it as "sounds much like maple, light and bright" but that actually isn't the case at all. I would say it is "slightly" brighter than mahogany but it leans far more to that wood than to maple. It does make for a lighter guitar in terms of weight though. Either way I loved playing the AE245 👍

Ur findings r not accurate. Try a different source.

It is to do with CITES regulations. No restrictions on Okoume and as it has similar tonal characteristics it is a very good alternative to mahogany. The AE245 is a really nice sounding guitar either way :)

I have not played the AEWC400. They have been out for almost three years now and are available here in the UK at around £400-£449, which for an all laminate guitar is on the pricey side. However, as you said it does have some nice features and due to the way Ibanez has tapered the thickness of the next and contoured the heel joint it would be a great guitar for an electric player. I definitely like the look of it but I think this one is going to come down to personal preference? The AE245 and AEWC400 are both really nice looking guitars but I would personally lean toward the AE245, mainly because I prefer a solid top but also I really like the fretboard inlay and general feel of it. I will have to see if I can get hold of one to check it out.

@@yamahamusicians thanks for your thoughts. Looks like the AEWC300 is the same with a solid top. Might be worth checking out too :o)

Both. Initially you hear it with just the room mics and then plugged in. I am not a huge fan of onboard electronics but this one sounded pretty good.

Hi Camilo. The Epiphone EJ200Ce is a really nice guitar. I owned one for a while. It is very different from the Ibanez AE245. The EJ200Ce is a Jumbo guitar so it has a larger body than the Ibanez AE245. However, even though it is a Jumbo guitar it does not project the sound as much as you might expect. Personally, I would still choose the Ibanez AE245. It has a more nuanced sound and is more versatile. I did a review of the Epiphone EJ200CE which you can read here yamahamusicians.com/epiphone-ej-200sce-review/

@@yamahamusicians Muchísimas gracias por su amabilidad en responder...

The Takamine is a really nice guitar. I had one on loan for a while and liked it a lot. Likewise, the Cort GA5F-FMH is a lovely guitar. If I had to choose I would probably lean towards the Takamine. I think it has the edge in tone and playability.

I am not sure you would notice a lot of difference, if any. Okoume has the same tonal characteristics as mahogany. I have played several guitars that use both tonewoods and the difference is not that obvious. I would say that Okoume is very slightly warmer in sound. But it is very subtle and nuanced.

Now there is an interesting question :) I really like Takamine guitars. They sort of fell out of popularity over the last few years but I think they are still well made, sound great and play well. I am a big fan of pinless bridges too so that is a plus for me. I have a Breedlove with a pinless bridge and it is just so easy to change the strings :) In terms of sound though I would still lean toward the Ibanez. It sounds a little warmer to me.

@@yamahamusicians Thanks for the reply , think I may take a punt on this 👍🏼

@@cormacmurphy3823 Let me know how you get on with it?

Hi Paolo. I think the Ibanez AE245 is a much better guitar. Not only does it cost less than the OMC-X1E but to my ears, it sounds better and definitely looks better. I do like Martin guitars but I probably would not buy anything other than their traditionally constructed models, such as the 000-15M. It is a LOT more money but a nice entry to the Martin range without compromising on materials.

Hi Emil. I would say they are pretty similar in tone. The okoume apparently has a slightly lighter tone but I can't say I noticed. I think with an all solid wood guitar perhaps the differences would be more noticable.

Youll may check ibanez AE8MH semi accoustic or ibanez AE245jr if at all liked one may give thums up

Hi Vishal. The first thing to say is that you definitely do not sound stupid! All questions are valuable because they open the discussion and perhaps lead people in directions they may not have considered :) That aside the question here is about two different types of guitar, not just in style but also build. The Ibanez AE245 is a beautiful guitar but it is not of an all-solid construction. It has a solid top but layered back and sides. It also costs much less than the Fender Paramount PM-3. That guitar is all solid construction. So it has a solid mahogany top and solid mahogany back & sides. Although the back and sides of a guitar do not play a huge part in the tone, there is a marked difference between solid and layered construction. I have never played the Fender Paramount PM-3 but from what I hear it is a really nice sounding guitar. My heart though goes with the Ibanez AE245. It sounds great, it plays great and it looks wonderful. A perfect combination of function and looks :)

@@yamahamusicians Thank you so so much for your valuable answer.

@@vishalksahoo3599 Your welcome Vishal. Let me know which guitar you decided to go for and what you think of it?

That's an interesting question. The thing is I really like the look of the Ibanez. It sort of draws you in and makes you feel like you want to play it? But if we are talking in terms of pure sound quality and workmanship the Dowina is probably the best guitar you can buy for the money. Ideally, I would like to own both but if I could choose only one it would be the Dowina Danubius.

@@yamahamusicians it helps a lot, thanks :)

Hi Kevin. That's a difficult question to answer. I have owned several Taylor guitars over the years and they are fine instruments, very nicely made but at the same time, Taylor is very good at marketing and for me at least there are much nicer guitars out there for the money. In this particular case, I would take the Ibanez AE245. But it IS a personal preference. Really you have to try these guitars yourself to see which one feels right for you. However, I would advise that you completely put the "Taylor" name out of the equation. Judge them as instruments in their own right regardless of the branding.

considering the difference of prices i would say that this ibanez is much for the money

Hello Harry. They are, as far as I can tell, the same guitar with a different model name. Oddly, Ibanez does not list the AE315FMH on their website but they do still have the AE245. I will try and find out more.

@@yamahamusicians Thank you so much.

@@harryhuang6954 Ok so I found out as much as I could and I hope this helps? The AE245 is very slightly longer than the AE315FMH for 2021 at 511 mm. It is also 3 mm wider. The AE245 is deeper at 117 mm for models up to 2020. The 2021 model has increased depth to 121 mm. The AE315 is 114 mm so that is quite a difference in depth of the body for these models. AE245 has a solid mahogany top for 2016-2018 models and solid okoume for 2019-2021 models. The back and sides are layered mahogany on the 2016-2018 models and layered okoume for the 2019-2021 models. With the AE315FMH you have a solid Sitka spruce top with layered Pau Ferro back and sides. The binding is also Pau Ferro whereas on the AE245 it is Ivory Plastic. The fingerboard on the AE245 is: 2016-2017 Rosewood. 2018 Ovangkol 2019 - 2021 Katalox. The AE315 fretboard is cultured maple. Both models have a bone 44mm nut and bone compensated saddle. The neck on the AE245 is mahogany for the 2016 - 2018 models and nyatoh for the 2019 -2021 models. The AE315 has a mahogany neck on the 2018 model and nyatoh on the 2019 version. The AE245 has a bridge made from rosewood for 2016 - 2017, ovangkol for 2018 and katalox on the 2019 - 2021 models. The bridge on the AE315 is cultured maple. The AE245 is still a current model but the AE315 was discontinued at the end of 2019. Does this help?

@@yamahamusicians That was so helpful for me and they are very detailed. Thank you a lot for helping me so much!

@@harryhuang6954 I am glad it helped. Let me know what you decide to buy and what you think of it?

I can only comment on the model in the video but the action was good straight out of the box. I didn't feel any need to immediately adjust it in any way. However, I would not say it is lower than any of the other guitars I have reviewed. You could probably drop the action by a couple of mm to get it just perfect. It is a really nice guitar to play though.

@@yamahamusicians thanks a lot for the taking the time to reply sir! If its not too much trouble can you tell me if the action is lower that 2 mm on the 12th fret of the low e string? Thanks again!

@@watson91299 I am always very happy to help :) As I recall the action at the 12th fret was approx 4 mm. Definitely not as high as some guitars I have played but also room for some slight improvement. I tend not to notice higher actions too much as my fingers are quite strong after so many years of playing.

@@yamahamusicians thanks again sir! Appreciate it:)

Action is so high it's trash

The CCL1 as I am sure you know is an all solid wood guitar and in a much higher price bracket. In terms of sound the CCL1 wins without a doubt. But in aesthetics? I prefer the look of the Ibanez. It is also a lot friendlier on the bank balance. But for sure, if you have the money, go for the CCL1.

The action is pretty good straight out of the box but there is room for lowering it a few mm. 👍

@@yamahamusicians thank you sir

​Be bought this, the action was so high out the box it was unplayable

@@declanosullivan8770 yes it is. But its a good sounding guitar.

@@chocoboi.maristela what I received wasn't, maybe after I take it to the shop, but it sounds awful.

Hi Arpit. There are no controls for the preamp. No knobs or sliders. The tone is handled automatically by the combination of the T-bar under saddle pickup and Ibanez's custom electronics. It worked well for me but I understand of course that for some more control will be important.

@@yamahamusicians so would you recommend installing any controls after market like Fishman or something...? Does it affect the body or the quality of the sound..?

@@arpitpeter6706 ibanez say, some people dont like sound made from equaliser in some acoustic guitar, that's why ibanez made pickup only and we can plug in direct to mixer and adjust sound use mixer or guitar amplifier speaker..

@@muhammadfitriidris4381 yaa that's right. Thank you..

@@arpitpeter6706 welcome mister 👍🏻

Yes the first part was recorded with a matched pair of Sennheiser e614's and then I went straight into the mixer through the guitar's preamp.

From around 1.20 to 2.20 in the video is what it sounds like unplugged. The rest is plugged in. I prefer the unplugged sound but then most electronics fitted to acoustic guitars fail to truly represent the tone of the instrument. I really liked how the AE245 sounds acoustically.

@@yamahamusicians thank you for the answer, very helpful :) do you suggest me to buy this one or the Guild ds 240 memoir?

Trash

It's good out of the box. If I had kept the review model I probably would have lowered it slightly but not much. I found it very playable :)

@@yamahamusicians Should get mine by tommorrow. Thank you for the review

@@nicskeptic Do let me know how you get on with it?

@@yamahamusicians Will do. Liked and subscribed

Hi Jay. Sorry for the late reply. I missed your comment for some reason. The Fender California series are great guitars with a good spec for relatively little money. Two things stand out for me. First, that classic Fender headstock design means the strings are kept straight to the nut. This aids tuning stability. And second is the neck profile which if you play electric guitar will feel very familiar. In terms of sound though I would probably stick with the Ibanez AE245. For me it has more warmth and of course it looks great too ;)

@@yamahamusicians hi glad to see your reply, many thanks! :)

@@jf7247 Let me know what you buy and how you get on with it?

@@yamahamusicians sure

do you plan to made a review for the fender California newportal?

Hi Mats. I believe they are made in China but then so are a lot of branded guitars so I would not take that as a negative. The model I had was extremely well made and I enjoyed playing it.

@@yamahamusicians Okey, thanks! Great playing !

@@galenmats Thanks :) Are you considering buying the AE245?

@@yamahamusicians Yes, or the AE315, I dont really know yet.

Not great for anything

It's fine for fingerstyle 👍

I think you are referring to the width of the guitar at the lower bout? If I remember correctly it was just over 38" but it has been a few years since I had this guitar. I can find out for certain though.

@@yamahamusicians i found that it is 41inch full size, but it seems look like smaller in the website

@@whatyouwant7545 Did you measure it? 41" seems rather large but as I say it was a few years ago and I had, I think, 10 guitars in for review at the time. I do wish all guitar makers would put the full spec on their websites. It would definitely help the customer.

@@yamahamusicians Amazon shows that it's 44 x 19 x 5 inches, i can't imagine ae245nt with a big size like that, www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6T42D0

There are two versions of this guitar or "apparently" two versions because Ibanez had two different specs for it. So the spec I gave in this video is correct for the guitar I had. I did check with Ibanez just to be sure and they confirmed I had listed the right details. Could be that there is confusion over the use of Okoume because dealers especially, often mis label it as mahogany which is most definitely is not. You can check the spec here www.ibanez.com/eu/products/detail/ae245_1x_04.html

@@yamahamusicians thanks.im thinking of getting one as they do left handed ones and broke the neck recently on my old guitar.yeah I see the specs and everyone everywhere I've been looking say mahogany. maybe there is another, be strange though to release 2 guitars the same in different woods.how do you like it though, it's about 4.80 left handed and wanted something a little different but you can only get one shot at buying and stuck with it if you ain't got the cash.cheers

@@homegrowndave Yeah it confused me too! I was just about to upload the video but wanted to check pricing and saw that every dealer I came across was listing it as mahogany. However the spec I had been given was direct from Ibanez and I also double checked with their distributor in the UK. What makes it more confusing is there is indeed another page for the same guitar on the Ibanez site which is not in public view that lists the guitar as having mahogany all round. I don't think it would make a huge difference either way. Okoume has very similar tonal characteristics to mahogany and also bear in mind that the back and sides are laminate so won't be contributing much to the overall sound of the guitar. As for how I personally liked the guitar? Well I didn't want to give it back so that tells you everything ;) But seriously, I found it a delight to play and I think, funds permitting I would definitely buy one myself.