AEWC

It seems that Ibanez prides itself with acoustic guitars featuring captivating tops. This AEWC16QA (Swee Lee: $499). These look great if you wish for a commanding presence. We can agree that the true measure of a good sounding acoustic guitar is its inherent tone. This, in most part, is the role of the guitar's sound board. The basic understanding here is that a solid top acoustic guitar does wonders to tone, first & foremost. The guitar captivates the audience if it sounds incredible, nevermind if it looks plain & boring. This is the reason why you see the specialist names in acoustic craftsmanship - Martin, Taylor, Takamine et al - do not feature gaudy tops but focuses on making the instrument sound good.

I'm of the opinion that Ibanez makes too many acoustic models with very little intent in offering the buyer a good sounding instrument as opposed to a good looking instrument. That said, Ibanez has other series of guitars with dedicated tops to propel tone. Here's hoping the average Joe out there gets to own an affordable Ibanez acoustic with a solid top to say the least. We refer to names like Tanglewood, Sigma & Cort among others, that are able to do so.