Artcore Expressionist AS93FM Left-handed Semi-hollow Electric Guitar - Violin Sunburst Review

Meet "Kid Charlemagne"!

I had been wanting to purchase another 335-type semi hollow guitar for years. I had a beautiful Ibanez Artist semi hollow back in 1980 that served me well for many years. I regret having sold it a long time ago, and I've not been able to find its equal since. Until now! Since I'm not able to afford a Gibson, I wanted a semi hollow that could cover jazz and blues to give me that… read more Larry Carlton tone. I could not be more pleased with this Ibanez AS93! First off, it is visually stunning, and the workmanship is flawless. It is, in fact, a superior guitar to the one I owned in 1980, in my opinion. Secondly, the Super 58 pickups sound fantastic. I'm not even sure if those were the pickups on my original Ibanez, but I do not recall them sounding this sweet. I simply cannot get a bad sound out of any setting from either pickup through my Roland Blues Cube Hot. Every tone I love is right here at my fingertips! Lastly, Justin and Dontae were so great to work with. I've never been able to pick out my SN before and choose the wood grain out of 4 options before. They accommodated my request that the guitar be set up using Thomastik BeBop 11's, which I've never played before, and these strings are quite good. I'm used to flat wound 12's for jazz, and I needed a compromise for other styles. No compromise here! I could not be happier with this purchase, and the setup was perfect, the guitar arrived in excellent shape. If you are on the fence about this guitar, I hope this will help you make up your mind. It is a delight to play!

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Sweetwater is the best

First ...sweetwater has the best service,excellent communication and my guitar was delivered amazingly secure and in mint shape along with their 55pt inspection. A+..as for the guitar its my first semi hollow. It took me a while to narrow it down but this guitar is amazing .perfect tone,feels great and is surprisingly very light. I own a hs ibanez which I love and this guitar just… read more reassures ibanez quality in their guitars.

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Very good

Sweetwater's sales engineers gave me expert advice and enthusiasm. They were patient with my many questions and helped me complete my purchase. The guitar is amazing and arrived in a few days, packaging and guitar intact. I couldn't have asked for a better experience with a guitar company, and I highly recommend their services.

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Beautiful guitar!

For this price point, the Artcore is a fantastic value. The workmanship is great. The construction is on par with many Gibson's I've played and gives the 335 a run for its money. The pickups are fantastic with a killer tone, especially through a Marshall-style amp. The tone/volume knobs feel high quality and and have a large range of sensitivity. I love the gold accents. The… read more only negative I experienced was that the frets were a little rough out of the box. Took it to my local luthier guy and he polished them in a few minutes to perfection. He also checked the intonation which was spot on. Overall I'm thrilled with this purchase, especially considering I'm a lefty that rarely gets to try before I buy. It's just a super playable, great sounding semi hollow. Highly recommended! Especially if you are in the market for an ES-335 but can't afford the price tag.

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Perfect right out of the box

Lefty's don't get much love, but this is a great sounding guitar. Mine was perfect right out of the box. I've not changed anything. Sweetwater pre shipping checks are spot on. The Super 58's are sweet. The construction is perfect and the finish is gorgeous. BB woulda gave it two thumbs up.

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