Ibanez AS53-TF

I bought this guitar to use purely for jazz, not wanting to invest a huge amount of money. I had an early Ibanez top of the range Artcore some years back and regret selling it as it was a superb guitar so I had no worries in buying Ibanez again. This guitar is the cheapest in the Artcore range. Its a semi-solid 335 style. All I can say is its a dream to play, very well made and looks great. No, its not a Gibson (I do have a 20 year old 335 also). The pickups are not top of the range but you can dial in plenty of tones with the right amp (I use an old Fender Blues Junior). Acoustically its vibrant and warm. You would not have been able to get a guitar this good in this price range 10 years ago. Congratulations to Ibanez. If this is the bottom of the range I'd be very interested to try some of the more expensive models. Mine is made in Indonesia but some could be made in China. Not an issue due to Ibanez quality control. Have to say, fab service from Thomann too.

This is a beautiful instrument. I find that the bridge pickup is lacking clarity in higher frequencies and that the neck pickup could be a bit warmer. I am comparing this to my 30 year old Columbus 335 knockoff.

The neck is strange, it starts getting thicker close to the body as expected but the weird thing is how early it starts, around fret 14 or thereabout. This limits playability on fret 16 when playing solos on high A. Any higher than that and I am struggling. This is different from my other guitars where high A position is well accessible.

Another thing I observed is that the neck comes in very high relative to the body so the distance from the strings to the body top is unusually high, possibly interfering with finger style picking where one finger on the body would stabilize the hand.
Lowering the action helped the situation slightly.

I would prefer to swap the position of the pickup selector and the volume button to have it similar to the ES-335 setup.

Very well built guitar but strange how the neck joins the body, possibly interfering with playability on higher notes. Stay low!

For sub-300 euro, I doubt you'd be able to find a nicer guitar. First off, being semi-solid, it's light, which means you can have it on your knee or slung over your back for extended periods of time - it's very comfortable. The neck is really nice (has a great feel), and the factory set-up is very good (I've no plans to change it). Electronics are nice, quality if fine, and the sound through my equipment is very good. It really is a nice looking guitar - the wood grain especially. My guitar arrived from Thomann is perfect condition - not a mark on it, all I had to do was tune it and go. This very much feels and plays like a guitar which should cost much more than it does. Again, being semi-solid, it doesn't always have to be plugged in to play - it actually sounds quite nice with no amplification. If you are in the market for this type/style of guitar, this entry-level Ibanez is well worth considering - the quality if top-knotch. I love it!

I bought this guitar as my first hollow body. I immediately connected with the instrument and realised that for the price it's a really good instrument. The guitar has a slim neck and a nice wide nut, so it's easy to play and very comfortable to hold as it's fairly light and portable. I think that in this sense Ibanez guitars are offering a lot of value even in price ranges under 300 euros. I would advise to buy this instrument to both beginners looking for an affordable instrument as well as professionals, looking for a spare. The fact that it's semi hollow also carries additional benefits, you can play it without an amp and still have sufficient volume to practice.
The one issue I have with it is that you only have two knobs (one for each pickup) without the knobs for tone. This limits in my opinion the sounds you can get out of the instrument, but of course this can be adjusted down the signal path. In all honesty I think it's possible to have great guitars nowadays for 500 euros or less and this is certainly a great example of this. I recommend it very warmly!

Absolutely gorgeous looking guitar and plays brilliant we after a set up.
Slightly disappointing out of the box as the action was too high and internation well off however once I had given the guitar a good set up and put a set of Pyramid gold strings wow what a difference.
Tail and bridge look a little cheap And not up to the same quality standard as the body and neck, however they perform very very well.
Overall this guitar is a joy to play and sounds beautiful and mellow and has gained many admirers. For the price unbelievable value for money I would highly recommend this guitar but bear in mind you may have to do some set up work yourself or Pay a luthier, but he will end up with a guitar that plays way above its price

Great guitar for the price. A little setup needed on guitar I ordered. Filed the nut-slots a little lower and lubed the slots. Tiny tweek on the truss rod and new strings. Fret ends was a little sharp (common on many guitars - new and old). Frets needed a little polish, too. Pickups could be better, but neck position with clean sound sounds decent. Glad the neck profile was a little beefy. Too many guitar are made with unplayable skinny back profiles. Tuners are decent, but benefit from tightning the screws. In the future, new pickups will be installed and maybe tuners, too. Love the thin satin finish. Overall, a good guitar with great potential.