NGD - Ibanez Artcore AF-55

[Flurko]

Like many people here, I tend to have rather too many guitars than too few. I had a mental rule for a while about not buying a new guitar until I've sold one, but work has been a bit boring lately and I wanted to try something with a bit of money I could afford to spend.

So, we've got ourselves something non-offset, light, traditional, and pretty affordable but of good quality.
I might change the pickups one day but knowing me it might be as much for the looks as for the sound. No pictures yet because it's time to guess, and because it was dark when I got home with it !

I went to the seller's home yesterday to get it, she's a local pro player and teacher, her music is not really my style but if I ever get motivated to learn guitar seriously she seems like a great teacher. As a hint, here's her YouTube channel, the guitar I bought has been featured in the past but she's got so many videos online that it's not really that big a hint !

Regarding having too many guitars, I might offload the cheaper ones to friends for long term loans if anyone is interested, or ask around for music schools in need or to neighbors kid, I should figure this out. At some point, when something is for sale for less than 100€ for more than a year and is never played it should go to someone for free or for cheap, I can afford it now and should do so while I have a stable income.

[windmill]

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor ?

[Flurko]

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor ?

Same rough idea, but from another big brand, and cheaper!

[Larry Mal]

Samick?

[Flurko]

Samick?

Nope, it is actually one of the cheapest archtop offerings from another huge brand.

The seller is actually endorsed by this brand, something that I forgot existed and reminded me of all the mythmaking and drama associated with X player endorsing (or being endorsed, whatever it is) by Y brand when I was reading the french guitar forums back in the day, and who were all playing the blandest technical fusionnyshred imaginable for gear demos or guitar clinics.

[Embenny]

Ibanez artcore?

[seenoevil II]

One of those "Squier" (meaning DeArmong [meaning Guild]) x-175's from the late 90's/2000's?

[Flurko]

Ibanez artcore?

Exactly! The AF-55 TF to be precise.

I took an ugly photo on the couch last night:



It has a really nice feeling satin finish, a mahogany neck and maple laminate body.
The original tuners were replaced with locking tuners, so already a pretty nice upgrade.
I haven't had the chance to plug in for a long time yet, so I can't tell much about the pickups but the unplugged sound is very pleasing.
I think the uncovered humbuckers look kinda wrong on this, and I have a set of Eastwood Valco/Airline single coils in humbucker casing that are begging to be transplanted into a guitar I like, when I get the courage to work on the electronics of an hollowbody guitar.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Nice catch!

And yes, I‘m with you on the Black open Cover Pickups look wrong front. I‘m looking forward to see what you do to it!

[Embenny]

Nice, I see a lot of artcores for sale locally compared to other archtops. They seem to be quite popular. Must be for a reason!

[Flurko]

The sun is out, which means some beauty shots !
The back of the neck is glossy compared to the satin finish on the rest of the guitar, I don't know if it's from factory or the result or playing or polishing from the previous owner. It doesn't bother me either way playing it.
The truss rod cover has a little access hatch that rotates open without removing screws, a nice clever touch from Ibanez there.








The bunnies are still firmly on the Fender camp, because I don't want to put anything wooden with sharp corners near their teeth because they would absolutely love to give it a chew !

[Twang Deluxe]

The sun is out, which means some beauty shots !
The back of the neck is glossy compared to the satin finish on the rest of the guitar, I don't know if it's from factory or the result or playing or polishing from the previous owner. It doesn't bother me either way playing it.
The truss rod cover has a little access hatch that rotates open without removing screws, a nice clever touch from Ibanez there.








The bunnies are still firmly on the Fender camp, because I don't want to put anything wooden with sharp corners near their teeth because they would absolutely love to give it a chew !

Amazing guitar

[Embenny]

I'm a bigger fan of the bunnies than the guitar. Bunny cuddles are the best.

[Shadoweclipse13]

This is a lovely guitar! Ibanez, particularly of that era, aren't always talked about, but most every Ibanez I've picked up has been solid. I think they're an underrated brand, even today. The burst on this is really beautiful!!!

[Flurko]

Thoughts after a few months with it : It really grew on me ! My guitars live in a rack in the living room, and this one's acoustic properties and lightness made it a perfect couch guitar, but it's quiet enough to be played at night as well. I used to have a vintage Hofner acoustic archtop, and this cheap Ibanez is comfier in every way and has a smoother sound that I really enjoy.
Knowing that it won't be flipped soon, I'm allowing myself to think about modding it, because I can't leave anything alone.
I've already got a set of Eastwood/Airline single coils in humbucker housings that would brighten the electric sound nicely, and they made me wonder :

Is there an alternative to the boring Gibson style pickup ring ? I'd love to get something like the trapezoid rings of the Chris Isaak Silvertone, or the cool rounded metal surrounds of the bigsby pickups, but I can't find anything sized for standard humbuckers.

This and a pair of cream harmony-style 'pancake' knobs might pretty everything up nicely!