2005 Ibanez AF105 spalted maple

[Donnd]

I recently purchased a mint 2005 Ibanez AF105SM. It unfortunately arrived a few days after we were hit dead on with Hurricane Beryl so that slowed me down dealing with utility outages and cleaning up a ton of tree debris. I finally had time to really play this guitar, change the strings and learn how it behaves.


Overall my impression of the AF105 is positive and the guitar is visually stunning. I tried out this model a few months ago while in Japan and I also own the sibling semihollow AS103nt that I like and would recommend. The fit and finish on the AF105 is also first rate. Tuners are solid and changing strings was quick and simple. The guitar also has pretty good acoustic projection.


Playability. My technique is fingerstyle, classical position with guitar on the left leg. I want a guitar with some acoustic response and good voice separation. The AF105 gives me the balance I am looking for but was a tad bright and brassy with the TOM bridge (just replaced this with a wood bridge tonight which did help more than expected).


If I can figure out how to embed a soundcloud audio file I will try to post a demo recording.

[Gitterbug]

Hi! Sorry to hear that forces of nature intervened, apparently seriously. I've had two of these in natural maple - one with floater, the other with two Super 58s. Both times, a younger player insisted on buying the guitar. Extremely well made, with classy appointments and great sound. Quite bright, owing to the all-maple construction. I also had a spalted AS-103 with a "satanistic" figure M (my initial) on the back side. Another fantastic guitar, except for the smell. I suppose that 18 years makes a big difference in this respect. If only I could buy it back...

[KirkP]

I have an AF105NT that I think was built in 2008. I felt the TOM bridge gave it an unpleasant metallic character that the wood bridge eliminated. It’s great for jazz bands where the volume levels might be too great for a large bodied carved instrument. I’ve used it a lot for that. The neck width, depth and scale are slightly less than I prefer, but I adapt after I’ve played it a few minutes.

These days I mostly play solo or low volume ensembles where I prefer either a carved archtop or Telecaster. But the AF105NT sounds fine in those situations, and I’ll sometimes rotate it in as my #1 for a while, just for the change. It’s the only guitar that I use flatwounds on—Rotosound Top Tapes. They seem well suited to it and last forever.

[Jimmy blue note]

Beautiful! When we got these first shipments while I was working for Ibanez (talk about a guitarist's unboxing fantasy), I was really stunned by the figure. We'd get the in bundles of 6 and each one I took out was radically different from the others. That model is totally unique for each guitar.
Enjoy it!

[Donnd]

Hi! Sorry to hear that forces of nature intervened, apparently seriously. I've had two of these in natural maple - one with floater, the other with two Super 58s. Both times, a younger player insisted on buying the guitar. Extremely well made, with classy appointments and great sound. Quite bright, owing to the all-maple construction. I also had a spalted AS-103 with a "satanistic" figure M (my initial) on the back side. Another fantastic guitar, except for the smell. I suppose that 18 years makes a big difference in this respect. If only I could buy it back...

I have seen a few of those custom AS103s and they are beautiful. Mine in the plain NT model. Perhaps someone on the forum has you old guitar?

[Donnd]

Kirk,

Thanks for the suggestion to try the Rotosound top tapes. I will try the 12s set!

[Donnd]

quick recording of the Ibanez AF105 SM before I swapped the TOM bridge. After some time owning this guitar I am still happy with it. Wish it had a wider neck since I play fingerstyle but I adapted to it. The new wood bridge gives it a slightly warmer tone but not a big difference.