Guitar Technology, Gears, Artists News and product reviews

Here’s an opportunity for those of you who are on a budget. Guitar Player magazine recently made some reviews for musicians who had to dig deep into their pockets. They have identified a few guitars with the budget of under $300 that still sounds good but still gives you a couple of extras to buy a pick or something. Pictured here is one of the guitars they reviewed. This is the Ibanez AEL10E. Although it’s small on price, it’s huge in tonality and even Barry Cleveland the dude who reviewed this guitar thinks that the sound is big and rich, while retaining a pleasing balance between the individual strings and frequencies.

Here’s an excerpt from the review on this Ibanez model:

Powered by a pair of AA batteries, the electronics include a Fishman Sonicore under-saddle pickup coupled with an Ibanez SST Shape Shifter preamp/ EQ/tuner. The preamp has sliders for Bass, Middle, Treble, and Shape (sort of like the Loudness control on some home stereo amplifiers), and a Volume knob. The knob is difficult to turn, which is actually a good thing given the chances of accidentally bumping it with your arm. The fact that the sliders operate in reverse—you slide them to the left to boost a frequency—however, is just plain silly. There’s also a button that engages the onboard tuner, which displays the letter name of the note you are playing, and another button for reversing phase. A huge bonus is the inclusion of an XLR output in addition to the balanced 1/4″ output.

These guitars are all Acoustic-Electrics. For the amplified part, they are tested using Genz-Benz Shenandoah Acoustic Pro, a Schertler Little David, and a Fender Acoustasonic Junior. Here are the ten brands that made it int their list:

Alvarez RD8C

Applause AE 128

Ashland SF 70CE3TS

Dean Performer E Mini-Jumbo Cutaway

Fender Sonoran SCE

Greg Bennett OM 5 CE

Ibanez AEL10E

Jasmine ES33C

Silvertone SD 50CE

Washburn EA16

For the full details, head on to Guitar Player’s 10 Under-$300 Acoustic-Electrics

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