ibanez artist series 1981... opinions?

[snaredrum]

ok, so my dad was in a folk band a long time ago, and one of his old bandmates has heard i like guitars. he has offered me an ibanez artist series guitar, that i think is an AR100. i have a lawsuit ibanez LP junior that i love, but it seems a completely different beast to this.

anyone have any experience or even an opinion here?

[Thunder Dump]

I don't think that's an AR100. I've got an '81 AR100 and they didn't have the Tri-sound toggle down by the tone/volume knobs. I'm pretty sure that's an AR300 because of that toggle.

I absolutely *love* my AR100 and don't think I'll ever part with it. I bought it around 1983 and up until about four years ago it was my primary (and only) electric and it rocks out.

[Iceman0124]

A freind of mine had one that looked just like that, awesome guitar, actually thought about trading my late 70's LP standard for it (with broken but repaired headtock) in the early 90's, but never did. Even unplugged the guitar had a very "vocal" tone....and they look noce too!

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by Thunder Dump

I don't think that's an AR100. I've got an '81 AR100 and they didn't have the Tri-sound toggle down by the tone/volume knobs. I'm pretty sure that's an AR300 because of that toggle.

I absolutely *love* my AR100 and don't think I'll ever part with it. I bought it around 1983 and up until about four years ago it was my primary (and only) electric and it rocks out.

yeah, i was wondering about that - the only pics i could find of the 300 had two toggle swtiches, so that led me to start thinking that this switch was an after market thing, but if it's a 300 then even cooler, i guess.

i'm going to string her up today. i'm terrified i'm going to fall in love with her.

[snaredrum]

update - i've got the guitar restrung and working, and the switch is for phase in/out.

i have less than no idea if this is what these should do... anyone?

[kspeed]

Another nice Japanese, post lawsuit guitar from Ibanez Yours is indeed a 1980 or 1981 AR100 in what looks like brown sunburst. These years were a bit of a transition period for the company from a product identity standpoint - the Artist and Destroyer/Iceman style guitars were here to stay, but they hadn't yet developed the iconic RG (briefly a part of the Roadstar lineup) or S/Saber models, and hadn't yet signed the likes of Vai or Satch.

The body's mahogany with a maple cap, but the beauty (as always) is in the straight-through, 3 piece maple neck. It runs the entire length of the guitar and has no heel to speak of, allowing for easy access to the upper frets.

If the pickups are original they're both V2's, which are medium/medium high output with good high end. The lower toggle is aftermarket - can you tell us what it does? All of the Artist models with the Tri Sound system (series, parallel, and coil splitting for each pickup) had toggles located above the control knobs, like this AR300:

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by kspeed

Another nice Japanese, post lawsuit guitar from Ibanez Yours is indeed a 1980 or 1981 AR100 in what looks like brown sunburst. These years were a bit of a transition period for the company from a product identity standpoint - the Artist and Destroyer/Iceman style guitars were here to stay, but they hadn't yet developed the iconic RG (briefly a part of the Roadstar lineup) or S/Saber models, and hadn't yet signed the likes of Vai or Satch.

The body's mahogany with a maple cap, but the beauty (as always) is in the straight-through, 3 piece maple neck. It runs the entire length of the guitar and has no heel to speak of, allowing for easy access to the upper frets.

If the pickups are original they're both V2's, which are medium/medium high output with good high end. The lower toggle is aftermarket - can you tell us what it does? All of the Artist models with the Tri Sound system (series, parallel, and coil splitting for each pickup) had toggles located above the control knobs, like this AR300:

thanks for the info man - the toggle is a phase switch, it seems. the pickups are original v2s, by the looks of it, i took one out before i restrung it.

it belongs to a friend of my dad's, and i'm going to either buy it myself, or sell it for him on ebay. what are these things going for nowadays?

[kspeed]

Not that there's a huge market for them, but $500-800's the going rate, depending on condition and whether or not it comes with the original case. It looks like it's in good shape. If you like it, offer $600 and see if he'll bite. He might not get more than that on eBay, not counting shipping.

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by kspeed

Not that there's a huge market for them, but $500-800's the going rate, depending on condition and whether or not it comes with the original case. It looks like it's in good shape. If you like it, offer $600 and see if he'll bite. He might not get more than that on eBay, not counting shipping.

yeah, i'm trying to bond with it at the moment. it sounds really nice, but is VERY heavy, and my arthritis doesn't like heavy guitars. i can almost certainly get this for less than $500, so am seriously considering it.

[StrangerNY]

Buy it, right this very minute. That guitar will never let you down.

I have a 1980 Artist, and it's the best guitar I own.



What's he asking for it, if you don't mind my asking?

- D

[overdriver]

Yes they are real nice guitars . IMO grab it, ya can always play it sitting down if it too heavy for standing.

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by StrangerNY

Buy it, right this very minute. That guitar will never let you down.

I have a 1980 Artist, and it's the best guitar I own.



What's he asking for it, if you don't mind my asking?

- D

that's a great looking guitar, man.
regarding the price of this one, i'm not entirely sure. he said a couple of hundred, but i'm expecting him to ask for something like £300-400. it's money i could spend elsewhere, but i'm aware of how good these guitars are and am torn...

[kspeed]

I'd buy it if I were in your position

[snaredrum]

thanks guys. i usually research a guitar to hell and back before buying it, but this one has kind of come at me out of left field so it's good to hear what you lot think about them. i'm almost certainly going to end up with it, i can tell

[overdriver]

Well lets see they don't make em any more! the are great guitars. You can get it for 60% of the going price. You don't have to pay tax on it. Its in the hand right now. IDK must be something wrong with it , if you haven't already purchased it. Really though if it plays well and no issues IMO you would be able to recoupe your money if you resold it.

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by overdriver

Well lets see they don't make em any more! the are great guitars. You can get it for 60% of the going price. You don't have to pay tax on it. Its in the hand right now. IDK must be something wrong with it , if you haven't already purchased it. Really though if it plays well and no issues IMO you would be able to recoupe your money if you resold it.

hahaha, and there we reach the crux of the issue. i like it and understand it is a good guitar, however it isn't singing to me at the moment and i could sell it and get more for the guy who owns it. i can't buy it and sell it for more a week later, that isn't how i was raised. you have to keep in mind that my family and friends are scottish folk types. you sell an instrument to someone, they keep it and use it.

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by snaredrum

hahaha, and there we reach the crux of the issue. i like it and understand it is a good guitar, however it isn't singing to me at the moment and i could sell it and get more for the guy who owns it. i can't buy it and sell it for more a week later, that isn't how i was raised. you have to keep in mind that my family and friends are scottish folk types. you sell an instrument to someone, they keep it and use it.

Yes I didn't mean sell it right away. I meant when and if the time came to do so , well you would not be at a loss. Good luck deciding!

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by overdriver

Yes I didn't mean sell it right away. I meant when and if the time came to do so , well you would not be at a loss. Good luck deciding!

i'd feel guilty selling it EVER. this guy still has a cittern my dad sold him 27 years ago. mental.

[overdriver]

Originally Posted by snaredrum

i'd feel guilty selling it EVER. this guy still has a cittern my dad sold him 27 years ago. mental.

You must be one of the good ones then!

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by overdriver

You must be one of the good ones then!

ha, i doubt that. i just hate getting caught SO much that i never risk it

cheers for the advice though driver, it's good stuff. i've got a couple of weeks maybe to bond with this guitar or throw it out the nest, so we'll see.

[dspelman]

Originally Posted by kspeed

The body's mahogany with a maple cap, but the beauty (as always) is in the straight-through, 3 piece maple neck. It runs the entire length of the guitar and has no heel to speak of, allowing for easy access to the upper frets.

If the pickups are original they're both V2's, which are medium/medium high output with good high end. The lower toggle is aftermarket - can you tell us what it does?

Whoa, hold up there. First thing to ask for is the serial number. The first letter tells you the month it was built, the second two numbers tell you the year. G82 would be seventh month (July) of 1982. If the year is 1978 or after, chances are good it's an AR-100 in Antique Violin finish. Prior to that there's a different numbering system (2218 or something) and the bodies are a bit wider and thinner. It's an AR-100 and not an AR300 because it has dot inlays and a rosewood FB. AR-300's have big block MOP/Abalone inlays on an ebony fretboard. Yours also has single binding around the edge of the body, where AR-300's have multi-layer binding. AR-300's came with Super 58's with gold covers, your pickups are likely V2's. The miniswitch is an aftermarket tack-on (Tri-Sound switches have square tops and are located as in the shot of the AR-300 elsewhere in the thread). While it may be a phase switch, it might also be a coil tap switch. Set the pickup switch to "both", run the volumes up to 10 on both pickups and then flick the switch on and off. If you get a VERY thin and nasally sound, it's a phase switch. If the volume drops slightly and you just get a slightly thinner sound, it's likely that you have a coil tap switch installed. Flick to a single pickup after turning the switch on. If the sound is suddenly MUCH fuller, you have a phase switch. If you put the pickup switch to one pickup or the other and flick the miniswitch on and off, the sound won't change if it's a phase switch. If it's a coil tap, you'll get a more single-coil sound on each pickup and probably a bit more noise as well.

The neck is not a three-piece maple neck-through. It's a mahogany set neck with a very smooth neck joint. You'll be able to see where the neck joins the body. if there's a smooth line there with no separation, you're gold. If there's a crack there, and if it's just slight (as in "finish only") you may still be good. If there's a lot of stress in the binding on the neck or the body in that region, or if there's separation of any kind between the body, it has, will have, or might already have had problems with the neck.

If the knobs have a thin rubber belt around them, they're original. Do not...repeat...DO NOT "upgrade" those things. If you do, send them to me. I need a set. The previous owner of my guitar "upgraded" them to speed knobs because he thought these looked like "skateboard wheels." He promptly lost the originals, and was very dismayed to learn that he'd devalued the guitar by about $200 doing that. The knobs appear from time to time on eBay, but run about $45 *each*. Same goes for the pickups. These are excellent pickups and do NOT need upgrading, but there are the inevitable goofs who pull them and put in SDs or whatever, only to find that they've devalued the guitar. If you do pull them, whatEVER you do, don't toss anything from this guitar away; you'll regret it later. DO NOT change out the bridge or the tuners. If you're tempted to do that, send everything to me. No, seriously.

These are excellent, outstanding guitars. If the frets are level and if the neck is set up correctly, these guitars are better (IMHO) than any comparable LP. You have better upper fret access (thanks to the smooth neck heel) and you have all the characteristics of an LP (small dense mahogany body, etc.), but the neck is faster and the craftsmanship is really really good. EASILY worth the money and a collector's item in the making. Buff it up and put a good coat of carnauba (no silicone) wax on everything (yes, even the metal bits). You'll be amazed at how heavy that bridge is. I dunno about the AR 100's, but on the AR300's, it's screwed into a block of brass (or, later, pot metal) that weighs about 10 ounces, called a sustain block. That sustain block is further screwed into the body and provides extra good string-body coupling and gives you better highs, more focused lows and, yes, more sustain.

Great guitar, good find, and if the neck is straight and the neck joint is solid, worth every penny.

[snaredrum]

you mean these?

[StrangerNY]

Great post, dspelman. Lots of good info in there.

As a reward - I have one or two of the 'skateboard wheel' knobs from a Destroyer that I once owned. PM me and I'll dig them (or it, if I only come up with one) out and send them to you as a favor from one IBZ owner to another. It's not a full set, but if you end up having to buy the remainder of the set off of FleaBay, at least I'll save you some dough.

- D

[StrangerNY]

Originally Posted by snaredrum

you mean these?

Yep, those. Keep 'em on.

And an afterthought as far as the guitar's weight goes - I have to tell you that with a comfy strap, my Artist is extremely well-balanced. As heavy as it is, it doesn't bother me to have it slung over my shoulder for a couple of hours at a time.

- D

[snaredrum]

yes, great post. and you guys with ibanezes are just so nice to each other...

what do you guys know about the '70s lawsuit era ibanez guitars? i have a CSL Lp junior copy that i know NOTHING about

[dspelman]

Originally Posted by snaredrum

you mean these?

Yup, those. I'm not a collector of these things, but I did all the homework before I went out looking for an AR 300 a few years ago, and I went for the best all-round quality guitar I could find for the price. Honestly the missing knobs helped the latter and at the time I wasn't particularly concerned with them. It would be very cool to have a set to put back on the guitar at some point. I think my all time score would be an AR 505. That's StrangerNY's guitar, but with a mahogany burl top. Very cool and very different.

These guitars are pretty much under the radar these days; if you've got an LP with a Gibson headstock, you're very flash and Slash. But in the '70's and early '80's, these guitars were very much better than the LPs and helped cause their near death for the second time. In the '80's, Ibanez went very heavily for the hair metal guitar styles and really made their name there, pretty much leaving the Artists behind as "your dad's guitar." When Slash and some others began reviving the LP's popularity (because at that point hair metal was fading fast), Ibanez cranked out some half-hearted Korean copies of the old guitars for a bit a couple of years ago, but at this point (and until the LP once again becomes "your dad's guitar" and something else comes into fashion), the LP is the current juggernaut of that style of guitar...

[snaredrum]

great info man, i really appreciate it.

[kspeed]

Good to see another Ibby geek here

But I gathered that the neck was 3 piece maple from some old catalogs, such as:

http://s93105080.onlinehome.us/Ibane.../1980-2/06.jpg

http://s93105080.onlinehome.us/Ibane...og/1981/04.jpg

These were the only photos I could find from the late 70's/early 80's that matched snare's to a tee, albeit with the aftermarket mini switch.

[dlmorley]

Artists from that era are superb guitars.
I have an AM50 which is a small bodied 335 style guitar and it's just brilliant. The solid bodies are top notch and I'd put them in the absolute bargain category if they come in at anything around $500.
Get it. Be happy.

[snaredrum]

here's a pic of the back of the neck. looks like 3 pieces to me