Ibanez Gio GRG7221QA 7-String - Transparent Black Sunburst

This review is for Ibanez GRG 7 String Solid-Body Electric Guitar Metallic Light Blue (GRG7221MMLB)Background: This is the 13th guitar in my collection. I bought it to see for myself what quality can be expected at this price and to compare against my Schecter Apocalypse 7-string ($1500, right in first photo), and my Ibanez 6-string electric (a 30yr old 540SLTD, left in first photo)--both before and after an upgrade of the pickups. I had $200 in Amazon gift cards to help buy the guitar and another $200 in purchase points to pay for the new pickups. Total cost including tax: $90.00.Why this model: I chose this particular guitar for my experiment due to the metallic blue and the fact that it is an Ibanez. If you purchase a 'less expensive' guitar like this, choose a brand like Ibanez, Fender, or other reputable brand since they set excellent standards for the materials and build quality for the price regardless of where the instrument is manufactured.Quality: In terms of materials and build, this guitar was no disappointment. I carefully examined the whole instrument and found no blemishes. The frets were finished with no rough edges and the guitar had a solid feel. I sighted down the neck (from the body end) and it was laser-straight. I played every string in every fret and found perfect tone with no buzzing. The switch and knobs feel firm and emit no static when using them with the amp connected. The 'gotoh' tuners insure that the guitar will hold its tune when the strings are installed properly.Playability: The string action is as low as it gets and this is a truly easy-to-play 7-string requiring minimal finger pressure. Even with 7 strings, the neck is narrow enough for my medium size hands. In these respects it stands head-to-head with all my other guitars. The more I have used it the more I enjoy it.Sound quailty. With the original pickups, it sounded fine unless I compared it with the other two guitars. Then it was evident that it sounded thinner than the others. I realized I needed to set it up first. So I adjusted the bridge to 'intonate' the guitar (look up 'guitar intonation' on youtube). I also realized that the pickups had not been set close enough to the strings from the factory (see DiMarzio.com "How high should I adjust my pickups for the best sound?"). Once I made the proper height adjustment it sounded somewhat better.The experiment: I doubt the various claims made by guitar manufacturers that the woods used in an electric guitar make much difference in the guitar's tone. (I could be wrong, but...), so after evaluating the original sound, I upgraded the pickups to: A DiMarzio DiMarzio DP707 LiquiFire 7-String for the Neck and a DiMarzio DP708 Crunch Lab 7-String for the bridge. (No special reasons for getting these, but I wanted DiMarzios since I already have Seymour Duncans on my American Fender Strat.) I dialed in the height adjustment and wow! What a difference! At this point the question of which guitar sounds better is a matter of 'taste' rather than a matter of 'fact'. The guitar is certainly comparable to the others in tone quality at this point. I would say that is is definitely better for 'metal' than the other Ibanez. The latter is a more 'lyrical' guitar.Moral of the story: So my message is that a guitar like this can grow with you! The purchase price of the guitar and the pickups is $450, a very low price for a great sounding guitar, and you don't have to make the upgrade immediately since the original pickups sound fine out of the box. Just adjust the pickup heights (details on youtube) and learn how to adjust the intonation. This is easy if you have a descent guitar tuner. These are one-time jobs you can optionally pay a professional to do.BTW: I could have used other nice pickup sets such as Seymour Duncan so if you do your research (compare sounds in a music store) you can dial this guitar to your tastes.Saving money:Bundles vs cords and picks: I hate guitar and amplifier 'bundle' packages. They add $30 or so to the base price for some picks and a guitar cord. Its easy to get these yourself for less on Amazon, and end up with better quality (see, "Sovvid Professional Instrument Cable", for example). Amazon sells packs of Fender and Dunlop picks for ~$5 or less.Cases: You can get an Ibanez case on Amazon if you want but you can get an excellent Gator case on Amazon for a lot less. For example the Gator GC-ELECTRIC-A fits my Schecter and the second photo shows that it fits this guitar as well. The case very nice and is more than $70 cheaper than an official Ibanez case.Metronome and Guitar tuner: A must have. Clip on tuners are nice. Snark and Fender, among others have inexpensive (~$15-$20) QUALITY tuners. Get one with a 4.5+ rating so your tuned guitar will sound like one. Some of the amps mentioned below have tuners. FYI: Some tuners include a metronome. Isn't it FUN to shop Amazon?!Examples of amplifiers: Fender offers a lot of choices, just pick your price-point. More $$ equals more/better features. Note that even a 20 watt amp can get LOUD. Examples of budget-friendly, bang-for-buck Fender amps:1) Fender Frontman 10G Guitar Amplifier, 10 watts, 8.5lbs, minimal but adequate for beginners/kids2) Fender Frontman 20 or 20G Amp. Similar weight, 20 watts. The '20' has a few 'effects', the 20G just has gain for a more 'pure' or 'classic' sound. The '20' and the amps below can eliminate the need to purchase separate effects pedals at least for the beginner. The Champion 40 and 50XL are similar with more power and larger speaker.3) Fender Mustang LT25 and LT50 have a small screen allowing dialing for selecting and editing effects. They feature ALOT of effects and so a BIG bang for the buck.4) Fender GX and GTX series: You can find the GTX50 etc. on Amazon. These have advanced connectivity like bluetooth, WiFi, and an app for amp interaction. Presets (200 of them) can be arranged into convenient 'preset-lists' you can call up when gigging. My Fender Rumble Studio 40 Bass Amplifier has similar features and I still have yet to explore them all.Either the LT or GTX amps could be the only amp you ever need.Look at features, size, weight, and cost of any amp when comparing. Features cost money, but can offset the need to buy them separately later. Good luck with your Amazon musical purchases!

Honestly a solid guitar for the price point. I’ve been playing Ibanez for quite a while now - mostly the Indonesian made models with a few older Korean made. So buying this knowing it was their “cheaper” Chinese line, I was a little unsure what to expect…especially sight unseen. Out of the box, the fretboard looked a little on the dry side and the frets themselves have a few kinda sharp edges. But that can be addressed with a file and some oil when it comes time to change out the strings. The pickups aren’t terrible once you find the right settings to match whatever tone you’re looking for (i like to chug). They aren’t too muddy. Although it could definitely benefit with a set of Fishmans. The finish on the body is great. The tuners are pretty standard. For a sub $300 7 string - buy it.

So, I'm still a beginner myself. A little over a year of guitar practice with some lessons and a lot of self-teaching. Firstly, I just want to say this guitar ROCKS! The additional low B string (if tuned to standard) grants additional scales, but the coolest element IMO probably being the heavy chords you can get out of it. It also has a nice kind of "bassy-ness" to it, so if you get a really clean tone with it you can get really creative with the 7th string (such as palm muting for cool effect). I use this with a Fender Mustang LT-25 and it's really fun to play/practice with. I mainly use it to play KoRn songs.Outside of the benefits, though, if you are just starting out on guitar, I would probably at least get done with the basics (common chord shapes, scales, some songs, how to read tabs decently, rythm and timing, and basic techniques) down on a 6 string first. The only reason I say this is because 90% of the material out there for guitar is designed for 6 strings (chord charts, scales, etc). However, I have a couple of personal tips to help with adjusting:1. While there isn't technically a "proper" way to wear a guitar strap, I'd recommend you try to adjust it so the guitar is at roughly the same area when sitting down with it on your lap. Because the neck is wider, you will have to get used to having a bit more extension of your wrist to make the chord shapes. I find this is more ergonomic when the guitar is closer to my rib cage when standing rather than lower to the floor. But I encourage you to use whatever is most comfortable.2. If you have a scale downloaded to your PC, you can easily convert many 6 string scales to 7 string. If you're decent with MS paint/image editing software, all you need to do is take a 6 string scale diagram and copy-paste the high B string under the low E string to get the notes for the low B string, as the low and high B string share the same notes.3. I'd recommend having this restrung/setup out of the box. Make sure the action is low and consider getting thicker or thinner strings (thicker is better if you're going to tune down, but thinner might be easier on your finger tips). Although this guitar for me (and many others) came out pretty well out of the box.4. Finally, if you're going to commit to using this guitar, I would get in the habit early on of working on your strumming/picking accuracy, as you will want to try and avoid hitting the low B string when playing your normal 6-string chords (unless you're doing it on purpose, such as for a chord inversion).Other than that, this is a solid guitar for a da*n good price!

Very nice 7-string guitar for the money. It plays and sounds really good. The neck is a little thicker than more expensive Ibanez versions, but it is a great guitar. The frets are not sharp or anything like other cheaper guitars in the similar price range. I bought for my son as a beginner 7-string and am very pleased. If you are a seasoned guitar player you may want the RG instead, but definitely worth the price.