A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Got this ibanez acoustic electric AW54CE-OPN guitar today from adorama on ebay. Was listed as parts only, said Huge malfunctions, Strings Touch Fretboard when Pressed Down Past 5th Fret; Cosmetic Condition is E.
they were asking 59 shipped obo and they accepted my 49.00 offer buy it now free shipping.

It got here today with super sharp fret edges worse than ive ever seen, had a huge relief and frets after 14th fretted out dead notes bad. I think well its a new wall decoration lol . It looks like a new return im sure due to the fretting out and razor blade frets. It had a hump like acoustics sometimes have at neck joint so I ended up just leveling and recrowning the fretboard 12 and on. I string it up and still 2 buzz spots what?!? then I realize at 12th fret its about 1.2mm string height low action for an acoustic and stupid low after 14th .

Luckly ibanez included a tiny little plastic sliver to raise the action on the bridge. I installed that tiny sliver and like voodoo magic not a dead fret or buzz anywhere and action still at 1.5mm at 12th lol. After smoothing all fret edges in less than 2 min a family secret its a dam nice guitar.

This has a beefy yet bright sound, im sure the factory brass strings are making it brighter. Im pretty tickled i got this so called huge malfunction parts only terd back to 100% playability today and its super nice, looks perfect new not a scratch dent ding etc new as used can get. seeing it sells for 325+ anywhere i think its another ebay robbery in the books i dont understand why these big companys dont have a guitar tech! I dont know jack compared to a real luthier and i fixed it.

Love it when that happens. Nice looking guitar, congratulations. I had a similar "parts only" brand new G&L that turned out to just need a fret level and crown to be 100%. I think luthiers work for themselves, not stores, and stores hire people to pretend they're great techs, but I've never found a great tech at a big store yet.

Ended up being a lucky deal for sure! If I had bought that guitar new for 329 id be pissed with the fret ends alone they were horrible like i would expect on a glarry or 49.00 new ebay strat. This isnt a B staock so ibanez should be ashamed it was even sold, maybe its an old stock and been sitting in hot warehouse for year who knows it was a terd for sure.

Yes ill agree there aren't many good guitar techs, plumbers, electricians, painters, wood workers etc anywhere to be found easily. I think I could beat most guitar center techs lol. I've been mr diy most of my life so I feel I figure stuff out easier than most. Its a real stupid world out there anymore imo people just don't know how to fix things anymore or just to lazy to figure it out on there own. Ill buy a new one is the life motto now lol