Found the perfect gateway electric for acoustic players.

[1neeto]

I guess it’s NGD again. Traded one of my budget Strats for this Ibanez Artcore AF75. It’s a hollow body electric, with a fantastic neck. This one is from 2004, but it’s in great shape, and constructed quite nicely. I believe they go for under $500 new.


It sounds decent acoustically. I believe the whole body is laminated maple. Good guitar if you’re playing at night, and your dread is a bit loud.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

...It sounds decent acoustically. I believe the whole body is laminated maple. Good guitar if you’re playing at night, and your dread is a bit loud.

I've always recommended full-size hollowbody/semi-hollow electrics as first instruments for converted acoustic players; as far as I'm concerned, Ibanez owns this segment of the market outright - they really have no competition at the under-$600 price point, and your guitar is a perfect example of why...

That said, there's a reason experienced players gravitate toward this style of guitar, and it's not just the uber-cool retro looks: hollowbodies (and to a somewhat lesser extent semis) are designed to produce a rich, woody amplified tone by introducing a certain amount of natural body resonance into the mix, and you'll need to go with something heavier than the typical plain-G 10's to get the top vibrating. One of the main virtues of this type of guitar is that you can essentially duplicate the feel of your acoustics, a valuable asset if you switch off between instruments on stage; a favorite hack of all those fleet-fingered Bop-era jazzers and first-generation rockabilly cats was to outfit the guitar with the heaviest strings they could comfortably handle, then drop the action as low as possible without buzzing (pretty much a DIY job for most of us here on the AGF) - and while I wouldn't recommend a set of 14's for general use, IME there's no reason you can't set up one of these guitars with wound-G 12's (PSA: flatwounds allow you to set the action far lower than roundwounds, and they last longer since they don't collect grunge between the windings) and still be able to routinely do half-step (and sometimes whole-step depending on action, string type, and finger strength) bends. FYI I'm running D'Addario Chromes 12's on my Godin CW II (a similar single-cutaway, two-pickup full-depth hollowbody), and it's become my go-to couch guitar for low-volume unplugged practice; whether amplified or unplugged, the accepted standard for these guitars is what I like to describe as "tone you can eat with a spoon": rich, smooth, even from string-to-string, with no stridency or metallic harshness - you'll know it when you hear it, and once you have you'll find it becomes highly addictive...

Finally, guitars of this type can also benefit from experimentation with different bridge types; while a TOM bridge such as yours allows accurate intonation/compensation for a broad variety of string types and gauges, a non-metallic bridge can be just what you need to kick your tone up to the next level. StewMac offers several different types - good stuff BTW and, other than cutting the string slots myself, I've found them to be a drop-in swap on every archtop on which I've used them (most times the base needs to be fitted to the curvature of the top by an experienced luthier - and how StewMac does it I'll never know); for about $100 you can own the entire assortment, and by combining different materials and string types/gauges you can go beyond merely "decent" - customizing your tone for specific styles, or finding your own unique signature sound[s]:

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-ha...-guitar-bridge
https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-ha...th-bone-saddle

Use it well, often, and (not too) loud...

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

I've always recommended full-size hollowbody/semi-hollow electrics as first instruments for converted acoustic players; as far as I'm concerned, Ibanez owns this segment of the market outright - they really have no competition at the under-$600 price point, and your guitar is a perfect example of why...

That said, there's a reason experienced players gravitate toward this style of guitar, and it's not just the uber-cool retro looks: hollowbodies (and to a somewhat lesser extent semis) are designed to produce a rich, woody amplified tone by introducing a certain amount of natural body resonance into the mix, and you'll need to go with something heavier than the typical plain-G 10's to get the top vibrating. One of the main virtues of this type of guitar is that you can essentially duplicate the feel of your acoustics, a valuable asset if you switch off between instruments on stage; a favorite hack of all those fleet-fingered Bop-era jazzers and first-generation rockabilly cats was to outfit the guitar with the heaviest strings they could comfortably handle, then drop the action as low as possible without buzzing (pretty much a DIY job for most of us here on the AGF) - and while I wouldn't recommend a set of 14's for general use, IME there's no reason you can't set up one of these guitars with wound-G 12's (PSA: flatwounds allow you to set the action far lower than roundwounds, and they last longer since they don't collect grunge between the windings) and still be able to routinely do half-step (and sometimes whole-step depending on action, string type, and finger strength) bends. FYI I'm running D'Addario Chromes 12's on my Godin CW II (a similar single-cutaway, two-pickup full-depth hollowbody), and it's become my go-to couch guitar for low-volume unplugged practice; whether amplified or unplugged, the accepted standard for these guitars is what I like to describe as "tone you can eat with a spoon": rich, smooth, even from string-to-string, with no stridency or metallic harshness - you'll know it when you hear it, and once you have you'll find it becomes highly addictive...

Finally, guitars of this type can also benefit from experimentation with different bridge types; while a TOM bridge such as yours allows accurate intonation/compensation for a broad variety of string types and gauges, a non-metallic bridge can be just what you need to kick your tone up to the next level. StewMac offers several different types - good stuff BTW and, other than cutting the string slots myself, I've found them to be a drop-in swap on every archtop on which I've used them (most times the base needs to be fitted to the curvature of the top by an experienced luthier - and how StewMac does it I'll never know); for about $100 you can own the entire assortment, and by combining different materials and string types/gauges you can go beyond merely "decent" - customizing your tone for specific styles, or finding your own unique signature sound[s]:

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-ha...-guitar-bridge
https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-ha...th-bone-saddle

Use it well, often, and (not too) loud...

Wow thank you for such awesome insight! Yeah it currently has 10’s but I want 12’s with a wound G because it feels a bit sloppy and I bet it will have a fuller sound acoustically and fatter while amplified. She does sound great through my Marshall combo.

[Dru Edwards]

Congrats Juan! Ibanez has a great rep with their Artcore series. You still need to find another Les Paul though .

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

Wow thank you for such awesome insight! Yeah it currently has 10’s but I want 12’s with a wound G because it feels a bit sloppy and I bet it will have a fuller sound acoustically and fatter while amplified. She does sound great through my Marshall combo.

In order:

• Not surprised, with the short scale and full-hollow body - as I said above these guitars require a heavier string - and I'd start with a set of either flats or Monels (FYI they're magnetic, and were in fact the very first electric-guitar strings until LaBella developed flatwounds circa 1940) and work from there;
• 100% right on both counts - there will be a noticeable change for the better in electric and acoustic tone;
• I'm not a big fan of Brit-voiced combos for most jazzboxes - although many of the first-wave Invasion acts made good use of Vox gear with whatever hollow-body instruments they could find/afford (and a certain Mr. Harrison made Gretsch/Vox an iconic combination to this day) - but if you go easy on the preamp gain and let the power section do the heavy work, you should be able to achieve a crisp, defined tone with the dynamic headroom these guitars thrive on...

[Glennwillow]

Nice guitar! Ibanez has done a good job with that Artcore line! Congrats!

- Glenn

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Congrats Juan! Ibanez has a great rep with their Artcore series. You still need to find another Les Paul though .

I also sold the 245. So yes I need another Les Paul. Next one is gonna be a standard. [emoji4]

Really liking this guitar though. Action a bit high but easy adjustment with the TOM.

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

In order:

• Not surprised, with the short scale and full-hollow body - as I said above these guitars require a heavier string - and I'd start with a set of either flats or Monels (FYI they're magnetic, and were in fact the very first electric-guitar strings until LaBella developed flatwounds circa 1940) and work from there;
  
• 100% right on both counts - there will be a noticeable change for the better in electric and acoustic tone;
  
• I'm not a big fan of Brit-voiced combos for most jazzboxes - although many of the first-wave Invasion acts made good use of Vox gear with whatever hollow-body instruments they could find/afford (and a certain Mr. Harrison made Gretsch/Vox an iconic combination to this day) - but if you go easy on the preamp gain and let the power section do the heavy work, you should be able to achieve a crisp, defined tone with the dynamic headroom these guitars thrive on...
  

Thanks! I’ll experiment with flat wounds since I like my action low.

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Nice guitar! Ibanez has done a good job with that Artcore line! Congrats!

- Glenn

Thanks! Yeah it’s well made considering it’s 18 years old and Chinese made.