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Ibanez AGS83
List: $750
2006 sees an addition to the Ibanez Artcore family; AGS83. As opposed to merely adding another affordable jazzer to the fold, the AGS is a first in its family to offer a satin finish; that is what the S in AGS stands for. Other notable differences include a 17th fret body-neck attachment & a thinner body depth.
Fit/ finish
We owe it to Ibanez for making affordable semi/ hollow bodied instruments devoid of sloppy workmanship. As dissent continues among purists pertaining to Chinese craftsmanship, especially the commercial leeches indulging in fake units, the handling of the Artcore units remains praise-worthy. While there are gloss finish fans out there who would fuss over the coarse satin feel, the rest who embrace grip would applaud the AGS’ offering. There are no evident blemishes on this audition model but the common predicament of mid-priced instruments manifests itself here- dry fretboard condition, especially on areas proximate to the neck.
Playability/ tone
Noting the thinner body depth (about 15mm thinner than a typical Artcore jazz box) & deeper neck-body joint, the manufacturer had chosen to address playability issues with the AGS. If you have been short-changed by the typical singlecut feel of other guitars, this one ensures the upper fret access rivaling that of a doublecut unit. For the rest of us who find thick bodied guitars repulsive, the shallower body depth is good news indeed. This 2006, Artcore models are endowed with medium frets as opposed to the vintage-type wires in yesteryear’s models. The overall playability of the AGS is fantastic, less the default action which was set a tad too high to offset the foreseeable buzzing generated by a set of .010s which was equipped in this guitar.
The voicing of the AGS is a love/ hate affair. Jazz cats would tell you that for any jazz tones to be useful, it has to give off that warm, bottom end hoot (think George Benson), anything excessively bright & it’s a hill-billy cowboy staple instead. This is where the dichotomy subsists; the proponent of clarity will embrace the AGS’ inherently bright tones (attributable to the maple body & thinner body depth), while the purists will dismiss this nondescript voicing altogether. Objectively, the existing tones here are devoid of ill-definition (‘mud’ to the rest of us) under clean & high gain settings. Surprisingly, the AGS is adaptive to intense distortion but it lacks the bottom end girth to make it a dedicated riff generator for us metal-heads.
Conclusion
If you are looking for an affordable gain-friendly singlecut to rival the Les Paul, the AGS’ semi-hollow nature would be a timely reminder that it’s a proponent of a different league. If you are traditional in your jazz philosophy, it’s is rather difficult to win you over with this guitar but mind you, it’s a very capable instrument in its own right, jazz or otherwise. For those of us who are impressed by the AGS’ performance, it’s simply due to its outright formidable tone & playability.
Rating: 8.5/ 10
Likes:
• Playability (better upper fret access/ thinner body)
• Clarity
• Workmanship
• Price
Dislikes
• Dry fretboard areas
• Lacks a good bass response
Worthy competitor:
• Epiphone ES-175 Reissue
