Ibanez AFS75T Artcore

The usual ... 22 frets, 2 humbuckers, Bigsby-style trem, mahogany and maple body, generic tuners, seperate tone and volume controls, semi-hollow body with a bracing system instead of a block down the center.

Nowadays I play mostly Jazz, Blues, and Swing and will be gigging again very soon. I've been out of music for four years due to divorce. I played everything from Gibson ES335s (I've owned one) to Epiphones (I've owned 2) to higher-end Ibanez guitars before I bought it, and I absolutely LOVED the sound and volume of this guitar unplugged. It topped every other semi and full hollow I played. Plugged in, the pickups are very generic and sort of middle-of-the-road tone-wise, but certainly adequate. **** A big thing for me is the way this guitar feedsback **** I have not yet gotten the aweful squeal I've gotten previously when playing loud/live with Gibson and Epiphone hollow-bodies. At very high volumes, the feedback comes on slow, warm, and controlled. Much like a Les Paul. I was very suprised.

The finish on this gitar is amazing for the price. The inlays were perfect, the binding was dead-on, beautiful paint job, no glue on seams or inlays anywhere, no over spray, frets are dressed acceptably ... just really solid work. Only one very small 'bump' in the wood near the cut-away horn. Better than most Gibson products in the late 70s and 80s.

I've owned new and used Strats, Les Pauls, ES models, an SG, a Gibson RD std, a couple Epiphones, an Ibanez RG440 ... and this is probably the first guitar I've ever played that could play right out of the box. The cheap strings were set up to curve downward slightly toward the high E string (like I always set up my electrics), the intonation was ACTUALLY PERFECT until I moved the bridge, and the string height was right where I like it (a little high for most rock players). I was amazed.

The Bigsby-style tremelo was also a suprise. Once I had checked and set the bridge, reset the intonation, and adjusted the pickup height, I then put a glob of vaseline under each string at the nut, wiped it down, and found that the trem will come back in tune even after dive-bombing this thing. Impressive!

Looks very sturdy, I have no problem playing without a backup (I can change strings fast! :o) But it's new so I dunno ... I'll rate it based on how sturdy it feels.

Never used it.

I've been playing, including gigging out, for almost 25 years off and on, and I've owned just about every guitar and amp made since the 1970s at one time or another. For less than $400 this guitar has absolutely NO COMPETITION. I noticed when I tried to buy one that every single one I looked at and played was gone in two weeks, forcing me to buy the more expensive tremelo-equipped model (which I now LOVE). This guitars are flying off the racks and having played mine for a week ... I think I know why.

Brand new 2003 Ibanez AFS75T made in China. 22 frets on a rosewood fretboard, mahogany neck, laminated maple body. One set of volumes and tones for each of the Ibanez nickle-covered medium output humbuckers. Finish is transparent red (very shiny and easy to fingerprint). Body style is a thinline full hollowbody and isn't really a copy of any Gibson/Gretsch line in particular...but is definitely inspired by those lines. It's sort of Gibson Byrdland-ish, but not really. The bridge is an Ibanez designed roller bridge which works very well and is superior to the Gretsch roller bridge, which can be problem prone. If I owned a Gretsch I would want one of these. The tail piece is an Ibanez designed "Bigsby" style tremelo. The tuners are excellent and hold tune well. The neck is comfy but probably thinner than most traditional hollowbody guitars...I also play and Ibanez RG550 and a Strat and it doesn't feel too unusual, although it is definetely different from the RG. Ibanez says the frets are large, but they look pretty tiny compared to my RG (extra Jumbo) and my Strat (medium). No case. Came with documentation and a tool to adjust the truss rod.

I play a blues/rock/jazz mesh of styles (sticking to the heavier side of this blend) and it is a definite departure from my other guitars. I use a Johnson J-Station through a Tech 21 Power Engine 60. I find that while I play my other guitars on dirtier settings (clean w/a little overdrive), I like this guitar played CLEAN. Also, the patches on my J-Station that I use for my two solid body guitars do not work well with the Ibanez. The Artcore is much bassier. What this means to those of you outside of the digital modeling world is that you should play this guitar through your amp before deciding because your current amp may not sound good with it. I think this is true with any archtop hollowbody guitar...they're a different animal altogether. The sound unplugged is very good, although I wouldn't compare it to my Tacoma DM9. Plugged in she's just wonderful. The bridge position pickup (which I admittedly never play) can actually do the metal/rock thing very well, but I have other guitars for when I'm in those moods. The middle position (Both pickups on) is a great rockabilly sound...think Brian Setzer. Nice and honky and happy. The pickups are medium output, like Filter 'Trons, so they sound great in this application. The neck pickup does the jazz thing beautifully. I finally have a guitar for all of my moods! BTW, there is none of the tone drop-out on the volume knobs as mentioned in earlier reviews. The controls work perfectly.

There are good points and bad points about this guitar in this category. I'm a positive person, so I'll cover the good points first. The guitar was set up perfectly from the factory. Intonation was dead on, there are no dead spots or badly playing frets, neck relief is just right. The finish is stunning and the binding around the body (back and front), neck and F-Holes are perfection. The bone nut is perfection. Now for the bad points: Lots of tiny swirl/scratches in the finish around the control knobs. These can be buffed out, but are dissapointing. Also, the Ibanez "Bigsby" finish is a little rough and there was some sort of goo on it that I can't get all the way off. The strings that come with it are LOUSY. Throw in the fact that this is a $300ish guitar, and those little issues seem awfully minor, but I felt they should be touched on.

I've only had it for about a week. I can't imagine this guitar not lasting my lifetime. Everything seems good, but since it was Chinese made, I can imagine the pots and switches will eventually need to be replaced, but I won't do it unless it absolutely needs it.

Ibanez has a history of treating it's customers only slightly better than they would treat dog shit on their shoes. It only has a year warranty. Guitar Trader has a 45 day guarantee, so you really risk nothing buying from them, or even AMS. Musicians Fiend...er...Friend lost my business a year ago when they couldn't even ship some packs of strings to my house without me having to call them a half a dozen times.

I have been playing for 22 years. I have been looking for something to fill that space for when I'm in the mood to play rockabilly or jazz. This does that quite well. For $339, I really have nothing to complain about and have TONS to be happy about. I love it. My only dislike is the slight finish problems and the location of the pickup switch, which is really bad for a guitar with a Bigsby. While shopping around, I also played a use Washburn J9 which was really nice but not much better than the Ibanez for more money. I also played a Gibson ES-135 (the new model without the F-Holes) that was $900 and it was the most pathetic guitar I've ever played. Clamp marks up and down the sides of the neck, sloppy fretwork...an abomination. I also checked out the Michael Kelly line, but I couldn't play one before hand, whereas I could play an Ibanez at the local store. They are very consistant, so don't be afraid to go mail order on thse if you see one local you like with a poor price tag. The local Ibanez had belt buckle scratches all over the back of it for the same price as guitar trader. If you plan to play out with it, you gotta get a case.