Ibanez AS80?

[Steve Howe]

What's the word on these Korean made ES335 clones? Hmmmmm?

[23miles]

Originally posted by Steve Howe What's the word on these Korean made ES335 clones? Hmmmmm?

 

They are rather nice. The Super 58 pickups are AOK!. Plays nice and sounds great. Personally I'd prefer the AS-120 which is a bit more upscale. The AS-120 is my favorite 335 clone. However the AS-80 is a nice instrument. Because of the SUper 58s it is, IMO, superior to guitars like the Epiphone Dot and Sheraton, but you'll have to judge the sound for yourself.

[nazz0nate]

I've had one for 10 years and I love it. Very versatile axe. A little heavy but well balanced. Stays in tune better than any guitar I've ever owned and I've been playing for almost 35 years (i don't feel that old).

Although it's a 335 copy, the super 58's give it a wider tonal range - the neck pickup with some good distortion is very buttery and smooth (think warm Santana) while the bridge pickup actually provides more bright twang than one might expect from this type of guitar. Then there's everything in between.

Personally, I use a Strat for that "thonk" (2nd & 4th p/u position) that only a Strat can get and for the light strummy acoustic-like rhythm. The AS80 sounds great for everything else, and I play rock, funk, blues, jazz, country. That's a tall order for 1 guitar but it really does sound good.

 

nate

[Zappa74]

 

Originally posted by 23miles They are rather nice. The Super 58 pickups are AOK!. Plays nice and sounds great. Personally I'd prefer the AS-120 which is a bit more upscale. The AS-120 is my favorite 335 clone. However the AS-80 is a nice instrument. Because of the SUper 58s it is, IMO, superior to guitars like the Epiphone Dot and Sheraton, but you'll have to judge the sound for yourself.

 

 

I just pulled some Super 58s out of my Ibanez Jet King1. I had always read that they were some "powersound" pickups... turns out they were 58s all along.

 

They were pretty decent pickups. Good punchy bridge and the neck souded pretty nice clean, but got muddy fast.

[tommy_is_here]

I have one too which I really quie like. I was in the same boat you seem to be in...wanted a 335 clone, and the best bang for buck.

 

I did do some mods though to mine:

 

a) new bridge - mine looked like hell - got the guitar 2nd hand.

b) new bone nut to replace cheapo plastic nut

c) new pups - mine sounded ok, but I doubted they were super 58s, and they weren't. A SD in the bridge, and some random crap in the neck. Swapped them for a pair of lindy fralin pups and I am not quite happy

d) also, installed those cool self-clipping planet waves tuning machines.