I wrote this review the first time in March of 2006. I still love my AF-75D and still play it. It has been a wonderful instrument for recording and composing. A few years ago, I changed the pickups to Seymour Duncan 59s (a matched pair)… it sounds like a $1000 instrument now… wow… I’ve slightly edited the old review here and there… mostly as original. Read on.
When I started playing guitar again (in 2005 – after a 25-year break), one of my goals was to have different sounds with different types of guitars. One distinct sound for which I was looking was the jazzy/bluesy/open-body sound. In addition, I wanted the guitar to be able to rock ‘n’ roll.
A Second-Look: Ibanez AF75/AF75D long-term review
I visited my local guitar haunts and played just about every type and example of hollow- and semi-hollow-body electrics. My budget was $300 or less. To name a few, I played all of the Ibanez Artcore AF variants, several examples of the Epiphone Dot Studio, a few of the Carlo-Robelli/Brownsville types, and even a few used Gretschs and Gibsons (out of my budget range). I settled on a snappy and beautiful example of the Ibanez AF75D. Keep in mind that I played many examples of the same kind to get a feel for quality consistency and sound consistency. The one with which I came home was $319 back then (a little more these days?), and was a stunning example. I think I’d still like to have an Epiphone Dot or ES or Swingster someday, but it was too far above my budget, and (frankly) I couldn’t find an example with both a straight neck and one with good electronics.
Quick Opinion: The Ibanez Artcore series are generally very well made. Most are made in China. The AF75D example I purchased (“Punkin”) was exceptionally well made. The price was reasonable, and the sound quality is very much nicer than anything else in its price range. The guitar is chock full of features, has great parts, and plays like a dream.
I LOVE my AF75. Given the money in hand, I would buy another to put away for when I wear this one out.
Playability: The neck feels pretty quick and seems to be in the ballpark of Epis/Gibsons (short “feel” to the scale). The taper is just right, the fretboard was extremely nicely dressed and fitted, and the overall weight of the guitar is nicely light. After I fitted some Fender flatwound electric guitar strings (and substituted a plain 3rd instead of wrapped), the guitar played like a dream. The action adjusted to just the right height with little effort, and the reach of the single cutaway is very good – the top few frets of the low strings are a bit of a stretch.
Features The AF75 has two closed-cover humbuckers, binding on the neck, body, f-holes, and headstock. The tuners are very much like well-made Grover tuners – very smooth and accurate. The trapeze and floating bridge combination makes for a wonderful and open sound (be careful, you must be prepared to do some measuring and intonation once you buy it – the position of the bridge is important to intonation). The three-way toggle is problem-free, and is fairly easy to reach. The individual volume and control knobs work fairly well in their purpose (they remind me of old Gibson Les Paul speed knobs). The body is laminated, but nicely shaped maple. The fit and finish overall is nearly as perfect as one could expect from a nicely-made guitar. The finish of the coloring is flawless – I really enjoy the “differentness” of the orange. The frets are medium, and are extremely well finished (I’ve played many $700+ guitars that don’t have frets as nice as these).
Sound: The sound is open, airy, and wonderful. In any genre in which I play, this guitar can fit in. It is best for music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s – or Jazz or relaxed blues. It can play rock with the best of them, but the original factory pickup output is too weak for hard rock/metal/thrash. In a loud band stage situation, the guitar can cause some feedback if placed too close to an amplifier (amazingly, this only happens in a few different melodic keys). The overall sound is crisp, clear, and refined. I’d rate the sound as something that is not as edgy as a Strat, but much mellower than a Les Paul or PRS.
One thing just to clarify the above: If you’re standing amongst screamin’ amps, you WILL get feedback on certain pitches. When I play live or record against an amp in a closed space, I put a little soft electrical tape over the F-holes and the problem goes away (without damaging Punkin).
Value: This is a $499 guitar in value (not ‘retail’, ‘street’). The sound, quality of make, and appointments are top-notch for a bargain hollow/semi-hollow electric guitar, excellent. To get a better instrument, you’d have to go to a Gibson or a top-end Epiphone (Casino, etc.). This guitar is made in China, but you would have difficulty telling its origin from the excellent build quality. My local guitar stores now have them at $349 on the sticker. A case would be a good thing to get to protect your guitar – many different manufacturers make a case that works well with this guitar.
Wishes: Good instructions on bridge placement (for those who don’t know how to adjust and place their bridge) would be essential. Stronger output from the humbuckers would be good, and a larger center-block to help keep feedback down would be good.
Hi,
I have one AF 75 Ibanez and I do like it. I have though some weird feeling about pick ups aging a little bit with some “electric” bugs (sometimes sound is fading in a very random way).
I am thinking of upgrading it with Gibson pick ups after having it checked for this weird sound problem.
What do you think about that ?
Best regards,
Michel
Hi Michel! Thanks for writing!
Your issues are probably a problem with the jack, wiring, or pots – in general, the Ibanez ACH pickups (the ones in yoiur AF) are excellent and last a long time.
However, upgrading the pickups would give you much more output in most cases. In order to replace the pickups, the wiring, pots, jack, and switch would have to be pulled anyway – an excellent time to invest about $10 US to go ahead and upgrade the entire wiring harness. You would have an opportunity to change the sound a bit and would eliminate the odd behavior of your AF’s sound.
In general, the AF’s pickups are awesome… I replaced mine because I wanted better pots, jack and switch, as well as more output…
I did find another AF later on and have kept it in stock condition. Since I bought it new as well, and have kept it in top shape – it’s still sounding like new.
I’ll be glad to do a write-up on how to upgrade the AF, if you’d like.
I am a new guitar junkie. I just bought the af75 and I like it already. I want to put the best strings on “Bella”. Tell me what you think I should get on the af75. I am still learning, I don’t know if that is relevant, but I thought I would mention that. Thanks
I think that thicker strings, while they are harder on the fingers than thinner strings, sound best on a hollowbody guitar. The Ibanez Artcore AF series guitars sound really great with either .011-based strings, or even flatwounds such as the D’Addario Chromes.
Thanks I really love the af75. I play it more and enjoy it, so I am learning more than I ever did before with my acoustic. .11 it will be,the strings on it now are very thin and I think as a beginner the thicker strings will be easier,( my finger strength is good) as well as a better sound. I plan on the Duncan’s as a reward when I get better. The blues rifts and sound made something click in my brain and the light went on so quitting like I have done before will not happen. Thanks again.
I recently purchased the Ibanez AF75 after owning the Joe Pass Epiphone. I like the AF75 much more than the Epiphone Emporer II. This may be due to the fact that I played classical guitar for many years and find that the Ibanez soundsbeautiful when played acoustically as well as amplified.
My only hang up is that I find the action a little too low and would like to raise it just a bit.
Would you be so kind as to let me know how I go about raising the action on the AF75? Thank you kindly for your expertise in this regard.
Joe Starr
Hi Joe! Thanks for commenting.
Most of the Ibanez AF Artcore guitars have a “floating bridge,” in that the bridge is not attached or glued to the top of the guitar’s body. In the case of the AF75, the bridge is a rosewood mount with a Tune-O-Matic-style adjustable bridge/saddles mounted to the top. Note that before you make any changes, its a good idea to mark where the base of the bridge is… I’ve used LOW-tack blue tape or grease pencil to mark the bridge base’s exact location – it’s pretty easy to move the bridge while one adjusts the saddles or the height of the bridge. With that said…
There are two thumbwheels on the base of the saddle portion of the bridge. These can be rotated counter-clockwise to raise the saddles or clockwise to lower them. This will generally raise the action. You can do this to some extent for at least a quarter-inch of height… bear in mind that this won’t raise the action much at the first fret… your personal tastes may like this adjustment just as it is. If you need the strings higher at both bridge and first fret, you’ll need to replace the nut. In most cases, folks that lie to use flatwounds and a high action on their “jazz boxes” will just raise the bridge…
Please let me know if this answers your question or helps.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your prompt reply and the procedure that you suggest to adjust the action on my AF75 guitar.
I took a careful look at the instrument and notice two wheels on the underside of the bridge. I assume that you are referring to turning these wheels in order to adjust the action. If this is so, why would it be necessary to remove the bridge in order to make the adjustment? It appears that the wheels can be turned while the bridge remains in place on the guitar.
Also, if I want to raise the action on the bass sting[s], is it necessary to turn both wheels?Would just turning the wheel on the bass side just a bit do the trick ?
Jim: Thank you once again for your prompt reply and the expert advice that you gave me. Before I undertake the job of adjusting the action on the bass strings, I’ll do nothing until I hear from you.
My sincerest thanks . Joe
Hi Joe,
Indeed, the two wheels are what you’d adjust. If you only want the bass side to be higher off the frets, just adjust that one wheel. It’s pretty flexible and can be adjusted nicely to taste, so you can even lower the treble side and raise the bass side (or vice-versa if you wish).
You don’t need to remove the bridge to adjust the wheels. Often, I will loosen the strings so that they still make reasonable contact with the saddles – thus allowing the wheels to be turned much more easily. When I’m setting up a Jazz Box or any other guitar with a floating bridge, I take my time and adjust a little, tune up, play a bit, loosen the strings, adjust a little, etc. The “sweet spot” often doesn’t come on the first adjustment.
The reason I wrote about marking the bridge location is that once the strings are loosened, the bridge is very easy to move both laterally and at an angle from the guitar’s body. It takes a while to find just the right spot for the base of the bridge – to allow for proper intonation and sound quality… Once I’ve got a “floater” adjusted and intonated, I like to mark the bridge base’s position before I work on any part of the bridge or even the strings/nut/trapeze. It takes a while to find the sweet spot – so I like to make sure I don’t have to do it all over again…
Cheers! Let me know if you have more questions.