I definitely want to test one out. It's up there on my list. I think Ibanez might owe you a little comission if I get it. :laughing:

I got my eye on this one

Ibanez Artcore AG75 Electric Guitar Transparent Brown and more Semi-Hollow and Hollow Body Electric Guitars at GuitarCenter.com.

400 isn't bad, either.


I have another question. You were saying something about the tremolo bar causing that one Ibanez I posted to go out of tune a lot. Couldn't I just unscrew the bar and take it off if that was a serious problem?

The build quality, the components, the sound, the look of an Ibanez definitely outclasses that of an epiphone.

That's 2 for Ibanez, 0 for Epiphone. I'm definitely leaning towards the Ibanez.

Thats bull****. Comparing brands is never going to give you a good idea of, well, anything. Gibson and Fender have great reputations and make some very nice guitars. They also both make some terrible guitars.

Same with Ibanez, same with epiphone, and believe me, I've owned and played enough of both. Hell, I've played Epiphones that beat out gibsons on the wall in the same room.

While I've never played an Artcore, I seem to prefer the Epiphones to Ibanez guitars. Just my general preference.

Two of my friends play Artcores in a band and they sound pretty good, but I still like the sound I get from my Epiphone. :) While the Ibanez are great guitars, you may want to change the pickups in it if that's your choice, though. My friends who play Artcores said that it sounds trashy at first. But once they changed the pickups they were good guitars. One put in Seymour Duncans and the other put in Burstbuckers.

Something else to keep in mind is that solid body Epiphones and hollow body Epiphones are NOT made in the same factories or even in the same nations (or at least they weren't until raecently it if even changed). Epiphone started off as a hollow body guitar manufacturer and those models are generally recognized as quality. Their solid body instruments, yeah, those are usually bargain quality pieces (but getting much better recently), the hollows have always been quality.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Brand loyalty is for idiots who don't want to spend the time to find the best.

Well, have you, GuitarBizarre and mr dave, played any Ibanez and Epiphone hollow bodies?

My budget is tight, so I won't likely be changing any pickups. I want a good stock guitar for a good price.

Yes, I have. I tried the Ibanez AK95 and Emperor Swingster.

I bought the Swingster because it was the better guitar.

I've been playing mostly jazz and classical for a while. I cranked up my amp and cranked up the gain for the first time in a while, reminded me of how I still like to wail on it. After that I think I'm leaning towards a semi-hollow instead of the full hollow.