IYV-IRK-300 Semi Hollow Electric Guitar 3T Sunburst (IYV)

With Rickenbacker being perpetually, frustratingly behind the times, it's tougher to get a decent 50's/60's semi-hollow than most other guitar styles. Without much competition, my expectations were tempered, but Beatles fans on a budget can rejoice, because this is a remarkably nice instrument for so little money. The looks are great, and not only are the colors lovely, but it has no real flaws anywhere. It feels quite decent, is well balanced, has a nicely shaped neck, doesn't have too much flex anywhere, has reasonably smooth fret edges; it's just a plain good instrument, top to bottom. The strings it came with should be changed right away, but once you do, the sound is lovely, with no need to swap the stock pickups. It's just a bit jangly and bright as it should be, and the pickups are a little lower output than most humbuckers, without being weak enough as to require rebalancing your amp and pedal settings. The bridge isn't quite as convenient to restring as most modern designs, but doesn't really hold you back. The tuners would benefit from being replaced with a nicer set, but are definitely good enough to work with. All in all, I'm thoroughly impressed and very happy to finally have a Rickenbacker styled guitar without spending an arm and a leg.

Just wow. I've been playing for 60yrs and have had many, many guitars and just am not easily impressed - but for $165 this is the best deal ever. As with many other reviewers I find the fit and finish nearly flawless. Yes, the Fireglo [which I have always loved] is absolutely gorgeous. Not that the strings on it were bad, I had to switch out to Ernie Ball 9 to 42 for the familiar feel. Intonation is fine and I saw no need to adjust the string height. Pickups are quiet and quite Rick-y ... the bridge pickup especially gives you some Lennonesque 'tonk'. A great rhythm guitar. Do not hesitate to buy one. P.S. I replaced the 'meh' witch hat knobs with some Jazz Bass knobs that look somewhat like ones I've seen on Rickies, dials in the vibe just right...

I could write a super long review on this guitar, but I will try to keep it clean and simple Good: Came with LOCKING tuners! Unbranded but very decent quality. Nothing loose, sloppy, or overly tight feeling Bone nut was cut properly and did not need redressing. In my experience budget guitars almost always have issues with nut slots being cut badly, poor quality plastic material, or nut needing totally replaced..NOT the case here Fretwork is outstanding. ZERO sharp edges or dead spots. All level. Better work than was on my PRS SE CE. The only sub $1,000 guitar w/ fretwork this good is Firefly Pickups have a nice chimey, vintage voicing w/ good range of tonal options you can squeeze out. Microphonic but I like that, you may not. Keep that in mind. The bridge/tailpiece, pots, switch, etc are not bad but not exceptional either. They do not feel cheap. All screws are level The set up was good. Intonation is fine. Truss rod will need some adjusting once acclimated to my climate (cold, dry winters here) but no big deal. Playable out of the box, just needed slight tuning (all strings were 1/2 step down from Standard). Neck profile feels good, haven't measured fingerboard radius yet. Nice transparent burst finish. Nice colors Bad: Not much here. Mostly nit picky finishing blemishes. Particularly clear coat around the neck joint. You really have to go out of your way to see them. I tried to get photos but the blemishes don't show well in pics. If I owned a company and sold guitars at this price point I would've shipped it too. Pots taper quickly. You can get various tones, but it's fine adjustments to get there. They work and aren't scratchy, just not great. At $165 shipped, I don't know where else you can get locking tuners, bone nut and great fretwork in semi-hollow body guitar. It is not perfect, but it is a good guitar. And "for the money" it is a great guitar.

I’m actually impressed! I have a friend who I recently got started with guitars. He really admired my FireGlo Rickenbacker 330, which is easy to understand since it is a stunningly beautiful guitar. So for Xmas I decided I would get him this relatively inexpensive guitar. My main thought was that it would be a great piece of wall art for his office and an incentive to keep learning to play. I had actually watched several videos on this guitar and all of them indicated that while the bridge pickup was pretty decent, the neck pickup always sounded totally dull, muted and low output. But I have to say that in the last week that I’ve been “testing” and setting up my friend’s new guitar, I am actually pretty impressed! Both pickups sound pretty decent and have an appropriate sound for each location. Now I’m not saying that this guitar sounds anything like my Rickenbacker, nor does it match any of my Strats, Les Paul’s or others. But I will say that it does have decent sound in all 3 switch settings and sounds like a pretty decent guitar. Which for the price is somewhat amazing! Overall the fit and finish is really pretty danged good! It is a nice looking and feeling guitar. Not just for a “cheap” guitar, but for any under $1000 guitar. Didn’t have any fret sprouts (which many reputable brands do have nowadays), the finish is well done and even the tuners are reasonable. And pretty inexpensive to swap out a great set of Gotoh Locking tuners if you plan on keeping and using this. I have to say that I was expecting a lot less. Been playing and collecting guitars for decades and this one is really fun to play! Obviously not going to replace my Ricky, but I’m sure my friend will really enjoy this! Assuming he keeps up his lessons! 😂

Returned first one with ugly splotchy finish. Ordered second. Much nicer looking. Needed a setup. Adjusted truss rod adjusted bridge height. Kept strings it came with. Plays and sounds great. Tuners are fine. Not quite a Rickenbacker, but close. Jangle! For a super cheap guitar, pretty great!

Aside from being shipped a guitar that was previously returned and had MANY scratches, this guitar is a great value for the money. It needed new strings upon arrival, as the factory stings were garbage. And the neck pickup was crooked, and needed a little piece of foam shoved under it on one side so it would sit level. But after the new strings were on and pickups adjusted, the guitar played and sounded good...especially for the money. No sharp fret ends, no play in the tuners (a big surprise since I usually need to buy Gotoh replacement set), and pickups that have a nice jangly, and decent quality tone. There is some excess glue or something that was finished over in the neck pocket...one sign of this being a low budget build. But aside from the scratches put on by the person who returned it and sloppy glue work, this finish is gorgeous! The reds and other hues really pop and and always catches my eye. And I should mention that the body on this is definitely thicker than the guitar it's modeled after. It's pretty chunky depth wise! But it is still very light and probably weighs around 7 lbs or just under. If you're considering one of these, I can definitely recommend one based on the example I received. It stays in tune pretty well too, so with all the other attributes mentioned above, this is a very usable budget instrument and could be acceptable for use on stage. I've bought maybe 4 Amazon budget guitars out of curiosity including this one. This guitar is the best so far.

I bought this 'Rickenfaker' IYV 6-string for under $150. It is no Rickenbacker killer, but is a fun and gorgeous beginner's or better guitar. The finish and fittings are good quality. I went over the guitar carefully and found one teensy eensy barely visible tiny blemish, not apparent at arms' length by the truss rod cover. Plays well, frets are smooth and all is well.

Upon receipt and unboxing I noticed several scuff marks on the front, sides and back. While the pictures don't show it, Rufus says that the guitar comes with locking tuners. Mine didn't. The pickguard shape is almost decent, but the edge bevel looks like it was done by hand, by an inexperienced person. The pickups are not mounted square in the cavities and are very hard to adjust up and down. The E, A and D strings have decent action at the nut. However, the G, B and e string slots are cut deeper that they should. These strings are not touching the first fret when fretting at the third fret, but I can see that after a little wear they will touch the first fret. The neck relief had a relatively pronounced bow, but I was able to get it where it should be. The string action at the 12th fret was high, about 4 mm. The bridge was almost as low as it could be. I lowered the bridge maybe a little over 1 mm. In the gap between the bridge bottom and the bridge plate I could see two screws that prevented the bridge from going lower. I remember seeing another review which showed the 2 screws mounting the bridge plate to the body having their heads protruding up. In my case though, it turned out that it was the two screws that hold down the bridge cover. I found a couple of M3x2 screws in my hardware bin and after replacing them I was able to lower the bridge all the way to the bridge plate. This, combined with setting the correct neck relief brought the action at the 12th fret to my liking. Initially, seeing all these issues, I initiated a return. Before finalizing the return, Amazon asked if I was willing to accept a partial refund and keep the guitar. After thinking a little about it, I accepted the offer. First thing I did was to test a couple of the scuffs in the finish with a little alcohol. Surprisingly they vanished. Whatever they were, now the body has minimal imperfections. Even though the tuners feel OK, I will most likely replace them with a decent set of locking tuners. A new bone nut is on the horizon. I plan to run my fret rocker down the neck and take care of high frets, followed by a good fret polishing and a good soaking of the fretboard. I will remove the pickups and plug the existing holes for the height adjusting screws, then drill new holes in the proper spot so that the pickups will sit square in the cavities. While at that, I'll see what can be done about the foam that should be at the bottom of the pickups. I'll use the existing pickguard as a template and either cut a new one or maybe try to 3D print a pickguard. I might as well spring for the 2-level pickguard. I'm also thinking to 3D print a replacement truss rod cover. There is nothing wrong with the existing cover other than being BLAH. I'll replace the output jack with a high quality one. At this time, I'll also evaluate the electronics. I have some work ahead of me, but it should be fun. Besides, what can one expect from a guitar in this price range. When done I hope I'll remember to take some pictures and post them here.