Guitar of the week #46 - Ibanez Talman TM302

Note: I'm changing the title of this feature from "Cheap guitar of the week" to just "Guitar of the week" so I'm not limited to just the cheap stuff.

The Ibanez Talman TM302 as you'll see from that link comes in several flavors. There are both maple and rosewood fingerboard versions, and also the choice between solid-body and semi-hollow.

Some specs:

• "Talman Classic-Plus Neck." 25.5-inch scale, C shape, 305mm (12-inch) fingerboard radius.
• 22 frets, medium jumbo size
• Alder body
• AlNiCo pickups, both of them
• Nickel hardware

Basically put, this is a modern interpretation of a bunch of Fender designs put into a single guitar.

Is it any good? I'd have to say yes, however I don't know how well or not well Ibanez does a Tele-style pair of pickups. From what I can tell, what Ibanez put together should work quite nicely.

In the end however, it all comes down to the styling. Is this guitar worth its price tag for this kind of look that is not a Fender? That's your call.

I personally think Ibanez did a fine job here. The guitar is not overstyled yet not understyled either. My only style complaint is the output jack. I'm not fond of that, but I do like the rest of it.

Published 2016 Feb 24