A nice low priced Jazz or Rockabilly guitar.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 10 Feb 2003 12:00 pm

I've been looking for an archtop electric guitar to use on my Rockabilly gigs with a local Elvis impersonator. A friend of mine recently purchased a guitar for the same reasons and loaned it to me this week to try out. This is an Ibanez Artcore AFS75T. The one I borrowed is transparent red with a Bigsby type tailpiece. They're only $349.00 in Musician's Friend but could be obtained at a lower price elsewhere. These are well constructed guitars with a nice neck and reasonable fret work. I lowered the action on this one just by the thumbscrews on the bridge as I like low action and there wasn't the slightest buzz anywhere. The pickups are very quiet and have a nice vintage sound. The bridge has small individual rollers for the tailpiece and it stays in tune very well. I took it to a gig this weekend to try out and used it all night in all kinds of music. I'm going to order my own tonight at a local music store but the model I'm getting will be the Ibanez Artcore AG75 which is the non-vibrato model and sells of $299.00 in musician's Friend. I'm also getting the transparent brown sunburst finish. If you're looking for a guitar to do some of these type gigs this is probably for you if you don't want to spend a lot of money. I think it'd probably do a great job for a rhythm guitarist in a regular country band as well to eliminate those problems you have with acoustics.

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 10 Feb 2003 6:05 pm

There have been a lot of new companies making inexpensive but decent arch tops in recent years. Ibanez makes a great guitar, but they have some comptition.

Here is the one I bought last year. These are made in Korea. Mine doesn't have the Bigsby. I specifically requested a guitar without one. This is a little smaller than the standard arch top. It has a 16 inch bout instead of 17 inches, and is only 2& 3/4 inches deep. I like the smaller size. I think it's more comfortable.
http://store3.yimg.com/I/ravguitar_1726_2161885

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 12 Feb 2003 4:18 am

Hey Mike,
Thanks for that cool picture of your guitar. I set it as background on my computer at work......JH

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Bob Anderson · Post by **Bob Anderson** » 13 Feb 2003 11:37 am

Mike looks to me as a cross between a ES 175 and a Les paul with bigsby

Lonnie Portwood · Post by **Lonnie Portwood** » 13 Feb 2003 5:52 pm

JERRY, I JUST GOT ONE OF THOSE RED IBANEZ ARCH TOPS WITH BIGSBY AND I'M AMAZED AT THE CRAFTSMANSHIP ETC., I DID PUT A NEW NUT TO WIDEN THE STRINGS JUST A SMIDGEN AND IT PLAYS AND SOUNDS GREAT. I DON'T SEE HOW THEY DO IT FOR THE PRICE! MINE WAS MADE IN CHINA WHICH I HATE TO SEND MONEY OVER THERE, BUT EVERYTHING IS MADE OVER THERE NOW.I ORDERED IT FROM MUSICIAN'S FRIEND ONLY WITH THE PROMISE THAT I COULD RETURN IT.
WHAT KIND OF PICKER MAYS A MAIL ORDER GUITAR? GO FIGURE!!!LONNIE PORTWOOD

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 13 Feb 2003 7:50 pm

I noticed that recently some of the discount music web-shops are selling brand new Gibson ES135's for less than $700. That seems like a darned good deal to me, althought I don't know much about those guitars except for them being a sort of guitar you might find in rockabilly.

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 15 Feb 2003 2:05 am

Bob, the guitar I bought is smaller than a 175, and have a different cutaway, and as I mentioned, mine doesn't have the Bigsby. It's made by a company called RAVEN. They import the guitars from Korea and sell them over the internet, bypassing the entire retail system and passing the savings to their customers. Here is a link to their web site http://store.yahoo.com/ravguitar/

Another Korean guitar company that makes some very nice hollow body instruments is a company called Aslin Dane. I've written about them before. Here is a link to them http://www.aslindane.com/

Dyke Corson · Post by **Dyke Corson** » 15 Feb 2003 9:04 pm

For us small mom & pop music stores that do want to stay in business, there are some good inexpensive jazz boxes out there by Jay Turser, Washburn, Austin, Dean, Hamer...these Korean and Chinese guitars are probably mostly made in the same factories, and once they are set up make a decent guitar. When buying from a local dealer...at least you can see and play it first, and have a place to take it back to if you have any problems. If everyone bypasses the retail experience, someday there may not be any small shops anymore where you can try stuff out.