Just bought a new Ibanez Hollow Body...

[ajbremer]

1/24/2013

I just bought a new Ibanez hollow body guitar with a bar on it. I wanted to get something kind of similar to the country gent until I can afford a real country gent. I'm hoping that I'll be able 'try' all those Chet tunes on it. The guitar cost $550 and I put it on lay-away. I should pick it up in about a month.

Does anyone else have something like this? How do you like it? Please let me know what ya'll think.

Here's the link to it:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/ibanez-artcore-series-af75tdgiv-hollowbody-electric-guitar

[Vidar Lund]

Congratulations. I own the transparent red one, otherwise identical to yours. It´s a very good guitar, well built, sturdy and with a perfect finish. Great playability. I replaced the generic humbuckers with TV-Trons, TV Jones Filtertrons, adapted to fit the Humbucker cavities and got a much gretschier tone. Mine was almost perfectly set up from the box, I only had to cut down the Bigsby spring to 3/4 in from the original 1 in to get the vibrato action I prefer. I later bought the 6122 Nashville Classic (Country Gentleman), and not withstanding the fine quality of the Ibanez the NC is way above in quality regarding both playability, feel and sound quality. But so is the price as well.

[ajbremer]

Thank you Vidar!

I had a Nashville Classic and it was awesome, I never should have sold it. Some day soon I will buy my Country Gentlemen but for now I'll have the Ibanez Artcore AF75TDGIV. I know what you mean by replacing the stock pickups with TV-Jones ones. This video on youtube shows a guy who has done it and he explains everything you have to do and buy. It runs around $300.

Will the Ibanez sound a lot more the Nashville/Country Gentleman once the TVJones pickups go in? Also, does this video explain the exact way you did your conversion?

Here is the youtube video explaining the process of TV pickups going into the Ibanez hollow body:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvQzBsxgYqk

[Vidar Lund]

I installed the Humbucker mount pickups and not the English ones. I don´t think the latter one was available at the time. There´s a marked difference between the AFS75 and the bigger NC, the NC having a truly luxurious feel to it and it feels "firmer" and more precise so to speak, and the sound from the Supertron and Filtertron are really Chet-like. It´s difficult to explain, but it ovbiously is a much more costly instrument. Nevertheless the Ibanez compares easily with the Gretsch Electromatic series, like the 5120 which I have played a little. There is little to choose between them, and for the price the AFS75 is a very good buy.

[ajbremer]

Maybe someone may be able to help me. On my new Ibanez Hollow Body guitar, the vibrato bar is flat. I would like a shaft type bar like Chet had and like my long gone Nashville Classic had. This bar is not a Bigsby, it is a copy of one from Ibanez. I have seen where Chet kept the bar/shaft in his hand the whole time while playing - that's what I want to be able to do with the skinny shaft type bar and not the flat bar that comes with it. Will I be able to easily adapt that different type of bar? And where can I order one from?

[Vidar Lund]

Here´s one of many links to sellers of Bigsby parts:

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/trem_bigsby.htm

There´s more to find googling Bigsby parts.