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Ibanez GAX-70
List: $370
We owe it to Ibanez for retaining their brand name on their entry-level instruments. They are indeed one of the numbered manufacturers which take pride in offering the player a budget alternative to their standard models. This line of affordable instruments falls under the ‘Gio’ umbrella identified by the ‘G’ prefix in the model i/d; including this GAX-70.
The GAX is an affordable take on Ibanez’s Artist (AR) model, one of the very few remaining classic offering by the manufacturer. The GAX remains to be the most affordable guitar in the fold, a tier above would see the splendid AX, which, by virtue of its price, is one of best mid-priced Ibanez units in the catalogue. The GAX-70 is a revived unit for 2006, briefly discontinued in the preceding year. It was first introduced in 2001, featuring an agathis body but since 2004, it has been basswood (Note: For US, the GAX-70 is still agathis). This year also saw the GAX-70 inheriting its mid-priced cousins’ bridge model, the Full Tune II assembly.
Construction/ fit/ finish
If you are expecting immaculate fit & finish on this guitar, this appraisal would bring you back down to earth. The GAX-70 is a member of the Gio series, a line of budget models for the starters among us, rightfully; the production standard here reflects the guitar’s nature. The entire fit & finish is about cost cutting; nut slot incisions & headstock finishing could have been better. In fact, the headstock area proximate to the nut displays an allocation for the nut which was more than what the actual nut dimensions would fill hence the presence of different hues there. The rosewood fretboard displays dry areas across its length so the first thing to do when one brings this home, is to give it a fresh conditioner/ lemon oil coating. Fortunately, there isn’t any demerits for the fitting aspect, same goes to the electronics; everything works as it should but the knobs on offer here aren’t the smoothest. They work perfectly, nevertheless.
Playability/ tone
This is perhaps the GAX-70’s finer points; when one handles this guitar, the above-average playability makes its presence felt namely the neck profile. It has enough meat & curvature to provide the beginner a crucial grip. This isn’t the fabled, paper-thin Wizard neck, mind you. The frets are also prim & proper, no burrs or protrusions felt across the neck register. We also note the chiseled edge body design to offset an absence of an elbow relief at the bridge end but on the flip-side, the ribcage chamfer is present to accentuate a strap-on comfort. Despite a generous double cutaway design, the blocky heel feels rather restrictive to both the newbie & seasoned players alike but that symmetrical horn design puts this guitar one-up against a typical singlecut in terms of upper fret access.
Moving on to tone, the GAX-70, despite its in-house STD pickups, together with the basswood body, is one of the better voiced Gios in the market. There isn’t a warm, PAF-like voicing from the neck unit but there is sufficient honk to make it a useful player. Same goes for the bridge counterpart; it was rightfully conceived to handle more gain. All 3 pickup position voicings offer a crucial difference for you to mess with, so you get your money’s worth here.
Conclusion
The finishing issues aside, the GAX-70 has sufficient redemption in its tone & playability aspects to make a good starter unit. This reviewer has enough pleasant personal encounters (he used to own one...) with the GAX-70 to deem it as a preferred starter unit, together with its other Gio sibling, the wonderful GSZ-120. When you consider a guitar in this price bracket, do reflect the cosmetic shortcomings as non-crucial factors. If you prefer visual attraction instead, be prepared to fork out more money & look elsewhere, certainly not from the Gio range of instruments.
Rating: 7.5/ 10
Likes:
• Price
• Overall tone/ playability
• Functional tuners
Dislikes;
• Rather stiff knobs
• Some finishing issues (headstock/ nut)
Worthy competitors:
• LTD Viper 50
• Epiphone G-310
• Hamer SFX2
