Jump to content

NGD - Ibanez Artist 100


Jarick

Recommended Posts

  • Members

2010-12-19_14-48-37_680.jpg

 

Been out of the game for about five years, so when the itch started I shopped around quite a bit and played every guitar I could find until one spoke to me. Was planning on an Xaviere Tele or Strat, but couldn't bond with anything I planned in stores and didn't think I'd bond with one in the mail. I was digging the Gibson SG Classic with P90's, which was about five times my budget, and a couple Epiphone Les Pauls were fun to play, although they were expensive and heavy as bricks.

 

Pretty happy for $210. Really dig the color, metallic silver with black binding and chrome hardware.

 

Mahogany body and neck (set neck), 24.75" scale, dual humbuckers, single-cutaway, much like a Les Paul. But the control layout is more to my liking (I prefer two knobs), and it's much thinner for lighter weight and balance. I had a Gibson LP Studio for many years that was just a huge hunk of wood and was pretty heavy and muddy sounding. Also love that it has a contoured back like a Strat for comfortable playing while sitting. Nice wide neck too.

 

Played fairly well but had to raise up the bridge to get rid of some buzzing. After I got her home, I removed the strings, tightened up the loose tuners and screws that were causing some buzzing, polished all the frets, cleaned up all around, and put on some 10-52's. Needs a bit of truss rod tweak to get rid of a little buzz on those first few frets (like most LP's), otherwise she plays like butter now.

 

Pickups are surprising for this price. Usually with sub-$500 guitars the humbuckers are muddy and unusable, but the bridge has some good bite to it and the two pickups together have nice clarity to them. I'm considering putting some GFS pickups in, likely a Dream 90 neck and Dream 180 bridge. I love P90's in mahogany guitars but also like some sparkle and a humbucker in the bridge position for fatter rhythm with gain. The pickups are cheap enough I could try the Dream combo and if it doesn't work out swap for Mean 90's.

 

Hardware seems solid enough. Tuners are also surprisingly good, might want to replace them down the line, but they don't seem to slip. Nut is cut well. Bridge/tailpiece are weird...I'm used to the TOM style, and this has big grooves rather than exposed saddles. On the plus side it doesn't dig into your hand and has an interesting look, but you lose some control with palm mutes because you can't get right to the break of the saddle.

 

Also got a Mustang I a couple months back, really dig this amp. First modeling device that's really sounded and felt great to my ears. As much as I would love an honest to goodness Bassman or Matchless, for $100 you can't go wrong for a home amp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

$210.00 is a great deal (I gave $249.00 for mine). I ordered a white one and it arrived a couple of days ago. I love how it looks and plays...very comfortable. It also fits perfectly in one of those light-weight foam cases.

IbanezART100.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It really is a steal. Thinking back to when I started playing back 15 years ago, $300 I think bought me this terrible Kramer Strat knockoff and 15 watt solid state amp, plus an Ibanez THRASHMETAL distortion pedal. Kids today have it good :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Members

Just put in the order for:

 

- GFS Mean 90 bridge

- GFS Dream 90 neck

- 3x 500k audio pots

- 2x .022 uF Orange Drop caps

 

I'll try and get some recording/video to do a before and after. The stock pickups are nice, especially the neck pickup, but I've always preferred singles/P90's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I really like the Artist 100s. I've been eying them and looking for a good reason to get one since they first came out. Nothing about them hints of a cheap guitar. The fit and finish of them is immaculate and they play and sound good to boot. One of the best values out there IMO.

 

Congratulations! The silver looks georgous!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Happy NGD. I have an ART 300 and it is a great guitar.

 

 

I've got 2 ART300s. They really are great guitars. I'd like to get my hands on an ART100 though. Now that I know the feel of the ART series I know I'd be pretty happy with one of these passive babies. I tried several of the new ART320s and up the scale and I didn't like them. They have a thin veneer quilt top and the necks didn't feel as nice as the older 300s with the thicker sculpted maple caps.

 

Jarick - the changes you are making to yours are going to turn it into an awesome machine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Here's the before video. As far as humbuckers go, I think the neck pickup is pretty sweet, especially for an import ceramic. The bridge pickup is too hot for my tastes for sure, but not bad. These would actually make a pretty sweet pairing for someone who likes the JB/Jazz combo on the cheap. I'm curious to see what the impedance is when I swap them.

 

[video=youtube;rGKWiX93iiQ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Well I don't know. I'm going to get my ohmmeter and some alligator clips and double check the wiring on the guitar. If that's fine, I'll probably look to get a pair of vintage output, brighter PAF style pickups (maybe exchange for Vintage 59's, or try BG Buckers). And if I still don't like that, I'll probably try maybe a Jazz neck with Jazz, 59, or some other bridge pickup.

 

I did like the neck pickup, but because it's a cheap ceramic mag import on a $300 guitar, I figure that I should be able to get a little more tone/mojo right? Fixing what isn't broke :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Cool guitar man! I've been looking at these as well.

 

 

Bridge/tailpiece are weird...I'm used to the TOM style, and this has big grooves rather than exposed saddles. On the plus side it doesn't dig into your hand and has an interesting look, but you lose some control with palm mutes because you can't get right to the break of the saddle.

 

 

I didn't click with the bridge either, when I tried them out. Can this bridge be swapped out for a tonepros?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...