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What a great guitar! No reviews are posted anywhere and no stores in my area have any to try so it was a bit of a gamble ordering it from MF. But, it is a real gem. So organic and articulate. Plays better than my ES-175 and sounds amazing acoustic and plugged in. Craftsmanship is top notch and the transparent red finish over flamed maple and spruce is freaking gorgeous. I have many hi-end guitars and this budget archtop holds its own with any of them. I added some pics. Sorry if they are sideways. Blown away with this!
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06-11-2017 12:51 AM
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Very pretty, in her red way (which I like.)
Congratulations!
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Is this laminate top or solid? What would a floater sound like on a laminate
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Happy New Guitar Day!
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I have been very interested in this, particularly the red one. There is so little info out there though and only one video I have found with someone playing jazz on one (it was the matte black one). It looks really cool. Congrats!
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Very nice...and Very red!
I had to look this one up to get more info...
Hollow Bodies Contemporary Archtop - AFC151 | Ibanez guitars
Hollow Body Guitars - Contemporary Archtop | Ibanez guitars
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Per Ibanez, it's a laminate top. The floater sounds surprisingly good. I worried about that but was delighted to find plenty of bark. If you've played solid carved-top guitars, you know the organic, lively experience they deliver. This new Ibby produces a fair amount of that vibe surprisingly. For the money, I'm very impressed. I will custom fit a better bridge to it but I have no other upgrades planned. The stock bridge is the only disappointment--clearly cut by a Neanderthal. Barely touches on the ends and not at all fitted to the arch of this guitar. Even then, the tone is stunningly good.
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Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
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How is the pickup by the way? One thing I worried about looking at these is that they don't have pole pieces. Since I almost always use nickel strings I always have to adjust them to get a balanced sound. I guess it wouldn't be too hard to switch the pickup but it is not as easy as a guitar with a pickguard mounted volume and tone
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Originally Posted by rio
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Nice, looking at the Flat Black AFC 125
Ibanez Artstar AFC155 Hollowbody Electric Guitar (with Case)
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Originally Posted by jazzimprov
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Originally Posted by rolijen
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That's a beauty! Congratulations, and play it in good health!
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I posted an NGD post a couple weeks ago when I got my Ibanez AFC151 Contemporary Archtop. Now with many hours of playing time, I want to get the word out on this little known gem. I got the single pickup model, it also comes in a two pickup version.
The design is gorgeous and worthy of any jazz player. The build quality is extremely good (However, I did opt to outfit it with a nicer ebony bridge--something I usually do anyway). The woods are high quality, the finish is expertly applied and thin. The fretwork is top notch. The resonance is amazing for a laminate guitar and considering the price (under $1K US) it's flat out amazing. You would not think it's a laminate top playing and hearing it. The top is thin and produces tone that is rich and full across all strings.
Before spending time with this guitar, I expected I'd be replacing the pickup. But now, I think I'll wait--it has a smooth, even tone that is very pleasing. Obviously, no guitar is perfect in every way, but for what I wanted (24.75" scale, slightly shallower body than my ES-175, single floating pickup), it delivers.
Please consider this guitar. It's still a fairly new model in Ibanez's lineup. As a result, there is very little real-player information available. That's why I posted this. Clearly, it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I really am enjoying mine more than any guitar I've purchased in quite a while.
Ok. I'm going back to playing it now.
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Man you are tempting me. Ever since the announcement I thought that red one is so good looking. What does it play like - how thick is the neck and how good were the frets? Also, do you think that its tone compares to any well known guitars if you had to describe its sound? There are hardly any videos of it out there - I have only found one on YouTube and the guy is playing the back one with two pickups.
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Originally Posted by rio
Neck is thicker than other Ibanez. Perfect thickness for me. Fretwork is excellent. Top-notch actually.
Even with the floater, to me it sounds a lot like my ES-175. But acoustically, it's very very good. Makes the 175 sound like a toy guitar. But that's not a fair comparison. I've played many of the laminate D'Angelicos and this sounds better to me. Has some of that organic feel of a carved top. The red finish is gorgeous. I have 5 gorgeous guitars (Gibson, Martin, Taylor, D'Aquisto, and this Ibanez) in the same room and the new Ibby is getting 95% of my attention these days. So worth the price.
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Looks good!
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Originally Posted by rolijen
Well that tipped me over the edge and I ordered one haha. Some of the Artcore necks are just too skinny for me so that was my main concern. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it in person - I am guessing that the pictures do not really capture the red completely.
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Originally Posted by rio
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Originally Posted by blille
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Originally Posted by rolijen
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It may disturb some players and I'm not sure if it shows up in any photos, but this model has a volute. I'm guessing it has to do with the larger mass of the headstock. At first it felt weird to my hands but that quickly went away. I didn't notice it at all after about 10 minutes of playing. Given that I didn't mention it in my NGD post or this thread (until now) my hand and brain don't notice it at all. It's an amazing guitar. Period.
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It arrived this morning. I am going to make a ngd thread tonight after I have had some more time with it and can give some in depth commentary and maybe a video but man, it is gorgeous. It is SO much brighter than I expected - like, shockingly bright. That's fine but all of my guitars are pretty comparable sound wise even though they are quite different instruments and I can usually leave the amp set the same for all of them but I really had to tweak the highs to not have my ears bleed, at least with the Mustang. I was disappointed to have some high frets too - the 12th and 17th frets were very high. It was only a little noticeable with the action set where it was when I got it but it was unplayable on the 11th and 16th frets with low action and in between them there was buzzing. I leveled all the frets from the 12th up and now it plays very well. I'll say more about it after I spend a few hours playing it - I just finished the string change and setup. Thanks again for the recommendation - I was ready to spend a lot more on a guitar that I didn't need and although I don't need this either, I ended up spending less on a really nice guitar that adds something different to the collection.
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Originally Posted by rio
Humiliating Confession
Yesterday, 01:31 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos