I have an Ibanez GRX70DX. I bought it when I was still a beginner guitar player in 2009. It was one of those beginner packs. It served its purpose for me when I started playing.

I still like the feel of the guitar but it has a bit of issues like a small amount of fret wear and has quite a lot of fret buzz (I am hoping that a good setup and fret dress will simply solve that problem). I also don't think the nut is right (looks a bit too low and looks to be made from plastic). I am considering upgrading it so it will sound like a good quality instrument but I am worried that I end up wasting money on it and it remains a cheap, crappy sounding guitar.

How do you know if the guitar is worth upgrading?

Well, the fret dress will be a bit more expensive, but the setup and new nut shouldn't be THAT costly... A new bone nut on my cheapish Jackson did wonders for the tone (some imagination may be present).

When in doubt, call it the end and get yourself something nice. There are many nice secondhand ibby's on the market. A few weeks of shopping should match you up with a very nice instrument that will never warrant you saying that it's crappy sounding. The RG's are very nice guitars, players guitars that wont make you miss the old one for a second. And it won't break the bank either!

That's just my opinion. Most of these guys will have you buy a R30k Les Paul instead ?

Yes that is an entry level model,
but first ask yourself if you are keen to stick with it.
Cant be much fret wear unless your nickname is Ingwe
or that just shows the quality of materials used in cheap guitars
Pickups prob need replacing to more expensive ones if you want to play with volume otherwise its a feedback frenzy
What is your budget?
working or student?
Birthdays or xmas add ons?
My advice is if you are serious....look for a made in japan Ibanez RG with an Edge trem and between R3-5K,
you can keep those RG's for life..
i'd start looking on gumtree and saving.... as they are rare,but not impossible..
If you want to spend a bit extra,there are bargains on and off for same guitars but JEM types etc
Or i'd only spend R2K or less for Korean,indonesian and other country's ibanez RG's

exsanguinator wrote: My advice is if you are serious....look for a made in japan Ibanez RG with an Edge trem and between R3-5K,
you can keep those RG's for life..

This

You occasionally see old Japanese RG550s and things popping up in the region of about R5k and those are stunning guitars, spending R2k on maintaining a gio just isn't worth it unless the guitar has sentimental value.