Ibanez AE245-NT

The rich tone paired with the beautiful, yet subtle, vine inlay bode for a competent mid-range acoustic guitar. There was no cosmetic deficiencies upon arrival. The instrument champions di-cast tuners with a beautiful rosewood veneer on the face of the headstock. On the body a translucent (very thin) pick guard pasted on the body.

My initial impression of this instrument was that it sated my expectations. One element that I was apprehensive about prior to the purchase was regarding the action. My apprehension was not misplaced as the action was absurdly high off the fretboard, giving the appearance that the manufacturer did not shave the saddle at all. To be precise, the action at the 12th fret on the high e string was slightly less than a quarter inch above the fretboard. Needless to say, this was rather disappointing as I had to spend the next few hours grinding down the saddle until I could lower the action to the perfect height.

The fretwork done on this guitar is rather nice. I have not experienced fret buzz by virtue of unlevel frets (though some buzz from cutting the saddle too low initially).

Regarding the pre-installed pickup, the sound is about what you would expect. Tinny and sensitive, yet rich and balanced. Overall a decent pickup for a guitar of this price, though I much prefer the raw sound of the guitar through a microphone.

Worth the price, though Ibanez skipped out on an integral step. Be wary of this before you buy.

Bought this beauty a year ago, and I love every moment of playing it.
I play mostly relaxed ambient fingerpicking with some singing, and ocassionally some light chord strumming with a pick and it works perfect for these styles. The sound is warm, rounded, balanced, what you'd expect from okoume (very similar characteristics to mahogany), and I find it perfect for my style of playing. I would not recommend it for loud and aggressive strumming because the sound gets somewhat muddy. There are a lot of spruce top dreadnoughts for that style of playing, but this lady is not one of them. Strings I am using are Martin MA535 11-52, which bring out the best tonal character out of this guitar. I've tried D'Addarios EJ and Elixirs phosphore bronze, but both sounded too bright and crisp to my ears. Although someone would maybe find them better...
Quality wise, the guitar looks perfect to my eyes. There is only something that looks like a blemish spot on the headstock, a few millimetres wide, but I don't mind it.
Neck is smooth and very playable, action on the lower side than average acoustic (which I prefer), no sharp edges on the fretboard and frets, binding and rosette perfectly executed.
There was some fret buzz around 10th-12th fret on 3rd string, but got it sorted out in a local guitar setup shop. Fretboard was also a little bit dry when guitar arrived, so I applied some lemon oil the first time I have been replacing the strings.
Still haven't tried how it sounds plugged in, so I can not comment on that.
All in all, this is a perfect guitar for me. One year has passed and many more to come. I love this guitar.

I purchased this guitar nearly a year ago so I have had plenty of time to play it which will reflect in this review.
This for sure one of the nicest acoustics I have played, it gives comfort, an amazing tone and looks spectacular. The build quality is superb and the colour of the wood is very eye catching, even better than the photos.
However, it does lose marks for not coming with a case like its juniour version does (AE205JR-OPN) and also for lack of controlls for the electronics, for example the AW70ECE-NT which is considerably less expensive comes with a built in tuner and also has bass, treble and volume controlls. But, that been said the woods used in this guitar are superior to the woods used in the other guitars I have mentioned, I own all 3 and this one has a much warmer tone, is much louder and full bodied, carries more depth and clairity and is overall the nicer guitar to play. 9/10 - I would recommend buying this and have zero regrets with my purchase nearly 1 years later :)