Ibanez GRX20 Guitar Review

Surprisingly, the market for beginning and entry level guitars is extremely competitive. Ther is a huge movement, over just about every recent generation, among teens and adolescents to try and learn how to play guitar. Therefore, many families end up shopping around for the best quality instrument they can get at the lowest price. And, in effect, just about every line of guitars offers several beginner models. One of these such models is the Ibanez GRX20. Let's take a closer look to see how it measures up against others in its class.

Features: The body of the Ibanez GRX20, like many others at the entry level, is made of basswood. Despite its well known association with cheaper instruments, it does provide a fairly good amount of sustain. There are two main finishes available with the GRX20, including blue and black. Both are high gloss and sleek looking, and both come with painted black pickguards and headstocks. For an entry level guitar, it is nice looking. The neck of the Ibanez GRX20 is made of maple, and is bolted onto the body. The fretboard, on the other hand, is made of rosewood. In an effort to save on production costs, Ibanez decided to reduce the number of frets to twenty two regulars instead of twenty four jumbos, and make the inlays pearloid dots. All of the hardware, including the tuning heads and tremolo bridge, is made of chrome. Electronically, the Ibanez GRX20 has two Powersound humbucker pickups. Also, it has a volume and tone control knob and a three way selector switch.

Playabilitiy: For a starter guitar, the Ibanez GRX20 has some great features. The maple neck is nice and thin and is finished extremely smoothly, helping its player move up and down the fretboard with ease. Also, the tremolo system lets you pull of cool sounding metal maneuvers like the dive bomb made famous by Eddie Van Halen. Additionally, the body and neck are made exactly like the Fender Stratocaster. This equates to a nicely curved body, light weight, and smooth feel.

Sound: The sound department is where the Ibanez GRX20 separates itself from the Fender style. The dual humbuckers provide a hard edged crunch that fits well with hard rock and metal genres. It doesn't handle cleaner tones as well, but can definitely hold its own when the distortion is cranked up.

Overall: If you're an aspiring guitarist or a family member, the Ibanez GRX20 is an excellent place to start. It will certainly allow any new guitar player to learn and grow, and will also grow with the new musician. You can find the Ibanez GRX20 in music stores for about $150.