"The Worst" Ibanez TOD10N EVER MADE?! 

Had the exact same thing with this guitar. Was so excited and right out of the box the neck was completely twisted and S curved. Truss prodded it multiple times thinking it would straighten out over time, got saddle and fret work done to try and make it better, but to no prevail. Ended up returning it.

I hope everybody sees this video before buying...first..if you're an electric guitar player you most likely will have to sand down the saddle. It's not difficult and there are good videos on utube to watch before you start...the bottom of the saddle must be perfectly flat..check with a straight edge..otherwise you will have uneven string volume!..I got mine down to 2.3mm or so..feels fine now. The neck was good...satin finish is nice on the neck also..doesn't get sticky..intonation is a little off on the G string..light as a feather...fun to play!...I also have the less expensive model..

just read these comments. havent watched the vid about to and will relay back. But those comments are so useful and stop i was not aware about. love the guitar community

I also experienced the same problems you pointed out in the video. I was able to sand down the saddle, and and after a very minor truss rod adjustment, got the action really good. But the intonation on the G and B strings was garbage( I think it has a lot to do with the saddle they use). I was so disappointed by that, seeing as it played brilliantly. Long story short, I ended up buying a Cordoba Stage and selling the Ibanez, and I don't regret it at all. Sorry that you also had to experience the same struggles.

this is the exact video i'm looking for.. i'm planning to buy this guitar but now i reconsider it.. Thank you for your honest review !

Good that you report about these problems. I bought the TOD10N 2 weeks ago. To have a little bit more comfortable start, I first changed the stings to D‘Addario EJ45, just to ensure at least the strings are no problem. I use it as a replacement for my modified Yamaha silent guitar. It is of course not an electrical guitar, more like a mix between Classical and Electric, but of course Nylon strings. Up to now it works like expected. Not perfect but ok. I think, since the beginning they improved a few thing 👍🤭

i had none of these problems but after about a month of having the guitar i started to hear buzzing at the bridge and nothing i did fixed it untill about a month ago it just stopped happening

I've had mine for about 4 months and haven't had any of the problems you mentioned. The intonation is ok and the action is really really low so I was quite surprised to see how high yours was! However, mine is also not without a disappointing defect of its own. The finish on the guitar has different levels of gloss and in the light there are two very ugly spots that stick out like a sore thumb. Its hard to explain without simply showing a photo but it really annoys me, especially because I waited for this guitar for so long. I haven't seen any other T0D10Ns with these ugly marks so I wonder if I too, got a lemon.

Lowest height you can achieve without buzz on this guitar (i have one too and spent hours/days modifying and testing) is 2.1mm-1.6mm 12th fret E-E. If you went too low on the original saddle just put a sliver of a business card into the hole to raise it back up and go from there but keep using the original. String volume is fixed by using good strings with proper tensions (not EJ45's or any set with less than 14 lb's on the G string specifically) the best strings I have found and use are the Hannabach 815 Silver Specials really good volume clarity and the tension on the G string specifically is 15 lb's not 12 like most other sets. Do those 2 things are you have a playable loud awesome guitar. These strings are nice too as the bass strings are not overly acoustic steel string sounding like in some other sets they have that nice nylon style sound still. I did need to do a fret level as there was some uneven frets probably because I got the FRH10NNTF cheaper version not the TOD10N but definitely check if you need that and also I added a fret falloff on the last 5 frets which is just sanding those down every so slightly lower than the rest of the frets on purpose. If you are using a set of strings that has less than 14 lbs of tension on any string specifically you are shooting yourself in the foot.

I love my TOD10N but it buzzes A LOT and the frets aren't flush with the neck - in fact, they probably stick out enough for me to cut myself if I played rough enough. Thankfully I don't play very often so none of this bothers me all that much, but if I was an avid guitarist I would not be happy with the out-of-the-box condition after placing 4 orders across 6 months to get 1.

I just picked up my TOD10N from the store today and the intonation is way off on the G string and action is very high. I will be bringing it to my tech to get his thoughts before either spending money to make it right or just returning it. I'm pretty bummed with this thing right out of the box.

Sad that you’ve had so much drama with this guitar. Do you have action measurements and nut slot measurements? The action on my 10n is definitely way higher than my steel string guitars but it seems to be a reasonable height to me. Did they also check your frets for level?

How much experience with nylon string guitars do you have. These all seem like common issues (with the exception of the machine head). Nylon string guitars are an entirely different experience. I’ve thought similar things of all of my 3 cordoba’s. I too have the tod10n and it seems to be pretty consistent. I’m no expert but in my humble opinion nylon string guitars in general are finicky. I’ve changed strings to the exact same brand and type of string and had my guitars sound and feel different. The tod is a fun guitar non the less. Best to ya!

I think it may be a lemon. HOWEVER, I have a TOD10N as well and the QC on it is not great. The action is pretty high, but the neck needs an adjustment (it needed one straight from the box). The back of the neck heel has also developed a small crack, but it appears to only be in the finish, not the wood. With all of that said, I too love my guitar. In fact, I bought a second one, the non-Henson FRH10N in rose gold.

At least you can regulate them... Most nylon guitars you can't really regulate and they are buzzing if you want to play with a pick . Nylons also have always higher action than acoustics. I tried one in music shop (only by fingers) and was surprised it was faster than my Godin . But still I wouldn't get rid of my nylon Godin as it sounds a lot better than this Ibanez and I use it also with synthesizers .

"I did in fact buy a lemon" lmao solid ending. So, you keeping it or getting it exchanged? If it's a lemon, I can't imagine why you'd keep it except for the sake of all the money and time you spent on it. If I were you I might just keep it on principle.

Dam I just ordered this guitar I'll send it back if I have these problems forsure

video was great aswell. sorry to hear about the guitar tho. such a shame. i think i will avoid these for now and stick with the Godin. they always kept an amazing sound and CDN :)

I think you did not buy a lemon but unfortunately these guitars are so sought after that the factory is pumping them out at all costs. I am a tech and had to work on my mate's guitar which came with a ridiculous high action and the guutar cannot take the lowering of the saddle because the neck angle is too shallow. Also the bridge hokes fir the strings are too high and once you get the saddle low enough the atrings start moving side to side because there is very low pressure on the saddle. So it requires some slotting which is not bad, but the real fix is the redrill the bridge and deepen the slot between the saddle and the string block. It is a €700 guitar and an Ibanez (I have tremendous respext for ine if not the finest out there) but this guitar is made in Indonesia and it does not even come close to the Japanese workmanship expected from this amazing brand. Anyway, I had to do a fret level in the end because the 14th fret was way way out and then settled for a higher than ideal action because of the wrong bridge/neck angle combination. The pickup I did not find an issue with but I added a carbon strip to the saddle which in itself eq's the response. Should you need to discuss it feel free to find me on fixyourguitar@gmail and I'll be happy to help you

Finally, an honest review on RU-vid. Thank you!

👍

I can't say I have any of the problems you had, however I do have a weird problem where Ableton or any software for that matter doesn't seem to pick up any signal from it when I plug it into my audio interface. I've tried everything like turnign the volume knob (of course), switching tuner on and off, changing batteries but to no avail. But when I plug in my electric guitar into that same interface with the very same cable, everything works perfectly fine. Really bummed out about this one

Tbh I hear buzzing sound even Tom Henson plays it

So it's the player not the guitar hmmm

I'm not an expert by any means but this is one of the cheapest guitars I've ever felt. I don't understand all the reviews praising the quality.

The action looks crazy high! Sounds like the bridge is too high. Or maybe the fretboard isn’t the correct height. Send it to me. I’ll go ahead and break it for you.