Ibanez AFS75T Artcore

This guitar was made and purchased in 2003. Features have been covered in other reviews. I purchased the Brown transparent model with case on-line from zZounds after an exhaustive effort to find a hollow body (Not semi-hollow) for a reasonable price. I was willing and ready to go for the Epi-Casino until I saw and played the Artcore. To paraphrase another review, this IS a "Gretsch meets Gibson" model and I am pleased with the result. The neck is fantastic and the finish is flawless. Throw in the Bigsby style tremolo and you have one heck of a deal... real value for the $$$.

The sound of a hollow body is clearly different than that of my Strat and Les Paul, which is the primary reason I chose it. The standard humbuckers offer a clean, full-bodied sound. I was primarily looking for a guitar similar to the Gretsch Tennessean played by our guitarist back in the late 60's, early 70's. I was surprised how closely this fits the bill. Though the sound is not quite the Gretsch sound, it can come extremely close by using different amps (try an old Musicman amp). I remembered when our guitarist wanted a Beatles sound, he'd plug into his Vox SuperBeatle; when he wanted a John Kay sound (Steppinwolf) he'd plug into my Ampeg B-15N. Never underestimate the importance of choosing the right amp.

While not displeased with the original sound, I had heard so much about the difference that good pick-ups make, I installed a set of TV Tron's from TV Jones. All that this has done was turn a really good guitar into a great guitar. I'm holding a guitar that plays and sounds like a $2000+ guitar and my price tag topped out at $550. While I haven't pushed or explored the full potential of these pick-ups, I feel it's only proper to rate the sound based on the original stock pick-ups (I'll review the TV Tron's in the appropriate forum later).

I now play for my own entertainment and occasionally jam or play out when time permits. I've put the stock unit through its paces using a variety of amps (Musicman 212, Fender Super60 w/ 4x10's, Peavey backstage 35, even a Fender Acoustasonic SFX) and find each with their own unique, pleasing sound. It can be clean when you want clean, fat when you want fat, and mellow when your mood calls for it. This guitar has found a home in my heart. The original pick-ups were more than adequate and even though they're replaced, they will soon find their way into another guitar and definitely not sit on the shelf.

Set-up from the factory was very good. For those that complained about dead sound, did you change the strings and remove the foam protector from under the bridge? After adjusting for intonation, the action was close, no fret buzz, hardware is better than expected for the price, in-laid neck (beautiful), flawless body trim and finish, wow. The pots were as expected, operate smoothly and obviously not top of the line but I've never had pots go bad other than needing a little spray. The only 2 shortcomings: I never did like the way the harnesses on 2P/U humbucker guitars were wired up. Changing the P/U's gave me the opportunity to correct that... a simple change. And like others commented, what's with that switch location?... the one and only inconvenience in the whole deal! Still, I have to give it a nine because it's a lot of guitar for $329.

It's too new to tell but it'll do what I need it to do. I have three sons who play and they'll give it a workout. I would use it on a gig but who these days uses one guitar? It seems dependable enough right now but only time will tell.

Never dealt with Ibanez.

I've been playing for 39 years and have a variety of guitars, acoustic, electric, acoustic/elec., Jazz Bass, amps of all sorts (tube and SS) even a Hammond and Leslie. I use and maintain them all. Not playing professionally makes it hard to justify spending a lot of money when it's not your livelihood. But, I know a deal when I see it and this is a helluva deal! I'm so glad I didn't put the money out for the Casino. It's more than I hoped for and even with the pick-up up-grade, it's STILL a better deal than the Casino.

If lost/stolen (more likely broken by one of my sons) I'd get another after I broke his arm. Hey, they might be bigger than me but they gotta sleep sometime... and I know where they live.

sounds great plugged in or as an acoustic...

The fit and finishonthis guitar is just awsome... There aren't many guitars out there that canbeat the craftsmanship of this series...I did try out one of the lower model Artcore's at the localshop but it did not have the same smoothfeel as my model...

I did however have a few issues with the tremolo - it is not really engineered very well... I noticed that whenever I would rotate the whammy bar I would feel a bit of grinding... I eventually ended up removing the little spring that is used to torque the bar and replaced it with a stripped plastic nut (the kind used for liscence plates)... now the tremolo moves alot smoother....

see above

This is a great guitar for the money... but I would not recommend this to "first time" guitar buyers... Although I have several other guitars, this is my first archtop... I would imagine that a first time buyer would have quite a hard time changing out the strings of one of these babies... I was quite surprised when the bridge and tailpiece fell to the floor when I changed out the strings for the first time...

Details about the AFS75T that may be hard to find or figure out (shame on Ibanez for not listing important g'tar details on their website!): full hollow body (NOT semi-hollow!), 1-11/16" body depth at sides, 24-3/4" scale, 1-11/16" nut width, 12" fretboard radius, floating rosewood bridge with tune-o-matic roller saddles.

The Artcore humbucking pickups are quite treble-toned - not at all like a typical warm/muddy humbucker - great for rock and rock-a-billy, IMO.

This is the second Artcore I've owned (the other was the AS73, ES335 clone) - I dunno how Ibanez does it at the price point these guitars command, but this Artcore series is just amazing in terms of fit, finish, build. Great bang for the buck.

Totally gig-worthy, IMO.

I have no idea or could care.

A player since the mid 50's, gigged for over a decade. In stock form this g'tar is just fine, and at the selling price it's just fabulous. I have the capability of tweaking guitars and this was no exception and so I performed the following mods - Rio Grande nickel covered humbuckers (Texas and BBQ), Grover 18:1 locking tuners, CTS 500KA pots, Switchcraft 3-way and 1/4" jack, vintage unbleached bone nut, light fret level/crown/hi-buff, complete setup for action and intonation w/EB .011-.048 roundwounds. Ah, *so* nice ....

See Ibanez site for the detailed features; this is a lightweight semi acoustic "gretsch meets gibson" model with tremelo; 2 PAF type of pickups and the usual controls. Colour is transparaent red. Tremelo is a nice feature in this price class.

Sound is clear and open; the primary reason I bought this guitar. Perfect for jazz; blues; country; fusion (if not too loud). I compared it to an Ibanez AS 120 (almost 3x as expensive) which is a really nice guitar but the neck pickup sounds as if it is suffering from an acute cold; the Gibson ES 137 (about 5x more expensive; which sounded muddy and had a loose tone control!). I settled for this guitar because it has an amazingly full-bodied, clear sound. I tried it over a Koch twintone amp (fantastic Dutch made amp); Fender twin and my own current amp (Roland Cube Cosm 30 with the Jazz Chorus modelling (sounds great. The guitar is not noisy and seems well shielded. Sound / tone is great.

Well set up from the factory; fret work (small frets) is OK but can be improved. I set up this guitar for jazz so I slapped on flat wound D'Addario 0.11 Chromes, adjusted the action, touched up the intonation and adjusted the neck; I have never had a guitar that set up so easily, with such fast action. I have owned many guitars including a Gibson ES 347 but this cheap Ibanez can compete with guitars x times more expensive.

I am not sure about this because I haven't had the chance to use it on stage or in our studio.

I have been playing for 32 years; owned many guitars; tone and playability are the best features of this guitar; it is also light weight so it should be easy to perform on stage with this guitar. The tremelo is nice and stable. If you're looking for a semi with a clear jazzy sound and you don't want to spend a fortune on a mid class Gibson, then set it up with flat wounds and run it thru a good little amp. It is really great value. Consider this guitar if you are in the market for a semi.

Two volume two tone, 3 way pickup selector, Bigsby style bridge with rollers, very nice! Electronics seem to be fine so far. I would like a series/parallel switch for both pickups, would like to install them in the volume pots if possible, but havn't checked the wiring out yet. Features covered completely in other reviews.

I've been playing for about 23 years, and until a few years ago I was mostly a hard rock style player. Recently I've been getting more into early Beatles, roots rock, and Brian Setzer type stuff. That means one thing: a Gretsch... but not having unlimited $$$ available I was looking specifically for a cheaper alternative to a Gretsch. After extensive internet research it seemed that this guitar was the one to get. I played it in the music store and it seemed to sound fine, both unplugged and plugged.

I'm strictly into home recording, I don't play live other than the occasional jam. When first using this on recording I was a bit dissapointed to find that the guitar didn't really have much "personality". It sounded fine, in tune etc., but I didn't listen back and think "what a great hollowbody vintage sound!" Maybe I should have got a bigger model, not a slimline? I plug it into a preamp, then my Echo Mia soundcard, then play through Amplitube (www.amplitube.com). It seems to sound good, just kind of flat and generic. I might try installing a TV Jones Gretsch style humbucker in it, but that's almost half the price of the whole guitar!

Funny thing is, before getting this I was anxious to get the vintage sound, so I put a set of Daddario ECG 23 flatwound strings on my old Charvel Jackson heavy metal guitar, and I got quite a good vintage sound...

I think you could go over this guitar with a microscope and not find a single flaw. It is absoloutly beautiful! I got the red one. I read about these limited edition colors coming out, and I wanted to get the orange one, but not available in Canada apparently.

The red finish is fabulous, the fretboard inlays are great, I LOVE the binding. Tuners seems great, the roller bridge is very nice... can't compalin about anything at all. I set up the intonation and now it's perfect, always stays in tune even with tremelo use. I put on a set of flatwound Daddario ECG 23s, same kind Setzer uses.

One thing, I wish the frets were bigger, I'm used to more jumbo sizes and these seem quite small. Two things that previous reviewers said are correct: the pickup switch shouldn't be under the tremelo arm (very silly) and the arm should be able to move over the strings.

Everything seems fine, but I don't play live.

Asked about the limited edition colors, they thought I was halucinating, actually this was the distributor in Canada. I saw pics on the net, they were nice... orange and baby blue.

Other guitars I have are a 1984 RR Charvel Jackson, and a 1982 Japanese Strat, various acoustics and basses.

In summary, guess you can't get a great guitar with great pickups for the price of a couple of great pickups.. if that makes sense. I like it a lot though, but I'll still play my other guitars.

If you go to http://www.artistcollaboration.com and look up Schenkerguy, that's me, you can check out some tunes I did with this guitar.

The basics of this guitar have been thoroughly detailed in previous reviews. Let me just say that this guitar is one of the best values out there today. Sure there are better guitars available, but none with the same features, quality, and sound come close to this price range. Oh yeah, I bought the blue one. I only wish they offered it in natural...but then the price would go up I'm sure.

I've read some of the negative review on the sound, one has to wonder why some folks bought it if they didn't like the sound? I love the sound of it, accoustically and amp'd. Without power I can practice and still get a clean sound out of the thin body. Through an amp I get pretty much whatever I need from it. I can set the pickups and pedals for nice bluesy stuff, tweak it for some rockabilly, then dial in more sweet-nasty for some Nugent style sounds.
I find the humbuckers to be remarkably bright, not mushy at all (as some reviews have said). Now if I want it brighter I'll just pick up my Stratocaster. But I can get a nice range of tones and styles out of the Artcore's pickups. Tunes I was playing on my Strat or Les Paul are now being played on the Ibanez.
My chain is: guitar>AW-2>CS-3>OS-2>BF-2>PH-2>into an old Peavey Classic 2x12 50 watt tube amp.

I was very surpised when I opened up the box. The finish was wonderful, no bad spots, no bumps....just a nice color and smooth surface.
I was also surprised to find the action set up well. All I did was remove the foam from under the bridge, set the bridge down a little to suit my taste, and tune the strings. Intonation was perfect out of the box. Tuners are good; tight but easy to turn...and they hold tune. Pickups were well adjusted. I'll probably tweak them some as time goes by, but they were quite nice from the factory. All controls functioned very well, smooth and noiseless. I spent much much more time setting up my Strat than I did this Ibanez. And the Strat came off a rack at a large music shop! Maybe I just got lucky, but this Ibanez guitar is great rightout of the box.
The only thing I will probably change is the location of the neck side strap button. It is on the back of the guitar, and I prefer it in a spot which doesn't push the guitar forward when playing. MINOR DETAIL!
Oh and sure, as I go along I'll do some minor fret polishing and a few other small tweaks. But that is stuff I'd do on any guitar.

I haven't had it long enough to say "it holds up well"....but it looks like it will. Okay, I play hard, but I do not abuse my guitars. So maybe my view of lasting might be less than someone else's. I believe that with normal care this guitar will outlast me. It surely will withstand live playing (isn't all playing "live"?). Again, I don't abuse my guitars on stage, so this is just my opinion. I'd probably take a backup, but doubt it would be needed. However, I don't drive my car without a spare tire, so why not take a spare guitar to work also?

Never dealt with Ibanez.

Contrary to what I thought before owning it, I actually love this one. It will probably become my main guitar. It just suits me, is fun to play, and sounds great for what I do.
I've been playing for 34 years, did music for a living a number of years. I currently own a variety of electric and accoustic guitars.
I wanted a large hollow body guitar that was thin, with a tremelo. The Artcore fit all my requirements....and exceeded all expectations. I compared it to the Epiphone dots, Ep Casinos, and other Gibson and Gretsch clones....I prefer the Ibanez.
I only wish they offered it in a natural blonde finish with tortoise shell pickguard. If they did, I'd buy me a second one!

Features, NIce and simple. Two Hums at the neck and bridge, volume/tone for each. Pickup switch is located underneath the bigsby arm, witch took a little getting used to, but now makes for faster tone swapping for me. Neck is smooth and clean, real easy playability, Nice finish makes her look like a more expensive guitar!

I'm currently running as a chain from the axe > Maxon comp> Morley wah> Boss DD-6 delay> Fender Hotrod DeVille 4x10. Thru the Fender I don't think I've ever gotten fatter tones, and such a range out of one guitar. This guitar feeds back ALOT and has trememdous sustain when run through a dirty amp. Great for rock, real smooth with the Jazz, and I've been able to squeeze some real HEAVY tones out of this Big lady.

Magnificent right out of the box. NO flaws whatsoever, and I feel a little guilty about watching her get oily from my dirty hands. Can lose it's tune a little if you play her real real hard, but bigsby's are like that.

It'll stand alot, get a hardshell case though, it's a safe investment.
solid feel, all the way around.

Never had to deal with them.

Been playing for 8 years, love the tone. I swap between the Ibanez and a '62 Fender Jazzmaster and they make for a great complement for each other. Fender/Twang, Artcore/Meat. I'd buy one again. I only wish I could launch bombs from it in crazy dangeresque fashion for super pyrotechnics.

Features have been covered before. Highlights; the most brilliant blue color I've ever seen. Even had another customer comment on it while I was in line waiting to pay for it!

It growls, it twangs, it jangles...everything I want it to do. I was looking for a semi-hollow body ala early George Harrison and current Brian Setzer. This guitar does everything I want it to do. Pickups are fine for me; bridge pickup gives a good roar

This was hanging on the top rack at Sam Ash so in theory, probably hadn't been played as much as the ones within reach. Great finish (again...a beautiful blue!, frets were good, all tuners, knob, etc. were on tight and put on to stay. Action was OK out of the box, or off the wall in this case. I will take this to my local tech to set up, but for now it's very playable even with the stock strings.

Well put together. I even bought a pair of strap locks and didn't need them. The strap buttons that came with the guitar are larger and hold the strap well. Psuedo Bigsby works niiiiice!

Registered the warranty online!

This rounds out my collection; currently have Highway 1 Strat, Epi Les Paul Standard, Ibanez SA160, and a Dean Performer Acoustic. Great value for the money. I had seen this in a catalogue and then checked them out at several stores. I was blown away by the quality and price.

An update ... I've been playing for almost a month now and some aspects are more clear.

First, I still love the AF75T and will be picking up a nontrem model for backup soon. That said however, the designer who placed the pickup selector right under the trem bar should be fired ... and shot. This is so elementary it's almost unforgivable. I'm going to pay someone to move mine to the upper horn a la Les Paul. The Bigsby-style trem is still pretty sweet though. No tuning problems whatsoever.

I've been playing thru a borrowed Fender Princeton Chorus 2x10 and a Digitech RP200 and I really like the medium output, 'midrangey' pickups. But I am going to eventually replace the neck p'up with something a little brighter as soon as I find something like a direct replacement P-90 sound. Still no feedback problems, even at gigging volumes. I still love the sound overall. Beautiful sound for Jazz, Blues, Swing or Progressive Rock. On the bridge pickup I can even get a decent 'metal' tone with the RP200.

I've noticed a few more small irregularities in the finish, but still nothing like some of the higher-end Gibson flaws. As another reviewer mentioned, Gibson guitars are become quite spotty quality-wise. For $330 the Artcore is still awesome. The action has been tweaked a little more and it still tunes and intonates perfectly. Stays in tune well.

Still very satisfied that this is a solidly made guitar. I anticipate no problems.

Dunno ...

With a new bridge pickup and moving the selector switch I'll still have an awesome guitar set up perfectly for the way I play for less than an Epiphone Sheraton or Joe Pass model. I think that's pretty impressive. If lost or stolen I'd buy another, in fact, I'm going to buy another for backup. The next will be the AF/AG 75 which is a little thicker and is a non-trem model. I am still hugely impressed by the guitar. A steal at $330!

This guitar is a 2003 made in Korea (I believe). Everything has been covered in the other reviews as far as features. My particular guitar(s) was purchased from Daddy's Junky Music in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts (great bunch of guys now that it is under new management in that branch!). The finish on my guitar is transparent red. This review will cover both instrument that I purchased since one was returned.... read on.

The sound category is a very difficult category to cover since everyone has their own taste in sound and tone. I play in a cover band. We cover everything from the 70s to the present. Think rock though!!! Hendrix, Cream, Jovi, Puddle of Mudd, Audioslave etc etc. My main guitar is a Parker Fly Classic with a PAF pro at the neck and a Tone Zone at the bridge. I also use a Squire double fat tele with Zakk Wylde EMG pickups, Ibanez S370dx, 1965 Fender Strat with REAL Bill Lawrence pickups. Effects are Tech 21 COMPTORION ( I only use the compression), Boss DD6 delay, Ibanez PH7 Phaser. Amps used are: Mesa Boogie ROcket 44, Marshall JCM 900, Fender Princeton, Peavey XXL, 62 Fender bassman. I use all of my gear for the same band. I just use different setups at different venues and how I feel at any given point in time. Back to the guitar......... The pickups are somewhat weaker than my other guitars (equal to the strat or a bit better). This is not a negative point in my opinion. I find that using a weaker pickup, you can usually create more of a dynamic sound with the amplifier used. I found that using just about all of the amps, I can get a very nice AC/DC sound, James Gang, Jovi, Buck Cherry, Audioslave etc. What I am saying is that it covers just about everything because, I can drive the front of my amps less than I can with the other guitars. The sound to me is a pretty full sound from low to high frequency. Keep in mind that I adjust my pickups very close to the strings on the plain side and I have the pickups about 1/4" away from the wound strings. This gave me a very balanced sound. This guitar also really came across very very nice when playing Johnny Winter style solos. I should mention the strings I am using..... what it came with got tossed immediately (I always do that). At the moment I am using DAddario Chromes .10 gauge..... You buy a .13 set, throw away the 6th string and buy a .10 plain for the first string. I tune to Eb. I will be switching back to DAddario .11s. The sound is a bit richer. I have to say that I really like the sound of the guitar. It is very usable!

Once again, this section is based on my preferences....... The first guitar I purchased for $30 less due to problems right out of the box. The first 4 frets were not seated and the back of the guitar was badly scratched right from a sealed factory box..... this is due to the guitar vibrating during shipping I suspect. Most guitars come in a thin foam like bag inside the box. These don't. Very Dumb on Ibanez's part! I seated the frets and adjusted the guitar (factory set up was not perfect (I am a fanatic - been playing for over 37 years). This consisted of loosening the truss rod, it was grossly over torqued. Had to lower the bridge considerably after adjusting the neck. Set the bridge position to adjust the intonation. BTW, you have to loosen the strings and remove the bridge to discard the protective strip that is in place when the guitar is shipped from the factory. Amazingly, the Bigsby type trem system stays in tune very well when compared to the real McCoy! You can't dive bomb and do EVH style stuff with this trem...... I have tried.

Summary for this guitar.... I liked ot so much, I could not tolerate the badly scratched back side and fret issue. I had to return it and have them get me another brand new one without the scratches. Guitar two: Good frets, no scratches, however the finish on the neck has some bubles in it....lots of them actually. This isn't a problem for me because I sand the finish off of the back of the neck on most of my guitars (NOT THE PARKER THOUGH!!!). Everything else was the same as far as the setup goes. The guitar is well worth the money and since I have had such bad luck with just about all of the new Gibsons, I would say that I would take this guitar over the 135 and 137 (which got returned). I play my guitars, I don't baby them. When they get old (1 to two years) and I can't tweak them to MY liking, they get sold tosomeone who has no problem with the minor flaws. The guitar will be used extensively with the band. I am happy with it.

This guitar will easily withstand live playing. The hardware.... I have my preferences. All my guitars get Sperzel locking tuners with the addition of a Sperzel D-Thing. I hope this finish wears off the neck quickly, I will have less to sand. The finish is fine... I don't like glossy finishes... I like oil finishes and satin finishes. Strap buttons are solid, I use the DUnlop plastic disk strap locks on all my guitars. Gig without a backup? WHo would ever do that? I always have a handful of guitars on hand, on stage. How unprofessional would it be to not be ready to deal with a problem. No backup = looking for trouble. I can depend on it.

N/A

Been playing for over 37 years. My gear is described above. No one would steal our gear (check us out: www.sanctuarylive.com). I will probably get another one without the trem. I buy guitars and amps monthly. It is my hobby to buy and build them. I don't hatre anything about it. I love its weight and slightly weak pickups. Very versatile. No one guitar does everything. No one amp does everything. Make what you own work for you. It is possible.