IbanezGIO Series GRX70QA - Transparent Red Burst

I just took delivery of the Ibanez GRX 6 guitar in transparent violet sunburst. This is my third venture into less expensive but highly rated guitar brands. I now own over 20 assorted. Most are upline and from Martin, Gretsch, Gibson, Fender, and Epiphone. This guitar plays and sounds as well as my Fender Telecaster. Delivery was two days earlier than promised. Box arrived in pristine condition. Set up was almost in tune. All strings tuned down 1/2 pitch from standard. Took about a minute to get it up and running. Finish is flawless, and it plays nice up and down all the frets. The HSH pickup setup is great. I get five distinct voices and all are great. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a real looker and player. Plays as well as any guitar costing $700 +. This was on sale and in stock just in time for the Holidays. The tuners are smooth as glass, and the OEM strings are even good. I will leave the OEM strings on for a month or so.

I owned an Ibanez GIO back in the early 2010s and always thought it was a decent guitar. So, after several years hiatus and wanting to get back into playing, I found this GIO GRX70 on sale at the Amazon Ibanez store. The big selling point for me: the HSH pickup configuration...a nice setup for the dollar. So the guitar arrives. I unbox and find a beautiful piece of craftsmanship! The finish on the body is stellar! The fretboard is smooth with perfect fret height across the fingerboard and no protruding fret ends. The knobs have a smooth glide indicating higher quality; not too loose or too stiff. You get a volume and tone knob that serves each switch position. The switch is a standard 5-position rotater, nothing special. This will let you switch to the following pickup sets: bridge, bridge-middle, middle, middle-neck, neck. The tremolo is an Ibanez branded generic 2-point tremolo that I will most likely seldom use. Out of the box, the action is a bit high for my taste, but not bad, and intonation seems really good. I will nonetheless trip to Guitar Center for a full setup and new strings. The sound of this guitar, pumped thru my Orange Crush 20 Combo is beyond expectations! Each switch position gives a truly unique sound experience, from mellow acoustic-ish to brassy and warm like a clean Tele to hard metal crunch a-la Strat. I find the HSH pickup config to offer more versatility than the typical Strat HHS, which in my opinion is geared toward more high-octane rock only. The neck has a nice arch, thinner than most and very playable for my short, stumpy fingers. And the guitar is very lightweight, yet has an incredibly solid feel. To sum it up, I would consider this GRX70 to be the Subaru of guitars: stylish, rugged, well equipped, versatile, and a lot of bang for your buck. You would have no shame taking this on stage at any skill level, be you a garage band or signed. And a newbie wanting to start your journey down the six-string highway would be so lucky to have this piece of hardware. Needless to say, I HIGHLY recommend this.

After almost 9 month owning a guitar and playing it pretty frequent I want to write why I think this is the best guitar if you want to start playing. Just to be honest, this is the only guitar I own and only guitar I modified.Positives:- Perfect tuning stability with standard strings. Correct me if I am wrong about the gauge but I believe it’s .10. Anyway, if you changing to another gauge make sure to correct the tension of the springs on the bridge (it is simple don’t worry)- it has HSH pickup configuration with 5-way switch which gives you a really good ammount of different tones plus gives you a good slots configuration for future upgrades and modifications if you want any- tremolo bridge - it is just nice to have it but I barely using it as I still suck in playing (adult life gives you little time, ughhh)- fretboard is nice, no sharp angles, satin finish on the back, pretty comfy.- additional point to the tuning stability - tuners is actually good quality, precise enough, had no problems with them- inner shielding with paint and metalization on the bridge cover which protects you from the hum, yes.- last but not tge least - it comes with a cable, so no need to buy it separately. Also in package there alen wrenches for intonation and truss rode adjustingNegatives:- frets itself needs a bit leveling if you want to lower the action (strings height). Not immediately though and it still fully playable and enjoyable, right- slightly unbalanced. Fretboard and headstock is a bit heavier than body. Playing standing might require a good strap with rubberized shoulder. Not affecting when playing sitting- stock pickups are not the best for sure. Had really hard time with pitch harmonics until replaced them with dragonfire screamers which cost btw 40$ including taxes for a humbuckers set (pretty nice, eh?)- also for my guitar the volume nob was slightly elevated which I did not even mentioned for some time. Just for a note, I am a bit perfectionist but I am not fixing the nob cause that is how unnoticeable this problemThat is pretty much it, sorry for mistakes in the text, english is not my first language and I am writing from the phone.To summarize: this is a good quality guitar, consider the price - the best value for the buck I’d say. Squier from fender will not give you same rich tone capabilities for sure but as for the pros and cons I can’t talk as I do not have it.Hope it will help you in your decision 🤘

Guitar shipped 2 days earlier than expected. A little nervous with the packaging originally. Once I opened it and saw that the guitar was adequately packaged. The guitar looks great out of the box. It does need some setup (as do all guitars). Overall, playability is fantastic for a $200 guitar. It's fast and action is good. Will be making some upgrades but this is personal preference. Pickups are good, himbuckers are fine, not great, but for $200 they are good. The single coil not the greatest, should be upgraded but easy to play around it with a decent amp. Overall, this is a good bang for your buck and have no issues with the guitar. I would recommend this for beginners or intermediate players as it has a great feel but will need some upgrades to bump it to the next level.