Ibanez AFS75T Artcore

Whats cool about this guitar is that you can see the wood through the transparent finish. Hollowbody for that 50s rocknroll\rockabilly look.Dual humbuckers,,22 frets makes it good for hitting those high notes, two tone knobs and two volome knobs,3-way pick-ups.awesome features

This guitar is great for blues, 50's rock n roll, jazz and rockabillyand even punk and metal with the right effects.I mainly play blues and 50's rock n roll with a VOX Pathfinder amp.The dual humbuckers makes this guitar a very versatie guitar.You can get good sounds on any of its pick-ups .The fact thas its a hollow-body makes the sound really fat, yet rich.

The action on the guitar was descent.String 1-2-3 buzzed like crazy only because the bottom side of the bridge was low but I easily fixed it and that shouldn't discourage you from buying this guitar. There wern't any flaws on this guitar what so ever.

This guitar will hold up to live playing without a problem. The harsware seems durable, the bigsby has a washer coming loose but not a biggy.The finish will last a lifetime if it is wiped down with a guitar cloth regularly.This guitar will last you as long as you want it to as long as you care for it.Remember it is a hollow-body and is more of a fagile piece than a solid-body.This guitar will hold up a gig with out the worry of needing to bring a backup.

The warranty is for a year . Haven't had to use it yet and probaby wont.

I have been playing guitar for a year and am pretty sure when I come across a good guitar.I own a Fender acoustic guitar so I know how to take care of a hollow-body instrument.If this guitar was stolen, or if it broke, I would probably get the same one only because there isnt a difference between this hollow-body and a $1000 hollow-body besides the manufacturer.I played an Epiphone hollow-body and for some reason I liked this guitar more.I definitely recommend this guitar if you are into blues, rock n roll, rockabilly and jazz.Truly a wonderful guitar for the price.

Normal specs: 2005 red version with tremolo. 2HB

Neutral and pleasant sound. It is not a Gretsch, but 80% there. With a small EQ or with Enhancement (Boss EH2 pedal, or any other), you can get the sparkle into into it. No need to upgrade the pick-ups with this EQ add-on.

Though I am sure with the right pick-ups it will match the sound of any high end Guitar in the hollow body category

Have recorded it directly into the computer with Apple Garage Band amp simulations and also acoustically with condenser mic for a "roots" 1920's new-orleans like sound.

Played on low-wattage tube amps, modelling amps and SS practice amps, it has a "classy" sound.

Also takes overdrive and distortion well in recording so that you can even go for any heavier rock sound from ZZTOP to Heavy metal. Though it would probably feedback at high volumes.

Perfect is the only word that comes to mind. Neck is a piece of cake for any style of music.

For Jazz you would want heavier strings than the originals. But for everday rock/pop use, .10 strings are fine.

No Flaws. It's just a beautiful guitar, class not glitz. Also light, can be played for hours.

You may even fool your adience into thinking you play better than you do by the aura of expertise it projects onto you...

No hesitation to play this guitar in any setting.

Just would make sure to get tight strap holders on your straps. String change is easy. But a back up is prudent in any case.

Had a input jack problem (due to guitar cables that were probably to aggressive with springed retainers. That was repaired with no issues by the dealer's tech. No problem since.

It is the kind of guitar you say you will trade for a prestigeous model, but at the end you never do: because you will work hard to find the playiblity, excellent construction, good looks, good sound and real class bundled up in any package at the same time at any price.

I have played a "standard" Gretsch Nashville in a music store some time after I bought the Ibanez. I was not really impressed by a guitar that costs nearly 7 times more. Also tried the Electromatic version of Gretsch which I did like sound wise (single coil),but found it "boxy".

The playiblity of the the Ibanez is much more impressive, though you will certainly not get any respect from guitar snobs.


I bought this guitar after 12 years of not playing any music(inspiration had disappeard after a active musical youth playing in groups). I wanted to try a hollow body as I believed this would correspond more to the "maturity" I had maybe acquired. Forget the maturity thing, this guitar can play anything from punk to ballads.

My female singing coach who is much younger than I am, was immediately attracted by the looks (the guitar's), so I suppose the younger crowd for whom the feminine attraction is an important criteria could also profit ;-)

Lacks: the pick-ups are not magical but do their job seriously with minor enhancements

Would I replace it if lost or stolen ?: probably go with the Artcore custom AF105 NT version of it (white and gold is even more beautiful)

Other gear: Revered Slingshot 2 P90s (Rate 10 in all categories), MIM Strat and Tele (solid performers), Duesenberg Double Cat 12 String (for connaisseurs, I like 12 strings in general), Ibanez SR presitge Bass.

This is the Turquoise model. With the tune-o-matic bridge (basically useless). No extra accessories, but for $299...No complaints in that area. I know for this price-point a working bigsby trem would be too much, but just be aware that on the two models I tried, both the trems wouldn't come back true. It's also extremely light, you don't even know you are wearing it.

I've been playing a while, maybe 25 years. For what it's worth I have a couple of music degrees. Wish it showed in my playing! Seriously, this is a fine guitar, and it's sound off the shelf was resonant and organic. A real player, even forgetting the price-point, I was in love. People have described it as Gretsch-like, and I would agree to a point. I put in some TV Jones pickups for that reason, and just can't get over how great that guitar is. It's cleans are open and defined, with a lot of wood tone, and when you use a little overdrive the sound just rips. It reminds me of how a good strat with just come alive, especially in the neck position, and spread out. Not a strat sound, but that feeling you get where you are being taken on a ride. Even with the stock pickups this was a very good sounding instrument, but for a couple hundred more, this guitar could keep up with a guitar costing thousands more. I play it through some Fulltone products, a Line 6 delay modeler, and into either a Guytron GT100FV, a Fender Hot-Rod Deluxe, or (usually) a pair of Tech 21 TM60's (my favorites actually).

Set up was OK. I had a problem with the truss-rod on my original and had to exchange it. I guess it's worth trying to make a small truss adjustment if the salesperson will let you. I bought mine at The Music Store on Irving Park Road in Chicago, and they were great about it. Good store BTW if you are looking for a good guitar at a good price. Some nice old amps too. The finish was flawless on both guitars. How do they do this? Better than the Gibsons I've looked over. I just love looking at this guitar, and everytime it comes out of the case I get compliments.

For the price, it seems very durable. The tuners will probably need to be changed one day, but it feels solid. Too new to tell.

I have never had any luck getting email responses or anything. But it hasn't been an issue yet.

This guitar is a steal. Even though the price has crept up another $100, it's incredible. I would replace it in a heartbeat. It's probably a tie for my main guitar right now.

This guitar is great if your looking for a good blues guitar at a small price. This guitar can also rock out depending on your amp. I have a very versatile vox d-a5 and so far no complaints. Although the person who sold it to me said its Korean and its actually chineese! whatever. If your looking for a pretty good guitar for a good price, buy this guitar!

I'm into stuff like Led Zeppelin, Beck, Radiohead, Robert Johnson, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and many more. It suits my taste.

The Transeparent Blue Finish Is a real looker. The action is fine. For me, the tuners are fine.

This guitar defenitely would withstand live playing. The hardware is fine and if you take care of the guitar, it'll last. I would get strap locks on it because the day after I bought it, the strap fell off and it hit the wood floor and now there is a ding on the head.
I would use it for a gig, unless I was rich and could afford a Gibson ES-335 or a BB King Lucille.

I've been playing for about a year and 7 months. I wish it had really nice pickups,24 carrat gold tuners, a gold pickguard, diamond knobs and pickup selector, and I wish it a Refridgarator installed into the back of the guitar and I wish it had a tremolo that never took it out of tune. Now, back to the real world. I love that it;s versatile. I chose this because I liked what I heard.

I had no great expectations at first, but after reading few reviews, I started to wait shipment from Germany very eagerly...

Anyway, I was still surprised by great quality of finish and overall feeling of this guitar. At 399 euros, (w/o case) you don't expect much. I have licenced Bigsby on my Tokai Love Rock, but Ibanez'z tremolo is clearly better (due to "self-installation" for Love Rock, perhaps...). Pickups could be little less noisy, but it really doesn't matter when rocking it through Peavey Classic 30 W tube amp. 3-way selector could not be in worse place, as so many has said also... I tried Korean Gretsch having 850 euros price tag and I think this is at least twice better. All respect to Gretsch, but "family man" could not afford a real thing with price about 3,500 - 4,000 euros, w/o not having "The WW III" at home... Color is more green than in pictures around the web, but that's all right. The low weight of this guitar is little bit troubling, it feels like having nothing hanging around your neck.

I bought it purely for "effect-free zone", I do have other quitars to play with electronics. I thought it would work nicely with my Peavey Classic with extra 1 x 10 " cabinet below and it does! As full acoustic, it has good control on feedback, anyway. Sustain is amazing, overall sound very warm and it sounds quite nice without amp also. Pickups don't work with "big drive", but

Classic rock, blues and jazzy stuff are handled beautifully with this axe.

Set-up was very good, action and bridge well tuned. Someone had a complaint about frets, but I have not noticed any problems with frets or neck. At first, it seemed to stay in tune pretty well, but now I'm having little problems with tuning. Maybe I should glue the root tail lightly, as it seems to move a little in heavy bendings or whammy bar actions.

It's early to say anything about durability, I've had it only for two weeks now. Naturally, it should be treated with much care anyway. I had very bad experience when one of my "jack-ass" friend managed to ruin top of my Yamaha SA 2000S (it was just great "335-alike"). With pure acoustic body, this one is even more fragile, so it should be treated with great care and should not be borrowed to any drunken pals...

However, with long experience on various kind of guitars, I would say that first impression of good quality will stay over forthcoming years also.

No need any customer support (not yet, at least). I'm used to good service of Thomann in Germany, so I have no doubts on customer support in case I had a problem with this Ibanez.

Made in China, probably 2003, semi-hollow body guitar, single cut-away, laminated maple top, back and sides, rosewood fingerboard, 22 jumbo frets; 2 tones and 2 volume 1 switch, chrome hardware. Mine came in a wonderful wine red transparent coating, with ivoroid binding all along body and neck. Bridge tune-o-matic style and a wonderful bigsby-like tremolo. No extra-gadgets included (bag or else), but mine had previously been equipped with Sperzel tuners, which work exceptionally fine. The finish apears flawless.

Unplugged it sounds at outstanding level for volume and clarity. Plugged into my amp, a Peavey Classic 30, the sound is really nice, warm and toneful on the clean channel; with a nice twang when played on the bridge p.u. that makes it perfect for country or rockabilly.
The lack was in the output level, definitely too weak, and in the response when overdriven; they goy easily muddy. I solved the problem putting on a couple of Gibson 57 classic and the result is INCREDIBLE: boys, it sings, but it bites if you dare driving too much your crunch channel...It's got lots of sustain too

Excellent set up; low action with no buzz and the neck is faboulous (much better than my Gibson 333!): the frets are perfectly fitted and the fingerboard is really comfortable and alows fast soloing and phrases. The woods are not much of anything, but the manifacturing is absolutely good (and I'd also have to say that even Gibson 333's and 335's are laminated, surely not much better than these!)

I can't tell yet, I got it as a wedding gift some few months ago and only gigged twice with this axe. It seems well built and solid enough and I don't see a reason why it shoud reveal frailty.

Been playing all over Europe for 20+ years. I owned tons of guitars (LP standard, LP custom, SGstandard, a variety of Stratocasters, a Gibson 335, a Gibson 333 I mentioned before, a Hamer Standard and a Yamaha SA1200S)a Peavey Classic 30 tube amp, a Menatone Fish Factory overdrive and a Line6 DL4. I play blues and southern rock mostly. What I like in this baby is that it's light, beautyful in her old-style look and, after the pick up change, well sounding. I don't like so much the single cutaway shape, that makes it a little hard to reach frets beyond the 15th. Anyway, should it get lost, destroyed or stolen, I'd desperately look for another one: it's a perfect back up, but could even be the Nr.1 axe for a live gig.
People tell me it costs less than 360 Euros new...Fantastic for the buck! Hats off to Ibanez!

Nice finish, neck comfortable and easy to play, no flaws, only thing is the bridge is not fixed to the body, so once you have the intonation done, make sure you mark the guitar for location (which is what I did) or if you feel inclined glue it in place.

I play through a Vox Valvetronix, Fender Frontman and an old Canadian Bass Amp, most styles. This guitar can blend into anything you want, very versatile. Great overtones (I own all solids from Hofner Colorama, Les Paul, Strat and Tele) it gives you a different perspective of tones. Front pick up nice and rich, back pick up can give you a good bite!!!

I bought this from a local music shop, they did a nice job setting it up, action was nice and low, no buzzing, only had to adjust the g string for intonation, once that was done no problems. Tremelo feels nice, it still goes aout of tune if I overwork it!!! Like I said neck is super, guitar easy to play nice action. Also adjusted pickup height to suite my taste, and balance the overall sound to the way I wanted. I would expect most guitar players do that anyway!!! Only negative is playing above 15th fret gets cumbersome!!!!!

I take prety good care of my instruments, (being brought up in Liverpool you had the mindset if you got something nice make sure it lasts) so I bought a prety good hardshell case to protect it. I like the guitar that much!!!
Strap Button on the front is where the neck and body meet, kind of a pain when you strap it on, as the guitar sits a bit differently than you would normally expect. A minor point, but something to expect.

Warranty looks good. I also went into the Ibanez web page, you can pull up your guitar and it will give you all the part numbers, so I imagine if you wanted a direct replacement for anything, you have an ID base!

Played guitar for 35 yrs, always wanted a Strat, (Had one for 15 yrs) Never thought I would own hollowbody, guess George Harrison was the leader in that field. I know it isn't a Gretch or Gibson, but playing it through a couple of amps, Fender, Marshall and Vox, it nearly reached their sound quality, but for the price, quality and looks, worth the money. This guitar gives a new dimension to the sound I can obtain. Love it, would buy another if our cat ate it!!!!
Nice Instrument/

semi hollow body, transparent red finish, made in china.
two humbuckers (ach1 and ach2), two volume and tone knobs
bigsby style trem by ibanez
neck is either mahogany or "mahogany material", i've read both. don't ask me what "mahogany material" is, i don't want to know and i won't test drill into the neck!
tune-o-matic style bridge, not fixed!
non locking supercheapo tuners
it's a cheap guitar and very well equipped for the price. the tuners are shit so i just give it a 7 here

i play different styles (from punk rock to classic rock to blues and folky stuff) and i wanted a semi hollow body for blues and jazz, clean sounds or maybe a tad of crunch.
i use either a pod II directly into a boss 1180 digi studio or into a eko practice amp (next thing to get is a decent small amp), sometimes go directly into the amp. no additional effects for this guitar, except for a eq maybe.
pu's are not noisy. well they're called humbuckers.
bridge pu is quite sharp, middle is as expected quite "accoustic" sounding, positive surprise was the neck pu - not muddy as they are sometimes, especially on cheap axes, rich but very clear and nice jazz/blues tone. all in all you get a good variety of sounds out of this guitar
the guitar sounds very nice unplugged for a singalong in your living room, very much on the bright side as you would expect from a semi-hollowbody.
i was looking for this sound for not too many bucks and i am happy with what i got.

the action was a bit too high. i lowered it but got some fret buzz so had to set it higher again. it's o.k., not as i would like it but good to play.
what i don't get is why this guitar comes with 009 strings???? this is a jazz blues axe! i put them off immideately and changed for 011. surprise! the bridge came off! it's held on the body "banjo-style" by the strings! quite interesting construction concerning the bigsby trem! no idea why they did it that way. it makes setting the intonation right a bit of a problem. if you try to turn the screws to adjust the saddles you are always in danger to move the bridge. well i managed to set it up right but it was more effort than i expected. what's this for?
apart from that the guitar is well crafted. very tiny flaws in the finish where the neck joins the body and in the binding of the f holes but nothing that really matters.
the tremolo looks great (i really love the vintage look!) and works well - doesn't even move the bridge as i was afraid it would. o.k. if you divebomb you can stop playing but a bigsby isn't made for that
the toy tuners - as mentioned - are total crap and will have to go asap. especially the g-string goes out of tune easily.

with good tuners you can certainly gig with that guitar. the hardware looks as if it would last - but ask me again in a few years, i just have it a few days!
same for the finish. in five days it hasn't suffered!
strap buttons are rock solid
gigging without a backup would be a mess witht his guitar as changing the strings is a good exercise in patience

warranty is 2 years. i hope i won't need it.

i play guitar for 32 years (and still lousy i'm afraid)
i have a '92 mex tele, a '01 mex fat strat with shitty floyd rose trem (avoid that!!), a '78 ibanez pf200 les paul interpretation, a '82 hohner arbor precision bass copy, a yamaha classic guitar, a emperador banjo and a fender mandolin. am about to get rid of a rg470 as i don't like metal (though here the floyd works fine!)
i have a eko 15w git amp, a ba 12w bass amp, a accoustic 50 w git amp. pod II, behringer bass-vamp, boss 676 dr.rhythm. boss 1180cd digi studio.
i quit playing in bands long time ago and do homerecording or just fool around in my living room.

if this guitar were stole i'd buy it again as it's great value for the money. i tested several semi and full accoustic axes and this was the one that felt and sounded best in that price range. i can't afford a 335 as my fourth guitar!

i love the look! it looks really good. it sounds great, much better than you would expect for this price - i mean 370 for a semi hollowbody, that's a STEAL!
i hate the tuners. and the non fixed bridge can be annoying. maybe i ask the guys in the shop to screw or glue it to the top.
compared it to epiphone dots, squire and other ibanez full and semi hollows. as mentioned - this was the best. and i didn't look at the price when buying it - it actually was the cheapest of those i tested. the squire was 600 bucks and had some major flaws in neck and finish. the epiphones didn't play and sound as good as this one.
i think it is a best buy! you can't expect a totally flawless guitar for that price. that's why i give it a ten here although there are some things that have to be fixed. but customizing is what makes a guitar really your own, right? :-)

I love everything about this guitar except the placement of the selector switch. It is an outstanding instrument for the price. I have been completely happy with it. I purchased it used and wonder why anyone would get rid of it.

This guitar sounds very very good. I actually made the mistake of paying a bunch of extra money to swap out the pickups for some Seymour Duncans. I did that on my Mexicaster with great success..... but the Ibanez was a let down. Primarily because I underestimated how good the Ibanez factory pickups were. The Seymors were no real improvement. It basically amounted to dollars down the drain because I underestimated this guitar.

I bought it because of the feel. I had not expected it to play as well as it did in the store. Very good feel. Mine is the red finish. Its very clean and well done. I see the stuff coming out of the Gibson plant in Memphis and Ibanez hollow bodies have a much nicer looking (and QCd) finish than the newer Gibsons in my opinion. (Yes I know Gibson is lacquer but that's no excuse for some of the things I've seen.)

Well I haven't bashed it up yet. It seems to be well made. I've not had any problems.

I've studied many styles for 20+ years. I've played professionally and just for my own fulfillment. I've worked for a major manufacturer of guitars and I think this one holds its own for the price. I think this instrument is further evidence that a guitar doesn't have to cost $3000 to sound and play as well or better. This one will do ya just fine.

I recently purchased this guitar new. However there are some flaws to talk about and to advise future owners on.

The humbuck pickups are clean and fairly powerfull for the type of music I play with my group,which is a variety of types including jazz,country,blues,rockabilly and standards. This guitar seems to work well with all.

However,and this is where the few problems come into play,"no pun intended".
The factory set up was "lousy",and I've since taken it to a guitar repairman who is a personal friend to adjust the following; 1.The depth of the nut bridge because it is too high and sharps on the 1st
fret.2.The main bridge floats if you don't fasten it so you can you the tremolo. 3.Intonation is hard to adjust until you've done 1& 2.

I'm sure once I've done the previously adjustments to this guitar I'll be satisfied with it. Time will tell.Will it hold up to staying in tune? I don't know yet,and as I've said before,time will tell after a few gigs!

I bought it recently from Same Day Music,who by the way were great with getting this guitar to me with free shipping the next day,and I can't fault them because of a bad factory setup by Ibanez.
"kudos" to this company for being so efficient!

I've been playing since the 50's,and the only other guitar I own is a 1956 Gibson J45 Whicj I use back and fourth with the electric axe.
I tried this Ibanez in a local music store and was impressed with it.Obviously it had a better factory,or store setup, but they wanted about 70.00 or 80.00 bucks more for it.
Again,we'll see what happens "down the road" after a few jobs,then I can come back with a more detailed better opinion,and rating.