This has been the best budget guitar I have owned, period. I have several sub $500 guitars, and the value here is unmatched. Ibanez has a real gem on their hands with this one. Firstly, I purchased through Chicago Music Exchange, and the shipping configuration was phenomenal. Double boxed, extra padding, pre-delivery inspection and certificated by CME. I was blown away, and will definitely do business with them in the future. Second, the guitar was essentially perfect out of the box. Zero cosmetic issues and exactly to Ibanez factory specs. I had to adjust to my taste, but nothing significant - you'd have to do this with any guitar received from the factory (and in the mail). Third, the fit/finish and size/weight of the guitar are perfect for me (I'm a smaller guy). This is a 25" scale guitar, and weighs about 5.5 lbs! Feels like a toy, but is anything but. Fourth, the pickups and dyna-MIX 8 switching system. This is where the guitar shines. The pickups sound incredible and they're 100% stock Ibanez OEM ceramic bar pickups. I fully expected them to stink, but they don't, at least to my ears. The dyna-MIX switch turns this guitar into a versatile machine. I find my self using this feature A LOT of the time, and love it. You get all the features of the Ibanez AZ line, at a fraction of the cost. Lastly, the tuning stability. Again, to my surprise this thing stays in tune, like really really well. I fully expected this to be an issue, but the thing is rock solid. Their split shaft tuning machines are really nice, but the hard-tail and .010 gauge strings are big contributors to that as well.Overall I am over the moon with this guitar. I keep waiting for the novelty to wear off, but it doesn't and I'm happy about that. Fully disclaimer though, your mileage may vary. I don't know what other experiences from other vendors will be, but mine has been absolutely fantastic. What I love about inexpensive guitars with high potential is the value. You buy a $1000+ guitar, and you'd expect it to be pretty great, if not amazing. When you buy a $299 guitar, and it feels like a much higher cost instrument, that "hope" that it will be amazing pays off 10 fold when it actually is. That's the magic Ibanez has created with this instrument.