This guitar was unplayable on arrival.It had major fret biz with high frets from fret 7 through to fret 19 with a fret rocker .I had to perform a major fret level and re-crown, polish all the fretsAnd file the nut height, intonation. It needed a full setup to make this instrument anywhere close to playable.After all of the set up finnished this guiter is easy to play and performs as good as any other good budget guitar. I am happy for the purchase of this instrument.In respect to the guitar leaving your centre it stated on your website that this guitar would have full check point .Anyway I'm happy with the end result.And I also hope this has been helpful in your quest for customer serviceKind regards Bert Vaneveld

Great piece of kit. Love the clear visibility on the neck fret position markers compared to other guitars, easy to find where you're at. Quality of finish is very good, tuners feel good, intonated well. Plays well, single coils in series sound great, plus with the switch off you get all the usual strat tones.Loses a star due to poor setup from the factory, bridge saddles aligned at an angle, G string was bent when first (incorrectly) installed, then repositioned correctly with a kink in it. Tone control doesn't have a huge range compared to other pricier guitars I own.Otherwise I can't fault it, for the money it's brilliant. Give it a proper setup, chuck in a $12 CTS pot to improve the tone control and I'll have a guitar that plays as well or better than something ... MoreGreat piece of kit. Love the clear visibility on the neck fret position markers compared to other guitars, easy to find where you're at. Quality of finish is very good, tuners feel good, intonated well. Plays well, single coils in series sound great, plus with the switch off you get all the usual strat tones.Loses a star due to poor setup from the factory, bridge saddles aligned at an angle, G string was bent when first (incorrectly) installed, then repositioned correctly with a kink in it. Tone control doesn't have a huge range compared to other pricier guitars I own.Otherwise I can't fault it, for the money it's brilliant. Give it a proper setup, chuck in a $12 CTS pot to improve the tone control and I'll have a guitar that plays as well or better than something 3 times the price. Highly recommended.

Best place to go for a guitar

We got my daughter an electric guitar and an amp for her birthday. I know nothing about guitars and the sales rep was awesome and showed us (and played a little) all the different amps and their functions, and helped us find the best guitar for her. She absolutely loves it.

Excellent

Great not only for beginners but seasoned guitarist. Playability is remarkable. Very versatile with alter switch. Hardware, frets and bridge saddle are extremely well crafted. I highly recommend especially if you want a strat style guitar with added versatility.

Great guitar.

This is a great guitar not just for beginners but for seasoned players like myself. It gives you all the great strat sounds and more. Stock pickups are pretty good. Guitar is well set up and plays like a dream. Neck and fretboard are flawless. I also really like the imput jack as it is all one piece. Ibanez struck gold with this one.

Ibanez AZES31…Yes I bought a second one…Vermillion

Overall:Well let me just say that the first one I reviewed was so awesome that I decided to buy another one. The Vermillion color is brighter than what the pics on the website show. In actuality, it’s really like Fiesta Red on a Fender. There were no defects in the paint. And the figment of the parts and the finish were really high quality.Once again, playable right out of the box. I only needed to adjust the truss rod. The intonation was pretty good out of the box, and the nut slots were all properly cut, and the notes at the first fret were dead accurate, indicating that the nut slots weren’t too high. No buzz on the open strings, that would indicate that the slots were too deep.None of the frets buzzed at all. They could have been a little more polished, but ... MoreOverall:Well let me just say that the first one I reviewed was so awesome that I decided to buy another one. The Vermillion color is brighter than what the pics on the website show. In actuality, it’s really like Fiesta Red on a Fender. There were no defects in the paint. And the figment of the parts and the finish were really high quality.Once again, playable right out of the box. I only needed to adjust the truss rod. The intonation was pretty good out of the box, and the nut slots were all properly cut, and the notes at the first fret were dead accurate, indicating that the nut slots weren’t too high. No buzz on the open strings, that would indicate that the slots were too deep.None of the frets buzzed at all. They could have been a little more polished, but that is something that I will take care of when I put the new strings on. There were no pokey frets along the sides of the fretboard.All the electronics work as they should. No static or gritty feel to them. The switching system works well and has two redundant positions, where the mini toggle doesn’t affect the sound, positions 2 and 4. And that is normal for this guitar.Thes are good, gigable guitars right out of the box. Even the factory strings are decent. You could arrive in town for a gig, without a guitar, pick up one of these and play a show with this guitar and not have to set it up.The only flaw I found was that a couple of tuning machines were mounted a little crooked. For $299.00, I’m not going to complain too much about it.

Ibanez knocks it out of the park

Sound:Believe it or not, the stock pickups sound great, even when using high gain, and especially good clean. I got the SSS model. There are a lot of different tones to be had out of the five way selector, and the mini toggle switch. My favorite sound with high gain is with the toggle set pointing to the neck, using the first position on the 5 way switch. It gives you the middle and bridge pickups together in series, in effect giving you the sound of a humbucker. Also, positions 2 and 4 on the switch give you a very Fender like quack, especially with playing through a clean amp.Features:The mini toggle is the most useful feature of this guitar, but also quite useful is the split shaft tuning machines, which are common to a lot of Fender guitars. Makes changing ... MoreSound:Believe it or not, the stock pickups sound great, even when using high gain, and especially good clean. I got the SSS model. There are a lot of different tones to be had out of the five way selector, and the mini toggle switch. My favorite sound with high gain is with the toggle set pointing to the neck, using the first position on the 5 way switch. It gives you the middle and bridge pickups together in series, in effect giving you the sound of a humbucker. Also, positions 2 and 4 on the switch give you a very Fender like quack, especially with playing through a clean amp.Features:The mini toggle is the most useful feature of this guitar, but also quite useful is the split shaft tuning machines, which are common to a lot of Fender guitars. Makes changing strings easy, and the tuners are solid and smooth to turn. Also, the jack assembly is one piece, so you will never have to worry about the jack come loose.The fretboard is a little bit rounder than a typical Gibson, but not as rounded as a vintage Fender. You can make big bends on it without fretting out, but due to the smaller radius (approximately 10 inch radius) it is more comfortable to play chords on, especially barre chords.Ease of Use:There isn’t too much of a learning curve on the AZES31, especially for those that are familiar with Strat style guitars.Quality:The fit and finish are really top notch on this one. The saddles appear to be bent steel, like many S style guitars, but the saddle height adjustment screws don stick out of the tops of the saddles and dig into your hand when resting it on the bridge. The bridge is a Hardtail on this one.Value:Definitely a bargain, this guitar has features that aren’t available on most other guitars until you spend 2nor 3 times the price.Manufacturer Support:You will probably not have to deal with Ibanez customer service. Everything you need to know is in the owners manual. Be sure to read it.The Wow Factor:The Hardtail model comes in two nice colors, but I found the HSS tremolo equipped models colors to be rather bland.Overall:I have 7 Ibanez guitars. 6 of them made in Indonesia, and 1 made in Japan. And I have to say that Ibanez is kicking booty with this model. At under 300 dollars, the AZ Essentials is the best bang for the buck out of the 7 models I have.Now I didn’t expect it as good as it is, but this guitar in Ivory finish arrived ready to play out of the box. The action was good out of the box, and the intonation was good as well. The frets had no sprout and the frets were relatively smooth. A beginner would be able to buy one of these guitars and take it to a lesson, and not have to pay for a setup prior to using it. Seriously, a pro set up would be 1/4 to 1/3 the price of the guitar. I went through my new guitar with a fine tooth comb. What I discovered is that some of the fasteners weren’t adequately tightened, and some of the frets were slightly uneven, which I have found to be true on every new guitar I’ve ever bought, from 300 dollars all the way to my Gibson Les Paul at 2200 dollars. The difference being that this AZ required very little effort to take the guitar from good to spectacular.

This guitar is a great deal.

It's fun to play, and sounds very good. It's also a good platform for modding. It's very comfortable. The frets are fantastic.

This is a phenomenal guitar

Happened to take it off the wall. Showed it to the guitar tech who did a quick check of everything.And I bought it immediately. Not only is it great to play, but it's really well made from Indonesiawhich appears to now make very high quality instruments. The price is surprising low, as well. This guitaris simply a wonderful guitar for anyone, beginner to pro.

Unexpected Gem

Overall:I have been playing guitar for over 50 years. In that time I have had many guitars from Gibsons to Fenders and Prs. Now I'm not going to say that this Ibanez is better than those top end guitars but what I will say is that for the money you are not going to find this kind of value.I bought this as a backup to my Music Man Axis sub guitar. That guitar is another great value for the money. You don't have to spend a lot of money these days to get a quality guitar. Well now the AZ 31 has become my main axe. The sounds are so good and the frets being level and smooth. This makes the action and playability as good as any guitar that I have ever owned. The neck and bridge positions do sound like humbuckers and no noise or hum. I was totally blown away. Positions 2 ... MoreOverall:I have been playing guitar for over 50 years. In that time I have had many guitars from Gibsons to Fenders and Prs. Now I'm not going to say that this Ibanez is better than those top end guitars but what I will say is that for the money you are not going to find this kind of value.I bought this as a backup to my Music Man Axis sub guitar. That guitar is another great value for the money. You don't have to spend a lot of money these days to get a quality guitar. Well now the AZ 31 has become my main axe. The sounds are so good and the frets being level and smooth. This makes the action and playability as good as any guitar that I have ever owned. The neck and bridge positions do sound like humbuckers and no noise or hum. I was totally blown away. Positions 2 and 4 sound just like a high quality Fender Strat. The middle position with the switch on sounds like a Tele. The vermillion red is just stunnin too. You have to try this one before they sell out again.