Music isn’t just about playing the right notes and strings but finding the best piece of the instrument for striking the best sound. When it comes to playing guitars, it entails a huge list of dos and don’ts. And, holding an uncomfortable and improper one would get you into more of a struggle than lending an enjoyable experience. Hence, finding the right guitar should always be your first priority. The Ibanez AS73 review provides a complete overview of the design as well as the advantages of using this guitar. From its construction to the features, you would find out why this alternative is so much desirable.
Ibanez is a Japanese company that excels at manufacturing awesome guitars sounding completely soulful. The company has been involved in producing cost-effective guitars that may not be the best in the market but offers great quality for the value that it charges. Although the company was started in 1957, the guitar manufacturing took off late. However, they have always been considered one of the reliable choices since then.
Overview
Let us start with an introduction to AS73 Ibanez. Aimed to provide ease of handling to the users, the guitar is created for those who love to play sounds with semi-hollow designed guitar. It flaunts a great tone. Above all, the guitar can firmly stay tuned for providing consistent playing experience to the musicians. You do not have to struggle constantly for tuning your instrument while you play.
Ibanez AS73 is from the Artcore model family. And, the first variation of the same was released in 2002. Since then, it has been popular among musicians for offering affordable yet classic instruments. This guitar is highly durable and is focused on providing beginners with their best starting point towards a great career ahead.
Who All Can Use Ibanez AS73 Semi-Hollow – Read Ibanez AS73 Review?
As mentioned before, the guitar is for anyone with a tight budget, yet looking for a great looking and awesome sounding option. However, because of its quality, it is used by experts as well. How can we not know George Benson? George has been seen playing Ibanez AS73 many times for making his jazz-rock even more.
It is not easy to stay in the market for over 30 long years and still being the favorite choice for musicians of all levels. To be precise, this guitar has created a new definition for what a semi-hollow body instrument should possess.
Although some may debate that the guitar was introduced to lure beginners with its affordability and attractive style, it does tick all the right notes when offering durability and sound stability to the advanced players.
The guitar is crafted with beauty and care. It showcases an elegant look that is capable of intriguing anyone who knows even a little about music. Designed with select-grade maple and coupled with set-in mahogany neck alongside a rosewood fretboard, this guitar does get us off the hook. Apart from the sound, the looks of the guitar are what make it different from other choices in the market.
You can count on AS73 for providing you with the rich sound, not like those tinny sounds from the beginner’s guitar. You can find it really comfortable to work with the fat low-end while stretching a little bit when enjoying the soulful sound when playing the right notes.
The major reason why it is loved by beginners is its easy tuning mechanism. Once done, you do not have to bother about it for long. It does carry your confidence to the next level with all the ease and quality of sound.
Moreover, the lightweight and slimmer body of the guitar fits right in the hands of teenagers and beginners struggling to find the right string over the edge.
Specification
While most of the guitars you find may seem difficult to handle, this one has the right specifications to give you comfortable playing experience. This Ibanez Artcore AS73 review outlines those astonishing features that give this guitar an edge over its competitors.
- The company has utilized three different types of wood for completing the design of the guitar
- It has its own manufactured classic elite pickups
- It also offers dual volume along with tone knobs
- You can trust the three ways pickup selector for best results
- The Guitar features the semi-hollow style body
- Two ACH humbuckers
- AS83 has ART-1 bridge
- It flaunts quick-change III tailpiece
- It has chrome hardware
- C shaped neck
- 22 frets
Sounds
As we have been mentioning it throughout the article, this guitar is more popular among Jazz guitarist. You can see it working astoundingly brilliant when in the hands of George Benson, John Scofield, or Pat Metheny. It does produce a large variety of tones when assessed with the price tag it comes for. It does compel audiences to stay tuned until the music is on.
To be honest, many have found out that usage of higher gauge strings works way better when changing it with light gauge strings. There have been remarks from musicians that the sound seems too twangy with lighter gauge strings.
Moreover, the pickups on the AS73 aren’t exceptional. It is very basic and isn’t for experts playing rock music. However, when changing the pickups, one can realize the true worth of these guitars, leaving a lot many more competitors behind.
Also, the sound seems to stay inconsistent when AS73 is paired up with different amps. Two different amplifiers may produce sound varying in terms of quality.
Playability
The guitar possesses a ‘C’ shaped neck. This design is very convenient when it comes to playing the instrument. It makes the entire experience easy and smooth. Moreover, with binding on the edge, one does not have to worry about nasty abrasions with frets.
The Controls
The controls are standard. In fact, you won’t need any more than that. In total, you will find four Sure Grip 111 control knobs. You can find it really enthralling while seeing how they respond. The guitar also features a switch to alternate between pickups. In short, the overall controls are basic but enough for providing a rare experience.
Build Quality
With an aesthetic look, you get a great combination of sound and style. The build quality is attractive and noteworthy. With few limitations, Ibanez AS73 Artcore turns to be among the most desirable options.
Body
The guitar takes care of from the smallest details to the most important ones. It has not left any stone unturned to get the musicians what they want. Starting from the body of the guitar, you can start feeling the edge at every other thing you would notice. They have done the right thing in all terms.
To create the body of AS73, the company has come up with the finest selection of wood. A lot of companies do not focus on the difference in the choice of body materials brings to the entire construction. Hence, these companies often fail to impress the larger user base. With this one, that is not the case at all.
The guitar is constructed with high-quality Maple, and not just for the back but sides and top as well. The best part of using maple is that it helps in producing brighter as well as crispier sounds. Plus, the sound is highly booming. In most of the alternatives, maple is being introduced to the top of the guitar. However, when the back and sides are crafted with the same material, the result is very resonating.
The quality of dense wood adds to the great sound that comes out from this AS73. The company has perfected the looks by adding a solid Maple woodblock that runs down the center of the design.
With Venetian cutaways, musicians get full coverage to the neck easily. Like any other Gibson model, this one also has beautiful white binding. With classic and elegant cherry red color, you can feel at ease when holding this awesome guitar. Plus, the touch of maple is very contenting.
Neck
The neck does count when it comes to providing ease of playing to the musicians. As73 captures a very smooth design that is crafted in style for realizing comfortable shape. It is easy to access the frets and hold the guitar comfortably while playing. The neck is wood-jointed.
To make the neck, the company has used the Mahogany wood, finishing it with a satin touch. You will also find a rosewood fingerboard. In total, the guitar consists of 22 frets. The best part is that all these are easily accessible because of the favorable neck shape. You can call it a ‘C’ shaped neck flaunting a flatter radius.
Ibanez has used white binding for the fingerboard. This is to ensure that the hands do not touch the frets at any time. Making it more of a natural curve to shape the neck, company successes at providing comfortable playing experience to the musicians.
Hardware Fittings
No running away from the fact that this is a budget guitar. This means that there must be some cutbacks hidden somewhere. When assessing the hardware, it becomes more prominent though. You can see the limitations when reviewing the hardware fittings.
The finish of the headstock or the machine heads isn’t very attractive. These are very basic that you avail of this guitar. However, the good news is that none of these would make much difference as the intonation is still stable and amazing. Isn’t that all you need?
The hardware fitting used is the combination of ART1 bridge and tailpiece. These are decent quality and helps in further strengthening the Ibanez AS73 review further.
Pickups
If you have ever used the old-style hollow-body guitars, you must remember that irritating external noise. These designs were not able to cease the hum, sometimes created at 60Hz. To cater to this problem, the humbucker was included in the design. Ibanez took that opportunity to create their own range of humbuckers. This was exclusively for their semi-hollow designs. They named it Classic Elite.
In their AS73 series, Ibanez included humbuckers. The ACH1 was fitted at the neck while ACH2 was fitted at the bridge.
Although it did work for a few genres, it wasn’t enough for all. For instance, it can provide a warm and plush sound guitar that has found an amazing response from those playing jazz. This is because it was able to capture considerate resonance, with clear sounds.
On the contrary, for rock music, this guitar may seem a bit disappointing. The guitar tends to make the music blurry. Some even work by changing the pickups, if they find guitar expressive, which is at higher volumes. However, those who have just got the guitar one day back, won’t like to make such huge changes to it and it won’t be worth as well.
If you are starting to learn the instrument or even when wanting to upgrade your level, the problem won’t matter much. When it comes to experienced musicians, humbucker growl isn’t something one would ignore.
Ibanez AS73 Review: Pros/Cons
Here are the pros and cons of the Ibanez Artcore AS73.
- It looks ‘classic’ and superb
- The build quality is thoughtful and created for providing comfort while playing
- You can expect it to produce amazing Jazz, country and Bluestones.
- Most of all, it is highly affordable
- Pickups aren’t very exceptional and cannot stand the quality at higher volumes.
- Cases are not sold along with the guitars
The Conclusion
Nothing compels more than the build quality and amazing craftsmanship that this guitar flaunts. Apart from the high levels, it does make mesmerizing sounds and tones at quieter levels. Even the basic hardware does not make us wanting for more. The controls are also accurate. When looking at the price, you may it difficult to find a competitor for this AS73.
Reading this Ibanez AS73 review, one can very well understand what the guitar is worth. If you are a jazz player, you may not need anything else than this impressive choice that comes packed with so many great features.
