Ibanez AFS75T Artcore

A AF75T e uma joia semi-acustica, com um estreito corpo de maple e um acabamento muito bom. Possui um tremolo tipo "bigsby", com ac?o confortavel e entonac?o razoavel. A minha possui um verniz translucido vermelho muito bonito, marcac?es em blocos retangulares, tarrachas "tipo" grover, trastes medios classicos. Possui controles de volume e tonalidade individuais para cada captador, alem de uma chave de 3 posic?es. Essa chave, especificamente, foi colocada em um local pouco confortavel. A alavanca do tremolo obstrui o acesso a ela, dificultando um pouco a precis?o na troca de captadores. Pode ser uma quest?o de acostumar-se, apenas. Possui dois Humbs, cobertos com capa cromada, de excelente qualidade. Construida na coreia, e um instrumento que vale cada centavo.

A sonoridade da guitarra e excepcional. Os acordes soam cheios e brilhantes (ate demais). As vezes torna-se necessario amaciar os agudos, e o controle de tonalidade funciona muito bem. Com distorc?es mais agressivas, torna-se inevitavel o feedback. E preciso cuidado e experiencia para saber andar na tenue linha que separa a sustentac?o cremosa e ressonante do apito insurdecedor. Pra quem usa altos niveis de overdrive, aconselho tapar com "contact" os cortes no tampo. Para blues, rock e um pop tipo lulu santos, a guitarra e imbativel.

A ac?o da guitarra veio de fabrica muuuuito ruim. O tremolo necessita de um pouco de paciencia para afinac?o das cordas. Alem disso, a ponte movel precisa ser colocada precisamente em seu lugar, para uma regulagem bem feita. Uso cordas D'dario 0.12 e obtive ajustes de entonac?o perfeitos e uma ac?o confortavel. Apenas o tremolo desafina consideravelmente, o que me faz pensar em substituir as tarrachas originais e o nut. Os sadles da ponte possuem roletes.

Pra quem toca com stratos/les paul/teles, a Ibanez AF75t deve parecer fragil. E e. Seu corpo semi-acustico exige alguns cuidados, e o braco colado tambem. Mas nada critico, a menos que vc toque trash metal!

A primeira guitarra que me foi entregue pela loja apresentou problemas de regulagem e veio com a cor trocada. Fui prontamente atendido e a guitarra foi mandada de volta ao importador, que por sua vez me mandou uma outra, na cor certa e melhor regulada. Apesar de ter sido reparado o engano, fiquei dez dias esperando. Como sou ansioso demais, quase infartei....

Acho que a Ibanez AF75t e um excelente equipamento. Possuo uma Boss GT-5 ligadas em um sistma de P.A. com mesa Roland VS 840, amplificador Attack e caixas trapezoidais de 3 vias. Uso simulac?o de amps em minha pedaleira e tiro otimos sons. E um instrumento que recomendo, sem duvida!

I've got the turquoise one, it's stunning. Can't really fault it on any level, only thing about it not beautiful is the silly artcore lightening bolt under the ibanez name. I had it refinished out, it's there underneath if anyone wants to restore it after i'm gone, but you wouldn't know it. much classier. fickle I know but what ever gets you through the night. I'd give it a ten for looks, set-up (from nevada music web site), price, I have teles and jaguars and a les paul and this is so sweet, especially compared to the Jag, but that's not knocking jaguars as they do things this can only dream of, but for jazz and blues as good as they get. I played a gretsch (not mine sadly) and didn't like it, the neck was too chunky to do anything, and it wasn't just a matter of getting used to it

sound is good too, ok the pick ups aren't top of the range but you'd need a pretty specialised ear to fault them, great tone from the neck pup and together they're fine to me, as good as lace pups i reckon

top is laquered turquoise so bookmatching doesnt apply, no flaws whatso ever,

perfect for live and looks cool on ts stand when you swop too. have used it once without back-up annd it was fine,

no need.

been playing 18 years, definately buy it agai, have the artcore AF75 aswell which is everybit as good in all depts, just minus the trem but a beautifully made instrument like this one

I bought this this January (2004) and that will probably make it a 2003, taking geography into account. To remind you, this is a thinline, single-cut hollowbody with two 'buckers and "Bigsby". Gives that Gretsch vibe at first sight.

I play eclectic guitar, recording on my Boss 1180, and the V-Amp is mainly set to a Fender Champ with chorus and varying degrees of gain. I have a liking for the 335/neck pu sound, and this beauty gives me the shivers along with the vibrato. Turning things to eleven makes it shout in a very expressive way, but it's the hunched-over, hitting-the-tone sounds that keeps me playing. Will it feed back? I don't know. I don't care.

I have a thing for Ibanez guitars. There was a dent in it, but blame a jerk who trawled the shop like an elephant - I got a discount, but at double the price this would still be good value. Ibanez guitars seem to be lovingly put together and this one is a prime example.

Ad nauseam: Ibanez make good guitars, and have done so for at least thirty-one years (my eldest is a '73) and I wouldn't hesitate to take my AFS75 on the road if I had to.

Repeating myself again, I have never had to complain about an Ibanez guitar. No opinion.

I've played for about thirty years, mostly at home, but after aqcuiring a digital recorder two years ago I've been developing in many ways. I'm a collector of mid-priced instruments, wanting to build a collection of different guitars to inspire my playing.
I'm an emotional rather than a technical guitarist, and the lovely tone of this instrument inspired me to write one of my best songs right after purchase. As noted, I put this one in the 335 (copy) bracket, appreciating the looseness/openness of the vibrato as opposed to my very tight Jay Turser with a stoptail. I think the vibrato makes the slightly metallic sound of the acoustic playing, but on record it's great. If you steal it, I'll come for you.

The features have been well represented here already.
However through some reading I have discovered that the trem is a licenced Bigsby, not just a replica.
The pups are ceramic, which gives more highs.
Lots of tones available, and they are good tones at that.
It is a very well made axe in its category.
Mine is TBR in color. Very fine!

Jazz, rock-a-billy, G. Benson, Chris Isaac, blues etc...
My basic settings for the type of sounds I like best with this axe (stock) are as follows:
Through Afex Big Bottom Xciter.
Low Tune 2, low blend 4.5, High Tune 6 and High Blend 3.5.

Holy Grail.
Set @ 12:00 on spring mode.

DD-3.
Elevel 12:00, Feedback 8:00, Delay Time 7:30 and Mode L.800ms.

Bassman RI.
Pres.10. Mid.10.5, Bass 3, Treb 9.5, Channels are jumped. Norm vol.3, Bright vol.4.

Try it. See what you think.

Stunning right out of the box!
Can find zero flaws.
Factory set-up was fine. However setting up to personal tastes is always going to happen. I have never found a guitar set up the way I like it straight of the wall or out of a box from the manufacturer.
That said, the guitar was very playable as it arrived.
I've had this axe for awile now.
To tell the truth, at the price paid, I was ready to send it back as soon as I openned the box. What a suprise!
My adjustments to suit my tastes are as follows:
Neck Relief .004"
String height 3/64"
Pup height Bass =4/64", Treble =3/32".
Pyramid round wounds (plain "G") 11-48.
I'm not sure yet, however the creme pickgard might look better than the stock black. Cost is $10.00 retail. It is stock on the Turquoise option.
Also thinking of replacing the pups with TV Jones type.
Although the stock pups are nice sounding. We'll see.

Time will tell.
No problems at all so far.
I feel this axe will stand the test of time.

Have not had to use this benefit yet.
I have no reason to think I would have to.

Been playing at it for 35 years (do not seem to be getting any better at it though!).
Researched the reviews after I found the article in one of the guitar mags. The mag even gave it a award for best bang for the buck or some other type of high praise.
Definitely worth replacing!!!
I'm getting some really great sounds out of this axe, including rock-a-billy. Just for that sound alone, this guitar is worht more than I paid for it.
This guitar does not compare with any of my other guitars, not even my Casino. It has its own voicing, and it is very useful.
I might change out pup for the TV Jones type. But it is not neccessary. The creme pickgard option might look cool.
If anyone out there has a rig like the one described above, give these a listen.

I bought this a few months back from AMS Music, since Musician's Friend wouldn't ship to my house. I guess that makes it a 2004 model. Mine is the transparent red. It is a thinline hollow body, with 2 humbuckers and a "Bigsby" style vibrato. Most of these type guitars, including most Gretsches (of which I have owned several), have "floating" bridges. This is not a problem -you just have to understand how they work. If you're overly concerned about intonation, just mark the location of the bridge when you get everything set just right -then take it off & apply some thin double sided tape to hold it in place. Most features of this guitar have been well documented by other reviewers. I'm assuming most of you will disregard the comments of the idiots that didn't know to take the protective foam packing material out from under the bridge. I just want to add that this guitar is a good example of the amazing value for the money stuff coming out of China these days. Give Ibanez credit for realizing the potential. The entire "Artcore" series is a phenomenal value -whatever your needs might be.

I play mostly classic rock, rockabilly, and instrumnetal surf. I have mostly solid body guitars (strats, teles, mosrites, jaguars, etc.) This guitar is quite versatile, and is great for Beatles type stuff, or the occasional slow surf number, like "Sleepwalk", not to mention most rockabilly type stuff. For the distorted, hi gain, or reverb drenched surf stuff, I mostly stick to the solid bodies. Mostly I use a Fender '63 Vibroverb re-isssue amp. My only effects are a Dan Echo delay and an Ibanez TS 808 tube screamer, along with a Fender outboard reverb tank for the surf stuff. The pickups, electronics and sound of this guitar are great. It fills a niche that I had formerly filled with the $2,000.00 & up Gretsches. I believe the quality is comparable. Admittedly, the pickup switch should have been relocated, but I have learned to live with that. I may someday replace the cheesey looking Ibanez vibrato with a real bigsby -but I can't complain about the way it works.

I love D'Addario strings -but they make some really crappy cheap ones that manufacturers put on guitars like this. That's the first thing to do if you buy one of these -throw away the crappy strings!
After installing a decent set of strings, and some minor adjusting of the bridge (+ removing the packing foam !!!!), the setup was fine.
The finish, binding, frets, etc. are great -especially considering the price. The tuning pegs are generic "Grover" types. They are no doubt cheap, but work fine for me. Electonics are smooth & quiet.

So far, so good.

I have owned hundreds of guitars and have never yet used any type of "customer support". Warranties are for cars & washing machines.
Part of the fun of guitars is tinkering and messing with them. If you don't like something -change it! If it falls apart, put it back together -it was probably your fault anyway.

I've been playing for over 35 yrs. I've already mentioned other guitars, gear, etc. If stolen or lost, I would probably get another one, as I have yet to see anything out there to compare, for the money. For 3 or 4 times the money -there are plenty guitars I would rather have. In my old age, I have come to want more guitars for less money. I don't own them to impress anyone, just to play. This one plays fine and looks cool.

You know all about this by now. Fully hollow laminated maple body with mahogony set net, 24 3/4" scale with rosewood fingerboard, 22 smallish frets, 2 HB's with 3-way toggle, bigsby-style tremolo with roller bridge. If this is what you want then I guess the features are just fine!

Everyone recites the same problem, for a reason. That pickup selector switch could only be more inconvenient if it were located on the BACK of the guitar. Putting it under the trem arm must save them a million dollars per instrument or something. Of course this location was simply inherited from the previous non-trem versions of the same basic guitar, but that's no excuse. Features are a ten, then a MINUS TWO for this blunder.

Mine has the transparent blue finish.

I have only owned Fender models before, a Japanese Esquire (to which I added a neck P/U to make it a tele) and a Japanese 50's style Stratocaster with a single-piece maple neck. So, this time I went shopping for a guitar that would have a fuller and less bright sound. I own two amps, a Fender Pro Junior and a Blues DeVille 410 (tweed model prior to HotRod version).

The AFS75T has very nicely filled the niche I was looking to fill. It certainly does have a big open sound. The hollow body helps to give the attack a nice "bouncy" quality in comparison to the very percussive Fenders, and the tone tends overall to emphasize the mids and low-mids. I typically play with some reverb, and the often the only other effect I use is overdrive. The pickups put out a medium strength signal, somewhat hotter than my single-coils and this helps get the most out of the overdrive circuit on the DeVille. In fact, I am now totally in love with the combination of AFS75T and my Deville. Played at reasonable volumes this amp on its own doesn't quite have the gain necessary to overdrive well with single-coils but, with this setup it will get quite saturated at high gain settings. Sounds huge when the preamp is just breaking up and the power is set to get the speakers working. Just wish I had a soundproofed room to play it in! Played through the Pro Junior the mids are enhanced even more, which gives a really thick lead tone as the volume knob is twisted into the upper reaches.

The clean sounds are full and beautiful. Some of the acoustic resonance comes through the amp and the feel is very lively. I particulary like to play with both pickups when playing clean or moderatetly overdriven. The construction does not emphasize a glassy top end but the pickups are not overly dark sounding either. A nice balance is struck here.

I just have to specifically mention how nicely this instrument feeds back. It is very controllable and musical; it definitely adds another dimension when playing. No, the pickups don't squeal, just a nice arched top vibrating in sympathy with your amp!

I'll give it the highest possible rating for sound, cause it really suits me! Of course, I'm playing mostly retro-styled instrumentals and not Korn covers...

Out of the box, the guitar looks stunning! Only niggle I have visually is I do not particularly like the artcore logo on headstock but, what are ya gonna do? I became interested in this guitar after reading the Guitar Player review of it. Since that time the black lacquer finish on the bridge has been removed and the rosewood is now left in its natural state.

Unlike the previous reviewer, it was perfectly obvious to me that the piece of foam between the bridge and top is there to PROTECT THE FINISH DURING SHIPMENT. I took this out when testing the guitar at the shop I bought it from. Sheesh. The FLOATING BRIDGE matches the contour of the top very well, just like it should on a HOLLOW-BODIED ARCHTOP. In fact the hardware all works very well. The die-cast tuners work smoothly with no free play and no rattles, the roller bridge and tremolo work well and do stay in tune as well as any guitar with a non-locking system. The finish is a very attractive shade of blue, the binding has no flaws, the inlay work though simple has been nicely installed and it will probably be many years before the clearcoat gets worn through, barring outright chips.

The setup from the factory was playable. Intonation was reasonably good and easily adjusted. The neck had slight relief which I will leave as-is. String height at the nut is good, though I did raise the bridge somewhat to correct some fret buzz. The frets themselves are small, not jumbo and they are nicely shaped but could be a little better polished. The switch and pots work smoothly with no noise. The pickups were well-balanced out of the box.

As shipped straight from China, a playable instrument made excellent with only the simplest of adjustments.

The hardware is all good, of course it will stand up to live use. Repeated windmilling could just as obviously shift the floating bridge if you're not careful. Windmill at your own risk!

Seriously, the parts are all good but the nature of a floating bridge is to, well, float. It can get bumped out of position, shifting the strings in relation to the neck and throwing the intonation out. This guitar will stand up as well as any other of this design.

I see no reason at all I should not be playing this guitar for many years to come!

I've never purchased an Ibanez before. I cannot imagine this solidly built instrument just falling apart so I will not even rate this category.

I've been playing for 13 years and I am totally in love with this thing. It is a very big shift away from the extremely bright sound of my maple strat and having this type of variety is good. It sounds huge through my DeVille, looks AMAZING with the blue finish and big shiny Bigsby, balances well, blah blah blah. If it were lost or stolen I would get another immediately.

Value? Are you kidding? THE BEST VALUE.

I DID NOT BUY THIS GUITAR. READ WHY BELOW!

As above or below: thin single-cut hollow body, 2 f-holes, H/H pickups, 4 pot electronics and Bigsby style trem. Class looking.
The body is covered in see-through red, beige (plasic) bindings with pin-stripe design

It's all a tad on the cheap side, but it looks great from a few meters away

I am by no way impressed and that is because of the very, very bad quality of this guitar. see below:

Let's start at the top:

- tuners are rattling. Well, that happens when you use cheapish tuners with soft-metal parts (or plastic) under the cover. To defend Ibanez: those tuners are on a lot of crappy guitars, not only theirs!
- nice inlay work on the fretboard, well done, no edges or "round corners".
- binding is a tad on the thick side, but for the price of the guitar, binding and fretwork are pretty well done. I've seen worse on guitars 5 times more expensive.
- neckjoint (glued in) is among the worst in the business. What made them come up with this triangular cavity under the last two frets? It can't get worse!!!!! Plus the actual "glued in part" of the neck is not sooooo big. The neck will probably break here before the headstock suffers from any shock!
- pickups are bad sounding (no brilliance, absolutely NO top end!!!) generic commie-China humbuckers with chrome caps. Set upon HUGE blocks of maybe-wood to get them high enough under the strings (the neck is glued-in pretty high, remember?)
- electronics work without flaws, no scratching .... OK!
- the bridge (and now it gets nasty!!!!) is so ridiculously bad, that you have to ask yourself "who buys that instrument after a single look at the bridge?" - well, some do. OK, we have a contoured plywood top, and the machines that bend the wood over steam aren't super-duper precise; neither are the ones that shape the bridge support....
There is a thin layer of foam-paper (yes, the one used for protecting bottles or glasses in a parcel) between the guitar's top and the lower bridge.

That can't really improve sound, can it? I mean the more solid and rock-hard this joint, the better the vibrations are transmitted.

They do that to have a "cushion" for the not-so-tight-fitting parts. Ok, then the drill two holes on top of this wooden part and screw a tune-o-matic tailpiece on top of this. The strings are now about 1 1/4 inch above the top!
The entire construction moves back and forth when you action the vibrato. And movement means DETUNING!!!!

The guitar sounds bad, really bad (that can be the crappy pickups) and detunes with every ever-so-slight action of the whammy bar. A Bigsby system isn't made for dive-bombs, but you can't even add a little shimmer with this thing - unless you like to play with random-tunings.

Good neck, medium-quality body and totaly crap workmanship!
I definately would not buy this instrument!!!!! Not even for half the price.

If you read the above paragraphs .... I doubt this guitare holds together for a decent time

It is a sharp looking, very poor built piece of gear. It is not a music instrument because you can't really play on it - unless you want to retune every minute!

Features fully hollow body, H/H pickups, 2 volumes, two tones, Bigsby-style trem with roller saddles, and a ridiculously placed pickup switch (under the trem arm).

Bought mostly for Brian Setzer style. The pickups are brighter than most humbuckers. Not muddy at all. Plus, the feedback (when needed) is managable and clear. Unplugged, it's great for practice, writing, and quiet jamming. When run through a Zoom GFX-8 and a Hartke B900 bass amp, I get everything from sweet acoustic tones and Setzer- style swing and rockabilly to Floyd, Zep, SRV, AC/DC, Keith Urban, ZZ, etc...

"Ginny" is awsome! Trans-red finish, body, f-hole, neck, and head binding. Mother-o-pearl "Ibanez" and "Artcore" logos and fret markers, brushed aluminum trem unit... She's a babe!

I have Ginny and an Epi 1275 double-neck (Godzilla). I also have this thing about naming my guitars. The monster hardly sees the light of day since Ginny came into the picture.

Never dealt with and probably won't need to.

I've played Strats, LPs, 335s, no-names, and this baby can hang with the best!

This review is actually for the hardshell case that is recommended instead of the actual guitar. Anyone considering buying the Ibanez Artcore AFT75 or AFT75T needs to know this. The case that Ibanez recommends for this guitar is model number AF100C by TKL. TKL makes some fine cases but this one is way too tight for this guitar. It is so tight that I have to actually force the guitar in the case. This has caused the padding on the sides to come loose. The AFT75 or 75T fits nicely in a 335 style case. I wish I had bought one instead of the one Ibanez recommends. There is very slight movement of the guitar in the 335 case but not enough to worry about. There are a variety of 335 style cases to choose from. They are available from SKB, TKL and other after market companies. An Epiphone case is affordable and most likely made by TKL. I would rather have a good fitting case with a different name, than one with the Ibanez name and a tight fit. If you buy the AF100C case that is recommended for this guitar, you will see what I mean. Do yourself a favor and buy a 335 style case instead.

Features are same as all listed. I believe there are some variations, as some reviews list a bone nut and mine is bone colored plastic, and also some reports of the rosewood bridge being laquered black, and mine is bare rosewood. This guitar is awesome. Feels better to play than an epiphone dot or sheraton. I compared them, side by side. Can't be beat for the bread. Plastic pickgaurd and truss rod cover look a bit cheap and could have been nicer.

Sounds fab. Not thin like some reviewers have reported. Even through a little fender frontman practice amp it sounds full. Unplugged it does not have nearly the volume of an acoustic, but is a unique alternative to a little arlour guitar.

The set up was good. Intonation a bit off, but easy to adjust. The Ibanezby-Trem feels and works great since the little modification to get rid of that annoying stop. Now it swings up over the strings, total 360 degrees of rotation. HERES HOW: you need a 3mm allen key, an 8mm wrench, and a bit of masking tape, and a file. first use a bit of tape to mark where the bridge is, as once all strings are off, it moves. Take off strings. flip trem back to expose underside. Use allen key to remove arm and arm bracket from the axle. use wrench to take the arm of the bracket. now you file down the stop easily. It is just aluminum, and files off quickly. use the file to soften that sharp edge a bit too. easy as pie. put er back together. Easy Easy Easy, and makes all the diff in the world. The finish is primo for a guitar at this price. The red looks sweet. I would have prefered a brownburst, but not an option on the trem model.

Looks almost bulletproff. The roller saddle and the tuning pegs may have to be replaced in a few years, but the whole thing feels like it will hang tough.

good luck

Been playing over 20 years. Mostly acoustic folk stuff and a bit of silly 80's rock for fun. I started out playing an Ibanez challenger(telecaster copy) way back 25 or so years ago. It was a good guitar. Then I bashed the hell out of Ibanez bass playing in a cover band all through high school. I have a high opinion of Ibanez quality. This guitar is fantastic. Like I said, a better feel than epiphone for 2 or 3 times the bucks. You can not go wrong with this one my brothers and sisters. Let those on line places undersell each other. They are still making money, and you can save a lot. Rock on