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When checking out guitars at a store I found a pristine used Ibanez semi from the Prestige line that looked nice and played like butter. There’s no model indication on the guitar but some digging revealed that it’s an AM-205 from 2013. Acoustically it sounds soft (it’s a small guitar), airy, angelic when played softly, brawny and percussive when hit hard. Plugged in I was disappointed with the neck pickup. To bassy, unremarkable note separation and not ‘woody’ at all. But I had a feeling that going back from 11s to 10s would solve that, and it did. The 11s overpowered the pickups to the point where low notes farted out. With 10s the guitar opened up and sounds delicious. Airy, transparent and much more woody, although not as earthy and woody as Gibson and PRS manage to be. All three pickup settings are equally convincing and apart from being a great choice for jazz and funk, this thing also wants to rock. At lower gain settings it’s like Angus & Malcolm rolled into one, at higher gain settings it sounds huge and ballsy and musical.
Body and neck are made of burled mahogany, ebony fingerboard. Made in FGN plant. Workmanship is at a very high level. The neck is super comfy, probably the most comfy neck of all my guitars. Literally ruler-straight and with no action to speak of. The tuners are very precise and it’s a breeze to tune up. Very light-weight instrument and easy to play standing up as well as sitting down. It seems to be hardly played at all and for what I paid for it, it’s a steal. I can always sell it for the same or more, but I think this is a keeper.
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07-22-2023 07:23 AM
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Sounds like you got a deal! It has the important stuff on it. Gold hardware. Ebony fretboard. She's a beauty. No doubt your taste is impeccable, you even have a Peterson tuner on there it looks like.
I would try lowering that pickup down before I switched gauges if you really wanted to stick to 11's. I use 10's already myself. I've found many times a small adjustment downward will clean up the articulation. As the polepieces get further away from the strings it will often brighten the tone a little bit and kill a lot of the muddiness. Most humbucker guitars I get off the rack have the pickups set much higher than I would normally. They'll drive the amp harder but also be muddier and bassier. Can't hurt to experiment but it sounds like you have it the way you like now so that's great to hear. Enjoy it often and congratulations on a nice new guitar.
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You have a sharp eye! That’s exactly what it is. About pick-up height: I tried that, but still it didn’t sound right. I have 12s on my archtops but don’t mind using 10s at all on a guitar like this. It sounds good and like Tim Pierce says: I’m ready for it to play easy. I do lots of comping sometimes my hand objects to the 12s.
Originally Posted by DawgBone
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That's a bit of a wonky string setup on the stop tailpiece. If you'd like to get a little more breakover and use the adjustibility for which it was intended, thread the ball end through the holes in the back of the tailpiece and out the front to the bridge. You can then use the height adjustment on the tailpiece to get the exact angle you want the strings to cross over the bridge with.
Just sayin'
Beautiful guitar! I had the original 80's version with the narrower headstock. Comfortable and sounded great. And it's lasting towards a half century of playing. Enjoy!
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That little Peterson has been a game changer for me. Luxuries once sampled become necessities and I would not want to go back to snarks and other cheap-o tuners. Worth every cent. Originally Posted by Oscar67
I usually lower my pickups way down and then raise the pole pieces way up to where I want though it doesn't seem to be to common when I see other guy's guitars, it's just what has worked for me. Every time I go to a luthier they put them back like the factory unless I say something then I gotta reset the whole dang thing. Like I said, I see a lot of factory guitars with the pickups set very close and the pole pieces screwed way in. There are quite a few ways to adjust a pickup so it pays to take some time. I often find myself making very small adjustments over time once I'm ballparked.
Hear you on the lighter gauges. I am bending a lot of strings and a 10 tuned a half step down is a good compromise for me in terms of still retaining body to the sound of the higher strings while not wearing my hand out. I tried going to 9.5's but there was something lost there, more so than going from 11's to 10's. Anyways, nice guitar!
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This seems to be the current incarnation of this guitar. Interestingly, Ibanez ships it with 13s. Wow.
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Thank you! The top-wrapping is a deliberate choice of mine. I prefer how it sounds and feels. It makes a difference. Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
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I would rather top wrap than raise the stop tailpiece myself. It seems kind of self defeating to set the stop tailpiece where it will lose some of the additional contact with the guitar. Does it matter or not? I don't really know. What I do know is my current ES copy has a bigsby so it's not an issue. Never thought I wanted a bigsby until I got one and felt how slinky it makes the strings feel. I don't think I can go back to a stop tailpiece for the kind of stuff I'm doing.
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That string gauge has got to be a typo in the specs don't you think? Originally Posted by Oscar67
They also have the depth at 2 5/8" Isn't it more like 1 5/8"?
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The Ibanez AM-205 was initially offered from 1982-1987. It was revived in 2014 but discontinued in 2016. Factory-installed strings were: .010/.013/.017/.030/.042/.052. In contrast, the AM2000H comes with these gauges: .013/.016/.022/.032/.042/.052. The AM2000H has a smaller body than the AM-205: L: 16½" X W: 13 7/8" vs L: 19¼" X Width: 15¾". For these and other reasons, the AM2000H may not be the "successor" to the AM-205.
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Thank you, @jazzshrink! That’s very helpful! The serial number indicates that mine was made in June 2013.
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They do ship with 13s... Originally Posted by alpop
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So similar yet so different. The 335 is a recent ‘58 reissue from Gibson Custom in VOS trim. It’s much heavier, larger and less easy to wield than the Ibanez. Both guitars play like a dream yet feel and sound very different. The neck pup of the 335 is darker, smokier, woodier and thunkier while the Ib has a more modern, airier and crisper tone. The bridge pup of the 335 is quite bright and easily verges into Tele territory, whereas the Ib is slightly warmer, a bit more refined and with higher output. I’m a sucker for the 335’s old-school tone and mojo but wow, that Ib sounds good. And it’s a better build, really. The 335 cost me 4x as much but had a disconnected tone control (they forgot to solder one of the wires) and minor stuff like the Gibson-usual noticeable ridge between fingerboard and neck.
The 335 has a sturdy, vintage-y, baseball-like neck whereas the Ib’s neck is very slim. Both have no action to speak of and play effortlessly, but the Ib even more so. This makes it a killer guitar for long practice sessions etc. Access to the upper frets is also unparalleled on the Ib. Certain solos that I have to fight for on other guitars simply fly off the neck on the Ib. Consider me impressed.
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Almost four months went by. Do I still like it? Oh yes. I use it a lot. It’s such a convenient, pleasant, high-performance and fuss-free instrument… And it’s the most quiet guitar I have, as in dead-silent. No hum, no buzz, nothing. All the pots and wiring are shielded with some kind of tin foil, hiding the electronics in a Faraday cage (my GB10 is the same).
This pic was taken through the F-hole.
Sound-wise, I really like this guitar’s top end. The ebony ‘board and semi-hollow build make it a bright, articulate guitar. But in a sweet, angelic way, not ice-picky. The character of the top end is such that I can dial back the mids a bit, whereas usually being heard over the din requires mids and it’s not always pretty. And the guitar is extremely versatile, without becoming a characterless tool. It does jazz. It does The Police. It does U2. It does AC/DC (really really well, I might add) and it does classic metal.
The thin neck, low action and Ibanez’s usual effortless playing experience are appealing, as with my GB10. The AM-205 hasn’t made my beloved PRS solidbodies obsolete but it’s successfully competing with them for playing time. And it’s the one that I like to take out of the house with me. Sounds great, plays great, looks great, stays in tune, plays in tune.
#happy
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This my Ibanez AM205AV "Super Artist" MIJ 1982.
As you can see is very similar to your guitar. I have installed the Roland GK-2 hexaphonic pick-up and for this reason the tone pot of the pick-up at the bridge was disinstalled.
The original Ibanez pick-up at the neck was also changed with a Gibson from a mid-70' Les Paul custom.
You can hear the very good jazz sound of this guitar on this video:
Ettore
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Nice!
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I also have a Am205AV. Excellent guitar, and a great find.
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