Members stratsyndrome Posted November 29, 2004 Members Share Posted November 29, 2004 Originally posted by bronco Hey Artcore Posse Comrades: What amp and pedals are your favorite for your artcore? I'm shoppin! [/quote With my AK-85 (with the all rosewood bridge) I tend to use the following. For on the edge of feedback parts, I tend to use an Engl RB Signature, but any Engl should work nicely as long as you stay away from the high gain channels. With a big tube amp like than and a 4X12 i like to build up a huge swell of volume and let it roll around the body with a close mike- I get a very boomy compressed sound on the edge of feedback for solos. very cool. For more normal use I use a Vox Pathfinder 15R, especially for recording. The AK I run with stock pickups - makes my pedals sound really good and I can throw a lot of dirt in front of it without feedback. My favorite pedals on the AK85 are the Fox Rox Captain Coconut 2 (the fuzzfoot sounds bitchin with it, better than any other guitar I have) and of course, the TZF. ZVex Fuzz factory is also very nice, but the gate control (feedback) is going to be more sensitive because of the hollowbody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members made of stone' Posted November 29, 2004 Members Share Posted November 29, 2004 it's strange, i changed the pu's because i wasn't getting nearly enough highs with the stock pu's. they sounded dull, and too bassy. but bear in mind that i'm a single coil guy who loves telecasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fret22 Posted November 29, 2004 Members Share Posted November 29, 2004 That makes since. I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members made of stone' Posted November 29, 2004 Members Share Posted November 29, 2004 it sure seems like the it's in the electronics more than anything else that the manufacturers cut their costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fret22 Posted November 29, 2004 Members Share Posted November 29, 2004 I agree. I like to buy a cheaper guitar like an Artocore and an Epi and then switch out the electronics to customize it how I want it to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bronco Posted November 30, 2004 Members Share Posted November 30, 2004 Ok, so the sound I'm looking for is a Tal Farlow/Jim Hall sound. Occaisionally, I'd enjoy a trip to the crunchy blues. Which pickups/Pedals/Amps should I shop for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twil Posted November 30, 2004 Members Share Posted November 30, 2004 I love my Artcore AFS75T. All I've done is add straplocks, sperzels, .13 blue steel strings, and removed the pickguard. I'm happy with the stock pickups through my Musicman 212 Sixty Five. I'm very impressed with the tuning stability after cranking on the bigsby. I'm using a vintage Rat, Boss DD20, and Morley Bad Horsie wah. I go for indie rock sounds.. from PJ Harvey to Spiritualized. I've played for 13 years and have owned all sorts of guitars... the Ibanez is my main right now. I love it The low cost makes it great for taking on tour or to far off shows.. if it gets banged around I don't freak out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members made of stone' Posted November 30, 2004 Members Share Posted November 30, 2004 i removed the pickguard from mine too.so do you think the sperzels significantly improved tuning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members heavyles99 Posted November 30, 2004 Members Share Posted November 30, 2004 I wish they made a production model of the Omar Lopez Artcore. ( you can see it on Ibanez's site.) Hey Bronco, you will want to start with a short scale jazz guitar to get those Tal Farlow reaches in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twil Posted November 30, 2004 Members Share Posted November 30, 2004 Originally posted by made of stone' i removed the pickguard from mine too. so do you think the sperzels significantly improved tuning? I'm not 100% sure because it's been so long since I had the original tuners installed, but I'm guessing they helped. I've been told that less windings = more tuning stability. I'm far from an expert on this subject so anyone with better knowledge please feel free to clear this up. My main reason for the switch was convenience. I love sperzels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members made of stone' Posted November 30, 2004 Members Share Posted November 30, 2004 i read the opposite, that the more windings, the more stability. got that from dan erlewine's book on guitar repair. i think the tuners on my artcore could be upgraded, but i don't know if that would solve the bigsby problem, as i don't have experience in that kind of upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 30, 2004 Members Share Posted November 30, 2004 I also found the pickups kind of muddy on my AK-85. But i loved the playability and acoustic sound of mine and bought it anyway. I replaced the pickups with NFS Nashville Filtertron (retrotron) copies and the tone is now very full and clear. I'm ordering an Ibanez Bigsby and roller bridge from Ibanez through Guitar Center and it's taking months to get here...but only 99.00 and it should fit perfectly in place. I'm toying with replacing the pots too. Has anyone done this and gotten better tone out of an Ibanez? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ironhandjohn Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 My 13 year old son will soon join the Artcore Posse... We went to GC last Friday whereupon he fell in love with the AS73 in cherry stain. Since the strings that come on guitars from the factory usually suck, can anyone recommend a good brand/gauge of string for him? He's 13 but he's been playing my Strat, strung with D'addario XL .012-.052's, long enough to build up the strength in his fingers. He eventually wants to install hotter pickups, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fret22 Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 I really like heavy strings especially on a hollow body. I don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wiz-kid Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 I really like heavy strings especially on a hollow body. I don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fret22 Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 That Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members made of stone' Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 people who play .008's and .009's are either shredders with floyd rose equipped guitars (with scalloped fingerboard, no less) or guys with extremely bad guitars that will play like barbed wire unless they use these very slinky gauges. i'm using .010 on my artcore, but i think it would improve with .011, so i'm trying those next. as for the tuners, you should wind the string at least 3 times around the post. i usually do 4, one above the post hole, and 3 below. that also keeps the string from popping out of the nut when you bend more vigorously, and yes i've seen it happen, though not on my artcore. i'm not really sure what's causing the out of tune issue in my guitar, but i've heard a lot of people complain about bigsby arms getting their guitars out of tune, so i'm betting on that. i'll try more windings the next time i change my string set, to see if it solves the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fret22 Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 When I first got my guitar the nut wasn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IndofunkCity Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 Originally posted by Fret22 When I first got my guitar the nut wasn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bronco Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 Thanks for all of your insights so far. I'm making me a shopping list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rocknrao Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 the seafoam green one with the Bigsby on it. I went ebay though and I haven't received it yet, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. any advice to give me as far as recommended mods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IndofunkCity Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 Originally posted by rocknrao any advice to give me as far as recommended mods? I'd recommend you get it and play it for a while first, then firgure out what needs to be upgraded. If you read through the posts you'll notice some people want to replace the pups, some can't live with the tuners, etc. It all depends on what you want and the condition of your guitar. Me? I'll replace the tone pots as soon as I get around to it. I don't mind the pups at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wiz-kid Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 the seafoam green one with the Bigsby on it. I went ebay though and I haven't received it yet, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. any advice to give me as far as recommended mods? Thats the one Im hoping to get by time Christmas comes around Im gonna play around with it before I do mods but I've been thinking of getting some of those Humbucker sized P-90's, Grover tuners, Straplocks, and maybe some dice knobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members made of stone' Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 upgrading the pu's really depends on what amp you have, and what kind of music you're going to play. my vintage club didn't like my artcore's pickups, so i had to change them. either that or i'd have to get a new amp, which would be considerably more expensive. however, if i played with some distortion or overdrive, or other effects, i'd probably have kept the stock pickups, as it was cool that way, but i need good sparkly clean sounds, so a new pu set was in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IndofunkCity Posted December 1, 2004 Members Share Posted December 1, 2004 As President of the HC Artcore Owners' Club, I officially bump this with the 100th post!! Rock on, Artcore owners!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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