Ibanez AFC151 Contemporary Archtop

[JohanAbrandt]

The gap between the tailpiece and the top of the guitar is quite narrow, so I don't even see the metal part of the tailpiece, that's why I'm a bit reluctant to try fitting the strings blindly, as I don't want to scratch the lacquer. I wrote to Ibanez support in the UK asking for their advice and waiting for a reply... Will certainly share here what they tell me, but in the meantime, if someone found a solution too, I'd be interested to learn. Cheers.

Thats why they say long and slender fingers is an advantage when playing guitar.

I usually use a combination of cloth and small cushions when changing strings on archtops to avoid scratches and bumpin the tailpiece

[jazzkritter]

Problem is i have Segovia Sausage Fingers, big palm, short fingers! Since he made it work i just don’t complain but yes every time i see the young female classical players with delicate long thin fingers im jealous.
Agree, i use a cleaning cloth under the tailpiece. For the classical i took a piece of xray film, cut out the bridge and slip it under and around. Its an obscenely thin french finish… look at it andbit dents.

[marno]

It sounds then like a piece of cloth (plus strong specacles for me!) are the answer when changing strings. Thanks guys

Anyone managed to remove the black cover though or it's fixed to the tailpiece for good and not removable?

[citizenk74]

Hello everyone! A new owner of an AFC151 here, very happy with the guitar - it looks gorgeous and plays exacly how I imagined it would.
Even though this thread is very old, I thought I'd try to say hi and ask for advice -
The first thing I wanted to do with my guitar was to change strings. The ones it came with are probably the original ones it was shipped with 6 years ago (it's an ex-display model, I was lucky to find it). I have no idea though how it can be done without removing all strings at once and lifting the tailpiece. I wanted to be clever and change them one by one, so that the bridge doesn't move (took me a while to intonate it correctly), but with the black plastic cover on, there's no easy access to the tailpiece.

Did anyone find a way to remove the cover without having to detach all strings and lifting the tailpiece? Is it even possible - the previous poster mentioned it was attached with screws?

Any help will be much appreciated!

[rolijen]

If I recall correctly, the wooden tailpiece cover is attached to the metal tailpiece with screws. The metal part is not pleasing looking. My feeling is that it would be better to leave the cover on it.

[marno]

If I recall correctly, the wooden tailpiece cover is attached to the metal tailpiece with screws. The metal part is not pleasing looking. My feeling is that it would be better to leave the cover on it.

Got it. I didn't want to remove it completely, only assumed the cover was removable to make string change easier, but I guess I'll have to learn to do it "the archtop way"!

[fofig]

I got one of this. I am very happy with it... My Teacher was genuinely impressed!

It belonged to a Jazz teacher who made a great setup. I love it.

Despite this being not so common, there are two on the market in France at the moment (check leboncoin), at a price much lower than what you find on Reverb. Just if someone could be interested.

[jazzkritter]

Reading back thru the thread and I see Rolijen asking if anyone routed out an AF151 for a humbucker.
Yup, I was able to and no braces were hurt during the rout. Took all the thinness out, made for a good sounding/playing AF151F (2013 Chinese, Fralin Modern PAF. Coil tap switch from another pickup on the guard, unused.)

[rolijen]

Reading back thru the thread and I see Rolijen asking if anyone routed out an AF151 for a humbucker.
Yup, I was able to and no braces were hurt during the rout. Took all the thinness out, made for a good sounding/playing AF151F (2013 Chinese, Fralin Modern PAF. Coil tap switch from another pickup on the guard, unused.)

Looking good, jazzkritter!
For me, that is the perfect setup. I still would like to do that exact same thing to an afc151.

[fofig]

Got my first serious jam with friends. My guitar buddy felt immediately in love with the guitar. How she looks how she plays. He is now looking for archtops.

It is a bit bright, but you can roll the tone.
I also played through a NUX morning star that is a basically blues breaker that try to clone the JHS morning glory for 1/6 of the price. With minimal gain and playing with the tone I arrived to a pretty satisfying fat sound without.touching the tone of the guitar.

[fofig]

I will write a note here for future reference. The guitar has a certain neck dive tendency. I discussed it here

Archtop head dive?

I went for a straps that prevents, I love the weight I would not add some more to stablize. I do not gig and I do not often play standing so not a bit issue for me.