Guitar Gear Forum

new vintage guitar day, and my hunt for an old Ibanez Artist is finally over!
pictures!



She sounds awesome, with those ceramic Super 80 pickups. A rather agressive sound, but very nicely balanced and defined.
The only thing I don't really like is that she's neck-heavy, so I'll have to get used to that. And the pickups could use wax potting.
But what a guitar! Sustain!

Congrats, those old Ibanez guitars are awesome ! I found an '81 AR300 about a year ago now, a fantastic playing and sounding guitar.

Sweet! Love me some doublecuts, and I'm fairly familiar with the lineage of those. I remember playing one new in store back in the day, can't remember why I didn't buy it; probably too broke.

How much does it weigh? I've heard that they can be kind of heavy.

Very nice score dude! How much did that set you back?

Very nice score,HNGD!

stunning!
i played a friend of mine's the other day, just played like butter,

congrats!

Great score. Ive always loved those.

Love me some old 70's Ibanez Iceman guitars as well.

very nice. played a few of those over the years and gotta say i'd love to have one. how does it compare to the new reissue?

PurpleTrails wrote:Sweet! Love me some doublecuts, and I'm fairly familiar with the lineage of those. I remember playing one new in store back in the day, can't remember why I didn't buy it; probably too broke.

How much does it weigh? I've heard that they can be kind of heavy.

I haven't weighed it yet, but it's comparable to my Hagstrom Deuce F, maybe just a bit heavier. (so it's on the heavy side)

monwobobbo wrote:very nice. played a few of those over the years and gotta say i'd love to have one. how does it compare to the new reissue?

I haven't played the new reissue (I think they're only available in the US?), so I can't tell. I do know that mine has an ebony fretboard, a full maple top, Ibanez (made by Maxon) Super 80 pickups (ceramic), and is made in Japan. The reissue has a rosewood fretboard, a veneer maple top, Custom 58 pickups, and is made in China. I paid a little bit more for the real deal, but it's worth it imo.

Alot of those 70's / 80's Ibanez pickups sound killer. I had some Super 70's that I wish I had kept. The EVH Phanbois dig those. They do sound nice

HNGD, love it!!

I got one of the brand new MIC Artist AR320 (bubinga top) reissues a few months ago and it's honestly became my favorite guitar; quality and soundwise it's on par with my USA made axes. It blows me away every time I play it.

Devin wrote:HNGD, love it!!

I got one of the brand new MIC Artist AR320 (bubinga top) reissues a few months ago and it's honestly became my favorite guitar; quality and soundwise it's on par with my USA made axes. It blows me away every time I play it.

Looks cool!

If anyone else is looking for a '79 Artist, there's one on Evansville Indiana CL

Does that ornamental plate actually connect to the tailpiece in any way or is it just decoration? It's been a long time since I've tried an Artist.

laxu wrote:Does that ornamental plate actually connect to the tailpiece in any way or is it just decoration? It's been a long time since I've tried an Artist.

On mine, it IS the tailpiece. In other words, that whole thing is one solid slab of brass, with a raised and slotted edge to hold the strings.

The one on the OP does look different, though

Here's a closeup of mine:

^no, it's just the light.

It is a solid piece of metal.

EDIT: apparently I hadn't looked at it properly yet, it is a separate piece of metal

On the original one the "cloud" was a separate piece of metal





Mine is an '81 AR300L, as in L for lefty

I was mistaken, it is a separate piece of metal indeed. So the cloud really doesn't do anything, except looking cool