Thought I'd Give One Of These A Go ...

[SpruceTop]

... and for its low cost, why not when I can return it at my local Guitar Center if dissatisfied with it? It sure looks like an interesting guitar and with its dual-source, magnetic/K&K-like acoustic-electric system, it may be a low-cost, fine-sounding live-performance alternative to bringing your higher-cost ax to gigs. Does anyone have experience with this guitar? More to come ...

Ibanez AAD300CE Grand Dreadnought with Advanced Access Cutaway body https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/...0ce_1x_03.html

[Methos1979]

Interesting. Love the very minimal onboard controls. Looking forward to your review if you get one.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Interesting. Love the very minimal onboard controls. Looking forward to your review if you get one.

Thanks, Methos, it's ordered, and look for my review.

[Goat Mick]

I have never tried one of these but I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of Ibanez acoustics in the past few years. I gigged an AVC6DTS with a JJB pickup for several years and always got compliments on the sound.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Goat Mick

I have never tried one of these but I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of Ibanez acoustics in the past few years. I gigged an AVC6DTS with a JJB pickup for several years and always got compliments on the sound.

Thanks, Mick, ya really got me hankering for this ax! Hopefully, it'll be here by Friday ...

[Marty C]

Looks interesting. I can’t wait to hear more about it.

[Rudy4]

Interesting that the 3 bridge plate transducers are located on the the far side and not under the saddle. K&K (and others) make a point that the transducers must be mounted directly under the saddle center line.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Interesting that the 3 bridge plate transducers are located on the the far side and not under the saddle. K&K (and others) make a point that the transducers must be mounted directly under the saddle center line.

I think the photo is for illustrative purposes to highlight the transducer set. Why do I say this? I don't see any bridge-pin holes. It's kind of an odd way to display things though. I'll post where the transducers are actually located in relation to the saddle line when I receive the guitar. More to come ...

[darkwave]

I also noticed the lack of pin holes, which is odd... The other thing is that the sensors appear to be in series - aren't they in parallel on the K&K? I don't know what that does to the response, but I believe it would significantly alter the input impedance, which seems to be an issue that confuses people with the K&K.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

I think the photo is for illustrative purposes to highlight the transducer set. Why do I say this? I don't see any bridge-pin holes. It's kind of an odd way to display things though. I'll post where the transducers are actually located in relation to the saddle line when I receive the guitar. More to come ...

Please do post when you get your instrument.

I thought they may be showing a version having a pinless bridge in the photo.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by darkwave

...The other thing is that the sensors appear to be in series...

It's possible that they are connected (electrically) in parallel but in such a way as to have only one wire going back to the preamp or jack, which makes sense.

[fpuhan]

If I were interested in a Grand Dreadnought, I'd certainly give this one a second glance. I am impressed with Ibanez's attention to detail and quality control.

I have an AG95QA archtop, and it's well made, has quality parts, and plays like the proverbial "butter" everyone talks about. I have a couple of Gibsons (ES-225, ES-335) and I'll stack this one up against either -- at a fraction of the price.

[JackB1]

Interested in how this sounds, but the huge body and 11/16" nut width make this a hard pass for me. Also it's not cheap at $800 and for that money I think there are better choices. Epiphone has the Masterbuilt DR500 for a little less than this and that also has a combo magnetic pickup/undersaddle pickup in all solid woods. If you just want a cheaper gig guitar you don't have to worry about I would just get a Mexi Martin and put a Anthem in it. Or.....for about the same price you can get a Yamaha A3M with a wonderful pickup system that this Ibanez probably can't touch.

[SpruceTop]

ore.

Originally Posted by JackB1

Epiphone has the Masterbuilt DR500 for a little less than this and that also has a combo magnetic pickup/undersaddle pickup in all solid woods. Or.....for about the same price you can get a Yamaha A3M with a wonderful pickup system that this Ibanez probably can't touch.

I had the Epiphone DR-500MCE (I don't think it's being made anymore) and a Yamaha LL-TA TransAcoustic and they were both decent guitars.

From three years ago:

Here's the latest in my series of pickup/preamp to mic comparisons. This time, I'm featuring the Shadow eSonic2 Dual-Source NanoFlex UST/NanoMag System. These recordings are direct-to-computer with an equal onboard-guitar mix of NanoFlex UST and NanoMag end-of-fingerboard signals, and all EQ Flat, and No Effects or other enhancements other than Volume Normalization to bring the eSonic2 and mic signals into a closer balance for your listening comparison. For live performance, a more natural-sounding amplified tone can be achieved by manipulating the onboard mix of NanoFlex UST and NanoMag pickup signals, along with adjusting the excellent onboard EQ parameters of each pickup. IMHO, this Epiphone DR-500 ME VS/Shadow eSonic2 combination at about $800 USD with hardshell case isn't too bad a live-performance main-guitar or backup-guitar option! Thanks For Listening And Your Comments Are Welcome!





After receiving it Wednesday, I played my new Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500MCE VS for the first time on Friday night and I'm pleased with both its acoustic and plugged-in tone. For $828, including a nice Epiphone EDREAD hardshell case, this guitar IMHO is a real bargain and a professional-level instrument that would be a good backup ax in case a player's main guitar should malfunction.

With its solid spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides, this isn't a Martin D-18 but it has a nice tone although without the broad dynamic range the Martin D-18 has. The Epiphone's acoustic tone is a bit compressed sounding compared to the Martin D-18. With its Shadow ESonic2 Dual Source Pickup/Preamp System, comprised of a NanoFlex UST and end-of-fingerboard NanoMag pickups, the system amplifies with a fullness and variable tonal possibilities. There are also two output options via Mono-combined and Stereo output jacks. This is going to be a fun and, given its reasonable price, an almost worry-free guitar to play under a variety of playing conditions. Thanks for looking!

Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500MCE Acoustic-electric guitar Features:
*Masterbilt all solid wood cutaway dreadnought
*Solid Sitka spruce top; solid mahogany back and sides
*One-piece mahogany neck, SlimTaper "D" profile
*Neck joint glued-in, dove-tail with hide glue
*25.5" scale; adjustable truss rod
*14" radius rosewood fingerboard with 20 medium frets and pearloid Split-Diamond Inlays
*Shadow NanoMag neck pickup; Shadow NanoFlex bridge pickup
eSonic-2 Stereo Preamp
*Binding: Body: 6-ply, Neck:1-ply, Headstock: 3-ply
*Rosewood bridge; bone saddle
*1.68" wide bone nut
*Nickel hardware
*Grover Sta-Tite 18:1 machine heads
*Epiphone's Limited Lifetime Warranty
*24/7/365 Gibson customer service
*Shadow's 5-year warranty on the electronics




-----

Yamaha LL-TA TransAcoustic:

Last night, I played my just-received 2019 Yamaha LL-TA TransAcoustic both acoustically and plugged-in. This is an impeccably-crafted, Made In China, $999 instrument with solid torrified Englemann Spruce top and solid Rosewood back and sides, and it comes with a nice, hard gig-bag. The guitar sounds full and resonant and plays easily with its out-of-the-box setup and rolled-edges fingerboard.

The guitar has an onboard SYSTEM70 TransAcoustic + SRT Piezo Pickup System the output of which can either feed an onboard speaker-like, actuator system that bounces sound off the back of the guitar and into the guitar's inside or it can feed an outboard amp or PA system. The preamp features both Reverb and Chorus effects that can be turned on or completely off and can be delivered to the onboard actuator sound system or to an external amp or PA. When the guitar is plugged-in to an amp or PA, the onboard effects are disabled to the onboard actuator system and are available only to outboard amps, PA or other devices. The effects provide good-sounding reverb and chorus effects when played acoustically that adds a pleasant tonal dimension to unamplified playing. The effects can be dialed-in from subtle to over-the-top and overall are a real plus to have available for playing enjoyment.

Regarding the moderately-high output, onboard SYSTEM70 TransAcoustic + SRT Piezo Pickup System, the SRT under-saddle pickup yields perfectly balanced string signals with no "hot" strings and very little "quack." This SRT pickup picks up mainly string vibration with some top vibration but little or no body vibration added to the mix (is this what a Barbera UST sounds like?). Although I haven't tried it yet, the system should work very well with a ToneDexter or Fishman Aura Pedal. The plastic control designation surrounding the preamp controls is for learning the controls and is easily removable.

In summary, frankly, as received, right out of the box, I can't say anything bad about this guitar, and I feel it represents a very good, professional-grade value in an acoustic-electric guitar and would be a really good main-performance or back-up guitar! Your comments are Welcome & Thanks For Reading!

[SpruceTop]

The Ibanez AAD300CE came in yesterday and I'll have some demos up this weekend. Thanks For Looking In!