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Actually,this is not a question. It’s more of an answer. I was given the opportunity to buy my AR-371 back. I had experienced some seller’s remorse when I parted with it. I got the opportunity to play it side by side with my Ibanez.
While I prefer the nitro sunburst on the Eastman over the thicker poly finish on the AF-155, the Ibanez wins out in every other way. The action and playability is better and the tone is more articulated with better note separation.
I could probably get a better tone from the Eastman with a pickup and electronics upgrade, but why bother? Maybe I can finally settle down with my choice of hollow body guitar and just concentrate on practicing.
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11-06-2021 09:38 PM
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Action and action related playability is a *setup* related thing and not an attribute of 155 vs 371.
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Originally Posted by Gabor
To OP: if you like the Ibanez better then it seems a no-brainer to me. The satin poly finish can be buffed to a shine, feels and looks much better imho.
*edit: oh wait I’m confusing the AF155 with the AF55, the latter has a satin finish, the AF155’s finish is gloss already
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Despite my unfortunate choice of words, the Ibanez just feels better and, believe it or not, it makes me play better.
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Totally my personal experience with Ibanez. Theres a sense of the guitar just being there, youre not adjusting yourself to it. (Im very pro Ibanez and have yet to play an Eastman that impressed me.)
As to set up you can setup the heck out of a Gibson with a baseball bat neck but its not going to feel anything like an Ibanez George Benson.
Keep that 155 and if it makes you want to play than dont look back!
My only thought is you may wish to try a higher end neck pickup. I have a couple Fralin Modern PAFs replacing Super 58s. In some cases great change, others no.
Heres my Ibanez line up:
AG95, AF155(!), AF151, AF95FM, AF200, PM200, LGB300.
Above all enjoy your favorite)))
jk
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Originally Posted by Little Jay
I do not know you confused just the finish or the whole instrument, but if you really thougth the 55 the I have to say, it is the worst piece even in its $350-$450 category I've even seen, the 371 is the best I've seen in $1500-ish category,..
I never seen and played the 155 though. My idea about the 371, it is way closer to a real Gibson than Ibanez ever could be except its premium models what are way pricier
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Originally Posted by rsclosson
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Originally Posted by Gabor
The AF55 has great potential
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And also this:
*edit: hmm, I tried to insert to link to the very long thread about the AF55 in this forum but the forum or the tapatalk app changes it to a general link…..
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Here the transformation starts Ibanez AF55
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I am in a similar position. At present I have an Ibanez SJ-300 which gets most playing time along with an Eastman AR-371 and an Eastman AR-503. I also had an Ibanez AF-155 which was my "starter archtop" to some extent. Both of the Eastman guitars are "harder" to play than either of the Ibanez, with the SJ-300 being most comfortable - although also the heaviest. When I was culling [for financial reasons] I went through various thoughts about the guitars.
Two were dual pickup guitars, the Ibanez pair; two were all laminate, the AR-371 and the AF-155; the SJ-300 has a fairly heavy pressed solid spruce top, while the AR-503 is a relatively light carved solid-spruce top. So there was a lot of variety in there that I wanted to try to preserve and I also wanted to like the Eastmans if I could find the source of their playing difficulties.
The end result was that I moved the AF-155 on without taking any financial hit. It had developed a strange sympathetic resonance that was present plugged or unplugged and I had grown tired of "curing" it at one frequency only to have it return somewhere else shortly thereafter. I also figured that of the four guitars it would be the easiest and cheapest to replace down the track, maybe not the exact model but possibly something very similar. The other three are just not that easy to obtain.
I still need to work out whether or not to persevere with the two Eastman guitars; it really bugs me that I cannot identify what it is about them that causes the problem.
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Hi Lost Boss
Are you in theStates? The SJ300 is a rare bird I’ve never seen one but understand its great box.
jk
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Originally Posted by thelostboss
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Originally Posted by thelostboss
It proved worth it for me to invest in some nut slot files for this.
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Originally Posted by Little Jay
Part 2 Secrets to McCoy Tyner using 4ths,...
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