Arbor AJ137

The other reviewers have covered the description. I would only stress that this is a true hollowbocy and not a semihollow guitar. I'll give it a 9 here because it doesn't have a tremelo unit.

I play clean- mostly blues and rock. This guitar has an amazing clean sound without the booming mids typically heard in a hollowbody-very much like a Gretsch with Filtertrons. I usually play it through a Roland Blues Cube 60 or Peavey Classic 30 tube amp. The pickups deliver a usable tone in any one of the switch positions which is rare in any guitar. Absolutely one of the best sounding guitars I have owned in the past 4 decades.

I bought the guitar used and the action was set way too low and the intonation was off but these were easy adjustments. If you can't do your own setups don't let that stop you from buying one. When set up correctly this guitar will perform as well as anything out there (Unlike many inexpensive instruments- this one will take a setup!). I own several Gretsches and the Arbor gives up nothing in playability or sound. While the finish is nicely done, the controls seem to be on the cheaper end.

I have not used this guitar enough to comment. However, I will point out that the strap button is located at the base of the neck instead of on the upper horn. This allows the guitar to be nicely balanced when played using a strap and prevents the "neck dive" so common in hollowbody instruments.

Never dealt with the company but other sources on the Internet say that Arbor was started by an ex-president of Ibanez and a manager from Yamaha and has since been sold. Presently they are distributed by Musicorp. They do have a website at Arbor Guitars.

Been playing for over 45 years and have owned over 45 guitars including Fender, Rickenbacker, Ibanez, Washburn, Hofner, and especially Gretsch. I currently own 5 Gretsches from a '67 Country Gentleman to an '05 Tenessee Rose. The Arbor 137 is probably the best deal I have ever come across. It is one of the best instruments I've owned regardless of price. Please note that I do not work for anybody associated in any way with this company. I intend to buy another Arbor as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Honestly, these things are for real!

Mine is the Orangish color with a 22 fret neck with dot marker inlays. Same configuration as the others reviewed. (no trem) Mine was a floor model that had been sitting there for over a year. I bought mine in 2008 so this is likely an 06 or 07 model, really not sure. The only ding it gets is for having the pup selector switch on the lower bout. Not a big deal.

This guitar works great for jazzy tones, blues tones and all out Rock and Roll. I play it into one of 3 Fender amps, HotRod Deville 410, Super Champ XD or BillM modified Blues Jr. It sounds great in all of them. I particularly like the smooth overdriven tones I get when using a Boss BD2 or the #8 effect channel on my SCXD. This is an incredibly easy to play guitar, the action is as good as it gets, no fret buzz or fretting out anywhere. I get the best sustain from this guitar out of any of my other 7 electric guitars. I honestly like everything about this guitar, it's light, full of sustain to infinity and great smooth sounding stock pups. I thought when I bought it, I'd replace pups like I do on most of my guitars. But I really like that stock pups and will keep them.

The setup was pretty respectable from the day I brought it home. I tweak the action and pups on all of my guitars at least some for ideal playability and sound. There are no issues with the finish. The tuners are sealed genericks but work smoothly with no issues. All pots and selector switch work smooth and are quiet. Nicely cut nut, great looking binding, nice paint/finish all around. Mine sat on the showroom floor long enough to have developed some minor oxidation on some of the chrome.. i.e. pickup rings, tuners, and trapieze tail piece. I may be able to remove this with a solvent of some sort, just havent tried yet as it's not noticeable unless looking closely. I'm very impressed with overall fit, finish, setup and playability.

Seems built well enough to not be a concern. I've kept this one completely stock as none of the parts need to be upgraded or replaced. They are all of sufficient quality to last a long time.

N/A

I've been playing for 35 years. I own 11 other guitars including accoustic guitars. Les Paul, Strats, a Telecaster, 63 Sears Silvertone/Danelectro, 2 six string acoustics, one nylon, one 12 string,and one mandolin. I bought this becuase I've always wanted a hollow body archtop like an ES 335, Gretch or other similar. I bought this one for $219.00 after playing it for a few minutes on the floor of a music store. I'd buy it again. This was a lucky find and great guitar all around.

Didn't count the frets, laminate top, two filtertron style pickups. The body is some unknown wood construction but seems OK to me. Really nice finish. Hollowbody but not a full three inch depth like some of the other models. No tremolo. I like the neck, seems to fit my hand well.

I'm not sure I have a style. I just like music of most any type. It suits a jazzy, rockabilly style pretty well. I use it with only old fender tube amps. Use delay, reverb and sometimes a little vibrato. This thing sounds pretty good for the price. Sometimes it leaves me wanting a little more though. Guess I'm pining for a real gretsch. I don't own a gretsch and probably never will be able to but I may opt for some TV jones pick ups.
The stock pickups actually sound pretty good but I find little variation between the middle position and the neck position. One can dial in a different sound, of course, by varying the amount and tone of each pickup but it seems like it should be a little more distinctive difference. Ratings are always subjective but I will rate this as compared to what I hear when others play "the real thing" not as value for the money so I'll give it a 7

Ok, I'm not gonna be quite as nice as some of the others but will try to be unbiased. I own several other guitars and some of them are cheap knock offs as well. This is about as good as the rest of them (Jay Turser, homemade etc...) I agree with some of the others that the fretting seems really well done. No sharp edges (like my tursers). Neck is straight and action is good. Tuners function well. Finish on the wood is nice. The pick guard is really pitiful and it rattled. I had to remove it and file it down so that it fit right. There is a rattle that seems to come from the tailpiece. If I put my hand on the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece the rattle stops. I put a piece of clear tape across the stings and it solved the problem but doesn't look real professional. Still trying to figure out exactly where and why it makes the noise. It only happens on certain strings and frequencies. The pickup routing is off enough that the strings do not fall over the polepieces. Now I'm not talking about 1/16" but more like 1/4" off. If I move the floating bridge to center the strings they are not lined up on the fretboard. There is no cheap and easy fix for that. Look on the inside and you'll see the cheap part of the construction. Not so much the durablity as the sloppy glueing. Having knocked it about a little I'd have to say that it does play very well and has a very nice feeling neck and frets as well as staying tuned up. From a distance it really does look like a very expensive instrument.

I'm sure it will withstand my music room very well and will probably never leave it. Seriously, it seems reasonably solid.

Just so others know I little bit about how seriously to take my review, I have probably owned at least 15 guitars and now own eight including three acoustics and one I assembled from custom parts. I've replaced several sets of pickups with Seymours and Kinmans. I am far from being a professional musician or luthier but I think I have pretty good feel for value. This guitar is worth 300 bucks but it ain't no Gretsch. If, like me, you like to own a bunch of different types of guitars i.e. hollows, acoustic, teles, strats just 'cause you like them then it's a great way to go. If I was a serious gigging musician and wanted a guitar of this style I'd probably get the real thing. Musicians are a funny bunch. If your playing is absolutely top notch everyone would say "he can make anything sound good". But if your playing is as mediocre as mine and you show up with a el cheapo as well then your pride may be damage a little. All-in-all it's a nice little guitar for a nice price. No real surprises but not a piece of junk either. Thanks for reading.

This is a 2003 (I believe) model made in China, as are the other Arbor models. It is a modified AJ137 with Bigsby tremelo and Brian Setzer style dice tuning knobs. The company I bought it from even changed out the pick guard and selector to make it look like the real Gretsch Brian Setzer model. Guitar is Gretsch orange on top with mahogany back and sides coloring. It's a hollow body with some sort of a pine top. Don't know what the rest of the construction is. Tuners are excellent, though generic as are the pickups which are very similar to Gretsch's Filtertrons. Fretboard is some sort of rosewood with dot inlays. Guitar came with a new case for an unbelievable price.

This Gretsch look-alike sounds amazingly close to the real thing. Played through a Fender Twin Reverb or Bassman tube amp this baby really comes to life. You have to crank it up a little to get a good sound through a solid-state amp like a Fender Deluxe 90. Pickups are well balanced and quiet. Each one has its own volume and tone control. There is no master volume control--but for this price you can't have everything. Have to give this a "9" because it can't quite equal the real Gretsch Filtertron sound, but awfully close.

This is where this baby really excels. Don't know how the Chinese can make such a beautifully put together guitar for the price that the Arbors sell for in the U.S. Gretsch is in for some serious competition if this company can keep going. Action was low and perfect, and guitar was virtually flawless when I received it. Intonation was only slightly off, but correctible. Strings could be better quality, but the guitar plays fine with the ones it was shipped with. Will give it a "9" again because of less than perfect intonation and cheap strings.

Too early to tell whether everything will hold up like a high-end Gretsch or Gibson, but so far have had no problems. As I mentioned, this axe is built amazingly well and only time will tell if the materials hold up. Have gigged with this guitar and it's doing fine. Almost always have a backup available.

Haven't had any need for customer support with this new guitar. Company has a U.S. location and guitar comes with a better than average warranty, so I'm not too concerned.

Have been playing for a l-o-n-g time. Currently own and have owned many high-end guitars--both hollow body and solid body. Am now playing in my own country oldies band and this was the perfect guitar for that venue. After reading other reviews, and emailing one of your contributors for input I jumped at the chance to acquire one of these Arbor's. They're virtually unavailable at this time, but hopefully for other people, there will be more coming into the country for people like me who don't want to sink $1500 to $2000 into the real thing just to knock around with on the bandstand. As I mentioned earlier, Gretsch is in for some serious competition if this company survives and can continue to manufacture and sell these guitars for the current pricing. If it were lost or stolen, I would look for another one, but chances of finding one may be slim and none at this point. I suppose if I had to dislike something, it would be the placement of the pickup switch by the pick guard instead of at the top of the upper bout. They may have done this to avoid legal problems with Gretsch for manufacturing such an exact copy. Like another reviewed said, this is a "Gretsch on welfare"--or something like that.

My Arbor AJ137 has Gretsch style humbuckers, orange stained spruce top, mahogany sides and back, nanno neck, rectangular inlaid finger board markers, quality tuners, excellent binding with a nice touch at the neck to head, it is just an all around winning guitar. I can not believe that a guitar for under $300 could have this quality. I own two Gretschs and now two Arbors (AJ137, AJ140) with the third (AJ138/Tennessee) on order. Plug one in and crank it up and you will be surprised on the action and the rich sound. Haven't had this much fun with a guitar since I bought my PENCO.

Excellent

Flawless. Worth hundreds more.

I've only got about fifty hours on it but it only gets better.

Bought it through a dealer.

Unbelievable. One of the best guitars I've ever played regardless of brand name or price.

Brand New 2004 model
Made in China
Solid Agathis Top
2 vol & 2 tone and 3 way selector switch
Gretsch style pickups
Stunning Transparent orange finish
Looks like a Brian Setzer model Gretsch without the bigsby

Rock N Roll! This thing Rocks!

Factory quality is unbelivable and I could not belive the price!

This quitar should last a lifetime and dependable

Never delt with the company. I dont think I'll need to.
It does have a lifetime warranty that can be serviced in the USA.

I rate this as my favorite guitar, but my favorite guitar is always my newest one. Seriously, I would buy another like it if something ever happened to this one. It is very affordable and is built like a top end guitar. It is too good to be true, but it really is!