Is the Ibanez AS93 a good start in semi hollow body guitars?

[Pauls Asaris]

Hi there!

I am planing on buying a semi-hollow body guitar and I am wondering if the Ibanez AS93 would be a good start. I haven't found anything bad about it, except that some prefer to change the pickups.

At first I wanted the AS103 but it is a lot more expensive, and the only differences are the pickups and the neck, which aren't that bad on the as93.

I mostly play jazz, blues, and funk. I previously had a cheap Ibanez strat-style guitar, but it wasn't meant to last. Plus I haven't had the chance to try the Ibanez AS93 out and who knows, maybe semi-hollows are not my thing.

So please, any thoughts on this?

[mr. beaumont]

The ibanez semi hollows are quite good, definitely among the better budget semis out there.

Any attempt at a swiss army guitar involves big compromises somewhere, but a semi hollow is about as versatile as it gets.

And don't get hung up on changing pickups...there's two reasons people replace pickups that are not broken---to go after a very specific sound, or to chase tone dragons that don't exist. Many people fall into the latter category.

[newsense]

The AS93 was my first decent guitar. It was probably a lot better than I realised at the time. I did end up changing the pickups for Seymour Duncans, with a notable improvement in clarity. Although I swapped it for a Godin, I do now find myself GASing after an AS103. The Super 58 pickups in the AS103 make up the majority of the price difference compared to the AS93 and are reckoned to be pretty good.

So, yes I believe the AS93 is a great start, you can always consider an upgade at a later date.

[PTChristopher]

>>> to chase tone dragons that don't exist.

I thought they were tilting at tone windmills?

I any case, agreed that the AS93 will serve a player well. I would not necessarily sell it later for a "better" guitar. More useful in general to keep it, and expand your sound range with a second, and different-sounding guitar.

Chris

[IbanezAS100]

My old teacher used an AS93 for years, bone stock, a few thousand gigs...absolutely no problems. The AS103 has a few improvements (better fretwork with really nice feel). My favourite Artcore is the AGS83 (discontinued) which I still use daily, if you can find one used definitely give it a try...same price range or even cheaper used.

[chrisnewlin]

I used an AS93 for a couple of years, and they really are great for the money. I ended up selling it only because I found a really good deal on an AS80 which is the pre-Artcore series. The Artstar semi-hollows are better, and there are a few of them out there that you can find for around $500, which is about what an AS93 will cost you. Something to consider.

[rockrink]

I like mine. Stock.

[pierre richard]

I play my stock 1977 Ibanez 2355 (ES-175) everyday which I bought in 1978...

through a Polytone Mini Brute...014 Thomastic flatwounds...medium action...

have had students who had the 95 series Ibanez and they loved them...of course the price was right for most of them..a very good guitar for the money...

its not the instrument but the musician playing it...

time on the instrument...pierre

[rsclosson]

I got one a while back and LOVE it! It is the older model with the cream pickup rings and before they added a pickguard. The specs say that the pickups are not the super 58s but ACH1 and 2. Despite that, it sounds and feels great and I am not planning on any upgrades to the pickups or anything else.

[LtKojak]

If I had to choose, I'd go for a second-hand Epiphone Sheraton II, to which I'd make a complete overhaul of hardware.

That, together with the quality of the construction and the tone woods used will make for a pro-level instrument for many years to come, specially the ones made after 2011 in Indonesia.

HTH,

[mongrel]

One of the best sounding semis I ever heard was in a local pawn shop several years ago. It was an AS 73 owned by a young punk musician and the body had been stripped and painted with paisley flowers. Ugly as sin. Anyway, the owner replaced the original pickups with Duncans. He forgot which but I assume a JB in the bridge and '59 in the neck. He plugged it into an old Peavey transistor amp and turned it up into ear bleed territory on the clean channel. Absolutely astounding. I could have walked out with it if I had $200 in my pocket but the plastic flower that was glued to the end of the headstock was a turn-off.

[Ghostlady]

I should note, one can get a second hand korean made Ibanez artstar for under $400, but there are also numerous 335 style guitars out there available for not to much scratch.
There are also the michael kelly 335 guitars (I think they are called deuce?) which are korean made, and range from $350-$430 new. Supposedly they are pretty nice.

This is the under $500 stuff out there, if you bump yourself up to $600-$800 you are basically opening yourself up to some really nice professional semi-hollowbodies, sometimes...if you get really lucky, a really good Japanese made one in great condition. Point being...just don't go for "new and cheap". A used guitar is sometimes the better deal.

[Longways to Go]

My AS73 has a super neck but nothing special on tone. I swapped a SD seth lover into the neck position, but I'm still not too stoked on the tone . . . I guess I'm still chasing the dragon around the windmill? But somehow I still keep the guitar . . . and I a wonder from time to time just what pickup I will try next . . .

[disco~juice]

I got an Ibanez As93 a while back and I think it is nothing special. I will def. change pickups soon, they are muddy.
Now that I'm thinking it, It would be better if I spent more money to go with a godin montreal premier.

[Beanctr]

I bought a nice AS83 with a hard case (2006) used from GC for $299 not long ago. I thought the pickup was muddy. I put a Gibson 490R in the neck position and it brightened right up. Its a nice guitar, plays well and has a nice chunky neck. rick

[BigMikeinNJ]

I've had a few AS200's (an '82 and a 1990) so I know "the bar" for Ibanez semis. I've also had a '90s AS120 (which had Super 58s) that was nice, and then I fell in love with AS103 models in burl maple and spalted maple. Those have the Super 58 Custom pickups, a cheaper pickup than the Super 58 but pretty doggone nice right out of the case. The 103s have remarkably nice detail work, fretwork is doggone sweet. My most recent score was an AS103 in burl maple that had been rewired, new pots and Gibson Classic 57s installed. THAT is one fine guitar to play. In my opinion the Classic 57s, Ibanez Super58s and SD Seth Lovers are all really outstanding pickups and if you got an AS103 and upgraded to any of those three pickups and replaced the wiring you'd really be very pleased with the playability AND tone.

As the title of your thread asked: is the AS93 a good starter guitar, YES. but for a hundred or so more you'd not only have a starter but maybe a keeper you'd be hard pressed to let go of.

[timfernandes]

Hello everyone! My first post here...

I have an Ibanez AS93, which I love, but it has a bad habit of snapping random strings at the most inconvenient times (gigs). It always happens at the bridge/tailpiece.

I am a light-handed player and this does not happen with other guitars I own, so I am trying to figure out the reason.

I have three possible suspects for now:

1- The bridge itself, where the strings rest. The surfaces seem quite blunt, but do have a small slot where the strings rest. They could be further enlarged, though.




2- The tailpiece. The exact place where the strings come out of the tailpiece seem a bit sharp too (the L-shaped cavities).



3- The angle which the strings make coming out of the tailpiece to the bridge is quite steep (almost 30°), which might be placing extra stress on both support points (tailpiece and bridge).

Should I file the tailpiece exit points so they are smoother? Should I hammer or file the surfaces on the bridge where the strings rest? Should I try to raise the tailpiece so the string don't come out at such a steep angle?

I would appreciate any advice. By the way, I use D'Addario XL Jazz Light Chromes (flatwound). I know they are not great, but they should be lasting more than one or two gigs.

Thank you!

[neatomic]

you're on it! gently file or use a piece of folded sandpaper to file bridge saddle slot a tad...doesn't take much...after, some pencil graphite in slot will help as well



cheers

ps- if string is breaking at stop tailpiece, sand those edges...

exactly where the string breaks will tell you where the problem is..always investigate!!

[sgosnell]

Its usually a burr at the saddle slot or at the tailpiece. If the strings are breaking near the end, it's more likely the tailpiece. I use a file, but sandpaper will work. You don't want to enlarge the slots much, if at all, just sightly round any sharp edges and remove any sharp burrs.

[citizenk74]

neatomic and sgosnell have covered the subject well. Good luck with this!

[Matt Cushman]

The angle from the tailpiece to the bridge sounds a bit steep at 30 degrees . You should raise the tailpiece to lessen the strings angle to the bridge. This is called the breakover angle. The preferred breakover angle should be from 12 to 15 degrees. To change the angle raise both the screws that hold the tailpiece. Welcome to the forum!

[Jabberwocky]

Try Mitchell Abrasive Cord to remove burrs.

I have had one D'Addario e4 plain steel 10ga treble string break at the ball-end for no reason so it might just be the D'Addario 10ga plain steel string...

[lawson-stone]

Hey... the inserts in that tune-o-matic are turned around reverse from the way they are on my guitars:



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[sgosnell]

The saddles can be reversed rather easily. Sometimes it's necessary to get enough movement for intonation. On my Epi ES175 I had to reverse the B saddle to get it to intonate with .012s, and it was still just a little out. Unpinning the bridge solved the problem in the end, but I didn't bother to put the saddle back the other way. It looks like your G is maxed out, and if it's still a little sharp you could reverse that saddle and get just a little more movement. But if the bridge isn't pinned, and can move, that's easier than reversing the saddle.

Actually, the saddles in the OP pic are only half reversed, half one way and half the other, and that seems to be a common orientation, for some reason.

[DonEsteban]

Hey... the inserts in that tune-o-matic are turned around reverse from the way they are ...

They are like that on nearly all modern MiC guitars now. Manufacturers using the cheapest available bridges they can get and somebody seems to have told them to reverse the bass string saddles.

Just a tip to the OP: Do yourself a favor and get yourself a quality bridge (I prefer Gotho, but there are others of similar quality).

You'll not recognize your AS93 after that, such a huge jump in tonal quality. I've done that when I had an AS93, it was amazing. And probably solves your string snapping problem too (in case it actually are the bridge saddles like mentioned before by others).