My thoughts.

"Thermo-Aged" is just typical Ibanez gimmicky buzzword marketing. Everyone is doing it now to try and capture the same susceptible demograpic that relicking does with electric guitars. Nothing about the process is particularly unique to Ibanez.

Here's Cort's spiel for the same thing. "Using a special process that we call ATV (Aged To Vintage) we treat the solid sitka spruce top to give it that big and open tone of a decades-old, highly-sought-after acoustic. This torrefaction process delivers that amazing tone to you right out of the box".

Now I'm not anti-Ibanez per se as my very first electric was an Ibanez, but that was back in the days when Ibanez's profile and standing was even lesser than Cort's is today relative to the long established names who spend a big on marketing spin, and Ibanez were Japanese made quality then, but at the equivalent of a Cort price today.

Ibanez have changed in the intervening 46 years since I bought that SG. Lots of [u]expensive[/u] big name celeb endorsment backed by marketing spin to milk the wannabe associative status crowd for all its worth. Someone has to pay for that. Inarguably Ibanez can still make a good guitar, but only if one moves signifiicantly up into the higher bracket IMV. I've examined a few Ibanez both acoustic and electric as I was thinking of buying myself, but haven't been pleased with either the quality or value at equivalent pricepoints in direct comparison with i.e. Cort or Yamaha or Takamine and other up and comers out there like Harley Benton. I'm an early adopter, and refuse to pay a premium just for a name which meets with peer approval. That and that the satisfaction of paying much of that premium for celebrity endorsment marketing is pretty much all you're getting for it.

That said.

My 'one of life's lessons' take is, if [u]you[/u] can afford it -or want to save to do so if that's necessary and within the realm of reason in doing so, [u]always[/u] [u]buy what you really want[/u] that is designed and intended to do the task [u]you want of it[/u] no matter what it is. Motorbike, bicycle, car, sailplane, boat or guitar. But having said that, that doesn't mean it has to be a name to fit that criteria, [u]unless[/u] that's an important aspect of what is important to you. It isn't to me, but I get that some people get stuck on headstock label association.

[br]So my advice considering your original target of a Martin or Taylor would be, before you press the Ibanez buy button on impulse, give yourself some cooldown time. It'll still be available to buy next week/month/year if the lust you're feeling for it right now persists.

[br]Ultimately it's your money and your decision. If you can afford it, what you spend it on if it brings you pleasure rather than regret is no-one's business than your own, nor should it matter what others 'think' (approval or disapproval).