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Ibanez AXS32 Electric Guitar

 

Review of the Ibanez AXS32 by The Man in the Jar

A very nice looking budget guitar.

Features of the Ibanez AXS32 

Tuners - Unbranded sealed mini-tuners worked well and stayed put.

Headstock - A simple and elegant three-a-side headstock has a nice touch of Art Deco detailing on the top.

Nut - Standard black plastic nut abuts the fretboard, everything clean and tidy here.

Neck - The three-piece mahogany neck has a parallel profile and oh-so-slightly chunky feel that one expects from Gibson 335. The neck has the same silver finish as the body and this makes for a smooth playing experience. The neck is set and the heel is well-rounded and causes no obstruction when playing the high register. 

Fretboard - The dark rosewood fretboard has a good tight grain. There are no fretmarkers save for a pair of dot inlays at the 12th fret, and these are squished together at the top of the fretboard. Unusually for a guitar in this price bracket the fretboard and headstock are bound with pearloid. 

Frets - The medium-fat frets make for comfortable and accurate bending. Accessibility up to the 22nd fret is good.

Action - Very good from the box, nice and low with no dead spots.

Body - The mahogany body is the Ibanez take on the classic SG shape and like its inspiration it is eminently comfortable to wear and play. It's quite thin with edge moulding from and back with additional comfort contouring on the back. This shape looks so cool, there's nothing here to dislike.

Bridge - Standard tune-o-matic bridge with individual saddles offering string by string intonation adjustment. String height is adjusted by means of a screw at each end of the bridge assembly. Instead of the usual stoptail the strings dive through the body to be stopped in ferrules at the back.

Pickups - Two open-coil black humbuckers sit in chrome surrounds. 

Controls - There's a volume and tone control for each pickup. For added grip a ring of diamantes is inset around each knob (I was never confused!).

Scratchplate - The big industrial-looking brushed chrome scratchplate balances the body design perfectly. 

Strap-buttons - Two large strap buttons live in the usual places.

Output Jack - On the bottom edge in a chrome oval plate.

Finish - Clean and well-finished throughout.

Accessories - None.

 

Sound of the Ibanez AXS32

The stock pickups do a good job for such a budget instrument. The bridge humbucker has a classic ringing brightness that can be made to wail in overdrive. I found the neck pickup to be a little "dark" for use on its own, but when switched in tandem with the bridge pickup it filled out and broadened the sound nicely.

 

Overall Impressions of the Ibanez AXS32

The looks, style and playability of this guitar are hard to beat at this price. So if you're buying for a beginner or an intermediate player, this guitar would be a great choice. The playability and style of the guitar would suit a new player with hard rock and heavy metal aspirations. In time such a player could spend a little cash to upgrade the pickups and find themselves with an all-round excellent little rock axe.

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