Ibanez Artcore AS73: Is This A Piece of Firewood, Or Am I Nuts?
Written: Jan 20 '08 (Updated Jan 20 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Attractive, lightweight, fast neck, competitive price
Cons: Muddy pick-ups, string buzzing, uncomfortable frets
The Bottom Line: Maybe I got a bad copy, but this semi-hollow body ES-335 knock-off from Ibanez does not make the cut. Look at your store copy carefully before buying.
|
|
|
| buffoonery's Full Review: Ibanez As73 Artcore Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar |
So I’m over at my friendly neighborhood Guitar Center the other day because I have to replace the case for my 1952 Gibson ES-5, which has completely fallen to pieces (the case, not the guitar) and was most recently a home for the itinerant mice who sometimes hang around my basement when I forget to lay out the traps. Now, if you know the ES-5, you know it’s somewhat larger than your garden-variety Fender Strat so it’s unlikely that a case is at GC just lying in wait for a nitwit like me so I know the GC guys will have to order one from Gibson direct.
So I’m waiting for the guy to take down my vitals and whatnot and I’m looking for a guitar to fool around with in the meantime because there are no girls to look at except for the bag-checker at the door who is thirty years, forty pounds, and seven body piercings away from me. Now, everybody who goes to GC knows that the expensive guitars tend to be hanging high up out of reach of the kids who like to play Avenged Sevenfold and In Flames and who might scratch a vintage guitar while they’re flitting about pretending they’re in a mosh pit or whatever it is that people who are thirty years younger than Your Humble Author do in their spare time.
So I see what appears to be an Ibanez ES-335 knock-off right next to a Les Paul that’s going for $2K and I know Ibanez can make some quality expensive boxes so I figure, That one’s for me!, thinking I’ll be playing a quality instrument. So the GC guy hands me the guitar and, without looking at the price tag, I go trotting off looking for an amp to plug into. Two minutes later I’m hooked up into a Vox AC30 and getting ready to play when I see that this ax is an Ibanez Artcore AS73 that retails for $299 and I’m thinking interesting. Twenty seconds into playing it I’m saying, WTF?!, This is a piece of junk!, and two minutes later I’m saying I wouldn’t buy this guitar on a bet!.
So I go home, writing a blistering review in my head, and I check out epinions to see if anyone has reviewed this yet. Much to my surprise, this guitar has garnered not only very favorable reviews, but also very favorable reviews from guys who are pretty good at their guitars. So now I’m thinking, Am I an idiot, or does in fact the emperor have no clothes?
A day later, I’m still thinking that.
Any, getting to the actual review part of your entertainment program, the Ibanez Artcore AS73 is a semi-hollow body Gibson ES-335 knock-off that, at this price point, is designed for players who need either bargain-priced instruments or are professionals looking to add a practice guitar or one they can play in bars and not worry if it gets dinged. Those of you who know guitars know that the ES-335 (see my reviews) below is one of the true classic electric guitars that has been extremely influential and is suitable for many styles of play including jazz, country and vintage rock and roll. It’s a great, great guitar. Those of you who know guitars also know that it’s possible to make a fine instrument and price it at $300 if you make it in Asia so price alone is not dispositive.
The AS73 looks and tastes like a 335. The body is a little thicker than the 335 at 2 5/8” as opposed to 1.75” and also a little narrow in girth at 15 7/8” vs. 16.5” but that’s immaterial. The guitar is quite lightweight and feels terrific when seated and won’t strain your back at performances. The twenty-two jumbo fret neck (more later) plays quite fast up and down and ordinarily would be a real pleasure to play. Like the 335, the body is maple and fingerboard rosewood although I don’t know what the neck is made of because Ibanez won’t tell you on their website. The model I played was an attractive tobacco sunburst and it’s also available in transparent cherry and red.
The electronics are two ACH humbuckers, one in the neck and one in the bridge, controlled by a three-way toggle switch and two volume and two tone controls. OK, these aren’t PAF’s or Burstbuckers but you can still make an OK pickup on guitar at this competitive price. Acoustically, the guitar sounds nice and bright and, as I said, other things being equal, you’d think this was a pretty good bargain guitar.
However, things are not equal. This guitar had three problems that were immediately evident.
First, the two lower strings buzzed up and down the neck. Now, maybe a decent setup can fix this, but maybe not, so why take the risk? Strike one.
Second, remember that I played this through a Vox AC30, a true vintage rock and roll amp that is capable a delivering quite bright tones as well as some pleasant overdrive. But this guitar sounded like mud. No highs. It sounded like I was playing underwater. The neck pickup in particular was dark and clunky. Now, this wasn’t terrible but still, I was holding my nose. And you can always changes the pick-ups, but what’s the point?
Strike two.
Third, the frets are a disaster. Now, maybe I don’t like jumbos in the first place, but playing up and down, the frets were in my face all the time and I don’t like that. But the worst part was that the frets felt almost unfinished or unsanded on the bottom of the neck to the extent that I was worried that I might cut myself if I moved too quickly. It was really unpleasant.
Strike three.
So, as I was saying, I concluded, and quite reluctantly, that this guitar did not remotely come close to making the cut. And I was disappointed because I know (I know, Richard, I know) that Ibanez makes a quality instrument even at the lower-price point. So imagine my surprise when I see that, not only do the epinions guys like this, but so do some other guys on another site I respect.
So I’m here I am, stuck here in limbo, wondering if I’m right and those guys are wrong, and the guitar stinks, or they’re right and I’m wrong, in which case I need my head examined. On the other hand, maybe we’re both right. Maybe this really is a good bargain guitar and I was just unlucky enough to play a POS copy.
Maybe.
So my advice to you is this: play this guitar before you buy it. Play it a lot. And if you do like it, buy it. Except for the fatal flaws I mentioned, it’s a nice attractive guitar.
Technical Specs:
Neck: Artcore set-in neck
NeckType: Artcore Set-In
Body: Maple top/back/sides
Frets: Large frets
Fingerboard: Bound Rosewood
Inlay: Pearl Dot
Bridge: ART1 bridge
NeckPU: ACH1 neck pu
MiddlePU: ACH2 bridge pu
HWcolor: CH
Width: Max width at lower bout: 15 7/8”
BodyThickness: Max body thickness: 2 5/8”
You may find some of my guitar reviews interesting:
Epiphone Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom
Epiphone Les Paul Standard
Epiphone G-400 SG
Fender Classic 50s Esquire
Fender Cyclone
Fender VG Stratocaster
Fender American HSS Stratocaster
Fender John Mayer Stratocaster
Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster
Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster
Fender 57 Stratocaster Reissue
Fender 50s Telecaster
G&L Legacy Strat
Gibson ES-5
Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster
Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis
Gibson ES-175
Gibson ES-333 Memphis Style Hollow Body
Gibson ES-335
Gibson ES-335 1959 Reissue
Gibson ES-350T
Gibson ES-350T
Gibson Les Paul Classic Custom
Gibson Les Paul GT
Gibson Les Paul 1957 Goldtop
Gibson Les Paul Studio
Gibson Les Paul Classic Ebony
Gibson SG 61 Reissue
Gibson Super 400
Ibanez Artcore AS73 Semi-Hollow Body
Ibanez Steve Vai Jem7
Martin D-28 Acoustic
Ovation VXT Acoustic Electric
PRS McCarty
PRS Single Cut
PRS Santana SE
Gretsch White Falcon II
Schechter Diamond C 1
Variax 700 Acoustic
Other amp reviews from buffoonery:
Crate Acoustic CA30
Crate Power Block
Fender Cyber Twin
Fender DSP 65
Fender 64 Vibroverb Custom Blackface
Fender Super Sonic 1x12 Combo
Fender MH 500 Metalhead
Hughes and Kettner Switchblade 50 Combo
Line 6 Spider II Head
Line 6 Flextone III Plus
Line 6 Vetta II Combo
Line 6 Spider III 75
Marshall Super 100 JH
Mesa 5:25 Express
Mesa Stiletto Ace
Mesa 5:50 Express
Mesa Dual Rectifier Roadster
Mesa Stiletto Deuce
Mesa Triple Rectifier Head
Mesa Lone Star Combo
Peavey JSX Joe Satriani Signature Head
Peavey Classic 30 Combo
Peavey Triple XXX Head
Peavey Penta Head
Roland Micro Cube
Vox Valvetronix AD60VT
Vox AD50VT-XL 50 2x12 combo
My effects and stomp box reviews:
Boss ME-20 Guitar Multiple Effects Processor
Boss GT-8 Multi-Effects Processor
Boss ME-50 Multi-Effects Processor
Digitech RP50 Guitar Effects Processor
Digitech RP80 Guitar Effects Processor
And you may also be interested in a few books such as:
Hugo Pinksterboer – Tipbook Amplifiers and Effects
Ritchie Fliegler – Amps: The Other Half of Rock and Roll
Michael Ross – Getting Great Guitar Sounds: A Non-Technical Approach to Shaping Your Personal Sound
Nick Freeth – Classic Guitars: Identification and Price Guide
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.