Ibanez AZES40 Electric Guitar - Mint Green

Great value guitar

The guitar arrived in a small but well-protected box. There were no obvious finishing issues, such as chips, dings, or other visible flaws. The guitar was strung, and was mostly in tune. The pickups and tone selection options are very nice. The sustain is very good. The neck has a satin finish which makes it less sticky when playing, which I prefer.In order to make it more playable, I ended up dampening the bridge springs, which vibrated noticeably when strumming. The factory-set action was a bit too high, so I had to lower the action and adjust the intonation. The fret finish was still rough and scratchy which was obvious with vibrato. The frets were easy to polish, making vibrato and string bending much smoother. With the tremolo installed, and after some dives, the tuning stability can slip a little even with the bridge as flat on the body as it can get. The nut slots are fairly tight, and with some slot widening and lubricant, the stability issue should go away.It has turned out to be a very good value for the money, and it is enjoyable to play. It will have be to set up, and you can have it done at your favorite guitar store, or learn how to do it yourself.

I love the guitar, only needed very little adjustment on the string action. Other than that, everything is great.

I really like this guitar but when it came I noticed the high e string slips off the fretboard with the slightest change in fretting it. This is not an issue I have with other instruments and seems not normal for a new instrument. I contacted the seller but haven't heard anything. I contacted Ibanez support and first they told me it was probably my technique. I informed them this was NOT the case and that this was an abnormal defect, maybe the neck pocket or nut was not aligned properly at the factory. They sent me an RMA repair notice and a shipping label. I will probably go that route but I will have to pay for shipping which I am not happy about. This is a new instrument, it should not have this kind of problem. The high is is basically unplayable. If it wasn't for this, it would be a great instrument.

Love this guitar, it was new in box not just in box. I did change the strings and love it so far.

Ok, I didn't purchase this guitar through Amazon. Bought it at Guitar Center because I wanted to use trade in credit from my Epiphone Les Paul.I'm a beginner, hands down. I yearned to play Guitar for most of my childhood but due to my parents associating the Devil with Guitars I wasn't able to pick it up until 2 years ago. My first year I wouldn't say counted due to just not having the time to sit down and learn.I've been playing guitar daily since Fall of last year and I upgraded to this Guitar in February. This is my 6mo opinion and overall I'm extremely happy with my purchase.So two Guitars come to mind within this price range for a HSS style hardtail. The Ibanez AZES-40 and the Yamaha Pacifica. After hearing both, feeling both, and playing both I have to say the pickups on the Pacifica are in my opinion a little better. However that's all the Pacifica has going for it. You can swap out the pickups if you'd like but in this price range I highly advise you buy a guitar with pickups you want instead of buying a Guitar with the intention of swapping them out. Aside from the pickups, let me tell you what's so great about the Ibanez AZES-40.I changed my mind. Let me tell you about my only dislike about the Ibanez AZES-40. The tuning heads are literal trash. I've never been more flustered changing strings. The strings always go out of tune. I've had the same strings on this guitar since I bought it and they have yet to stay in tune. Absolute trash. However you can purchase Gotoh Tuners for roughly $30 on Amazon. They're in my cart, I'll update once I've installed them.Let's start with why Ibanez is a great Guitar for beginners. The neck is very flat. What this means is that most Guitars have a rounded neck (look at any Fender), where as Ibanez' necks are very flat. This means that it's going to be much easier to play. If you have smaller hands, this is the Guitar you should consider. If you compared the neck of an Ibanez and Epiphone Les Paul, for example. The Les Paul neck would feel bulkier, rounder, and weightier in the palm of the hand. If you want a Guitar that offers excellent playability at an affordable price for playing Metal, Jazz, Country, Rock, and Blues. (Which is exactly what I want) This Guitar is a fantastic option for beginners starting their guitar journey. Ibanez necks are known for being thin, being useful for anchoring your thumb, promoting more control, which makes playing intricate lead lines easier too!Now what is this Alter Switch? "The AZES-40 employs a dyna-MIX9 switching system with an "Alter switch" toggle which allows the user to access nine distinct tones. The Alter switch allows the player to access two modes with the single coils connected in series creating a tone similar to a second humbucker." Long story short, You get 5 extra 'tones' compared to a normal guitar that may only offer 5.The single coil pickups (ceramic) are from Ibanez' Essential series and the humbucker (passive/ceramic) is from their accord series. All you need to know is the sound is very clean and can be utilized in a variety of ways. Rather than pickups that are highly distorted or 'twangy', using pedals or a audio interface would allow you to essentially craft any tone you want.Its 25-inch scale length (Guitar Neck) means it’s just slightly shorter than your average electric, which Ibanez says could be ideal for young learners and I wholeheartedly agree.Overall I am extremely happy with this purchase. I love how it sounds on a Orange 20w amp as well as my PreSonus Audio Interface w/ Bias FX 2. I have no regrets (except for the tuning pegs) and I can't wait to spend many more years with this wonderful Guitar. If you're a beginner or a newer player, I highly recommend this Guitar for those who want a well constructed Guitar at an affordable price that has a massive amount of versatility.

The media could not be loaded. This is a very well done model from Ibanez. Wish something like this was available back when I was teaching young guitar students, can do pretty much all styles...very versatile. Setup was very good, everything seems very well built.Tremolo was very stiff, removed a treble side spring, much better. Still goes out of tune with moderate use, lubricated nut with graphite which helped a bit, might need a little nut work and better string trees. Overall though, this is a lot of guitar for the money.The split shaft tuners and mint green guard are nice vintagey touches. Fretboard and fretvwork is very good, neck is slim but not like a "Wizard" slim...should be comfortable for most people.Switching system offers a lot of sounds, all usable. I really love the sound of the neck and middle together, in both parallel and series.Can definitely recommend.