$199 Ibanez guitar - is it good?

I borrowed a brand new Ibanez GRG121DX-WNF from a friend who has just gotten it so it's brand new and unused in the video.
I was wondering if this budget guitar would be any good and the results may surprise you!
Please comment and subscribe :)

[julianaraneta]

this guitar all in all is god mode for 200 or 180 dollars and plays even better when set up nicely. if ya'll planning for an upgrade, just swap the bridge pick up and the saddles. them tuners are pleasantly tight too so it wont go out of tuning.

[MattDvc]

This guitar looks like it costs at least double the price.

[mulepitproductions]

I have that guitar. Is a great feel. And plays amazing! Yes I have more expensive guitars. But for 200. You cannot go wrong. Is an

[FarisAF]

I have this guitar since I was 12 and now my guitar is 10 years old, still rocking the game.

[Zirnick]

i may or may not have impulse bought this before reading or looking up reviews, but now im happy i did, especially for my first electric guitar

[ElegantJames]

Just bought a Gio and I love it. I'm surprised with the way plays and sounds for as cheap as it is. It's a little more expensive than $200 here in Canada, mine was $350

[OddTimeMan]

I just bought an Ibanez GIO GSR100EX Bass and they're also selling for $199 but I got mine for $165 because it was listed as USED...even though there's nothing USED about it. It looks brand-new. It came with the original box, all the original paperwork, and even the plastic film on the pickup and tuners. Excellent bass, excellent price.

[saralowe_arts]

I spat my green tea out when I heard the first note 🔥

[lorencing]

Bought one for a friend, matte black ... I was AMAZED at how good this guitar is, I mean if you told me it was woth a grand I would believe it. And the setup was perfect out of the box, neck felt perfect, tuners worked, sound was good, the attention to detail like I have never seen on a guitar this cheap (or even more expensive ones), flawless, even the frets were shiny and polished ... crazy part, even the strings were shiny. I do not know where the catch is but it looks like they really made this model amazingly well from the get go, I just wonder if they are loosing money on this or is the skilled labor that cheap in China. And looks so freaking awesome that I am thinking of buying one just to have one, the matte black body and pickups, the contrasting bright shark teeth inlays on the superbly sanded fretboard and no sharp fret ends. Before buying this one on Thomann I have returned one B-stock Schecter C-6 deluxe, crappy fret job and sort of soft neck and an Ibanez 121SP, the one with the rosted maple neck, that had fret buzz no mather how high I set the action. Both more expensive than the 121DX, so I do not understand how these things go, maybe just luck of the draw ... hope it will stay this good for a long time as it is a birthday present.

[hh]

this guitar looks so nice and sounds great, and for the price holy hell. I had some people telling me dont get it, "the entire gio line is trash" and i almost didnt buy it because of them. Thank god I did

[Fschurg]

As soon as you started playing Everlong I ordered this guitar. Can't wait for it to come in!

[seananderson]

I was deployed to Kosovo and just wanted an electric to use for my headphone amp. I bought this from Sweetwater and was pleasantly surprised by it's playability for I think $225 (with free shipping). Totally worth it.

[jamesjameslee]

I just bought this guitar from second hand for 120 USD and what I can say it looks really good. Of course I see that wood on the neck is not a highest quality, and guitar is suspiciously light, but overall build quality blown my mind in this price range. Some more expensive guitars sometimes have bigger flaws than this cheapochinese guitar. Definitely it's really nice guitar and nice base for upgrades ;)

[thijs]

it is my first guitar and i recoment it to everyone its just the perfect guitar to start off ur guitar skills

[Stoner_Jesus]

Just found a red gio for $75 with an amp at a pawn shop I’m stoked!

[williamrusso]

I bought one a few years ago. The only modification I did was dropping a DiMarzio in the neck and a Seymour Duncan in the bridge. Honestly, the stock pickups weren't bad; I just wanted a particular sound. It's become my go-to guitar nowadays. Right out of the box, everything was great. It didn't need much a set up besides a bit of standard intonation tweaking. Everything from the neck relief, fretwork, nut height and action were pretty much perfect. The tuners keep tune well and haven't given me any problems.

My only nitpick is the juxtaposition of the natural finish and the shark tooth inlays. To me, it seems like an odd combination.

[stanme]

i've bought this guitar and it's really awesome.. setting my multi fx pedal to high gain and play metal really well. Yeah just only cons about this guitar you just need string action setup and you good to go..

[kurkkumopo]

I have played with this guitar since I was 14yo (now Im 18) and it has served me very well all these years. Tomorrow I am going to music store and I might buy Ibanez XPTB620-BKF Xiphos Iron Label. If you are beginner I would recommend Ibanez Gio to you!

[Orion_Matrix]

I bought this and it’s a really kick ass guitar

[AnirbanBanerjee]

I've had this guitar (grg121dxlwnf) for a couple of days now, it indeed is a nice looking guitar that is very playable. Thanks very much to
Ásgeir Þrastarson for the review and the positive comments posted here based on which I made the purchase.

Mine came with a okoume body, it is much lighter than mahogany but resonant enough, more bright than deep. Pickups are a nice surprise at this price-point, they are low output but not too muddy and should be good for all kinds of playing including metal and 'djent', with proper input gain. I'll wait longer to swap them out and maybe the plastic nut too. Coil tapping is a nice feature. I was able to get a good playable action out of box without messing with the truss rod, just adjusted from the bridge. What I disliked the most however is the uncentered middle piece of the three piece body on mine, it covers 5th string to volume knob and looks very odd. There were white glue marks all over the fretboard, just poor craftsmanship. Bridge and tuners work satisfactorily, but feel light and cheap. I wish the neck was little thinner at first to 5th fret region, it is fast and nice otherwise. Overall, this is nice axe for beginners and even experienced players with much nicer and expensive guitars won't be disappointed. Leaps and bounds ahead of bottom-end Ibanez gios that used to come out say 5 or 10 years ago. If I was right handed though, I'd look for similar spec Indonesia made or even used Korean or Mexican models at this price range.