Ibanez Artcore AF55 Hollow-Body Electric Guitar  

Controls are simple but effective.

Had some issues with three of the machine heads but Ibanez replaced them. Guitar was ready to go straight out of the box. The action and intonation was so close I have not changed them.

The sound from this axe is what I would expect from a more expensive model.

Feels good, plays well and sounds great.

Even with the disappointment of the machine head problem, I was so pleased with the guitar I would not send it back for warranty. If warranty had not replaced the loose machine heads, I would have purchased new one and installed them myself.

I am a Happy Camper!

Just the basics, and that's what I was looking for. Not interested in a fancy tailpiece, Bigsby, extraneous controls, or pickguard. I wanted something versatile: plays and sounds good unplugged, and is up for kicking a bit of arse when plugged in. This baby fits the bill: lean, clean, and a bit mean.

Felt and sounded pretty good out of the box from the factory.Took it to my luthier and he made it sing. When I picked it up he said, "That's an awesome guitar!" Coming from a guy looks at guitars all day, this assured me that I made a good choice. Plugged it in at his shop for the first time and was surprised at how much gain I can throw at it without feedback.

Outstanding value. I like it better than the rest of the AF series because of how simple and bare bones it is. It's not trying to be something it's not: it is what it is.

I love the Ibanez AF55. I took my time picking it out. I searched and searched and kept coming back to this one. Nobody else makes such a solid, minimalist guitar, let alone at this price! Pick one up before they're discontinued.

Me:  Amateur to mediocre player.  Good at chords, great at power chords, novice at lead.

Style: BLUES, some rock, a little country.

Gear: Also have Mexi Fender Telecaster, Peavey T-27, and Hoehner acoustic.  Everything gets played through my iPhone with the AmpKit app using Jam by Apogee.

AF55:  Can honestly say it's my favorite.  I love the feel, weight, play'ability, and am starting to understand terms like "how the neck feels."  Frankly, it's what I wish I had bought years ago when I bought my Tele.  This may surprise you, but I bought it online without ever having played a hollow body.  I just got very lucky buying a (type of) guitar I had never played.

Why the AF55:  Embarassing to say, but I only wanted one tone knob.  Also, I liked that it was ugly.  The flat top and natural styled finish makes it appear genuine (even though it is from overseas).

Review:  Overall, I love the style, play'ability, speed, sound, weight, etc.  Cons: it doesn't feel as solidly built as others I've played, but for the price I can't complain.  Also, the volume knob goes from 1-10 but in reality it's more like quiet-medium-loud.  That it, adjusting a number or two is mostly un-noticeable.  Go another number and it's suddenly too much. 

Overall: Very pleased, would buy it again, and thinking about selling my Tele.

This guitar is a genuine bargain. Got it with my daughter as a christmas present for her partner who is into Jazz bigtime. For the money the quality is astonishing. The retro look is very well accomplished. Pickups are very nice..but very typically jazz.  Relatively laidback and the same pickups as lots of other dearer artcores. I put on flats for him as he likes ealy jazz.

Really very good quality. Maybe not finished like a Gibson, but not far off. Although you only get a single volume knob and a couple of tone knobs. It feels beautiful in the hands and is VERY playable. Frets and fretboard finished nicely. Nothing to get in your way. I think it looks lovely.

For not a lot over money I think this is a mad bargain. How do they do it? Not heavy because it is a FULL hollowbody. No hum though and that is quite a feat. Bravo Ibanez. The finish is great and surprised me with the quality. How do they keep the price so low? Weird!

I cannot see how they get this level of value. OK Gibsons may be better for sound and quality. But for not a lot this is astonishing value. My daughters partner is chuffed and won't leave the guitar alone.

The Artcore series from Ibanez is their traditional full-hollow electric series with two f holes on an all maple artchtop and arched back. It has a bound mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard and simple pearl dot markers on the fretboard and the side of the neck. There are 22 smooth frets.  The neck heal is carved quite sharply so that there's very little heal to interfere with your hand going up the neck. The headstock is black with an easy access truss rod plate that swings open without have to unscrew it.

I had a hard time finding the dimensions, so I'm going to include them here: 11 3/4" upper bout width, 10" waist width, 16" lower bout width, 20" body length, and 2 3/4" body depth. The neck dimensions were very thorough on the Ibanez site: 24.75" scale, 43mm nut, and 57mm at the last fret.

This guitar has an Antique Brown flat finish and the binding is more of a creme to match the finish. A bright white would have stood out too much. The f holes have no binding. They're stained black.  The hardware is all silver. The Ibanez website says gold. It's not. I think the other AF guitars may be gold.

They also show the controls wrong on the Ibanez website. They have them in the wrong order. It has three controls: a volume close to the bridge, a three way pickup toggle, and then a tone control the farthest down on the body. It's like an Epiphone Dot of the archtop world. The two pickups are Ibanez's ACH-ST Humbucking Ceramic pickups. They describe them as "Moderate output ACH pickups, Clean sounding with a rich harmonics." They don't have covers which seems to fit with the spartan Dot look. The electronics are a consistent black theme.

The tailpiece is very simple looking and easy to string. The bridge is a Tune-o-matic on floating base. It's Ibanez's ART-1. I'm not sure about the wood, but it's fully adjustable and very easy to get the correct intonation.

I give it a 10 for execution. Yes, it is not full featured like other archtops, but for a Dot instrument, it is fantastic. Some people will miss the other volume and tone controls. I like it that way. Less fuss, easier to use. Heck, even some top of the line jazz guitars (Gibson ES 165) have this setup. Some people may not like that the truss rod plate swings open on a hinge. I find it convenient.

I was surprised at how well the AF 55 is constructed. I fully expected some finish flaws or maybe some fit issues. The frets are smooth, there were no rattles or buzzes.

It was also extremely ease to setup. It came very close to perfect intonation from the factory. I had to remove some protective material on the pickups and under the bridge and make two simple minor adjustments on the low E and A bridge to get perfect intonation. The action was just right and the neck is straight.

What a deal. I got the Musician's Friend pricing less a special holiday discount. This guitar well exceeded my expectations for the price. Thanks, MF for offering it at this price and Ibanez for providing a quality, good featured jazzbox.

I like the Dot looks and the antique brown flat finish. It's more than just a stuffy looking hollowbody. And with the tone the pickups produce, it can do more than just jazz. I simply don't put this guitar down unless I'm reaching for an acoustic.