Ibanez Artcore AS73 Semi-Hollow Review

Steve D

Been playing mostly acoustic but I love this electric archtop guitar. Quality is a number one the sound I was looking for great price love it

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First Semi-Hollow Body

I've had my beautiful Sunburst AS73 for a couple weeks and like it very much. It arrived quickly, well packed, and in great shape. I've accumulated quite a few guitars over the past 40 years - both made in America and elsewhere, including an an Ibanez AG95. This is a very nice guitar. The price simply makes it a great value also. The construction seems solid and everything is done… read more very well - fit and finish, frets, binding, action, knobs, etc. I mostly play through a Marshall Origin 20H and like the stock pickups more than I thought I would. I have a couple pickup sets with alnico II and IV magnets but am not in a hurry to switch. The neck is a little chunkier than some electrics, but much less than a 50's LP neck. I switched the upper strap pin to the neck heel because that's my preference - very easy if you've done this before. My only other gripe is my finger tips have gotten black after playing, but I'm planning to clean and oil the fretboard, and put new strings on this weekend so this will no longer be an issue. Bottom line - this is a nice looking, easy playing, good sounding guitar. If you're looking for a semi-hollow body guitar it is worth considering, especially if you don't feel the need to spend more.

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Amazing

Guitar arrived in excellent condition and plays like a dream!

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My new "Go-to" guitar!

Can't say enough about the quality & sound of this beauty! I've owned a 335, and this guitar goes circles around it. WELL worth the price. JL

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An amazing guitar at an incredible price.

From the faultless construction to the amazing tone, this guitar is worth every penny of its incredibly affordable price. It plays like a dream and will handle blues, jazz, grunge, surf, punk, and country tones. In addition, buying from Sweetwater was easy and I had no qualms about buying from them sight unseen. They provided amazing customer service, far beyond anything I expected… read more and I will most certainly purchase from them again

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AS73 review

I've owned this guitar for more than 2 years. The cons: the tuners are not very good, they slip. I replaced them with graph tech locking tuners.This guitar has a plastic nut. A graph tech nut only cost approximately $... I just that Ibanez would have charged me a little extra.The pros: the pickups are good. I play clean and the pickups give the Gibson sound.The neck is a 12" radius.… read more There's no sharp edges for this price point. This is a nice guitar for the price. You would have to replace the tuners and the the nut which would be around $... total. An epiphone would nearly cost that amount not including locking tuners.I've been playing for over 50 years of experience. This is my unbiased opinion.

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Great guitar

I have my artcore (older model) since 2002 college days and still use it! Its still a dream to play and i would never sell it... from Jazz to metal.. from singing to screaming it does it all!!

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Must be the best $value out there

I've had my AS73 for three years now and I'm still delighted with it. I'm a tinkerer so it's been modded some - Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups, Bigsby vibrato, graphtech saddles -but you know they say you can't mod a crappy guitar into a good one. It's still essentially the same guitar as when I got it, just tweaked to my preferences - but it was great already out of the box.… read more From day one the neck has been super pleasing and everyone who picks it up - including people who play guitars that cost 6 to 8 times as much - all comment on what a sweet neck this is to play. The build quality is extremely good and nearly unbelievable at this price point. It sounds nice to practice acoustically without an amp. The only part I did feel was a bit sub-par was the output jack, which is super easy to replace with a switchcraft, and geez, what a piddly complaint for a... guitar that plays and sounds like $2500.

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Awesome guitar

I"ve been looking at this guitar for over year and finally decided to pull the trigger on it after it went away and came back in stock a few times. Can"t begin to tell you how glad I am that I now have this guitar in my hands. The color is brilliant and it plays better than some of the higher end guitars I"ve encountered over the years. It"s just gorgeous and I am having a hard… read more time putting it down. In fact it is in my lap right now as I write this. If you are considering a semi hollow body, do not hesitate. You will not be disappointed. And the price point is amazing. Thanks to Jose and the entire Sweetwater team. Keep up the good work.

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Amazing Guitar

This guitar is absolutely fantastic. Right out of the box it was ready to play after a quick tune. The elite pickups are very warm and offer great bottom end crunch as well as crisp highs. The overall shape is superb and it actually has a nice light sound unplugged acoustically. I am still blown away by the price for such a high end and well manufactured instrument. Ibanez definitely… read more did not disappoint and for the money, you'd be silly not to invest in this one. I play solo, guitar and vocals, mainly covers of light classic rock, alt rock and grunge and up until now I was actually rocking an acoustic electric.... this however is now my main weapon of choice. Excellent job Ibanez and impeccable customer service by Sweetwater. Can't say enough good things about this one folks.... Get one!!!

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