Members roydmercer Posted February 23, 2010 Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 Has anyone played in Ibanez 125 hollow body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim gueguen Posted February 23, 2010 Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 You seem to be missing a few letters there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WildWill Posted February 23, 2010 Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 I have that AF125-AMB. Had it about a year and a half. Awesome guitar. The frets and neck are soooo comfortable. The pickups sound GREAT. The overall quality is excellent. Currently have it set up with flatwound .011's and it plays so smooth and easy. If you can find an Artcore Custom in your area I recommend trying it out, they are a great guitar. (The "Custom" series of Artcores are the 1XX models) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roydmercer Posted February 23, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 Beautiful looking guitar. I have an Epi Sheraton and was thinking about selling it and getting the 125. I am more interested in a more mellow jazz sound. I'm assuming you are getting that with your IBanez? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WildWill Posted February 23, 2010 Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 Beautiful looking guitar. I have an Epi Sheraton and was thinking about selling it and getting the 125. I am more interested in a more mellow jazz sound. I'm assuming you are getting that with your IBanez? Thanks When I started looking for a hollowbody I looked at everything in the $400-$1000 price range I could find. I was willing to go a bit higher, too, if the right guitar came along. I looked at the Gretsch 51XX series and they were cool. Loved the layout and the look and the Gretsch name, but couldn't get along with the non-roller bridges that were on the ones I played, since they had a vibrato. And to me the pickups sounded "dirtier" than what I was looking for at the time. Certainly would be good for rock. The Epi's I checked out were pretty nice. The pickups again seemed more rock-oriented and the frets/fret boards were... I don't know, a bit rougher maybe? I mean overall they were nice but it seemed something was missing. Again, for me. I wouldn't turn one away now but at the time I was looking for something else. The Ibanez wasn't even on my watch list, having lived my young adult life in the 70's and 80's I related Ibanez to shred machines... and Paul Stanley. But there was an AF-75 in red hanging on the wall of a shop I went in to. I loved the look and took it down and played it. The pickups (ACH models I found out later) were somewhere between the Gretsch and Epi's, or so it seemed, and therefore was not really what I was looking for then. The owner of the store said "I have an Artcore AF125 Custom you might want to play..." WOW. The neck felt so nicely finished when I first picked it up. Played acoustically it sounded, according to my wife, "sweet". I spent the first few minutes with it just looking it over, looking for flaws, playing with the controls, detuning and retuning it. I knew I was in love and figured at that point if the pickups were not what I wanted I could always find some that were and replace them. We went to the amp room and plugged in and man, smooth and jazzy was what came out. (The Artcore Custom line has different pickups from the rest, Super 58's.) I knew I was in love. I walked away that day. For a couple of reasons. One, I don't make purchases like that on impulse. B, I wanted to have some leverage to get a bit better price on it from the store owner. And third, the wife said "Why don't you wait a bit and think about it?" I know it's a long story, but in the first picture you see the ribbon? My wife gave it to me a couple of weeks later for my birthday. She went back in and negotiated a better deal on her own. They are both keepers, her and the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dguitars Posted February 23, 2010 Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 I recently bought one of these:http://www.amazon.com/Ibanez-Artcore-AK105SMABR-Antique-Hardshell/dp/B001R1L866/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1266950456&sr=8-2 I replaced the strings with flat wounds for more of a jazz sound and I am very happy with it. I use it with my DR and the tone is sweet. I also noticed that the tone and volume controls are very sensitive (looks like my other guitars will be getting some better electronics!), allowing me to dial in the exact sound for which I am searching. I would not hesitate to buy another Custom Artcore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted February 23, 2010 Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 I definitely prefer the entry level Ibanez hollow bodies to the Epi hollow bodies, but I'm guessing going to flat wound strings and/or changing the neck pickup to something good would make either of them very capable of coping decent jazz tones. I've bought two Seth Lovers for $50 each used and can highly recommend them. Or a Gibson 57 Classic, or a GFS Alnico II in a tight budget if you insist on something new. Either the Ibanez or the Epi stock pickup would be tolerable through a great amp, but a good pickup isn't that much more of an investment. Since I had to go to my Photobucket acct anyway, here's some pics of my big Ibby. Not quite the same model, but the same ballpark. I traded it, but for what it was, it was a great guitar. I could get a great action out of it with minimal effort, no fret issues. I bought the Seth Lovers for this guitar, but never got completely comfortable with the full size body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roydmercer Posted February 23, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 When I started looking for a hollowbody I looked at everything in the $400-$1000 price range I could find. I was willing to go a bit higher, too, if the right guitar came along. I looked at the Gretsch 51XX series and they were cool. Loved the layout and the look and the Gretsch name, but couldn't get along with the non-roller bridges that were on the ones I played, since they had a vibrato. And to me the pickups sounded "dirtier" than what I was looking for at the time. Certainly would be good for rock. The Epi's I checked out were pretty nice. The pickups again seemed more rock-oriented and the frets/fret boards were... I don't know, a bit rougher maybe? I mean overall they were nice but it seemed something was missing. Again, for me. I wouldn't turn one away now but at the time I was looking for something else. The Ibanez wasn't even on my watch list, having lived my young adult life in the 70's and 80's I related Ibanez to shred machines... and Paul Stanley. But there was an AF-75 in red hanging on the wall of a shop I went in to. I loved the look and took it down and played it. The pickups (ACH models I found out later) were somewhere between the Gretsch and Epi's, or so it seemed, and therefore was not really what I was looking for then. The owner of the store said "I have an Artcore AF125 Custom you might want to play..." WOW. The neck felt so nicely finished when I first picked it up. Played acoustically it sounded, according to my wife, "sweet". I spent the first few minutes with it just looking it over, looking for flaws, playing with the controls, detuning and retuning it. I knew I was in love and figured at that point if the pickups were not what I wanted I could always find some that were and replace them. We went to the amp room and plugged in and man, smooth and jazzy was what came out. (The Artcore Custom line has different pickups from the rest, Super 58's.) I knew I was in love. I walked away that day. For a couple of reasons. One, I don't make purchases like that on impulse. B, I wanted to have some leverage to get a bit better price on it from the store owner. And third, the wife said "Why don't you wait a bit and think about it?" I know it's a long story, but in the first picture you see the ribbon? My wife gave it to me a couple of weeks later for my birthday. She went back in and negotiated a better deal on her own. They are both keepers, her and the guitar. Thanks WW, that's what I was hoping to hear. I think new the I AC 125's are about a grand. I havn't seen any used have you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WildWill Posted February 23, 2010 Members Share Posted February 23, 2010 Thanks WW, that's what I was hoping to hear. I think new the I AC 125's are about a grand. I havn't seen any used have you? No, I've seen a couple of the 75-series, and an 85-series, for sale used but not any Artcore Customs. One used guitar shop here had an AF-125NT (natural blond) on the wall but it was an NOS guitar, not really used. I believe my wife got my AF-125AMB for about $700, maybe it was $799. He had it on the wall for $899 when we were looking. I just checked the Guitar Center website and it looks like they have ONE Artcore Custom that is newly arrived. An AK-100, the model with a different cutaway and a rosewood bridge/saddle. $389 seems like a pretty good deal if it's in good shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roydmercer Posted February 25, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 25, 2010 I appreciate the info.... I think I'm going to hang to the Sheraton and not mod anything for a while and maybe, in a year or so I'll find a used 125.... Pick on brother........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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