2005 Ibanez Artcore Custom AF-105-NT-12-01 Jazz Archtop Flamey Maple Hard Shell Case

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