[jtkung]

I was looking at this guitar recently, and really cannot figure out how they constructed the back and sides out of 3 different woods, seemingly merged together:



The woods are supposed to be Rosewood/Spalted Maple/Walnut. 

If you look inside the guitar, you won't see three types of wood, but only one -- which appears to be mahogany (maybe Sapele as that is cheaper?). This would indicate that both the back and sides are laminate (not plywood, but double sides/back) which is rare in any inexpensive guitar (this guitar retails for $699 USD). 

Another unusual thing with this guitar is that Ibanez has two different web pages for it, depending on how you search for it:

This page says the back/sides use Rosewood/Spalted Maple/Walnut mosaic, and Rosewood for the bridge and fretboard:
http://www.ibanez.com/products/u_ag...7&cat_id=3&series_id=86&data_id=60&color=CL01

But this page says it uses Pau Ferro mosaic and treated NZ pine for the bridge and fretboard:
http://www.ibanez.com/products/ag_d...&cat_id=3&series_id=86&data_id=214&color=CL01

Which is correct? The pictures are the same. In person, it definitely looks like Rosewood on the back and sides -- the grain and color are a perfect match for Indian Rosewood. Strange ...

[jtkung]

I spoke with one luthier and the construction probably consists of a veneer of the moasic of woods, thinly cut using lasers and then glued to match the patterns. The wood is likely waste products from other builds, and very thinly cut, so it's reasonably cheap, even though they are exotic woods.  The veneers are then glued onto the base wood which appears to be some sort of Mahogany or maybe Sapele which is cheaper.  

Thus, the outside has a nice appearance of exotic woods melded together with the base wood being Sapele. So it's a laminate double side/back construction which is actually stronger and more complex to build. Very rare to see this at this price point of $500 USD.

[jtkung]

This guitar is no longer available as of 2018.  It's a great guitar for the money.  It's thinner body does make for a slightly thinner tone, but the electric tones out of this guitar are well beyond the price range that it sits in.