Ibanez Gio GRGM21M - Orange Burst

I received this guitar when my kid was showing more interest in playing guitar. I wanted something that was lighter than my guitars and had a fretboard with all frets reasonably accessible without having to overstretch but would also serve for them as they grew. I do recommend this for kids possibly as young as 6 if they are kind of tall or long limbed. Otherwise, I think this is a great guitar for around 8-11.To begin with, the material quality is excellent for the money:- Knobs and switches work smoothly- Tuning keys work well and hold- Body and neck materials and finish are excellent- Frets are reasonably well finished, not protrusive or sharp- Fretboard is not a wood I am familiar with, but the feel is good and the tone it helps produce is very mid-range and versatile- Pickup quality is excellent for the moneyThe guitar has a nice tone. With the amp settings set very neutrally on an amp that is normally a bit bright, this guitar was not too much either top or bottom and sits nicely in a mid-range with a minor lean toward top end (could have been the bias of the amp). This would allow for versatility of style for play from metal, blues, country, rock, and so on. It would respond well to the amp's tonal quality.The pickup arrangement is excellent. The pickup selector can select between humbucker (warmer, fuller tone) and single coil (brighter, twangier). It will let you select between neck (brighter, more for lead), bridge (mellow, rhythm). The combinations you can pick are neck humbucker, neck single coil, neck & bridge humbucker, neck & bridge single coil, and bridge humbucker. Really, really tonally versatile.Some other reviews may observe (complain) that higher up the fretboard (closer to the body), it is hard to play. That shouldn't surprise anyone. As a short scale guitar, frets must be smaller and the frets higher up are always smaller (simply how it works as the distance from the fret to the neck reduces). One should not expect to easily play high frets on a short scale guitar. However, for kids with smaller fingers, it is perfectly fine.Compared to some other guitars of similar price range, I found this to be really worth the money and better constructed. I played several mini-strats and found them all unserviceable due to very poor fretting. I did not think those would be an enjoyable experience and therefore would disincentivize the player from continuing to play and learn.This was a pleasure to play, highly versatile, and well-built.Great 3/4 size guitar. Great guitar for young players.

Guys, I loved this guitar. I got it for my 7 year old daughter. I've been playing guitar on and off for 20 years and wanted her to have a decent, kid sized guitar. This thing does not disapoint. I even played it side by side with my Epiphone Les Paul Studio, and surprisingly this little guy kept up with it in the 1 and 3 positions on the Ibanez pickup switch. (I should note that I use heavy effects so I'm not taking about the clean sound by itself. Adding in gain, delay, reverb). But what my LP couldn't do well, was tone down all the power and humbucker-ness that this Ibanez could do in the 2 and 4 positions. I liked it so much I want to put a 5 way switch on my LP lol. The LP still sounded better and the harmonics were better while playing chords, but this little Ibanez was a pleasent surprise and still sounded great. I also enjoyed the stablility of the string tuning. I could tell as soon as i began tuning that I wasnt going to have any issues there. The string action and relief were great right out of the box. Didn't measure it, but it certainly felt good to play. Overall, solid guitar for a beginner. Heck i'd feel comfortable playing it live if it wasn't smaller and purple... lol. Think i might be a new Ibanez fan.

Came to me today with the strings in a way I like. In tune with each other, but about a half step off. This means somebody took the time to set it up, and tuned it, and while shipping it lost half a step. So the strings were 10's surpringly. I think D'Addario. And I had no reason to change them. it's usually the first thing I do. So instead I stretched them good, then turned them up. And it sounds amazing. Like my old RG550. The finish is perfect. It feels great. It works really well with Marshally things. I played it with a Xotic SL Drive cranked into a Sonicake IR Cab set to the 6 cab (4x12 V30's) into a Behringer 302USB and had the most amazing Anthrax guitar sound. All the screams. All the squeals. This is THE guitar to buy for your home recording setup to do Metal/Rock/80's/90's. And honestly, it's every bit as well made as my squire mustangs. Which is high praise because the squire mustangs are probably the best buy in a guitar right now. This was the second to last guitar and I'm done. It fills the metal gap so perfect it's criminal. Easy to play. I can not believe how low the action was out of the box, with no buzz. I guess it's just easier to get away with that kind of precision at 22.5 scale.