Topic: Ibanez gax

[Don R]

I saw a used red one hanging in my local shop for 99 dollars, looks like new. Would it be a good starter electric? I was told it has 4 pickups like a les paul and no whammy or anything hard to keep in tune.

[GammaFlat]

Do you know how to check the "action"?  It is basically how much you have to press a string down to engage "to a fret".  Too close and your guitar will buzz.  Too far and you have to pull down the strings a lot which is bad too.  Do some scales or arpeggios on a few places (1st fret, 6th fret, 12th fret) on the guitar to check for "action". 


Do some bar chords ("E form" and "A form") up and down the neck. 

See if the "E" note on the 12th fret is the same "note" as the "E" "open".  This is easy to check with a guitar tuner.  Not a super biggie if they don't match.. could require bridge adjustments to make that right. 

Look straight down the neck to see if the frets line up nicely. 

How does it feel to you? 
 
Ah, heck, for a hundred bucks... just buy it.    You are probably more likely to get a better value from a private party but you'll also be taking more risk (no music shop to go back and complain to). 

Most important of all, have fun

[Retro Rocket]

Les Pauls have 2 pickups......4 coils but 2 pickups. 

Mick

[Don R]

I know it's no les Paul but I bought it. I figure it will always be worth at least 99 dollars, there were some new ones on E-bay for around 350. I never played an electric before, I'm surprised how easy it is to bend a note etc. My teacher said playing my accoustic is like lifting weights for your fingers, now I see what he means. I'm not so crazy about cheap chinese anything but after retiring early and keeping the racecar going I won't be geting a really nice guitar for a while. Thanks for the input.
Gamma, it checks out OK.

[GammaFlat]

I never played an electric before, I'm surprised how easy it is to bend a note etc. My teacher said playing my accoustic is like lifting weights for your fingers, now I see what he means.

I remember the first time I played an electric guitar.  The first words out of my mouth were, "this thing plays itself".