Today, Lawman Guitars is Presenting..
A really cool 2005 Ibanez Artcore Custom Model AF-105-NT-12-01
Style guitar. These guitars were way ahead of their time and of course directed
their sales efforts to the Gibson Players that couldn’t afford a real Jazz box or wanted to leave their Gibson home to gig. Ibanez did a great job…wonderful guitars!
We got this guitar in Kansas City but it originated in the Jazz Capital of New York. The original Shop decal is still on the back of the headstock. I left it on...It looks cool...see pic 8... We did nothing to this guitar. It was already set up with a new set of 10's and plays great. I would recommend a nice set of Flat wounds in a slightly heavier gauge if you really want to hear this guitar speak. Or, rock it with whats on it. It sounds great with the Ibanez S-58 Humbuckers...
Here's a great article written in Vintage Guitar Magazine just this year. It says more than I can say about these cool guitars...
Ibanez has always had two distinct personalities – first as a
purveyor of shreddy solidbodies for the hard rock/metal crowd, but also
as a maker of fine archtops, thanks to famous users like George Benson,
Pat Metheny, and John Scofield.
In the ’90s, the company started to brand many of its low-/mid-priced
hollowbodies as the Artcore line, imbuing the guitars with a fresh,
funky image for alt-rockers, blues players, and jazzers. Depending on
how a particular Artcore guitar is appointed, it might veer to one genre
or another; the fancy AF105NT is on the high-brow side and will likely
turn on jazz and blues players.
When you hold the AF105NT, your eyes will bug out and you’ll start
droolin’ over its flamey natural top. Not to put too fine a point on it,
this guitar is drop-dead gorgeous. The maple veneer on the top, back,
sides, and even pickguard (likely a photo-flame decal) is stunning. To
top it off, the Ibanez folks created dark, wooden control knobs and
tailpieces that are downright sexy.
The guitar’s rosewood fingerboard – which has a 12″ radius – has a
custom inlay of an abalone/mother-of-pearl composite and they distantly
echo the “slashed diamond” inlay of classic Gibson Super 400 archtops.
The AF105NT also has a bubinga/maple neck sandwiched in three sections –
a move both cost-saving and attractive. Other details on this jazzbox
are a pair of Custom 58 humbuckers with ceramic magnets, two volume and
tone controls apiece, gold hardware, 22 medium frets (with nicely
rounded edges), and a 243/4″ scale, akin to a Les Paul. The only design
faux-pas is a small knot in the grain on the back of the headstock. It’s
not a big deal, but it caught my eye – it seems out of step on a guitar
that is otherwise so flawlessly constructed.
Plugged into amps by Ultrasound and Line 6, the AF105NT performed
admirably. Ibanez is marketing these guitars to a range of players, so
they’re set up with light-gauge strings and low action, to broaden their
appeal. This is clever, ensuring the guitar will immediately feel good
to solidbody/rock pickers. Once they catch the jazz bug, they can
upgrade to heavier, round-wound strings (trust me, you’ll eventually
want heavier G, B, and E strings for a fatter tone – it’s simply
jazz-guitar physics). Overall, the guitar sounds very good clean and
with moderate amounts of overdrive, if you start leaning towards the
Steve Howe/Alex Lifeson side of things. And in typical Ibanez fashion,
the neck is fast, another facet that will appeal to players of all
stripes.
What really sets the AF105NT apart from the archtop pack is that it
fills a gap in the hollowbody market. Companies like Ibanez and Epiphone
have been offering affordable hollowbodies for years, but there has
always been a weird hole in the mid-price area; either you get a killer
axe for under $600 or over $1,000, but not many in the middle (this one
streets at under $900). Feel free to scratch your head. But with this
hollowbody, Ibanez is offering a sumptuous, deluxe guitar for a price
most players can afford. Granted, they do substitute affordable
materials and building techniques here and there to keep the price in
check, but most guitarists will never notice.
In all, the AF105NT is a fine guitar that will be prized by rising
jazz/blues players or used as a killer gigging guitar for those who keep
their $10,000 vintage archtops at home. Either way, Ibanez does it
again, offering impressive quality and value for tasty guitarists
everywhere.
Ibanez Artcore AF105NT
Price: $1,199.99 (list, with hardshell case)
The guitar is all original . It has the amazing original Ibanez S58n and S58B Humbuckers …They are incredible sounding pickups. Very toneful and
lively…. I love the depth of sound from these.
The original case is still protecting this cool guitar. Yes, it is used
but the hard shell arch top case is still all together and has the original handle,
latches and hinges. It will continue to protect your cool Ibanez Jazz Guitar
for many many years. Check those pics!
Sold as-is no returns as its vintage and used, however, I have been hand
picking my customers guitars for over 20 years now and they have all loved the
instruments I found for them. This cool 2005 Ibanez Jazz guitar will certainly
not be an exception.
Thanks for checking out our cool guitars.
Lawman Mike at Lawman Guitars