Ibanez Artcore AS53 Review

Great guitar for the money!

Great guitar for the money! The guys at Sweetwater did such a good job, the guitar arrived with a perfect setup - it was nearly in tune! I swapped out the tuners with Guyker locking machines and the strings with D'Addario XL Chrome and added Schaller strap locks. The SKB 1SKB-35 Thin Body Semi-Hollow Guitar Case fits perfect. This guitar is NOT the standard 335 size as it is… read more slightly smaller - which is nice.

---

Cancel Comment

A great value guitar which has it where it counts .

This guitar has the fundamental qualities of an instrument one would expect to pay a lot more for . Very good build , very tasteful natural wood finishes and styling and great playability in the neck designe . If you spend a bit more on upgrading the pickups to ones of your choice , level down the odd high fret etc. you end up with a very fine guitar indeed for less than you would… read more assume possible . Above all ,this is a guitar that makes you want to pick it up....play...and contine playing ,which is the highest recommendation I can think of for describing a musical instrument .

---

Cancel Comment

Probably the best guitar for the price you can get

First off, Sweetwater is awesome, service, shipping, everything top notch. As to the guitar, it punches way above its weight. It is extremely well built, sounds amazing, and plays beautifully. This is probably the best first guitar someone could buy. It punches way above its weight class. It looks sharp in person, plays great, and sounds great. Now, why is someone like me that has… read more played for years and has a rack of expensive guitars buying one? I didn't have a hollow body and wanted to try and nail some jazz and blues tones. I was surprised to find not only do I like hollow body guitars, but I love this guitar. In fact, I'm playing it quite a bit, passing up many much more expensive guitars in my rack to grab it. Now, it's not all good, there are some negatives. The tuning machines are not great, it stays in tune well enough for a session, but I tend to have to tune it every time I pick it up. I'll probably replace these tuners. The Infinity Rpickups that come stock are cheap ceramic pickups, but they sound surprisingly good. I'm on the fence about a pickup upgrade, because the pickups I would put in cost more than the guitar. But, if you step back and view this as an upgrade platform, maybe this will be a great guitar. Also, the frets are on the small side, intonation is great, but the action is low and makes contact with fretboard.

---

Cancel Comment

Good stuff all around!

First off, the whole gear-buying experience was first-class, from the ease of selection, to communication during the process, to the actual receipt of the gear - buying a guitar online can feel dodgy at times, but the minute I received the picture of the ACTUAL guitar I was going to receive (serial number and all!) I knew this was able to relax and just wait for it to arrive. They… read more know how to safely pack a guitar for shipping, and I needed to tweak nothing except apply my chosen tuning when I unboxed it. Jacob's attention to detail and affability reminded me of going to my favorite (now-defunct) guitar shop in college - no worries, and I felt like more than an average online shopper. But I've come to see this as the rule with these guys, rather than the exception. And the guitar itself is unbelievable at the sub-$300 price point. Beautiful, infinitely playable, and sounds amazing. It's everything I wanted and more! My only niggle in the entire experience was this weird little three-day dosido it made back and forth between Lincolnton and Charlotte (3x) and Durham (2x), but that was all FedEx, and over a holiday weekend; for what I got when it arrived, that gets a total pass, and should serve as no reflection on the quality of the Sweetwater experience. If you're wondering or concerned, don't be - I'll be returning for everything I conceivably can in the future! Thanks for everything!

---

Cancel Comment

Ibanez

looking for a semi hollow that wont break the bank, thats what this is . not the greatest but after a string change and about a week of heavy playing its starting to come around . i can get mellow sounds but was looking to copy that EC sound from CREAM days check it out, im playing thru a positive grid amp , i can mike it up to a large cabinet and get that vintage 60's lead tone

---

Cancel Comment

Fantastic Value

I have owned an Ibanez Artcore AS53 for approximately six years. This has been one of my all-time favorite guitars that I have owned over my 61 years of playing guitar. It is one of the lightest semihollowbody guitars I have ever played. I was much surprised that the stock ceramic Infinity R pickups sounded so good. I had planned on replacing them with some quality Alnico humbucker… read more but after gigging with it a few times realized that would be unnecessary. I did eventually add plain chrome pickup covers, a black pickguard, a bass roll-off pot and moved the pickup selector switch to the lower bout. Even stock my guitar got a lot of compliments in its appearance and playability from other musicians including jazzers and rock guitarists. When I downsized this was one of my many guitars I kept. Sweetwater is selling these at the same price I paid for mine in 2014. With Sweetwater's attention to detail and excellent service I'm certain you will find this a great guitar.

---

Cancel Comment

Win

I've been a vocalist most of my life, but only seriously started playing guitar a couple of years ago. I've got a great sounding acoustic, but I wanted to add an electric option. Right out of the box, this guitar is kind of amazing. Warm, rich tone from the neck, and plenty of country twang on the bridge. The feel of the neck is silky making for easy motion even when my nervous… read more hands get clammy on stage. Fit and finish are excellent. I'm playing through a Boss Katana 50 for what might be the best combo available for the price! This is pro quality sound for entry level cost! Don't think I could be happier.

---

Cancel Comment

Very happy

You guys are great ! Love the guitar ! Thank you ! All I have to buy now is talent !

---

Cancel Comment