Ibanez Identification

[gitaarklas]

Hello,

Can someone help me with this Ibanez?



The picture represents Benjamin Sauzereau, a very interesting Belgian Jazz guitarist, (jazz and beyond).
I heard him play this guitar and he sounded wonderful (I presume he sounds wonderful on other guitars to...)

I tried the ibanez wiki fandom but to no avail.
Any help appreciated.

Stefaan

[David B]

It's an older spec AS93.

[gitaarklas]

Thank you!

And older specs mean better quality?

[Archie]

Thank you!

And older specs mean better quality?

artcores are the budget range for Ibanez. There is likely little difference in quality at this price point. Unless it is a special edition, which I doubt.

[blackcat]

artcores are the budget range for Ibanez. There is likely little difference in quality at this price point. Unless it is a special edition, which I doubt.

Older probably means made in Korea or China and not.......INDONESIA!

[David B]

And older specs mean better quality?

I've no idea I'm afraid. I merely mean that the AS93 model as it exists today has some cosmetic differences. I can't speak to any other differences in iterations of the model over time.

[Jimmy blue note]

Thank you!

And older specs mean better quality?

Not necessarily. Ibanez could change factory and even country of manufacture for a given model even within a year. Sometimes it's because a factory had issues, and then newer specs could be better. Sometimes it may be the result of a factory making genuinely significant improvements but the moment those improvements resulted in a cost increase at the factory production level, those plants would be supplanted by a new factory building to the old (not as nice) specs, or simply not as good for cheaper would win out. I've seen a particular model steadily get better only to see a dramatic rollback in quality, with a different factory of origin on the newer boxes.
While I worked for Ibanez, I kept a personal log of quality and factory of origin...just so I could know the pulse of what the best guitars had in common.
Early 80's however, they were trying really hard to make the best across the board at that point. In my mind they did it.
The Artcores were an interesting story. Many of the first artcores were the first guitars to be built to the same specs as the Fujigens, and they were quite good. Not the same but really good. But then they became a branding name and they could get away with more inconsistencies as people saw that name as synonymous with quality. I've seen artcore dogs. Some got sent back as a lot after massive issues with acclimatization. That's another story.

[John A.]

Many of the first artcores were the first guitars to be built to the same specs as the Fujigens, and they were quite good. Not the same but really good. But then they became a branding name and they could get away with more inconsistencies as people saw that name as synonymous with quality. I've seen artcore dogs. Some got sent back as a lot after massive issues with acclimatization. That's another story.

Which of the Artcore models would these be? I was aware of this with "Artstar," (some of which were MIJ, some MIK) but not with "Artcore".

[Jimmy blue note]

Which of the Artcore models would these be? I was aware of this with "Artstar," (some of which were MIJ, some MIK) but not with "Artcore".

Mea Culpa, you're absolutely right. I'd confused the names. Oops. Take that statement I made back, the names get me mixed up. (I was confused by the similarity of names. Gosh. Hope that doesn't happen to anyone else.)
Thanks for pointing that out, hope I didn't add to the confusion.

[John A.]

Mea Culpa, you're absolutely right. I'd confused the names. Oops. Take that statement I made back, the names get me mixed up. (I was confused by the similarity of names. Gosh. Hope that doesn't happen to anyone else.)
Thanks for pointing that out, hope I didn't add to the confusion.

Thanks for clearing it up. For sure, the similarity of the two is confusing. If Ibanez is blurring the line on purpose that would be a shame.