Ibanez AX Standard AX120 Electric Guitar, Bound Treated New Zealand Pine Fingerboard, Metallic Forest

2019-12-17T18:38:01

The serial number leads me to believe the guitar was manufactured in 2019. According to the Ibanez website the fretboard should be Jatoba and the body should be Basswood. The Adorama Camera website lists in specs the fretboard as Bound Treated New Zealand Pine and the body as Poplar. Cannot tell which wood was used for the fretboard and for the body. Unlike several pictures I saw and also a floor model at my local Guitar Center the bridge used is the ABR-1 version, the one with the spring wire holding the saddle adjustments screws in place. The main complaint about the ABR-1 bridge is the buzzing caused by that spring wire. Fortunately, so far this guitar seems to not be affected by that problem. Unlike the specs shown at the Ibanez website the guitar came with 9-42 strings instead of 10-46. After tuning it out of the box there were places on the fretboard affected by fret buzz. While checking the fret leveling I found 7 frets that were a tad higher. With a like care and time I was able to spot level the frets and then polish them to a mirror shine. The frets were not polished which was very evident when bending strings. Almost most frets had a very minor amount of fret sprouting at both ends. A little care and about an hour with a small file eliminated them. The fretboard itself looked and felt a little dry so I applied my favorite fretboard cleaner and conditioner which restored the glow. The fretboard now actually has a slight flaming effect. The guitar I got has the Candy Apple finish. It looks very good and it is almost. It has ne very minor flaw and a very narrow area next to the control cavity cover which was over painted with the electrically conductive paint. The control cavity interior is painted with electrically conductive paint but the quality is very poor. Looks like they used a brush with very thick paint. Not uniform. In time I'll probably clean it out and line the control cavity with copper tape. The die cast tuners, while not bearing any brand, seem to be decent. The pickups produce a full, clear tone and the neck - bridge volume is balanced. The only drawback I found about the pickups is that they appear to not be wax potted. If I tap the pickup covers with my fingernail or with the guitar pick the sound is much lounder out of the amplifier compared to one of my other guitars that has was potted pickups and a metal cover. Also, the pickups only have 2 wires so there is no way to use switches for coil tapping or series/parallel. I will most likely replace the pickups in the near future. The nut appears to be plastic. The original 9-42 strings sounded decent but the 10-46 GHS R+RL Pure Nickel Rollerwound strings I used have the G, B and High E slightly muted. I will run a file thru those slots but in the end the guitar will benefit from using a Black TUSQ XL nut. While adjusting the intonation I found that the High E screw was very hard to turn. I was able to adjust it but the next time I remove all strings I will check the screw and the saddle. All in all this is a very decent beginner guitar which can also be used by more seasoned players. Good sound, good looks but you do have to put a little work into it.

John C.

2019-08-11T15:45:30

Your product and service was impeccable. Thank you

Brian R.