Well I posted a little while back in the non-Ibanez forum asking about
Classical guitars with slimmer necks. I love the sound of a classical guitar, but the neck on my old Yamaha was killing my hands. I've got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and some messed up tendons in my arms from work, and thick necks are just too hard on my hands now.
I went looking at the local store last week to see what Classical guitars they had at a reasonably cheap price that may have a nice thin-ish neck. I wasn't looking particularly for an Ibanez, but I couldn't believe it when after I played it I looked at the headstock and there was an Ibanez logo!
http://www.ibanez.com/AcousticGuitars/model-GA5TCE
The neck is awesome - like the Wizard of
Acoustic guitars. 46mm at the nut, slim neck with a flat profile at the back. Neck joins to the body at the 14th fret, 25.5" scale, low action, and a cutaway. It sure is a very unconventional for a classical guitar. Only thing that would make the neck perfect would be a slight radius like the Wizard. Also has a truss rod, I guess to ensure that the slim neck stays straight.
Slim body is actually quite loud, and the electronics seem to be reasonable too. Very nice looking guitar.
Unfortunately look a bit closer and you can see the made in China signs. Rough edges on the body binding in places, a little excess glue here and there. You can't expect perfection at the price point the guitar sits in though. Strings weren't put on very well either (the high e shot off when I was playing).
But at the end of the day the guitar plays brilliantly. It makes up for the blemishes. If you are looking for a nice classical guitar (or even for a kid still quite small) this is a great buy.
I'll hopefully have some pics up over the weekend.
