vangoghsear Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I bought a new Ibanez AF55 a couple of days ago. An inexpensive hollow-body, wonderfully basic, thin flat finish, decent amplified tone and nice acoustic volume for a hollow-body. Cheap but workable, dead quiet electronics, Alpha mini-pots, cheap covered 3-way switch, ceramic pickups, not too bad. Really nice build quality, fully bound body and neck. The action wasn't bad and perfectly intonated, but it was a bit high. I lowered the action as far as it would go and just got a little buzz on the g string. I raised it a bit more till the buzz went away, nice low action now. I bought it to be a project guitar, but for now, it really doesn't need any work. Scratches my hollow-body itch. AF55 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drog Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 I own a couple of Ibanez guitars myself. They are a good bang for the buck. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Would have wanted to say congrats, VanGoghSear, but - you know: Pics, or it didn't happen... Own an Ibanez guitar and an Ibanez bass since the 1980s, both made in Japan, both very great and of marvellous craftmanship, but they had Japanese prices then, too. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Congrats van, I think you will be happy with your new purchase. I'm very happy with my Artcore AFJ91 jazzbox. It had a couple of flaws (couple of raised frets, easily repaired, and a little filler around the nut and the hole for the pickup routed very slightly crooked, mostly cosmetic), but it feels and sounds great. Maybe the best value of the guitars I own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 yep,, nice little jazz box you got there. enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Congratulations! Lovely guitar, beautiful finish. Gibson should consider to issue affordable jazzboxes too. Ibanez is ahead of them. They make excellent guitars at affordable prices. Enjoy it with good health! Best wishes... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 Thanks all for the comments. One of my tests for how much I am enjoying a new guitar is, do I want to play it in the morning? Most times, unless I am practicing for some event, I don't take the time to play in the morning, but if I really am enjoying the feel of a guitar I have to at least hold it and strum a few chords. This one is one of those. Several mornings I have grabbed it out of its case and played a bit. I just love the hollow-body feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Yes, Very Sweet...... I was looking at that exact same model on-line several months ago (after a recommendation by a fellow forumite) so it's nice to hear that it's a good guitar. My jazz-box 'itch' has abated for the time being but you never know when it might strike next... Have fun with it! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 Pippy, I've tried a few Ibanez hollow-bodies before and usually come away feeling they were somehow not quite what I wanted. Sort of odd, I usually felt like the hardware wasn't properly selected for the guitar's 'feel' almost an indescribable disjointedness (like when a guitar is strung with the wrong gauge of strings). I've played Epiphones that felt that way too: a nice Epi 339 that I tested an amp with at GC felt like that. Not really bad, just not quite right for me. I found a used G6120 professional quality Gretsch that I really liked the feel of, but it cost too much and a used upgraded Epiphone Casino that I made an offer for, but the seller rejected it. Then I tried this Ibanez AF55, it felt and sounded almost like the Gretsch, except no Bigsby (which is fine with me). The feel is solid, resonant and just feels like a well designed basic instrument. If the itch strikes again, see if you can find one. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Looks like it will get the job done, just fine! Congratulations! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Ibanez did better in the '70s, I think. The "disconnected" sort of feel is probably as good a description as I could come up with. Then again, each of us will have a different feel for different guitars. I guess I have a hard time considering a thin body guitar regardless of price tag as a "jazz box." But in ways that's because I like the overall feel of the thicker instrument. Any guitar can be used for jazz - and other than my full-body archtops, my favorite is my old '70s Guild S100c that's an SG clone wearing 8-38 strings. My semi-hollows/thin bodies do about anything else, blues to Chet-like fingerpickin', but somehow I just don't pick 'em up for "jazz." The feel is wrong for me. Their necks even feel longer and the nut narrower even though they're not. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 Milod, the AF55 is 3-5/8" at its widest, it looks thinner, but it wouldn't fit in a thin case, had to use the deep case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Congrats on the new girl in your stable! I had a couple of AR series some years back and for the money I had no complaints at all. They really have put out some nice models along the way and although I no longer own any of them - I was very fond of them at the time and enjoyed gigging with them as well. Enjoy yourself immensely my gear slutting brethren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Van... Hmmmmm.... Interesting! At that, yup, I'd consider it a jazz box. Although... I still consider my old '70s Guild S100c "SG" clone with 8-38s still one of the best playing guitars I own for a "jazz" sound when I want it. I think that's almost "proof" that jazz is the hands and some guitar/amp settings too. The old Youtube vid of Joe Pass on a Fender Jaguar is revealing on that too... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 Van... Hmmmmm.... Interesting! At that, yup, I'd consider it a jazz box. Although... I still consider my old '70s Guild S100c "SG" clone with 8-38s still one of the best playing guitars I own for a "jazz" sound when I want it. I think that's almost "proof" that jazz is the hands and some guitar/amp settings too. The old Youtube vid of Joe Pass on a Fender Jaguar is revealing on that too... m I agree completely with your post that just about any guitar can work for jazz. For about 20 years the only guitar I owned was a Westbury Standard, an asymmetric double cutaway, flattop solid-body, like an SG and an LP had a baby, with a DiMarzio PAF at the neck and a DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge. That guitar could handle just about any style playing (still can, but I don't break it out as often). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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