This $300 Brand Name Guitar Could Change Things 

No matter the price point, buying Ibanez is consistently one of the best values for money.

I also think you would stand a chance at getting a good price if you sold it because of Ibanez's reputation but you will generally take a bit of a hit selling something like a higher end Harley Benton etc which never achieve a great deal on the second hand market

Indeed

Ibanez needs to take the concepts of their cheaper guitars and implement them on their higher end guitars. Like the grg series how it has the red shark inlays they should do that on their higher-end models as well.

Not to mention that Ibanez has the best neck there is (for people who likes thin neck)

I have a Jatoba fretboard on an Ibanez Talman bass. They've been using it for a fair time, at least on lower to mid-priced guitars and basses. it's a decent wood and can look good.

I have a mid-range Ibanez with a jatoba fretboard. It's a lot lighter in colour than the fretboard on Phil's guitar here though. Not really a fan of the look of it myself. The guitar I have has a beautiful maple neck and I'd have just preferred maple for the fingerboard as well.

Pau Ferro and Jatoba are very good woods. Everyone wants a rosewood fretboard because Fender and Gibson used this wood back in the day.

@@xenogear88 Local Brazilian luthiers have been using these woods for more than 50 years, it doesn't get much better than south american hardwoods. I find it funny that everyone is trying to get Pau Ferro fretboards now that Fender and some other brands are using it.

@@rexrathtar3893 why didn't you buy a guitar with a maple fretboard then?

I call it the flim/flam paint job.

I bought a $300 Chinese ax from Amazon with the same paint, SS Frets, compound radius roasted maple neck, bone nut, Mahogany body and locking tuners. This is the new price point for a quality overseas guitar.

@@MrPhotonjockey what was the guitar?

@@NoJobRob Musi Virgo Fusion. They have Increased the price to $359 now. I think they are a little nuts to ask that much, because you can get an EART T-Style for $400. I believe the EART has better pickups.

I’m pretty sure they even charge more purely for a roasted maple neck as well

They really do make some great guitar's at affordable prices , even these GIO models are well built and sound great. Great modding platforms also , if you're into that!

I've owned (and still own a SZ320), a number of Ibanez guitars, they are easily on par with much more expensive guitars.

@@louism8217 Absolutely and I'll even throw Schecter in there. They make great affordable guitars also , both these are my favorite!

@@louism8217 The S521 is the next one on my list , I've got an RG421 and the AZES31 right now...

@@mikeg6666 unfortunately the Gio models don't have the full RG size body. They're simply just not worth upgrading because they're like toy guitars.

After setting up the intonation and string height, I'll strum a G chord through an overdrive pedal, and lower the pups until you can hear the individual notes in the chord.

same! recently started paying attention to that and I feel like it's one of the most important things nobody talks about. way more important than measuring pickup resistance IMO.

Replace the input jacks and give the frets a polish you have something stage ready. I played one locally the other day, it's much more than a starter guitar.

Yamaha?

I have an RGX 621 from 1996 (got it for for my birthday) and it is still one of the best guitars I've ever owned.

Where was Yamaha mentioned? Do they own Ibanez?

@@voornaam3191 who hurt you

@@voornaam3191 What's the point if you need to replace 3/4 of the guitar? 🤣

@@MikJames sounds like someone who hasn't gotten past the '59 mentality lol

Dude I feel you so hard on it saying “Gio” on the headstock. I don’t like it either and I know I have no GOOD reason for not liking it haha

I was just talking to my girlfriend last night about how Schecter built guitars have become my go to. I have an LTD EC 1000, Wylde Audio Barbarian and a Schecter Diamond Series Solo ii. Out of 17 other instruments they are the ones that receive regular attention and all 3 get played whenever I sit to play. After about two decades of playing I found my brand. The Solo ii is basically a Gibson LP Custom except it came with things that make sense like locking tuners and SS frets. Oh and it's less than a quarter of the price. Got it for an absolute steal on top of everything because a wife was selling her husband's midlife crisis that he decided to not follow through on, literally how she worded it in the ad lmao.

scratch it with a pick in "GIO", so I took it out of mine without damaging the paint

Lmao I cant dwny I hate the go logo to buy that being said I dont mind the squire logo lol ha ha such eye popping candy pirates aren't we.

Ever played a Jackson though? doesnt get more metal than a Jackson Randy Rhoads

So this is ok for a totally new beginner as in my grand daughter who is 10?

@@Ron_Masterjohn yes it would be a perfect starter guitar

@@Ron_Masterjohn I'd suggest you can easily do 2 things (a) Find a cheaper guitar that plays just as well or (b) Find a guitar that's better value for money albeit possibly a little more expensive. The point here is, phil was talking nonsense when he said the finish is like a $3000 guitar. Shiny paint is meaningless - it's precisely done because many beginners and their parents or grandparents have little idea what to look for so they go on appearance. We all did this at some point - I went to the guitar shop in the 80s and bought a guitar that was shiny and red and looked great. It wasn't great. You'll be luckier today because the vast majority of guitars play reasonably well. You do have to avoid some junk on places like Amazon and whatever, but if you go to a local music shop or find a good retailer online and look what they have in the beginner stuff you'll find playable guitars that are cheap. Save what you don't spend on this towards her next guitar - which is likely to cost more. If you don't play, her guitar teacher may well be willing to help you select an instrument or give advice. The only thing I'd put in this instruments favour is Ibanez guitars with 'wizard' necks, the neck is thinner than typical guitars - the idea is to let people play lots of fast notes, but it's actually a feature for people with smaller hands and the set of people with smaller hands includes kids and women (although there are exceptions) so she may well find the neck suits her. For similar reasons the guitar size and weight - because these are things that can make a guitar feel cumbersome for younger people. Note too, if she has lessons at school quite often the guitars get stored somewhere during the day. My son had to leave his guitar in a stock cupboard and the kids wouldn't be careful grabbing their own guitars so, even with a gigbag the guitar started to get a lot of dings and so on. Another reason really not to worry about a shiny finish. I wouldn't say don't get this guitar but I don't think this review was good - he seemed too phased by the shiny paint to be objective. If you get the guitar and the frets are unlevel then you'll need someone to level the frets. Really you want a retailer who will do this for you. Otherwise you're going to pay twice. Phil doesn't think about this. Or perhaps he thinks it's a way of him making money, the manufacturer's QC is poor, the retailer just ships the box - so now the purchaser has to find someone like him to pay to get the guitar into a playable state. I mean, for a more expensive guitar it might be worth paying for plek or a setup, but imo a cheap guitar either plays well or it's junk because at the cost of paying someone to try and fix a cheap guitar you could have gotten a better one.

Japanese allies, really🤷‍♂️

@@chrischristofis8501 hold my atomic bomb!

They really pop in person. 🤘🏻🖖🏻

guitarguitar sell it for £280!!

@@robbiexbaker that is spooky I was looking at it on their site when your comment flagged up.... Omen? Purchase?

Guitarguitar say that it's a 'Spot' series (whatever that is) limited edition which is only available from them! But I found it on quite a few other sites including Thomann who price it at £247 but currently out of stock! They do however have a B stock at £231 and their B stock from all reports is indiscernible from new. It is however also listed on Ibanez's UK website with no mention of being a special edition.

Dude, you played any Gordon Smith guitars?

Gave you a woody?😂

Why not just buy a real guitar to begin with ?

@@thomasd9237 Maybe because he's having fun modifying a cheaper guitar? 🤷‍♂

I played a $599 Squire 40th Anniv Tele today in a music store and it was as good as any Fender I have ever owned. It was a dark mahogany wood (I think) with roasted maple neck and black binding - it was a really nice guitar.

@@joecoach7268 I ordered myself that tele in green ... can't wait to arrive

this is almost the exact same guitar as a 20 year old ibanez RG321 except with roasted maple instead of regular maple.

They've upped their game even with the affinities. I got a 2022 affinity tele a few months ago and it played and sounded as good as a classic vibe.

Squire and this guitar come out of literally the same factory as production contract guitars, so your observation is on point.

What kind of tuners did you put on it? I've been looking at that and I thought I'd go for some of the cheaper Grovers. I don't know though. I don't really wanna spend over a 100 bucks for tuners on a 300 dollar guitar.