NGD: Ibanez Artcore Action Shots

[Commodore 64***]

My wife wanted to surprise me for our 11th anniversary on Sept 11, but my daughter spilled the beans, so I got it early. It needed strings and a set-up really bad, but other than that it is darn near mint. I don't have any guitar only porn shots, and we didn't get audio yesterday, but here's some pics of the Ibby.

[Tig***]

That is a beautiful guitar! This is the one that sounds so good, right?

You better get it back from that goofy guy in the pictures, though!

[Commodore 64***]

It's an AF85-VLS, from 2005 which is the last year they made that model. The one I was referring to, probably, that sounded really good was my Jackson Soloist Pro, after I stuffed a Gotoh FR trem in it. But I like this Ibby quite a bit, too many guitars, not enough time or skillz to play them all like they deserve...

[Eric***]

That's pretty. Congrats.

You know, it's a game in and of itself to keep track of your current guitar/amp/pedal inventory. What's the latest update?

BTW, what sort of music do you actually like to play? Your guitars, or at least what I recall, are all over the map stylistically, from country to blues to jazz to metal. What's your preferred territory?

[Commodore 64***]

You know, it's a game in and of itself to keep track of your current guitar/amp/pedal inventory. What's the latest update?

BTW, what sort of music do you actually like to play? Your guitars, or at least what I recall, are all over the map stylistically, from country to blues to jazz to metal. What's your preferred territory?

Guitars
2005 Ibby Artcore
1990 Jackson Soloist Pro
1994 Mim Tele Squier Series
1994 MiM Strat Squier Series
???? Samick Jazzmaster (P90s)
2009 Taylor D110 Acoustic
The SX Tele I got from you
Epi Stra Copy (craptastic)

Amps
Fender Blues Jr. (Stock)
Peavey Bandit 112 (Sheffield Speaker), needs work, can't wait to tackle it.
Gave the Pathfinder 15 to a friend

Pedals
Blues Driver (Allum Blues Stack)
Boss DS-1
Digitech Bad Monkey
Marshall Edward the Compressor
Marshall Jackhammer
Digitech rp100 (Can't seem to find it)

You might be familiar with the latter 5

As for music. I like Hair Metal, 80s Metal, Classic Rock, a little country (80s-90s stuff), some blues.

Hair Metal and Iron Maiden Metal are a bit beyond me. So I do a lot of practice on 1,4,5 Blues progressions or whatever else my guitar teacher tells me to work on from week to week.

[Eric***]

Interesting. So you got rid of your Fender Stage 1000?

Man, you've seen a lot of guitars go through your household. I'm kind of curious to know the end of the story, you know? Like which ones survive the test of time.

I kind of doubt I'll ever see some of the gear I've loaned out at this point (a couple of Crates and a Boss ME-50), but I'm surprisingly OK with the stuff I currently have. It's weird how that works.

Given your musical leanings, I guess the Jackson is a step in the right direction...

[Commodore 64***]

Yeah, the Stage 1000 and the Champ are gone. I do still have a 1 x 12 cabinet with a Weber speaker in it. Oh and I just remembered I have a Bass amp that I loaned to a buddy, that Acoustic amp. But I just gave my little Kay Bass to a friend's son on Saturday.

That Stage 1000 was a nice amp. I traded it for a hardshell case to someone who was hard-up.

[Eric***]

That's nice that you're doing the donation thing. I've done that a little bit, but these days I'm running lean enough that I don't really have a lot of wiggle room.

[marnold***]

Nice guitar face, but where's the helmet? (re: your avatar)

Looks like a sharp guitar.

[otaypanky***]

My dog ran out of the room when I scrolled down to that last pic !

Nice lookin' guitar

[Commodore 64***]

I've been told that I look like a bloated Jason Bateman.

[Eric***]

I've been told that I look like a bloated Jason Bateman.

Really? Hmm...maybe I can see it. It's tough to look past the hair differences though.

The closest comparison I have is to Buzz Lightyear, so I think you're doing better!

[FrankenFretter***]

Those ArtCores are nice. My friend Tom bought one about five years ago, and it's become one of his favorites. I was the lucky recipient of the old pickups when he swapped them for Seymour Duncans. I put those in an Epi SG, and they sound great.

Welcome to the Semi-Hollow club, C64!

[poodlesrule]

Welcome to the Semi-Hollow club, C64!

Is C64's AF85 a semi, or full hollowbody?
The MF product page does not even say, which would imply semi. C64 could confirm and look at the center block?

I did not know there was "semi-hollow" club...

More importantly, how does it sound?

[bigG]

Nice lookin' guitar there, Commodore. Congrats!

[Commodore 64***]

This AF85 appears to be full hollow body. There's no divider in it that I can see.

[oldguy]

I've been told that I look like a bloated Jason Bateman.

I was thinking more like the guy called Booth of the show "Bones"........
anyway, a beautiful guitar you have there, nice, nice woodgrain.
Congrats, and enjoy!

[SemiHollow]

Excellent choice. Ibanez makes excellent semi/full hollow body guitars and for less than other brands. I had an Epiphone Dot but sold it after playing my buddy's Ibanez Artcore equivalent. $100 cheaper new and it just played/sounded way better than the Dot. I'm currently using the Ibanez AJD91 and am looking into one of their full hollow guitars.

[Commodore 64***]

My buddy has a Dot, I like it too. It has a thick baseball bat neck and better upper fret access. So they have their pluses too. For the past week though, my Artcore has been getting a rest as I've been spending some time with my tele.

I agree though on the quality of the Artcore. It's such a nice guitar. I have one small issue with the B string not fretting cleanly at the 1st fret unless I press really hard. I'll have to take a nut file to the nut and lower that slot just a tad.