Ibanez TCM50-VBS

I just love this guitar. It was the unusual shape that attracted me to this guitar and the fact that it has a regular looking magnetic pickup on the body which gives it a kind of electric guitar look to it. I bought it online without ever having played one and I have to say when it arrived in the post I was not disappointed. It looks great and it sounds great. It feels smaller than a normal acoustic guitar even though it is a full size guitar. The action feels like an electric guitar and I suppose the idea of the design for this guitar was to make it look like an electric (I think it looks a bit like an EVH style guitar body). I love the acoustic sound of this, it sounds bluesy and has a woody tone. It doesn't have the full bodied tone or volume of a regular style acoustic like a jumbo or an auditorium simply due to the slimmer body, but that's what I like about it - it's different. It's almost like an acoustic version of an electric guitar. Great guitar, good sound, lovely shape, good pickup sound, great value for money. By the way, I know a guy who bought a Martin Acoustic guitar for €3,000 and I can get a better sound out of this low priced Ibanez (maybe I'm just a better player?).

I was looking for an electric/acoustic guitar for practising at home, composing and perhaps the occasional acoustic jam. I watched a few videos and read as many reviews I could about the TCM50 until I decided to purchase the guitar. Its the first time I purchased an instrument without checking it out (no music store in Brisbane had one at the time). Delivery was very quick and once I opened the parcel and played a few chords, I was sure I'd keep her. The acoustic sound is surprisingly good, not like a dreadnought (I had a Gibson J45 before), but good enough for what I need. The build quality is flawless. The electric sound is great, big and full. I'm playing through a Yamaha THR5a and couldn't be happier. Great buy. Highly recommended.

My experience of acoustic guitars in the past has been of high actions, wide necks and bulky bodies. I mostly play electric but was looking to get a more acoustic sound for a project. The Talman is perfect. The neck, frets and strings will feel familiar if you come from electric guitars. The body is also much shallower, making it much more comfortable to play, particularly sitting down.

The sacrifice is clearly on volume and perhaps it lacks real depth of tone, but for my needs the sound is perfectly sufficient.

I haven't used the pick ups and pre-amp much, but it has sounded good on the few occasions I've plugged it in to my amp.

Build quality is excellent and represents good value for money in my view.

Good quality guitar, very comfortable for playing because of small body and attractive shape which was main reason for me to buy this guitar. Action is low, great for soloing. Not as loud as regular acoustic guitar when playing without amp but enough volume for practice at home.

I play it in an acoustic band plugged directly into mixer without effects and it does have a little iron sound but when plugged into my acoustic amp Ibanez TA35 sound is much better.

Magnetic pickup allows playing without annoying feedback that was always happening when playing my previous acousticguitar with piezzo pickup.