Ibanez ART100

The features have already been discussed - this is a very nice looking, fairly light weight (compared to a Gibson LP) electric with a separate volume for each pickup, single tone knob, and toggle pickup selector. Dual humbucker.

Rating 9 as it has everything a LP style guitar has, and I like the configuration (3 knobs, switch near knobs) better than I do on the Gibson. I would give it a 10 if it had a coil tap or piezo in the bridge etc.

VERY impressed with the sound!

I have owned MANY guitar and currently own around 15 electrics (Gibson Les Paul Classic, Epiphone Sheraton II w/Gibson pickups & Bigsby, 2 x Ibanez Artstar AS-120 es335 copies, a Fender strat, 2 x Gibson studio Les Pauls. I play into a Fender Hotrod DeVille 4x10 tube amp with upgraded tubes and speakers (Eminence Patriot Ramrod & Ragin Cajun speakers).

The guitar is NOT noisy at all, has a very full yet sharp sound - crisp. The switch feels solid (unlike the flimsy Epiphones), the knobs have a nice taper and are quiet.

The neck pickup is full and rich with a nice balance, the bridge pickup has a nice chiming tone & nice clean sound, but is fairly hot and works well with distortion - anything from a tube screamer to a BOSS DS-1. Nice harmonics, rich tone. I got great clean and distorted sound. The pickups *remind me* of the Gibson 496/500 that were in my Gibson Les Paul 1960 Classic, but are much nicer - powerful, but not shrill like the Gibson.

VERY impressive for a guitar in the cost range. It sounded and played as well as a few of the Gibson SG's and Les Paul's that I've had. For the price, I couldn't ask for more. For three times the price, it would still be a tone worth of the price range.

Nicely done! The intonation was good, string height was good, pickups were at the right height to balance each other out well. The binding & inlay looks good, the body is a nice design and the finish was flawless. Really impressive.

Personally I wish it had some nice inlays on the neck besides at the 12th fret, but that's just a cosmetic preference. As designed, the guitar is perfectly done.

So far so good, no issues. I would always bring a backup to a gig.

For the price (or even if it were pricier) this is a STEAL. VERY NICE and well worth the price. It looks good, feels good and sounds good!

I bought a white ART100 three weeks ago and am generally blown away at how well it plays and how good it sounds, for the price. I've owned a lot of high-end guitars (PRS, Parker, Fender, Gary Moore, etc.) and a few inexpensive ones (Cort). While the neck and playability on this guitar is not as great as one costing a couple thousand more, it is nevertheless quite good. I find it very easy to play. The shape, size and weight are reasonable. It's a pretty good looking guitar. And the sound is reasonable also. Just bear in mind that it's a $300 guitar (I paid $245 out the door for a new one, just took a bit of haggling).
I particularly like the hardware: the bridge and tailpiece are very nicely done. If you look carefully at the bridge and tailpiece on comparably priced guitars you will see that often they are of poor quality and are poorly installed; not so with this unit. Also, on a low-end Cort I had the strings were not entirely parallel to the neck---close but not quite; so I've learned to look closely at these things. I'm very impressed with the build quality of this guitar.

It sounds good---not great, not like a $2000 PRS---but certainly good enough that I'll gig with it. The pots are quiet and the guitar generates no extraneous noise.

I play jazz, blues, pop and americana. Currently I'm using a '53 Fender Champ for my main amp. I haven't quite got my effects sorted out for this guitar/amp combo yet, but will be purchasing a Vox tonelab ST and giving it a try. A nice thing about buying a guitar in this price range is that it leaves a bit of change for effects etc.

The finish is good; it will take time to see how durable it is. Coming from the factory the intonation was off and the action just a tad high, but the hardware makes it very easy to adjust action and intonation. You can't adjust individual string height, however. I have yet to adjust the neck relief--and I do think it needs a very slight tweak there--so I can't speak yet to how responsive it is to tension rod adjustments.

I had a look inside and was impressed by the quality of the soldering, etc. And as I've mentioned I'm very impressed by the hardware. It will take some time and gigging before I can really rate this though...

No call for customer support at this time.

I've been playing for over 30 years, in a variety of bands and styles of music. I'm currently playing in three bands, switching between electric and acoustic guitars and mandolin. This guitar will work just fine for what I'm doing. I compared it to a variety of guitars in the same general price range ($300-$550) and felt that this was the best value. It also appeared to me that the construction, finish, and hardware was superior to some similar guitars that were marked $200 higher. So far I'm happy with this choice.

2009 transparent cherry ART100.

Not going to bore you with the details on the configuration (available here): http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-ART100

Mahogany body and neck make this guitar sing with a very wide range of tones both clean and with effects. Set neck thru construction which, for a $300 guitar is pretty unique.

I've been a "used guitar guy" for years. So for my birthday, I was able to get a new axe and, after a TON of research I decided on the ART100. Great decision.

I'm kind of a nut when it comes to knowing my instruments. Went through this thing up and down, checked every seam, corner and edge. It was constructed perfectly. Literally perfect. The detailed binding and obviously hand finish were like no other guitar I looked at (and I looked at some higher priced Epiphones and lower prices Gibsons). Really no match for the ART100.

Beautiful 12th fret inlay. Great chrome hardware. Awesome all around. Grover tuners would have been nice but the ones included are better than most stock tuners on other guitars.

Without question, this guitar is in the same class of a $700 Epi. LP.

Really like the single tone knob and the position of the switch. It's where it belongs; down by the other controls.

As for style of music that this guitar is suited for, it is ideal for all styles. Play this thing clean through any amp and it sings. Overdrive and/or distort it and it will melt your face off but is NEVER harsh or dead in the mids. It sounds like I'm repeating but it's just perfect for all styles.

I play a lot of live club shows and I also play on my church worship team. I go from a Saturday night playing a club to Sunday morning playing praise and worship songs. It's never missed a beat, even though we tune to Eb in my band and tune standard at church. Tune it and go.

This is my simple rig:

ART100 ---> DigiTech RP500 ---> Fender Frontman 212R (bypassing the preamp). This setup allows me to make this guitar scream on solos (I play a similar style to Slash/Tremonti). The neck pickup sounds like it should, real meaty. The bridge is like a freaking chainsaw. No other description available (sorry) :)

Able to control feedback very well and the volume rolls off nicely without losing tone. Even on the modeling effect, I can roll off the volume to pull back on the distortion. In a nutshell, this guitar is not one-sided.

As stated earlier, the quality is extremely professional. Almost custom shop quality.

The only adjustment is the nut. I had to file it down and wide a little because I play 11's to 52's. I love heavy strings and they do great on this guitar. (former bassist).

The neck was perfect from the factory.

I'm looking forward to owning this guitar for many many years. I'm actually looking forward to all the little bumps, scuffs and dings that go with being an active musician. To me, this tells me that she's been loyal to me.

I did put Schallers on the guitar (which I do with every guitar I have).

I always bring a backup (an old vintage white Squier tele with hot rails) just because I don't want to be the guy who asks to borrow some other dude's guitar at a gig. However, it's never on stage when I play. Superstitious I guess. (Former hockey player)

I don't see an issue with the quality at all.

Three year warranty.

Ibanez is great with replacement parts: http://www.ibanez.com/parts/

I've always done my own work on guitars so, based upon the availability of parts, it's a 10. Not all manufacturers make parts available.

Bottom line, don't buy a:

- high-end Squier
- low-end Fender
- Epiphone
- Schecter
- Dean
- ESP

...buy this guitar. You really can't go wrong.

My ART100 is a Dec. '08 guitar in transparent cherry finish, solid mahogany body and neck w/ rosewood fingerboard (22 frets), and dual passive humbucking pickups. Les Paul-style (call it an "LP slim") single-cutaway. 3-way toggle switch, 2 volume pots, and a master pot for tone. It also features a Gibraltar-III bridge and stop tailpiece. No accessories were included with my guitar, but it's still an excellent value at $299.

I've been playing for just over 10 years. I'm not sure how to explain my "style", but I could say my influences are punk/progressive/alternative. Regardless, I think this guitar would suit any style just fine if set-up accordingly. But, before I continue I'd like to say that I think all the 10s being thrown around here is a little much. Nothing is a perfect 10...

That said, this guitar sounds nice right out of the box, with deep lows, articulate highs, and great sustain. However, the stock humbuckers are somewhat cheap, and they just will not cut it for hi-gain or overdrive. They sound great with the volume rolled back, but the further you turn them up, the more harsh/shrill they become, and their EQ seems flat overall (particularly the bridge).

My setup for testing is: Art100 > TS9 > JCM900 slx 100-watt (svetlana el34s) / 2x12 w/ Vin30s.

I give it an 8/10 with stock pickups (considering the price).
Definitely 9/10 with upgraded pickups. This guitar has got the tone, but the stock pickups just don't do it any justice.

My ART100 was solid and ready-to-play right out of the box. It's a little lighter than I expected (which might be a good thing for some), but it's very comfortable to play, and the bridge is smooth and easy on the hands. The frets could use a little filing, and the action was just a little too low, but it's definitely a non-issue.

I've owned the guitar for about two-weeks, and every day I pick it up and try to find something wrong with the finish, and I just can't find a thing. The transparent cherry top looks great, and I really like the headstock, although I wish the finish on it matched the body (not necessarily cherry, but the other colors; yes, I'm considering a second ART100!). The one thing that almost turned me off was the ornate inlay, I'm not a big fan of "frilly" stuff like that, but I can look past it, and I'm glad I gave this axe a chance.

This guitar is all-around solid, with a nice coat of high gloss lacquer. I highly recommend having a cloth to wipe it down after every playing session because of the glossy finish and chrome hardware. I would definitely advise strap-locks for any gigging guitarist, but for everyone else, the standard buttons will be just fine. Never gig without a backup.

No experience here.

At $299 the ART100 is an unbelievable value, and would be a great guitar for any beginner, or for any pro, with a little TLC. If you or a loved one are considering learning guitar, it absolutely helps to learn on a decent-sounding/comfortable instrument, and if you decide to sell it later, it would still be a desirable instrument for advanced players, and you won't have to sell it for $10 at a yard sale...

It's got deeper tone than most guitars 2 and 3 times the price, and even more than a few lower-end gibsons I've played. The only thing holding it back is the stock pickups, but even after $100-150 investment for the upgrade, it's still a better deal than just about anything out there in this price range.

This guitar was made in 2007. It has 22 frets. There are two volume knobs and a tone knob. The pickups are two passive humbuckers. The body is a single-cutaway "Les Paul" style guitar.

This single cutaway guitar is the guitar I have always been looking for. I have played Gibson Les Pauls, Fender's, Epi's, and when I found this guitar I was shocked. It sounded better than any guitar I have ever played, without getting into the 6,000-7,000 range. It has great lows and a very full sound on overdrive, and a very clear, bright sound on the cleans.

The guitar was set-up near perfectly from the factory, I just had to adjust the action a veryyyy little bit. The pickups were adjusted fine, I adjust them frequently depending on what I want from the guitar so I really can't say whether they were adjusted perfectly FOR ME or not. No flaws except the G-string vibrates up in the headstock, still haven't found the problem but with the guitar on it makes no sound and the guitar is not affected.

I play live frequently with the guitar and the finish has held up very nicely. I am anxious to see how it will fare when I play larger (and crazier) venues this Summer, but I am 99% sure nothing will go wrong and it will emerge the shows without hardly a scratch, which is more than can be said with some of my other guitars in the same price range. The strap buttons seem to loosen over time, but it just takes a screw driver an eighth of a turn to fix this. I would take this on any tour, and will. The only reason I would bring a back-up to a show is tuning (depending on the set) or in case of a string break.

Never needed to contact customer support.

I have been playing guitar for 7 years, I have been playing music for at least double that and have been in many bands. I own 6 other guitars, this one being my primary electric. If this guitar were lost or stolen, I would probably replace it with an ART300 or 500, but that would be solely on the basis of how amazing the 100 is. I love the sound and the playability of this guitar. I would compare it to and PRS SE or Gibson Les Paul, the sounds are similar. I do wish it had a Piezoelectric, but this is a $300 guitar.

The Ibanez ART-100, is the best Single CutAway, or "Les Paul" in the world. When I walked into my music store, I was amazed. I always wanted a "Real Les Paul" but could never afford the Gibsons that cost about $3000 dollars, so I picked up this axe. It was used, but never accualy "used" the women whom owned the ART-100 before me bought it for her self, and returnd it to the store, for some very odd reason.

The Art-100 is a true piece of ART(haha!). The Guitar consists of the following:


Mahogany Single CutAway body, maple/mahogany fret board, chrome hardwear, GREAT tuners,a great;and useful Gibraltar III bridge, and

3 knobs, 1 Volume, 1 Master Volume for the guitar,and 1 tone. A 3 Way pickup switch;which is very versitile.

A slim neck, but not nearly as slim as the Wizard Necks, but maybe as slim as an Gibson SG, but still, very comfy for little hands, or big hands.

The pickups are Passive, but they dont even sound like factory pickups, they sound like real, 300 dollar pickups, like Dimarzio, and I wouldnt even want to switch the pickups, their great!

*Humbucking Pickups.

slim body, weights ohh, about 4 LBS, maybe less. weights less or same as a Gibson SG, and is same or less slimmer than an SG.

Great body for a playing fast music, like metal, but also good for chords. versitile for ANY genre or type of music.

Once I plugged this baby into my Kustom Defender, It sounded great, VERY versitile, with the help of the pickup switch, you can either get a an Acoustic type of sound, a country sound, blues, or even classic rock. I use an Ibanez DS-7(going to upgrade with the Ibanez Steve Vai Jemini Distortion/Overdrive pedal soon), and you can really rock out with this guitar. The distortion isnt fuzzy,muddy, or too bland, it has its own sound, and it sounds better than a "Gibson Les Paul"(my opinon).

This guitar suits my music style extreamly well, I play most modern day music, like Alternative, to alt pop rock, to pop punk, emo, hardcore, metal, even too some blues, and this guirar does justice to my style. Im a Solo Artist, and this guitar is very versitle. When ever I want to play "Hawthorne Heights" or maybe even some "Guns N' Roses" to older msuic (cant think of a band name at the moment!!) all I do is plug my guitar into the amp, with my pedal and jam out like crazy!

The Art-100 has great sustain due to its set in neck, and its easy to play solo's, and smaller frets, with out getting your hand cut up by the frets. And plam muting is great on this guitar, with the Gibraltar III bridge, your hand doesn't get brusied, or cut, or a rash when you play.

The sound is just awesome!

The Art-100 features low action to the fret board, for easy,fast playing. My music store set up the ART-100 perfectly, and there is no fret buzz, or anything like that.

I own the Silver "top"(as I like to call it) finish, and Ibanez just recently added a new finish - Transparent Cherry Red, which is AMAZING! The Silver is shiny, and kinda glittery, but not girly looking, but looks like an 80's guitar era finish.

The other finishes are : Black and White.
The finishes are VERY glossy, and I clean my silver ART-100 about 3 times a month-depending how often I play the ART-100, which is about every day! - its so shiny that you can see your face reflection if you look at it!


I like the finishes on it, and I only wished that Ibanez had (or soon will) come out with a BURST color, cause' that would rock.

The only "bad" thing I would say is wrong with MY Art-100 is because I bought it used, there is a tiny scratch on the truss rod cover, so I plan on buying the same truss rod. No biggy though, doesnt effect the sound or anthing.

I tossed mine up in the air, and nothing bad happend. The strap button ocasonaly comes loose, so I have to re-tighten it every so often, I migh releplace them if they become a long term problem, but thats also a no biggy.

I can tottaly depend on it for a gig, although I never giged in my life, but I sure will this summer.

The finsh is great as said before, it doesnt smear, and looks and plays new just like the first time I ever played it in the store.

I ALWAYS use hardshell cases, it just my preferance. they look better in my opinon, too.

Never had to deal with Ibanez. I dont think I even would!

I HIGHLY recomend this guitar to anybody who likes Ibanez, and won't even deal with gibsons(like me, im PRO Ibanez, ANIT-gibson/ any other brand, I ONLY USE IBANEZ). I also reccomend it to anybody who cannot afford those Gibson "Les Pauls" and I belive this is better than ANY Gibson SG, Les Paul on earth (my opninon, once again)

The ART-100 is worth every penny spent, and I would of paid more for this great guitar. I like it so much, I'm buying another one this spring/sooner. maybe the white, or Trans Cherry Red.


The Art-100 is a MUST BUY.


This guitar has pasted my approval!! THE ART-100 ROCKS!

Wow. First of all, I love this guitar. I've had it for just short of a year, and love it. Some of the features I really find useful are the bridge tuners. It makes tuning extremely precise. I also like the size of the frets. They make scales and solos extremely easy. I'm giving it a 9 because I know there are other guitars out there, (i.e. PRS's, Gibsons, etc.) but I personally prefer this one.

I play alternative-type Christian music for my church. I went to the local Guitar Center, plugged this thing in in a soundproof room, and was blown away. The clean sounds are nearly acoustic, or can be a bit less echoey depending on how you have the tone switch set.

I bought this guitar used, so I couldn't tell you any factory flaws. I did notice just a couple microscopic nicks on the fretboard. Other than that, this thing is great.

I've gigged with this guitar for as long as I've had it. I've only had to change strings once, and only because they were past due. I haven't broken one string. I've had this guitar for a while and aven't experienced any problems with the hardware. The finish gets a little smudgy, but that's what happens when you buy a guitar in black... I bought a Dunlop professional guitar finish cloth, and that's all I need. I just quickly wipe it down before each gig. I wouldn't bring a backup on a gig unless I needed to change tunings drasticly quickly.

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I love this guitar, and I bought it used for only $200. I have no regrets for buying this guitar. I would probably die if I ever lost this guitar. It's a really beautiful guitar and I totally recommend buying it. I compared this to the Epiphone Les Paul. This cost less, and has WAAAAAAAY more bang for my buck.

Made in 2007/08 in im guessing china.
Its got 22 frets, solid top. with a 3 way switch, 1 tone and 2 volumes for each humbucker,
The Pickups I think are Passive Ibanez CH-1 Pickups
The Finish on the guitar I received was White, with black binding. The Body style looks very arched/paulish.
The bridge is great, its a Gibralter bridge, and the Mass of the bridge, the heavyness of it really helps the sustain alot.
The Tuners, grover-style tuners, but they are ibanez made Im guessing.
The Neck of the guitar kind of reminds me of a 59' Paul neck shape a bit..
Very Thick, kind of difficult to get used to at first, but I personally love it. I can see where some people wont.

This guitar is versitle, Im playing through a Vox Valvetronix 30
Its not a very noisy guitar at all either.
The Tone knob is sensative depending on the amp, The Vox seems to be the one its most sensative on. The Vox is already somewhat Muddy/bassy. I play a little bit of everything though from jazz/fusion to Beatlesque type stuff, to Megadeth/Anthrax to Proggy stuff like Dream Theater/Rush

It was setup horribly from the factory, but This is probably one of the easiest guitars Ive ever set up.
The Pickups were adjusted good, but The actions was out, the intonation was okay though, after setting the action, and resetting my intonation, this thing plays like a dream to me personally, I know everyones different.

This guitar will stand up to the road. It seems very sturdy, very tightly constructed..
The Finish is great, It doesn't have that cheap look to it.
The strap buttons seem to come out though, might need to replace them soon.
I could gig with this guitar, but I wouldn't even go on stage w/ a PRS without a backup. Ive seen alot happen in many years of playing live,

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Ive been playing off and on for seven years now. Im mostly a drummer. I would buy another one if it got lost or stolen. Hell 299 dollers for a guitar that feels and plays like a Gibson Les Paul studio, and sounds just as good; hell yeah Id get another one. Great Value, depending on what you like.

This guitar stomps your face in! I mostly play ultra slow doom metal tuned to B, and it's absolutely PERFECT for that sort of thing. With the gain on my amp (Line 6 Spider III) up full I can get 30 seconds of sustain out of a low B powerchord, no joke. With gain this guitar is beefy as hell, but with the right settings you can get a nice twangy clean tone. It's brilliant.

The only fault I've found is that it gets smudged and dusty really easily, but thats gloss black for you. If it came in matt black I would've bought that instead. I can't fault the build quality at all. And the Gibraltar bridge kicks arse. It's solid enough to withstand nuclear war, and it handles tuning variations brilliantly. Setup was fine, plays as smoothly as a $3000 Ibanez.

I'd give it a 10 but it's too early for a definitive answer. It's pretty solid, I'd have no qualms touring with it. I'd only take a backup to a gig in case a string broke.

Basically the Ibanez ART100 is like a Les Paul with everything that sucks about a Les Paul removed. It's comfortable, affordable and looks awesome. Buy one, unless you're a pussy you won't regret it.

This is a follow-up for my earlier review. The features are covered and commented upon in my previous entry, and I've left that guitar stock; I need to correct myself regarding the scale length--its actually 25", like a PRS. I've learned to live with the unusual bridge, though the nature of the saddles does make it difficult to mute the high B and E strings by palming the bridge.

I've purchased a second ART100 just to hot rod. I added a Fender Lace Sensor Dually Red pickup at the neck, with only the neck-side's coil wired up; I also installed a Rio Grande Muy Grande pickup at the bridge position; I installed a coil tap for the bridge pickup in place of the bridge pickup's volume knob; Rewired the controls for one volume and tone, plus added a better grade of pickup selector switch. I also changed the machines for a set with keystone buttons which look cool with the Artest headstock design.

I give it an 8 for the simlicity of the guitar.

With this set of pickups, I can get some pretty good Strat tone, aided by the 25" scale, but it also roars for rock and metal. The original pickups kick booty, too, and I'll install those in something else, soon.

Finish is perfect--no flaws, and in sunlight doesn't show the clousiness that usuall shows up in cheap axes with high-gloss black finish.

The action on the second guitar is even better than that on the first--the neck is bolt straight and the fret dressing is very good. I tune the guitar DGCFAD, and keep the action fairly low. With this setup, it just buttery to play

Everything on this guitar is superb and solid, but the Chinese guitars have a brief track record, so it remains to be seen whether this model holds up to serious use and abuse (though I do take good care of my guitars, so abuse shouldn't be an issue). Since it is impossible to know the grade of woods in the neck and body, its anybody's guess as to whether they should hold together indefinitely or just fly apart on the fist humid day.

For 270 bucks you cannot beat this guitar. I'm sort of an afficianado of cheapo guitars, and this model should win some kind of all-time prize. I've owned some $5000 PRSs and $3000 Gibsons that didn't play or sound as good as these critters; I own some late 70's Ibanez/Starfield/ Greco electrics, too, all great guitars, but this ART100 blows them all away. No lie. I've played since 1972, played professionally and semi-professionally, worked in music retail and guitar repair, and IMHO I think Ibanez has nailed this one. I wish they'd do them in other colors/woods so I could but and hot rod a couple more.

Glossy black finish w/ balck/white pinstripe binding.
Body is more like a Gibson L5S than a Les Paul or older IBZ Artist. Can't tell actual body construction, whether truly solid or laminated Mahogany.
Bridge is a new IBZ design--I'm udecided wheter I like it or not.
Tuners are standard Schaller-style sealed jobs.
Neck scale is LP-type 24 3/4", w/ 22 medium-jumbo frets (far better than those dinky things IBZ used on its Chinese axes for so long). The neck is very wide, though not too chunky. Neck wood is unknown, though fretboard is nice rosewood.

I give this one an "8" only because its a very simple instrument--no surplus of doo-dads and gee-gaws.
No accessories included.
2007 model, made in China.
Passive, ceramic magnet humbuckes; two volume, one tone control, 3-way selector.

Clean or dirty, this thing rips. The clean sound is glassy and pretty versatile. The distorted sound is full, beefy, and bitey at the same time. Definitely a shred monster, though could be great for country of blues as the inherent tone of the guitar is so bright and transparent.

The action is absolutely beautiful--smooth as glass, without faults (honest). The binding work is also bloody-near perfect. The frets do need some leveling and polishing, but I'll wait until I've broken it in a bit before I have that work done.

Seems solid enough.

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I've played since the early 1970s, and play mostly heavy rock/progressive/fusion-type stuff. I own some old Japanese classic electrics.

This guitar oozes style and tone, and it balances and playes like a dream. I wish they made it in other colors/finishes/features so I could snag a second one.

# Neck: ART neck
# NeckType: ART (set-in)
# Body: Mahogany body
# Frets: Medium frets
# Fingerboard: Bound Rosewood
# Inlay: ART special on 12th fret
# Bridge: Gibraltar III bridge
# NeckPU: ACH1-S neck pu
# MiddlePU: ACH2-S bridge pu
# BK: BLACK

Sound is completely different from the ARC100. ARC100 sounds more vintage and the ART100 has modern sound.

factory setup is good and the finish is beautiful =)

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I'd taking this onstage without a backup =)