Ibanez AC240 Artwood Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar NATURAL OPEN PORE (Used)

Comments about Ibanez AC240 Artwood Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar:

I needed to find an instrument that would be comfortable to delve into the world of thumbpicking - I've played from Cream to Joe Pass and wanted to try a guitar that would have the necessary features (wider nut, 000 body and sound) and after trying a Washburn R314KK Parlor Vintage (stay away! I returned that one!) I discovered this Ibanez....LOVE IT! One of my guitars is an Ibanez Artcore Custom and this Artwood is every bit the quality and workmanship of the Artcore. This instrument has nice abalone treatments and the bone saddle and nut certainly are welcome additions! I had a Fishman Matrix Infinity pickup so I can put it through the system at church.....yeah....I'm happy! This guitar is worth way more than it's price tag....if you're considering buying it, stop and buy it!

Comments about Ibanez AC240 Artwood Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar:

To make best use of my practice time I keep four acoustic guitars in various tunings - a Fender resonator in open G and concert acoustics in open D, open G and standard tuning. After 25 years of practice I "fretted-out" an old inexpensive Fender that I kept in concert tuning. I was looking to replace the Fender with a lower-end Taylor or Martin - both have offerings in the less-than-a-kilobuck area. I have a mid-range Taylor 314CE and really like the feel and tone, especially when finger-picking. After trying numerous mid-range models I tried the AC240. The first thing I look for is the fretboard width - I have large fingers and can't hold certain chords on narrower fretboards because my fingers overlap and unintentionally damp a neighboring string - no problem with the AC240. It's amazing what a fraction of an inch in fretboard width makes in playability for me. The next thing that is important to me is a full range of tone especially when finger-picking. The Martins I played sound fine when using picks but seem to be a little "darker" when finger picking. The AC240 has a brite sound even without picks. The finish of the AC240 is a bit unconventional, but attractive. I call it my "chocolate" guitar - the finish on the one I bought seems to be several shades deeper than many of the pix, but I like it. The hardware features a high quality tuner - uncommon for lower priced guitars - and the stock strings (D'addario EXP 12-53 light) are high quality and seem to fit the guitar well. Also uncommon for lower priced guitars is the bone (NOT plastic) nut and bridge. All in all this guitar has the tone, looks and features of guitars selling for 2-3X the price!

Comments about Ibanez AC240 Artwood Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar:

I think I'll enjoy this unique looking and sounding guitar.
Nice pure acoustic guitar...
Too early to tell but.....strings are rusty and this is always a concern due to questions about shipping humidity levels being high or something that could damage the guitar and shorten life. Also, since it is a natural "open pore" finish some of the trim is a little rough. This would normally be hidden with layers of varnish or polyurethane....but, on this guitar you can feel the seams with your fingers.
Bought it just before the price mived up.

Comments about Ibanez AC240 Artwood Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar:

I would like to see this model with a pickup. I'll probably install a Fishman Matrix Infinity. The sound already slams through an amp with just a soundhole pick up. It would look nice with gold hardware but that's just cosmetics.

Overall this little guitar is big value for it's price tag. Clean construction, great sound, nice features. Maybe add to the price tag and throw in gig bag. The label says made in Indonesia, which i think makes it better quality. You really cannot go wrong with this guitar for the price. But get a good case for it because it's really worth its weight in gold!
Nice abalone rosette, headstock logo, Grover tuners, and bone nut and saddle that you would ordinarily find on a much more expensive guitar .I like the "low maintenance" satin finish and back of the neck. The smaller body is nice, not as bulky and more comfortable than a dreadnought, especially after prolonged practice/playing times. Good size for smaller-built people and kids.
The fit and finish of the Ibanez AC240 is beautiful. The inside of the box is clean and neat, no glue spots or loose braces, kerfing, etc. Very light weight but big sound. Once again, features like the abalone rosette and Grover tuners are a bonus at this price. Nice action right out of the box. Great string spacing for fingerpicking and the neck is not too wide nor narrow. Good strummer too!
Looks and plays like models twice or thrice it's price range!

Comments about Ibanez AC240 Artwood Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar:

Overall, an excellent instrument at an excellent price. If you've lost faith in the Ibanez name, this guitar will surely change your mind. Get one of these and you won't be sorry.
If you're looking for simple elegance, look no further. This guitar is easy on the eyes, a breeze to play, and it sounds great.

Now, about the sound - I've played a lot of electric guitars that were all mahogany and rosewood, and they have a deep, dark, bassy sound to them compared to alder or basswood-bodied electrics. That's the main reason I chose this particular guitar, because it seemed like the lowest-priced all mahogany and rosewood acoustic out there that had decent to good reviews. However, the sound was a bit different than I expected. The bottom end doesn't have that "thump" I expected. Mahogany seems to impart more of a mid-to-lower-midrange punch instead. The bottom end is solid, but not that much different than a standard spruce-topped acoustic guitar. The top end is a lot less twangy and the harmonics seem darker and have less "sparkle" to them. Think of it like comparing the sound of a brass bell (spruce top) to that of an iron bell (mahogany top). If you're looking for a softer, warmer treble, solid and punchy midrange, and tight but not overbearing bass sound, this is it. Changing the bridge pins out for something more lively than plastic will likely make a notable difference, though. But there's nothing wrong with the sound of this guitar out of the box. It's a versatile guitar, but it would really shine in the hands of a blues player. Especially one with a slide doing some Delta-style blues. Or if you prefer to play your death metal on an acoustic.

Other than a little bit of abalone, multi-ply body binding, and a few pieces of chrome hardware, though, it's quite basic. The bridge has a compensated bone nut that seems to keep the guitar intonated quite well. The pickguard, while just a thin sheet of tortoiseshell-print plastic, serves its purpose admirably in protecting the smooth, satin finish of the guitar. The grand concert body shape has a narrower waist than a dreadnaught-style guitar, which makes it considerably more comfortable to hold onto. The neck is a typical Ibanez neck - thin and fast. You won't be mistaking it for an Ibanez electric guitar neck, but this isn't your grandfather's acoustic guitar's neck, either. The fingerboard is a bit wider than a Martin neck, but not as much so as a classical guitar, which means it's equally as easy to strum chords as it is to fingerpick. The bone nut is slotted nicely and the strings don't bind when tuning, nor do they come unseated during hard strumming. The Grover tuners keep it nicely in tune, as has been the case with every guitar I've ever owned with Grover tuners, and I've owned 16 to date with these particular tuners. And the headstock features abalone inlaid Ibanez and Artwood logos, which is a nice touch that, when combined with the body binding and inlaid abalone rosette, give this guitar the appearance of a much more expensive instrument.
There are a number of areas in which the quality of this guitar surprised me, but the first thing that's going to catch your eye is the finish. The top, back, sides, and neck are all made from solid mahogany, which is finished with a satin oil-rubbed finish. It has no paint or clearcoat of any kind and feels like fine-sanded bare wood to the touch. It has no gloss to it whatsoever, but does take on a certain sheen when light hits it. The color is probably best described as a reddish chocolate color indoors and a glowing auburn outdoors It's very beautiful and upon thorough inspection, I couldn't find a single imperfection in the wood, which is incredible for a guitar in this price range. The black/white multi-ply binding around the body was fitted very nicely and although the edges aren't rounded off, I didn't find it uncomfortable at all on the arm when resting it along the edge during playing. The neck, despite my concern about Ibanez and their notorious tradition of having bent and twisted electric guitar necks (something that I myself have been victim to in the past), seems to be nonexistant with their acoustics, as this one was as straight as an arrow. I sighted down the neck and found no indication of any alignment issues. I play-tested every fret on every string and found no high frets, hollow sound, or dead spots at all. This neck is great and that's what makes a great guitar. The strap buttons seem solid, as well. All in all, I find it hard to believe that Ibanez can produce a guitar of this caliber at this price.

As for the initial setup right out of the box, it was spot-on. The guitar was in nearly perfect tune (the high E was about a 1/4 step flat), albeit tuned a half-step down, oddly enough. It's possible that this was to keep the string tension lower for shipping. The action is pretty low for an acoustic and although string bending beyond a half-step seems practically impossible with the factory-strung strings, playing fast scales and runs is pretty effortless. Lighter gauge strings would help with string bending, but you'd also be sacrificing some of this beautiful tone. Life is full of difficult choices. The guitar comes complete with a spare bridge pin, truss rod wrench, and a limited lifetime warranty.
For the price, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better guitar. I've been playing guitar for 22 years and I'm never 100% content with any stock production guitar. I will be replacing the plastic bridge pins with Graph Tech Tusq black bridge pins with paua dots and the tuners and strap buttons with gold Grover tuners (which will really bring out the beauty in the finish - if you wish to do this, make sure to look for Grover Midsize Rotomatic tuners, part number 305G, as full-size Grovers will NOT fit this guitar without having to redrill mounting holes) and gold Schaller strap locks. But for the price, I can't complain. Ibanez did an excellent job with this guitar and I'm plenty happy with it as is. My only real complaint is that I still have yet to find a hardshell case to fit it, but that's probably just because I haven't been looking hard enough. The body shape seems to be similar to a lot of Taylor guitars I've seen and any case that will fit them will likely fit this guitar, as well. But don't quote me on that.

Comments about Ibanez AC240 Artwood Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar:

I love this little guitar - an Ibanez AC240 solid-top mahogany acoustic! A friend pointed it out as one he was thinking about buying and, even though I was not in the market to buy, once I played this I had to have it! The solid mahogany top makes this thing ring! The sustain is unreal. And it's so good to look at. The open-pore finish really shows the beauty of the mahogany - it almost shimmers. I also love the Grand Concert size - it's more practical for me than the dreadnaught as a pick-up-and-play guitar. It feels lightweight, but in no way insubstantial or cheaply-made.

I am also happily surprised at the mid-range tones I am getting from this. My rosewood dread has a really blended sound leaning towards the bottom-end, but I really can hear each string on this as a separate entity, but beautiful as a whole. It is a nice finge-picker for sure, which is perfect for me as I am just beginning to learn this style - it's a lucky break for me that I found this Artwood at this point!

You get a lot of value and performance for the money with this guitar. Mahogany guitars sometimes get overlooked by newbies who aren't familiar with the qualities of different tonewoods, but I am so glad I snagged this one as my go-to.
Very nice features at this price point - Grover Tuners, bone saddle and nut, solid mahogany top. The natural finish allows the wood to take on a tiger's eye sheen - gorgeous.
So far, so good. My only complaint is that the binding's edges seem a little sharp and rub the underside of my right arm a little. The neck is straight, and the setup and strings are very playable. Impressed with the D'addario EXPs that shipped on this.
If I was looking for just one guitar to own and play for a long time in this price range, this would be it.

Comments about Ibanez AC240 Artwood Grand Concert Acoustic Guitar:

Very surprized at the quality and sound and ease of playing..Looks as good as my martin and taylor sitting in the den.Im not even going to change strings on this one...set-up ready to enjoy.Nice job Ibanez.