Ibanez GIO GRG121SP Electric Guitar - Blue Metal Chameleon Reviews

This guitar is perfect for a beginner or someone looking for a mod project.The rosted maple neck alone is worth the money!

This was the best choice from all the research I did. Other than the guitar being packed in box upside down to writing and caution before opening sticker. It came without damage and looks beautiful. I'm happy to give this to my brother for Christmas.

With a stunning, head-turning finish with matching headstock, roasted maple neck and smooth-as-silk playability, the 121SP BMC is the best bang for the buck! Ibanez has outdone themselves. The Classic Elite HB's are dynamic in range from the soft tones to the heavy chugs, this beauty does it all! (And looks amazing doing it!)

Got one of these today and I must say, for the price they are charging, these PUNCH way ABOVE the pricepoint! Frets weren't sharp, pickups sounded decent, neck felt great, paint was flawless. Did need a fret polish and small setup though. I bought this for a friend as a beginner guitar and it will suit him well I think!

One of the coolest guitars i've EVER seen. not to mention it's an ibanez, so it's a good price, high build quality, and amazing feel (assuming you like the feel of ibanez guitars).

insane value, feels and plays like a $700 - $1000 guitar just with cheaper hardware, plus it looks sick

I watched Phil McKnight's video about this guitar. $ is ridiculous. I upgraded the nut to a TUSQ Nut. Had Gold D'Addario Auto-Trim 6IL Locking Tuners installed and had the frets polished. Added the Ibanez hard-shell case--plush blue inside.

And it plays great. Love the two full octaves of frets and the finish is just gorgeous--has to be seen to appreciate the way the color changes with the viewing angle, it looks bright blue straight on and deep purple at an angle. Never seen anything this cool at any price.

The Sweetwater photos look kind of turquoise. I've only seen that under certain lighting conditions. It's more a royal blue most of the time but it varies depending on the viewing angle and light. I took some pictures in direct sunlight which did capture the variety of colors a bit but exaggerated the metallic sparkle. In direct sunlight it's stunningly beautiful and you see more of the sparkle that does not show up in the Sweetwater photos. It's the most beautiful guitar finish I've ever seen.

I'm very satisfied playability etc.too (perfect setup), except I get some feedback when using a Behringer tweed tube amp emulator that I do not get on either of my PRS guitars.

It's amazing that you can get a guitar like this at this price.

I bought this guitar a few months ago, didn't want to spend a lot. The finish is beautiful, and I can't find a problem with any part of this instrument. Needed a light neck for my aging fingers and this cuts it without costing an arm and a leg. Ibanez has made it good at this level and I can only imagine that it gets better as the money goes up. If you are hesitating, don't! You will be happy you did this!

I own this guitar and love it Got the Model GLElec
Gator Lightweight Case - Double-cutaway Electric Guitar For it and fits great bought at sweetwater

This is an excellent guitar . had to get A set up for intonation and got new strings which now it is very excellent MC300 case had an issue w hinge damage from transport but Sweetwater has great Excellent service.

Don't let the price fool you on some of these GIO's.
Ibanez does a great job with everything in my opinion on this guitar.
I would not miss out on this one if you want a quality guitar at a low price.
Man this thing, is a fast rock to metal from all era's
Just enjoy

I bought this guitar as a backup guitar. I travel often and wanted an inexpensive guitar for the road. Guitar plays well, stays in tune and delivers a powerful sound

Got mine today and I honestly bought it on a bit of a whim with a crazy pickup upgrade in mind. Astoundingly good value for the price! This is going to be the guitar I suggest to anyone starting out. As much as I love Squiers and Epiphones, this thing is just better. Furthermore, I couldn't have had an better buying experience! Aric my sales guy is fantastic as always!

Pros
1. Easily the best factory fretwork I've experienced outside Fender Am Pro II's (and more expensive) stuff. Zero sprout, rounded nicely, smooth to play. Not a dead fret spot on the guitar as far as I can tell. Nicely polished frets.
2. Intonated as perfectly as you could want out of the box.
3. Light at just under 6.5lbs. Crazy resonate. I've found as a broad generalization, the more resonate the guitar the better it plays. It isn't science, but it's been a useful rule of thumb for me. This one passes that test with flying colors... speaking of which...
4. The color is way cooler than the pictures do justice! That's going to be a pro or a con depending on how you feel about it, but the blue is nice and rich and the purple is just gorgeous!

Cons - not so much "cons" as "not as pro as I'd like"
1. Pickups are kinda 'meh'. They're fine enough and **** impressive for a guitar this affordable. I'd just like something with a bit more clarity, especially at the higher end. The bridge PU and the neck PU are pretty ok in their respective positions, but everything in between are so-so. The coil splitting of 2 and 4 just don't do anything for me and the bridge + neck of the 3 is somehow muddier than either the 1 or 5 position independently. If I were going to leave these in there, I'd probably just bounce between the 1 and 5 position. But what can you expect at this price point? I'd MUCH rather have the fabulous neck and body and go cheap on the electrics. This is 100% why I took off half a star.
2. Documentation is lackluster, nor did I find any trussrod adjustment tools. That's not a big deal for me because I do my own work so I have lots of tools already. Just be aware if you get this and need to adjust the neck, you might have to go find your own tools to make it happen.
3. If I'm being super picky.... the action is a bit higher than I'd like. It's not bad at all, just on the upper end of my normal range. I'll adjust the saddles down more to my liking but that requires a separate Allen/hex key (again, which you'll need to go find if you don't have one). That's a totally normal 'con' for most any guitar from the factory, so I don't think this is really much of a 'con', just something to be aware.

Do yourself a favor and pick this one up before it goes up in price! It's a great guitar and I'd buy one again. I bought it specifically with the idea of doing a weird pickup thing anyway, so as a platform, it couldn't be better if I spent three times as much.

The build quality is really strong for the money. Neck is smooth, and the fretboard wider than expected but still works for fast stuff. Pickups are a little quiet but probably fixable. The metallic blue turns purple and red in different lighting angles which is really cool.