Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Sept 16, 2023 22:17:17 GMT -6
I see a whole lot of Mikro models go drifting past, not least because they're yet another Ibanez model watered down for the low-tier Gio line. To be fair, there's another downward step possible, the Soundgear a.k.a. SDGR tier. At a rough guess, Gio is Ibanez's Squier, with SDGR being at best Affinity or perhaps the no-series random China Strats.
I have yet to determine whether there's any such thing as "better" Mikro, possibly MIJ.
The Mikro (GRGM21) is marketed as a "beginner" guitar, which is (to be polite) amazingly stupid. Sure, it's a 22.2" scale, thus close enough to Fender's stripped-down "student" models (Musicmaster, Duo-S0nic, etc.), but this one makes me doubt that's sufficient.
SPECS: poplar body, maple neck, two Powersound humbuckers (Ibanez site says "Infinity R (H)"), boltneck, cast-body tuners, two string trees, 3-way blade, V/T, face-rout, relief cuts, side jack... and somehow 24 frets.
Anyway, I was feeling irrationally exuberant, and grabbed a black one with the "White Sharktooth" inlays -- because, obviously, what I need more than anything is a gloss-black solid-body guitar.
Cost me $69 delivered, whoch isn't terrible against current street of $170.
Then, a yellow one with the maple fretboard and dot inlays -- momentarily less common than the Sharktooth variant -- appeared, the GRGM21M variant, so I naturally needed to grab that one.
FIRST THOUGHTS
The neck is surprisingly non-chunky, 41mm wide at the nut.
The fret ends are near-excellent.
There may even be some intentional rounding of the fingerboard edge.
There is only very slight head dive.
The heel is relieved toward the treble side, which is beautiful.
I might swap the necks, to give the black one some color and to even out the whole yellow thing on the other.
COMPLAINT
The body is proportionally too thick at 1.8". If I were to make this my signature model, I'd take off at least 1/8", maybe as much as 1/4". Is it a deal breaker? Definitely not -- and most people may never notice.
There were Mikro gig bags available (the IGBMIKRO)... and now there aren't. Oh, hold on: for some reason Musician's Friend seems to have the bags, but doesn't link them to the guitar's page... though at $50 while Sweetwater says $32.
The Gator GBR-ELECT-MINI economy bag may be perfect, and just $29.95. For a model so ubiquitous, there ought to be some sort of HSC (blowmold or box) for $100 or so.
SUMMARY
If this is "a beginner instrument," then it's one of the few that doesn't talk down to the beginner, rather encourages them to recognize quality. A decent big-brand guitar at a good retail, and likely common used in the $50-$60 range.
I have yet to determine whether there's any such thing as "better" Mikro, possibly MIJ.
The Mikro (GRGM21) is marketed as a "beginner" guitar, which is (to be polite) amazingly stupid. Sure, it's a 22.2" scale, thus close enough to Fender's stripped-down "student" models (Musicmaster, Duo-S0nic, etc.), but this one makes me doubt that's sufficient.
SPECS: poplar body, maple neck, two Powersound humbuckers (Ibanez site says "Infinity R (H)"), boltneck, cast-body tuners, two string trees, 3-way blade, V/T, face-rout, relief cuts, side jack... and somehow 24 frets.
Anyway, I was feeling irrationally exuberant, and grabbed a black one with the "White Sharktooth" inlays -- because, obviously, what I need more than anything is a gloss-black solid-body guitar.
Cost me $69 delivered, whoch isn't terrible against current street of $170. Then, a yellow one with the maple fretboard and dot inlays -- momentarily less common than the Sharktooth variant -- appeared, the GRGM21M variant, so I naturally needed to grab that one.
FIRST THOUGHTS
The neck is surprisingly non-chunky, 41mm wide at the nut.
The fret ends are near-excellent.
There may even be some intentional rounding of the fingerboard edge.
There is only very slight head dive.
The heel is relieved toward the treble side, which is beautiful.
I might swap the necks, to give the black one some color and to even out the whole yellow thing on the other.
COMPLAINT
The body is proportionally too thick at 1.8". If I were to make this my signature model, I'd take off at least 1/8", maybe as much as 1/4". Is it a deal breaker? Definitely not -- and most people may never notice.
There were Mikro gig bags available (the IGBMIKRO)... and now there aren't. Oh, hold on: for some reason Musician's Friend seems to have the bags, but doesn't link them to the guitar's page... though at $50 while Sweetwater says $32.
The Gator GBR-ELECT-MINI economy bag may be perfect, and just $29.95. For a model so ubiquitous, there ought to be some sort of HSC (blowmold or box) for $100 or so. SUMMARY
If this is "a beginner instrument," then it's one of the few that doesn't talk down to the beginner, rather encourages them to recognize quality. A decent big-brand guitar at a good retail, and likely common used in the $50-$60 range.
