Ibanez ART100 Review – Quality or Not?
In the 1970’s, Ibanez got into serious legal trouble with their copy of a Gibson Les Paul. Probably the biggest reason Gibson got upset with Ibanez is that by many accounts the Ibanez copy was, at the time, a far better instrument than the real thing!
Enter the Ibanez ART100. No Gibson lawsuits here. With this instrument, Ibanez shows that they haven’t forgotten how to make a great single cutaway guitar for a fair price. What are the specifics on this killer guitar?
The ART100 has a mahogany body and neck with a bound rosewood fingerboard. Unlike most Ibanez guitars, the ART100 has a set neck with medium frets. The bridge is a tune-o-matic style Gilbraltar III with set tailpiece. The pickups are Ibanez’s own Artcore 1-S in the neck and Artcore 2-S in the bridge.
It’s hard to really complain about anything with the ART100 since it has a street price of only around $300. Like most Ibanez guitars we’ve ever played, it has an extremely playable neck and a great feel. It’s not quite the same as the ones with a Wizard neck, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s just a different feel.
It’s also a very attractive guitar, with a bare fretboard except a custom Ibanez inlay on the 12th fret. It’s available in several finishes, but we chose the Transparent Cherry. We didn’t expect the finish to be as problem-free as it was, but that’s what we found. Hard to believe it’s only a $300 guitar!
The pickups are engineered for overdriven and distortion tones, so the clean sounds aren’t this instrument’s strong suit, but they’re not bad, especially given the price.
If you wished, you could easily install some third party pickups such as Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan; however, the stock pickups do a fine job for most styles.
We wish the guitar had come with a case, but what do you want for $300? Overall, it’s a fine budget guitar that doesn’t sound or play like a budget guitar. We highly recommend it.
Searching for the absolute best price on a new or used Ibanez ART100? Then you need to visit Ray’s Guitar Shop! They offer the most competitive prices on all new and used guitars (acoustic and electric). It doesn’t matter if you’re searching for a Washburn, an Ibanez, or a Gibson, Ray’s Guitar Shop has what you’re looking for!
