I wound up working in a restaurant after school washing dishes and eventually, that Ibanez was mine. If I recall, it was a little over $200 new and I simply had to have it. That something was a bolt-on Ibanez Les Paul sunburst copy hanging on the wall at my local music store.

As fortune would have it, I found something that was a quantum leap over the torturous Howard, and by hook or crook, it could be mine. A Gibson–any Gibson–was simply unobtainable. Most 16-year-old guitarists of my generation could only do just that.

Always slung impossibly low, Jimmy Page’s Les Paul sunburst was an object of lust–it was perfect and everyone dreamed that someday, “I will own one”. One stood out, not least because of the mesmerizing iconic images I ogled in magazines. I had many guitar heroes during that time. If you can make it work, in relative terms, and progress on the instrument, I truly think it not only “toughens you up” it also instills an appreciation for the better instruments your development brings. It’s not the only path, but it is the path that I was forced to take. In hindsight, I believe to this day that a beginner should start with a horrible guitar–it tends to weed out those who are not serious about becoming a player.

About all I can say is that it had a neck, strings, and pickups. At that time, I had been playing for about a year on my first guitar–a horrible import by the name of, Howard. I have been an Ibanez fan since I was 16. In this review, JGT contributor Brad Jeter takes a close look at the Ibanez AS-113 – check out what he has to say…

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