Ibanez AS73

2003 model made in China, 22 Frets, Lamintated, etc. Features are the same as was posted in the previous reviews. However, I orderd mine without the hardcase, since I like Gigbags more.

I play blues and fusion, and this guitar more than fits the bill. I currently play clean thru amp, or on occasion use a Boss ME-50 multi-effects box throuh my Carvin MTS3212 tube combo. The supplied pickups are OK, and are medium output, and have a rich sound, but the brige pickup is a bit bright in my opinion. No worries though. Overall, the guitar sounds great for the style of music I play. May swap the pickups for Semour Duncan 59's or Seth Lovers in the future.

The intonation was set, but the frets were a little dirty, so removed the strings (replaced them with 11's w/wound G), and cleaned the fingerboard and frets. The finish and binding were near perfect. Amazing for a guitar of this price range, but then overall, Ibanez is great in the Quality Control department, regardless of the price of the guitar you purchase. The bridge pickup needed to be lowered, but other than that, everything else was fine.

Haven't played live with this yet. (don't gig much) The chrome plating on the hardware looks like it may were off eventually or chip, but if you take care when cleaning, it should be fine. I feel it is durable enough for live playing, but I would still have a backup available.

Have not dealt with CS.

I've played for 20 years, and I have about 7 other guitars. (Main guitar is '76 Gibson ES-335). Simply put, I heard great things about Ibanez, and was interested in what they had to offer as far as Semi-hollow guitars go (that's all I play, no solid bodies), and I was torn between the Artcore and Artist series and settled on the AS73. I like the warm sound, though I wish it came with a pickguard, though I will probably install one myself. If this were lost or stolen, I would probably get another one.

I cannot add anything to what has been said, really, except the addition of a pickguard would marr the minimalist aesthetic this thing's got goin' on.

I haven't played it through an all-tube amp, yet, but I suspect that when I finally mate it to my Peavey Classic 30, "5" on the amp and maybe "7" or "8" on the ax with the neck pickup wll produce the warm somewhat fat growl I desire. I am essentially the bass player (Epi 1961 EB-3 copy) in a band that does whatever it feels like. I suppose my ideal guitar sound is something like Clapton at anytime before he wussed out and started playing Strats (I fear if Cream ever DID reunite, he'd bring Blackie, oy ve). I also dig the Bakersfield sound of guys like Don Rich, so. . . I need medication to avoid neurosis. I read that some think the pickups too thin, and I am ambivalent on this point as well. Once I have played it more, I may retrofit some PAFs but, as everyone else asserts, for $300, shucks. It had a nice "chunk" in the store through a Crate 15-watter. The bridge pickup could be a little hotter, but again, the amp will help or hinder that somewhat. The throw on the selector switch is positive and quiet. No jangling or buzz on this baby.

Played better off of the rack (possible the store owner tweaked the action ,etc. upon receipt)than I could have dreamed. I once had an 87 Les Paul that gave my smallish hands grave difficulty, and my '91 Mexican Strat's banjo thingy is too SMALL for me to articulate (admittedly, I switch back and forth from bass). The AS 73's neck is thin but relatively wide and man, oh, man I may have found the neck for me. The one complaint I have at this stage is the tuners: I had to retune twice in the store! Once strings are played in, though, it may be less of a problem. Besides to again refer to the "gold standard," the Les Paul never stayed in tune either.

Full binding, and everything seems nice and solid.

Again, too soon for me to tell, but holding this guitar, it impresses me as a solid tool, hardly fragile.

I have been playing around with electrics since I was 17 (seventeen years), and although I am an amateur/aspiring semi-pro, I have played or tried lots of different guitars, including (in trials) the prestigious ES-335. Getting an Epiphone Elitist EB-3 proved to me the quality of "satellite" workmanship, and as previously stated, this Ibanez SEEMS nicer than my old Nashville Les. The workmanship is on-par with that of the Epi Elite (no difference from any "genuine" Gibson I have seen). Like some others, I was a "brand namer" until I realized how little those names mean in this day (excepting "Custom Shop" stuff). Reiterating what some others have written, I might prefer an extremely expensive Gibson, but not being a Rover-driving poseur, I need to also consider other things like amps or food. This is a danged nice guitar, and if it were lost or stolen I would look for another one

The fit and features discribed by the other other fine folks ahaead of me discribe the AS73 to a tee.

I love the Blue's - Jazz apprroach that this guitar provides. For the money and the number of 335 - Epiphone Dots, Casino's that i tested in the store the overall warmth and feel of the guitar matched my playing style.

Fit and Finish were perfect. The guys at Guitar Center ( the Tech) went over the guitar.

Hve not broken it yet.. will let you know.

Here's why i entered this review. I was looking for a case for the guitar other than the IBANEZ as100c Plywood and Tolex wrapped case. Ibanez also has a AS200c case that in some web sites are listed for the AS brand guitars. SKB was also an option. I attempted to contact Ibanex at Contact@ibanez.com. No reply as there server is rejecting the mail.. No telephone numbers in their site for suppport. I guess that they leave this to the local dealers. Result was having to purchase the SKB and Modify to fit the AS73.. It does fit after some minor "MOLDING" changes..

I would have to buy another AS73...

This is the usual AS73 model, in blue-burst paint. No mods to the guitar; it's absolutely stock. Purchased for female lead singer of my band. The feature set (hardtail, 2 humbucker, dual vol-tone) is pretty amazing for a guitar in this price range: it has a bound top, a bound back, and neck/headstock binding. And it's tight. Scores 8 because it's basic.

The humbuckers are a little dry and not terribly loud. Conversely they're very quiet. They suit the personality of the guitar; they're not supposed to be very hot. Improved pickups would likely add to the sound of the guitar.

Out of the box, action was perfect. The guitar came installed with extra light strings, which were too light. I tried light strings (9s) and then a set of LTHB strings (10-52) and the guitar feels great now after a neck adjustment.

Fit is perfect. No flaws.

Finish is rather mindblowing for a guitar in this price range - it's practically piano quality. Durable so far and absolutely beautiful to look at.

No problems yet. Played live several times. No problems with jacks, pickups, string hardware, or anything for that matter. Nothing cries out "cheap" on this guitar; but nothing is terribly expensive-looking or fancy.

I would feel perfectly comfortable with this guitar at a gig with no backup.

Ibanez has a mature, well-developed support strategy that I've never had to use.

This is a great bargain. If you're looking for a distinctive hollowbody for little money, this will get you the look and general tone of a 335 for about $2000 less.

I hate to say "copy" so lets say similar to the venerable Gibson ES 335, pretty basic; stop bar bridge, two humbuckers, three-way switch and non-locking Grover type tuners. Jack is on the side instead of the top like the Gibson and I like that. No pickguard and I like that too. Shows more of that beautiful body. Mine is the brown sunburst. Nice...AWESOME neck on this thing. Fairly slim, a little flat and a teeny bit wide, an extremely comfortable instrument!

I play now mostly for fun and the occasional blues jam. I toy with writing a bit. I have and will probably gig with band in the future. My style of music is mostly blues, from old Delta (with some slide) to British and American white-boy blues-rock. I am currently obsessed with surf ala, Dick Dale etc. Reverb city. I also mess around with twangy "Bakersfield" kinda country as in Dwight, Buck, Merle... this guitar has a sound to fit every occasion. Both pickups have a distictly different tone and a third in combination. The volume and tone contols allow an incredibly wide varience, There are alot of tone here for a $300 guitar! BIG TIME!

Unreal for the price! Beautiful binding all the way around, even in the F holes! The finish is so sweet. I just can't believe the craftsmanshp on this thing. Only flaw on the body is a yiny indentation on the wood visible underneath the finish on the BACK, but I ain't bitchin. Nut seems ok, switch feel good and solid, I like the bridge set-up. I adjusted the intonation and lowered the pickups a hair but hey, I would probably do that with any guitar after I had it at home for a spell.

Feels very solid but time will tell, I have had it a couple of months now and have babied it to be honest. Actually I baby all my babies. It just don't feel like it would break on me...feels like quality in my hands.

Never dealt with them. If their customer service is half as good as the value of their products we will have no worries.

I have been playing on and off for about 35 years. I own and have owned lots of gear. I have mainly been a single coil Strat/Tele type guy on the electric side. I have been shopping around for a semi-hollow with humbuck's that wouldn't break me. Looked seriously at the Epiphone Dot and Sheraton. Almost bought the Sheraton (great guitar too) but this guitar just kicked the Sheraton's ass in my opinion. After playing this thing for a couple of months I went out and played a couple of Gib 335's and the truth, and I swear I am not makining this up, this guitar felt and sounded at least as good...I think better!

My wife, who is beautiful and wonderful, got tired of all my BS and made me buy this guitar, actually bought it for me, just so I would shut up. But....

If you are looking for an instrument like this please check one out. This is one of those awesome "most bang for your buck" kinda deals. The people at the music store tell me that they can't keep them on the rack...and they all agree that this is an unreal value.

I would get another in a heartbeat!

laminate top, 2 tone, 2 volume, 3 way.

the humbuckers sound pretty good for such a cheap guitar. Theyre pretty transparent and medium output. You can really hear the detail and nuances when playing clean. The bridge pick up is slightly muddy but it doesnt make it sound bad. I play through a peavey deltablues, so the distortion with this pair is very smooth. Its the opposite of raw, so you couldnt get a crazy jagged tone out of this thing. On the neck pick up, you can get a textbook santana distortion. The bridge pick up gives you a tight distortion which sounds most similar to my ears, to jonny lang. It has a nice tension to the sound, it can you that suction sound when you rake the pick across the strings, ive noticed some humbuckers cant pull that off. All in all you get a nice, round, quality sound thats on the same track as a nice gibson obviously not quite.

The finish is nice to my eyes, i really dont care too much about this however, its a tobacco sunburst, thats all i care about. There are a couple flaws near the neck joint.
The neck is the best part of this guitar. Its straight and the frets are perfect. Its a little thin, like most ibanez's, slightly thinner than a strat, but i it feels fine. Its really solid and its pretty unbelievable to get this kind of quality and playability for the $280 i payed for it.
I liked the red finish too, for this guitar i think the red looked better than my sunburst, but i always get sunburst guitars.

Mine came with a problem. Theres a loose wire that causes the bridge pick up to cut out whenever it hits just right. I didnt fix it yet but i dont think electronic problems are a big deal because theyre easily fixed. The pick up selector is flimsy and the rubber cover always starts to unscrew itself. Obviously minor issues. Regarding the most important things, the neck, tuners and pick ups, all of those work and sound great.

This is my first ibanez, im a little annoyed by this wiring snafu but i figure ill have to put in some work on such a cheap guitar.

I play mainly blues and rock stuff. This guitar coincidentally fits that perfectly. Its not the fattest sounding beast out there but that may also be my deltablues 210, but i can still tell it doesnt have the fatness you normally get with more money. However, i think its worth a lot more than 280 dollars. Definetly sounds and plays better than epiphones and you get way more for the money then any fender and approximates a quality 335 way better than 280 bucks should. I bought it on a whim when i picked one up randomly in a store. For the price, i coudlnt afford not to get it.

you know the features

sounds warm and full. i play lound and agressive and very dreamlike mellow type with a flip of a switch and the guitar reacts like it should. i would even play deathmetal with this guitar though it wouldnt quite look right. In the studio this guitar was right next to a lespaul and the difference in quality was negligable.

sunburst looks good

i through it around alot. it hasnt broke yet. played about 25 shows since i got it and its all still there.

I recently purchased the AS73, Cherry finish. Beautiful to look at an a pleasure to play. Has all of the features I was seeking is a jazz/blues semi-hollow guitar

I play jazz and blues for the most part and some 60's Rock. The sound exceeded my expectations for an instrument this inexpensive. It is relatively quiet and I play it through a Crate, GS20 practice amp (soon to upgraded) I am able to go from a substantial bass sound to warm and comfortable jazz tones, bright, but not twangy

The set up was good out of the box, but I did immediately replace the stock strings with a set of D'A 11. This change made a good sounding and playable guitar, substantially better. The guitar is seems to be well constructed, the fit and finish are excellent.

The AS73 is a well made instrument and I would trust it to gig w/o a backup. I have not owned it long enough to evaluate its reliability, but am quite certain it will be around for a long time.

I have not been in contact with customer support.

I resumed playing 2 years ago after a 30 year hiatus. I also have my original 1964 Epiphone Casino as well as a Fender Strat (Made in Mexico, another terrific buy) and an older Yamaha acoustic. As each of these guitars have their own unique voice and are all good quality, fine sounding instruments, I would have a hard time comparing them to each other. I am very pleased with my purchase of the Ibanez and would,without a doubt purchase another one if lost or stolen.

EArly 2003 model. Solid maple top, semi-hollow body, neck thru the body, 2 humbuckers...standard model all around. Very pleased.

I've been playing for over 15 years as a hobby & owned 15 to 20 guitars (I trade on Ebay alot). Rock, hard rock, blues,jazz & anything else appealing is my style (I just love the guitar & what it does). Suites my style. I didn't know how great the orignal PUs sounded until & installed some Gibson Burst Buckers 1 & 2. The orignals are well suited for this guitar & I plan on reinstalling them. They're very balanced & warm & produce that classic bridge/neck tone. It could sound warmer & not so much tinny but can't complain for the money spent.

Set up from the factory was ok but I made some adjustments myself. It's very balanced when standing. The finish is perfect but some of the binding does look cheap, again...can't complain for the money spent.

Stays in tune w/ heavy bends. Tuners are high quality. Great quality.q

No problems so far.

Would buy agagin if lost or stolen. I really like this guitar & consider it a GREAT value. Ibanez knows how to make good electric guitars for an affordable price. It's a $300.00 worth $600.00

I have had this guitar a year now. Tobacco Burst 335 copy. For specs please see the other reviews. I changed the strings to 10's in the store while trying it out. This definetly improved the tone.

It has all the features you want in a 335 knock off. Does not feel like a cheap guiar.

I play Blues, Jazz, Folk and some classic rock. This guitar fits in real well with my style.

I have been toying with the idea of upgrading the pick ups and decided to go ahead. The stock pick ups are very quiet. Have a nice bright clean sound. Sort of a compressed sound. I love it for chord work. To my ears it seems to lack a bit of bite and sizzle for solos.

They are good pick ups but i think i can get a little closer into 335 territory with an upgrade.

Besides changing the strings it needed no work. All parts still are original and working well. The finish on this guitar is excellent. The extensive binding adds a classy touch. Amazed at how much you get for so little money.

I have had this guitar for a year - NO PROBLEMS! I think it is a great value.

NA

I have been playing, hmmm about 7 years a long time ago and took it back up a couple of years ago. So collectively 9 years.

I compared this guitar to Gibson 335s at the store. Interestly, one was a POS and the artcore sounded better. The second, well it had the artcore beat ( it was a tone machine).

I think this instrument is a great way to get the feel and experience the 335 type tone and vibe without spending a lot. A low risk way of finding out if this is the type of guitar for you.

If it were lost or stolen - well i'd probably upgrade next time.

22 fret, rosewood fretboard. Semi-hollow maple body. Transparent blue finish looks GREAT. 2 volume, 2 tone controls and 3-way toggle switch. ES-335 style with ibanez quick change tail piece and tune o matic bridg. Really nice feeling neck. Kinda fat and wide. Small feeling frets though. Fingerboard needed oiling as it was pretty rough feeling out of the box, immediately took off the 9's it had and put 11's on there. Otherwise great out of the box.

I try to play anything I can. This is great for jazz and blues styles. I wouldn't use this for hard rock or anything, but it does distort fairly well. I was worried that it would sound muddy but the opposite is true. Through a little Vox pathfinder 15 it's very bright and clear sounding. Neck p/u is full and punchy, bridge p/u is really bright sounding. With the 2 tones and volumes, a wide range of sounds can be achieved. Super-quiet didn't make any noise through a 75 watt peavey turned to about 2 o'clock. It's hard to get a really bassy sound out of it, but my style doesn't really call for that. Overall, sounds great.

Out of the box the strings were too light and the action was too high. But both of those were easy to fix. The bridge pickup was too high 'cause when I did palm mutes the pickup would pop, but that also is easy to adjust. Finish looks great but needs pretty constant polishing if you're anal about fingerprints and stuff. Haven't found any flaws at all. No complaints

Seems like it'll hold up. I'll probably end up getting some strap locks as I like to play it pretty low. I'd probably not hesitate to take this to a gig w/out backup unless i was doing more rocking stuff where I would want a solid body.

n/a

I've made guitar my life for about 5 years and have played through about 8 guitars and 4 or more amps. I'd recommend this guitar to anyone considering it. Great for most styles. Feels good to hold and play. Love the finish, love the feel of the neck, pretty much everything. I played a gretch in a guitar center through a little fender amp a while back and this Ibanez sounds great even compared to that. Plus, at about 1/10 of the price, how can you go wrong? One great guitar

ES 335-ish but not really a copy. Transparent Blue Sunburst. Maple semi-hollow body. Rosewood finger board. Ibanez ACH1 bridge and ACH2 neck humbuckers. Bound top, bottom, neck, headstok and F-holes. Ibanez Artcore Tune-o-matic style bridge. Ibanez "Velve-Tuner" type machine heads. 22 frets. Quickchange III tailpiece similar to the older Ibanez tail stops.

Playing it through Roland Jazz Chorus and Blues Cube amps it sounds warm and wonderfull as with a Fender twin. I was up all night playing it when it arrived. I liked it enough to know that I now want another one but with the Ibanez Bigsby-ish tail piece.

As with most guitars that sell for under $500.00 the setup was not that great. A bit of tweeking and a fresh set of D'Addarios was all it needed and this was expected. The pickup toggle has an unusually loose feel to it but it works fine. I may replace it but then again maybe not.

If you are looking for an ES335-ish guitar to hot-rod, this would be a great foundation to start from.

I bought this one used. It's a little over a year old so it's too soon to tell for sure. I wonder if the loose toggle is due to the previous user. In case this is the case I'll give it an 8.

Never needed to deal with them.

Been playing for over 30 years now. I use either my Roland Jazz Chorus 120 2x12 combo, JC-120H with 4x12 cabinet, JC-77 2x10 combo, JC-55 2x8 combo, Blues Cube 60/310, BC-30/210 or my Accoustic Chorus 100 amp depending on the venue.

This is my third Ibanez and I guess I've become loyale to the brand as with Ovation for my accoustic needs, Roland for my amps, BOSS for effects, D'Addario for string and Monster for cables.

As far as Ibanez goes, I have tipically preferred the older 80's products but this AS73 makes a good exception. It's a great value for the money spent.

i got the Ibanez AS73 Brown Sunburst for Christmas and I have to say that for $300, you cant get a better semi-hollowbody out there. It has 2 humbuckers with standard 2 tone and 2 volume knobs. Nice tuners that feel really solid. It has a set neck with tune-o-matic bridge for easy string changes. This guitar feels really solid. Like the review says below, it does not feel like a "cheap" guitar.

the sound is great, nice warm neck pickup and good almost twangy bridge pickup sound. I run it directly into a Johnson J Station and I have no hum whatsoever. You can really get some great tones out of different pickup configs.

The finish is excellant. No flaws on this guitar at all! The action was a tad bit high but some little tweaking and it was perfect.

im sure this guitar will stand up to time.

never had to contact them

Overall, i love this guitar. I dont how Ibanez can offer such a great guitar for so little money. If it were stolen, i would buy the exact same guitar again.

This is a 335 style guitar in Tobacco Sunburst. Neck has 22 frets and is quite wide and feels flatter than my Strat. It has a fairly flat arched top and back, and is maple as far as I know and has a sound block which helps to increase the sustain. It is not flame or quilted but still has nice grain pattern.

Controls are typically 2-vol and 2-tone with the usual 3-way switch and the jack socket is on the bottom edge. It has two humbuckers with chrome covers. Finish is quite good and polishes up great. Has stop tail designed for quick string changes and tunamatic bridge. Tuners are very good and whilst non-locking have adjustable tensioners.

Markers are dot type and frets are quit thin, definately not jumbo.

The body edges are bound black/white/black as is the neck, headstock and f-holes, all done to the highest quality.

At this price I didnt expect a case.

For the money I have to give this 10. The neck pup is warm and the bridge has got great attack but is never harsh. Thers is plenty of sustain - mine has the stoptail screwed hard down, and you can easily nail the Eric Clapton Cream sound.

The tone controls work well and you can blend both pups to get a variety of tones. This is a very vibrant toneful guitar and has gotta be the best sound for the money guitar around.

The pickups sound good and there is no feedback, hum or squeals, and I dont see any need to replace them as you sometimes need to do with budget guitars.

I just love the sound and tone which makes a nice contrast to compliment my Strat and LP

Factory set-up was OK. I found the rosewood fingerboard a little dry and the frets a tad rough but a bit of lemon oil and wire wool sorted that. I dont mind doing this, in fact I kinda feel its part of the bonding process. I have yet to find an instrument that is perfect out of the box.

Action was not bad - needed a little tweak, but the nut needed a bit of attention with the old needle file, ie. a bit high for my liking.

after a couple of days playing it feels really nice.

The general fit and finish is really excellant, especially for the price.

I would say this guitar feels quite substantial and will last if treated right, though the 3 way switch feels a bit sloppy, but works fine.

No experience.

Overall I cannot fault this guitar, sure its not a Gibson, but I dont care especially as I paid one fifth of the price. if it were lost I would definately buy another. Great value...go and get one, you wont be disappointed.

As described in previous reviews, this one is in midnight blue. The case is extra. I just bought it, so perhaps its a bit premature to review. But I respect this site for its user reviews so, trying my best to guard against any new buyer bias, here's my offering.

I play in an acoustic folk-rock band and was looking at a semi-acoustic electric a) for its sound contribution (especially jazz, blues, 60's-pop type tunes); b) for playability; c) for good quality at a good price (another big ticket instument/item would have to wait).

I had my eye on an Epiphone Casino as a mid-priced guitar with a reasonably good rep. (Beatles etc.). I had tried other Epi semi-acoustics. Was in the store almost at the point of purchase (had the Casino plugged into the same amp I have) so started comparing it to other makes of semi-acoustics. Saw the AS73 and took it down thinking it would be as much or more in price. I was stunned -- it was 1/2 the price.

As a semi-acoustic many features seem similar to the Epi. There is, however, no pick guard (OK by me); its body is not completely hollow; the design of the vol/tone knobs seem to make them more accessible; and, the pick-ups are humbuckers. The pick-up switch seems similar in quality, a bit of a flimsy feel to it, but didn't present any functioning problem.

Oh... I also checked it against a Gretsch (sp?), a much nicer guitar for sure, but also almost 8x the price.

The price made me think this would be a cheap sounding guitar. But the sound sold me. The Casino had a lot of hum. I use an acoustic guitar amp (Fender) so maybe that's a problem for a Casino. But the Ibanez sounded pretty good: smooth, clean, mellow or crisp ... a nice range of tones, and control. And at that price!?! I bought it.

At rehearsal the guitar performed as I had hoped. Worked well on the jazz tunes and rocked on the pop. I use a Martin and an Ovation acoustic guitars, and also an Ovation mandolin run through an Acoustasonic Jr and miced into the PA. Reverb & chorus Effx are on the amp and I have an overdrive & digital delay pedals. I need to fine tune my set-up to work better with this semi-acoustic guitar and know/expect there will be limits because it is an acoustic guitar amp. But I'm quite pleased with the guitar itself.

I really like the action and intonation, which was set up in the factory. And the guitar kept in tune reasonably well for the amount of string bending done at rehearsal, and was also easy to adjust. I like the width and feel of the neck.

More technical stuff I can't comment on (techno-peasant). The finish though is really, really, amazing, especially considering the price of this guitar. My musical friends love the look of it.

This seems like a solid guitar in terms of harware and finish especially for the price. Time, of course, will be the real acid test and is my only reservation. But it doesn't look, feel, or play like a cheap guitar. And if it doesn't stand up to the test of time, and can't be repaired, there's not a whole lot of money tied up in it. But I have no reason to expect it won't last. I'm being generous in my rating here -- call it new-buyer optimism.

I will be using it at our next gig and feel it is performance worthy. This is a guitar for particular purposes and I have my others which can back it up if that became necessary.

It has a one year warranty and was bought from a reputable dealer (Long & McQuaid in Toronto). I recognise Ibanez but it is just a "name" to me. L&M is helpful and friendly so my rating goes to them.

I've been playing music for decades, and perform part-time. This is a "second" guitar for particular purposes since acoustic is my main thing. My favourite feature is taht this guitar is very accessible price wise, coupled with it having the apparent quality of higher costing (mid-priced) guitars. My reservation is whether it will stand up to the test of time. We'll see.

335 Style Guitar made 2002 in China sunburst finish
H/H Ibanez PU's (new Serie), 2 Volume - 2 Tone Controlls, 3-way Switch
maple top, mahagony neck, non-locking tuners

I tried the guitar with differnt amps (Fender, Peavey, Marshall) and with my Digitech GNX-1.
It sounds great!
The neck PU is warm and round, the bridge PU has a little bit twang with nice round highs and a percussive touch.
No feedback problems from the PU's.
I compared it directly with epiphones and subjective the ibanez was better. It feels not like a cheap guitar, it feels like a professionel mid-price guitar.

The finish is great!
I give a 9 because a tried 4 guitars from the artcore-serie and not every one was as good as the one I bought.

i havn't it long enough .....

never tried

If you want a good 335-style guitar and you have not enough money for a gibson, buy it !!!

Ibanez AS 73 (ES 335 Copy). Brown Sunburst. Solid Maple. Rosewood fretboard. Two Humbuckers (Ibanez ACH1 & ACH2). Bound top and bottom, neck, headstok and F-holes. Ibanez Artcore Tune-o-matic style bridge. Schaller copy machine heads. 22 frets. The tailpiece of the bridge features a nifty design for easy access for string replacement. Very clever.

Currently running this guitar through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a 1963 Fender Bassman. The pickups have a very full round tone. Plenty of mids. The bridge pickup is has a little extra bite. The neck pickup allows for some very mellow sounds. Both pickups are quiet and very responsive. Plenty of volume without noise. They sound a bit compressed however. they provide a very crisp and neat tone. It would be very good for jazz. Gibson PAF's are looser and a little more frazzled around the edges. Correspondingly PAF's allow a little more flexibility if you are going after a hard-driven blues tone. The compressed nature of these pickups also resist feedback more than PAF's ...but it can be compensated for with just a little more gain on the amp when using the Ibanez vs. a ES335. These pickups also respond well to distortion considering how tight they are.

Fit and finish is remarkable. For the price, I'm still not sure how ibanez puts out a guitar with full binding and a flawless finish. It should be noted it's not single binding, it's a 3ply binding, at that. No sloppy seams, no low-budget lack of finishing work. The neck is seated and seamed perfectly. No gaps in hardware-to-body seams. It's a beautiful guitar all the way around. One note, Ibanez elected to put the plug on the side ala Les Paul instead of on the top like ES335. This is both good and bad depending on what you like. It contributes to a cleaner look however.

This guitar seems to be very sturdy. Nothing seems fragile. It appears well made, however, I have not had it long. The test of time will be the real judge, but for what it's worth it feels solid much in the same manner as a Guild Starfire 4.

I've had no dealings with Ibanez. The guitar is under warranty, it was purchased new. I'm not certain of the length of the warranty.

I've been playing since 1986. I own a bevy of Strats, Tele's and a Les Paul. I am very pleased with this guitar, it is one of my best playing guitars. I would not hesitate to make this purchase again. My favorite features are the neck and tailpiece (see above for note on the tail piece). The neck is not wide, but it's relatively flat. But not uncomfortably so. The design of the neck really caters to more modern players and allows a lower set up than what you might find on something with a tighter radius. Neck shape is a very comfortable shallow-C. I've played a variey of ES335 copies before choosing this one. I chose the Ibanez primarily for it's exceptional value. It gave me what I wanted, which was a quality ES 335 copy, at an exceptionally low price.

New Artcore model has appeared in the States, but not yet in UK. Bought it in Florida. They had the AS73 with or without bigsby or the as75 thicker body model. in antique brown look or translucent blue/black . I wnet for the blue one.
22 frets soldi maple body, front back. Mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard. Twin ac1h humbuckers
Jumbo frets

Great for the blues, with a plummy sound for the neck humbucker, and a thinner one from the bridge. Adjusting the volume and tone controls gives a nice range of sounds, but the main thing is that the tone is very clear. No buzzing, no humming, just clear, even through my practice amp.
No dislikes (except that is not a Gibson e335)

Well set up, no buzzing. the blurb from Ibanez says they are the only factory to do a proper setup at the factory.
Pickups fine.
The paint and varnish had no flaws at all, nice finish, a great guitar just to hold, or to polish.

Seems solidly build, and Ibanez have a good pedigree

Bought at Funky Music in Naples,Florida USA. very helpful store - their personal service compared very well with others in Florida (notably Sam Ash where it was hunt the employee - then listen to their moans - no interest in the customer in 2 branches, did not try a third).

Had guitars for 30 years, no serious attempt to play them until last year or so! Started out with a nylon strung classical at #23 from a london mail order house. This was traded in at Gough & Davy Hull in 1978 for a Marlin Acoustic, which i still have, and it still plays well. Apart form a few dings, it remains in great condition. Original cost was #175 used.
Got a Westfield les paul copy, its ok, or seemed so until i got the ibanez
Just bought the Ibanez Artcore as73
I did hesitate before buying the ibanez as they had an Epiphone which played very nicely, but price difference sold me on the Artcore

Wel ,thats an acoustic, electric and a semiacoustic, what next? First a decent amp, the maybe an ovation