Review

Maybe it’s a bad omen that you can’t buy the GRX70DX as a standalone guitar. But before you conclude this ‘pack-only’ axe must be rougher than week-old driftwood, consider Ibanez’s reputation for pound-stretching, its underrated way with an amp, and its promise this pack will get us “out of the audience and on the stage.”

With an Ibanez headstock logo and razorblade inlays, the GRX70DX is the looker of the bunch. Peripheral features like tuners and control dials are flimsy, but the foundations feel more substantial and less obviously aimed at beginners, offering a chunky maple body and a poplar neck with palm-filling dimensions.

You’ll never play Wembley with 10-watts, but the GTA10 has decent sonic character, with the chronic lack of features not standing in the way of a ringing clean tone and a woolly 70s crunch. Strangely, for Ibanez, the amp doesn’t really ‘do’ a cut-glass shred tone, but the guitar’s speedy feel still implies this is the one for would-be Satrianis.

Next:Ibanez GRX70DX Jumpstart verdict