NGD: Hollow Birthday to me

DarnWeight

My birthday is early next week, and having recently sold my Teardrop 12-string to a fellow board member, I was after something hollow-bodied.  I'd convinced myself I needed a Casino or something suitably Casino-esque, but tried out a few other hollows and semis (Gretsch, Hofner) in local guitar shops.  A few minutes with a Peerless Songbird settled it for me.  Problem?  On a strict budget, and they were asking a little more for the Peerless than I could manage.  Solution?  Ibanez ASR70.

It showed up yesterday.

Took a bit of a chance ordering sight unseen, but I've been dead impressed with all the other Artcores I've tried, and the guys at Dolphin (our #1 fans) were very happy to price-match and do me a deal with the case thrown in.

Initial impressions...wow.  Burst looks much better than the stock photos would have you believe.  Hardware and finish is all very very neat...tuners are smooth and solid, and the little knurled rubbery edges to the control knobs are cool.  Setup was spot-on out of the box...not a single rattle or buzz.  Neck has a nice comfortable "Goldilocks" profile...not too fat, not too slim, just right.  I think the pickups are pretty quiet for P90-types, but plenty of output...not sure if they're "proper" P90s but they sound great (remind me a lot of G&L MFDs, actually).  The hollow body just adds that lovely rich bloom to everything.  Cons?  The fretboard seems a little dry and scratchy, and could do with oiling.

Trying not to gush too much in the honeymoon phase, but so far I'm well chuffed with it, and I reckon it feels like a lot of guitar for the money.

JookyChap

The Artcores are great guitars for the money, lovely job

Phil_aka_Pip

Is it a good surrogate for a 330 or Casino?

DarnWeight

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Is it a good surrogate for a 330 or Casino?

Yeah, based on a couple of hours playing, I'd say definitely.  I'm finding the pickups are very big and "full-range" sounding, so they cop that more-of-everything thing that P90s do.  Think they have ceramic magnets, and they're definitely not dark sounding, which is something I kept picking up on when reading about peoples experiences with stock Epiphone P90s.  Also, I think the body is slightly smaller than a "standard" 330/Casino, but not as small as the new Coupes (still not seen one in the flesh)...not measured this, it's just a feeling I get from how it sits/hangs under my strumming arm when sitting/standing with it.

gusman2x

Looks lovely. I don't know what it is about Japanese guitars? Every one I've ever had has had a dry board. Maybe it's the climate, or the way raw timber is processed?

Anyway happy BDay when it comes, and HNGD!

drwiddly

Very nice indeed. Happy NGD!

Niallmo

Ooooo...that's tempting. Looks great. I used to have a sea foam green As75. That was a great guitar. I'm hoping Gojirosan still has it.

Basher

Very nice. I was playing my Casino yesterday and struggling with the dark tone - I have to use extreme EQ to bring it anywhere close to the tonality of my other guitars.

The Ibanez would appear to be a nice alternative. My only beef is the rather unsubtle burst and the lack of other finishes. A quick photoshop job shows to me that it would look nice with some other finishes:

Phil_aka_Pip

DarnWeight said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Is it a good surrogate for a 330 or Casino?

Yeah, based on a couple of hours playing, I'd say definitely.  I'm finding the pickups are very big and "full-range" sounding, so they cop that more-of-everything thing that P90s do.  Think they have ceramic magnets, and they're definitely not dark sounding, which is something I kept picking up on when reading about peoples experiences with stock Epiphone P90s.  Also, I think the body is slightly smaller than a "standard" 330/Casino, but not as small as the new Coupes (still not seen one in the flesh)...not measured this, it's just a feeling I get from how it sits/hangs under my strumming arm when sitting/standing with it.

Nice. Such an instrument is on my GAS list ...

guitargeek62

Very nice! Would have gone for one of these over my Trini, had I not been after a very particular thing!

DarnWeight

I found these very quickly recorded clips of the various pickup combos of the ASR70 linked to via a post on the Ibanez forums.  Lofi, but you get a feel for the slightly crispier nature of the stock pickups...should be enough to make a rough comparison vs the darker style P90s sported by a lot of Casinos.

http://yourlisten.com/duke2004/asr70-strums-raw

Just to reiterate, the linked clips aren't mine!

underdog

Epi p90s (or pickups in general) are pretty dark sounding, replaced them with a set of irongear (bought off here) in my SG and they are much better sounding.

Dave_Mc

very nice

Van_Hayden

Nice!

erky32

@DarnWeight ..... 

.....Let me know if you get fed up with it!! .....I've been looking for one of these everywhere, they appear to be discontinued, strangely?, and all shops around Europe seem sold out. Where did you find yours?

DiscoStu

Nice one

What's the deal with the unusual truss rod cover?

stimpsonslostson

Happy Birthday AND NGD! That looks pretty awesome!

The truss rod cover is two piece, you can simply slide it open to access the rod. It then slides back and clips into place. No need to find a screwdriver & no danger of losing it or any screws.

I tried a friends AF55 the other day, for a sub £250 hollow body it was great, it's hugely tempting to get one to use for sofa practice- it sounds really nice unplugged.

As mentioned by several other folk, all the Artcores I've tried have been hugely impressive.

http://resources.ibanez.com/resourceservicehost/images/Ibanez/web/hollow/products/AF55TF.gif

lincolnblue

Looks lovely! My only problem with Ibanez guitars (this probably sounds silly!) is that I associate them with heavy rock/metal so I'm never sure on an Ibanez hollow body.

DiscoStu

stimpsonslostson said:

The truss rod cover is two piece, you can simply slide it open to access the rod. It then slides back and clips into place. No need to find a screwdriver & no danger of losing it or any screws.

Just found this. Neat idea, though taking three screws out once in a blue moon is no biggie!

http://www.meinlshop.de/images/product_images/popup_images/s/openable-truss-rod-cover-for-ibanez-artcore-sr-shape-reverse-headstock-models-4pt3xa0005-4pt3xa0005_0.jpg

DarnWeight

erky32 said:

@DarnWeight ..... 

.....Let me know if you get fed up with it!! .....I've been looking for one of these everywhere, they appear to be discontinued, strangely?, and all shops around Europe seem sold out. Where did you find yours?

Not looking to move it on right now.  I bought mine from Dolphin Music.

stimpsonslostson

@erky32 Scayles in Edinburgh has them in stock. I played one there the other day. Lovely it was too! http://www.scayles.co.uk/ProductDetails?ID=MjAxMA==