Ibanez is a very old company and has been creating fantastic budget guitars for the last many decades. Its reputation precedes it. Likewise, GRX70QA is one of the most affordable guitars out there. Moreover, it does bring with itself the best guitar playing experience for all levels of users. The Ibanez GRX70QA Electric Guitar review outlines the different ways that get this particular offering to the top choice among musicians.
With time, the craze for music and guitar has only surged. Every teenager wishes to hold a guitar in his hands and play it like the masters. The market manufacturers have also flourished. A few years back, there was a countable number of companies providing good quality guitars. However, with an increase in the number of outlets and brands, the competition to stay in demand has increased immensely.
Many old brands lost their value to the new releases. But not every old company has met with the same fate. Some have managed to stay as popular as they were decades back. The name that comes up first to the mind is Ibanez.
Offering versatile tonal quality, with many pickup options coupled with some amazing choices in tonewood, GRX70QA is certainly among the best sounding guitars for such a desirable price range. Plus, it is perfect for tuning it to the needs of different genres. With easy to hold design, it makes it simpler and convenient for beginners to tap into the world of music with confidence and excitement.
Overview
Ibanez is not one of those companies that compromise with its product quality to set the budget price. On the contrary, it settles with the best balance of quality and price to offer amazing sounding electric guitars in the market.
The Ibanez GRX70QA review aims to highlight the build as well as sound quality with other characteristics that this guitar holds. You would be amazed to know the specifications that come along at this price range. Solely made to impress, the guitar can be rhymed for experimenting with flexible music type.
Specification
Jumping to the specifications, you can find out the design and structure of the guitar that contributes to its awesomeness.
Body
The GRX70QA electric guitar is made of quilted maple. The guitar features the Poplar body and for your knowledge, this one isn’t very fancy. Rather, Poplar is a cheap tonewood and has its similarities with alder. It does carry a difference though. It comes with a bump in the midrange response. Moreover, you may experience a little harsher edge with poplar than alder. However, that again would depend mostly on the choice of wood and its quality.
To be more precise, you can consider poplar close to basswood. This is because the material is susceptible to dings. It is soft and could be easily affected by high pressure forming dents. On the other hand, the top with quilted maple looks astonishing. It has a shimmery texture and definitely compliments the brightness of the stage. You do get color choices as well. It comes in red, black, green, and blue transparent textures. It has a scale length is 25.5”. This is a standard size that matches the guitars of most popular manufacturers around the globe.
Neck
The neck of GRX70QA is created with maple and has a rosewood fretboard that features pearl dot inlays. As you may know that the combination of maple and rosewood to build the guitar necks isn’t uncommon because of their amazing tone response, they do add up to the quality of GRX70QA.
The neck shape is sleek and well thought. It adds some warm overtones to the overall tone quality of the guitar. As mentioned, the neck is slim and offers smooth touch to the users with medium-sized frets to further enhance the comfort of the musician while playing this guitar. Because of the thin neck design, it is convenient to play fast for beginners as well.
Pickups
This section is the most exciting part of the overall design of GRX70QA. Mostly because of its stock pickups. The pickups are very fascinating and another benchmark apart from the stylish look of the guitar. The guitar flaunts the power sound pickups arranged in an HSH format. These comprise of passive ceramic ferrite magnets. Adding these magnets has provided a great response to the instrument. Making the sound feel a bit punchy and raw, it had greatly increased the awesomeness of GRX70QA. The different pickups used are PSND1, PSND-S, and PSND2. This arrangement goes from neck to the bridge.
Ibanez has chosen to go with the 5-way selector switch for pickup arrangement. This has a great impact on the overall sound quality of the guitar. With great design, it comes packed with awesome sound and every small detail adds to the mesmerizing quality it holds, including the pickups. Musicians are fond of GRX70QA and the very obvious reason is the pickup arrangement and selection that takes the music to the next level.
Hardware
You can count on the GRX70QA hardware for providing users with decent performing experience. It does seem great quality for the asked price. On the plus side, bridge saddles with individual adjustment settings bring great flexibility for the beginners. And, it does provide a fair touch to the overall quality of the guitar. Moreover, the 5-way pickup selector switch is also nicely done and seems to be of high quality. The selector switch splits the humbuckers in positions 2 and 4.
Looking at the downside, the tuners lack quality though. These are non-locking and could detune easily. Again, the design comes back with the Fat-6 tremolo bridge. However, some feel it be comparatively cheap, which again justifies the price tag though. Ibanez GRX70QA review finds that the hardware is decent and plays the part well.
Sounds
You must be pretty excited to know how the guitar sound. Quite natural because a lot depends on the sound that the instrument makes. Even if it is the most stylish and comfortable companion to carry and hold, it would have no use without an impressive sound. So, here is the Ibanez GRX70QA review for sound quality.
The Ibanez Series GRX70QA is a budget guitar with many amazing features. It does have a decent sound quality but one cannot compare it with the high priced guitars offering way better sound. Apart from its magical appearance with a quilted maple top and a comfortable sleek neck, it does lack that quotient when offering the sound quality to the musicians. This is due to the fact that pickups do lack that extra edge.
The Power sounds pickups offer noticeable power to the overall sound, coupled with the energy contributed by the double humbuckers. However, the lack of single-coil makes the sound seem tinny. Moreover, the harmonic response is also a concern. The pickups do seem responsive but feel bland at the same time.
With that being clear, one can count this guitar among the beginner’s choice. It does lack the extra character and that is the reason it suits the budget of beginners.
Playability
Ibanez products are popular for being easy to play. This is because of their super-slim and awesome neck design that converts the overall playing experience fast and musical.
Ibanez does have come up with even slimmer neck with its S series, however, GRX70QA’s neck is still far more comfortable than many other variants in the market. The slim profile is what makes it the best choice for learners and those who have just begun their guitar playing career.
Apart from the neck design, the body shape with deep double-cutaway too adds to the convenience of playing by providing easy access to the upper frets. It offers 22 medium frets. And, the guitar is among a few of the most versatile instruments present at the moment.
The Controls
Looking at the control, you must not expect any fancy inclusion. It offers very basic and standard controls. You would find a volume knob along with a tone knob. However, these seem to do the job pretty well, without making you feel short at anything. They work exactly as they should without trying to exaggerate their presence.
Build Quality
The Ibanez Gio GRX70QA Electric Guitar builds quality is remarkable for its price range. It looks more like a classic style guitar, offering musicians with double-cutaway body shape, being angular rather than extreme, as it is the case with the standard Fender.
The body curves are well crafted and created thoughtfully. It has a convenient contour that feels comfortable, either while holding the guitar close when sitting or when playing being stood up.
As mentioned before, the guitar is made of popular. Definitely, it’s not the best quality to choose, but offers great tonewood quality for a guitar priced at this low range. As already cleared with the Ibanez GRX70QA review, the guitar looks more vibrant and charismatic, quilted maple at its best.
Ibanez has ensured that the product carries the reputation of the company in terms of quality even when sold at a budget price. With a slim neck and 22 frets, this guitar does offer great build quality to the users. While beginners will love its ease of use, experts may find it commendable for accomplishing such great details, still staying at a low price range.
The poplar body, when coupled with cheap pickups, can create a huge imbalance for the quality of the guitar. This makes the midrange spike of the body seem very much noticeable, ending up providing immense contrast to the lows and highs. However, this is not the case with this product.
The GRX70QA happens to be a very versatile guitar. This is created to be one of the most vibrant playing instruments to cater to the notes of different genres. You can play rock, country, jazz and many other forms of music using Ibanez GRX70QA.
The neck is quite fast and works well for speedy soloing and the humbuckers are responsive enough to pick up on the finer details, even if the tone it delivers isn’t the greatest.
The guitar looks simple yet impressive and created with a single cut of wood to provide nice quality. Isn’t that a lot to get for this price range?
Ibanez GRX70QA Review – Pros/Cons
There are always few limitations alongside the best features that tag along with an instrument. The guitar is made for beginners and ticks all the right boxes. However, it may bring some noticeable character that may disappoint experts.
Pros
- Pickup configuration with a 5-way selector switch has done a great job of enhancing the overall performance of the product. It is arranged with coil-split offering HS/SH selection.
- The premium quality maple wood is used for the construction of its body as well as the neck.
- Hardware including bridges are built with precision.
- The slim neck provides a comfortable playing experience
Cons
- Tuners are non-locking. Because of this, they have the audacity to de-tune easily. You may have to tune them more often. The problem becomes more obvious when you play on a regular basis.
The Conclusion
Coming down to the conclusion, let us wrap the discussion right here. While many would not expect the product to stay any close to a good quality guitar because of its price. It still manages to astonish everyone with its looks and sound quality. A guitar that sits at a sub-$200 price range, provides an experience that is worth higher.
You get to enjoy a superior build quality, constructed from high-quality tonewoods, and a comfortable design to get you started with your notes playing, anywhere you wish to. The GRX70QA stays miles ahead from those companies that manufacture guitars at similar or even higher price ranges.
You may find the pickups lacking some character that does not limit its capabilities to stay one of the most versatile options out there. A huge thanks to its humbucker and single-coil pickup combination. What makes it so awesome is its playability. You will fall in love with the way it latches to your body when you play those strings.
The Ibanez GRX70QA review is an eye-opener for those who believe that the quality only comes at a high price.
