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Ibanez AF75 Review: Reasons to Buy / NOT to Buy

Ibanez AF75 Review: Reasons to Buy / NOT to Buy

The Ibanez AF75  is a hollow-body electric guitar that produces a truly beautiful sound; this instrument truly has a full and rich tone that you can only really produce a high-quality hollow-body electric guitar.

If you’ve ever had the luxury of playing a hollow-body electric guitar, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

Bottom Line Up Front of Ibanez AF75 Review: The AF75 is one of the best hollow body electric guitars in its price range and it is one that a lot of musicians in the community would highly recommend.

Ibanez Artcore AF75 Hollowbody Electric Guitar | Sweetwater

This beautiful instrument features a nyatoh set neck; linden top, back, and sides; vintage-style F-holes; and an old-school look with modern tonal expressiveness.

Check price Buy at GuitarCenter
We may receive compensation from the companies whose products we review. We only recommend products that we believe in and test.

The resonation that the Ibanez AF75 produces is something that you would be expected to hear on a guitar that costs several thousands of dollars, as it produces an incredibly full and rich sound.

The biggest perk that comes with playing a hollow-body electric guitar is that you don’t need to have your instrument plugged into an amp in order to play the guitar; you can play the AF75 without an amplifier and still have your instrument’s sound heard well.

One of the biggest problems that can be found with playing hollow-body electric guitars is that they need to retune often; however, while the AF75 does need retuning from time to time, it does not need re-tuning as nearly as often as other hollow-body guitars on the market that have a similar price tag for the AF75.

When physically holding the AF75 electric guitar, you’re going to really be able to feel that you’re playing a hollow-body electric guitar. Since the body of the guitar is hollow, it’s going to feel like you’re holding an instrument that’s extremely delicate and fragile, but that’s not the case when you’re holding the AF75.

This is an extremely sturdy instrument for a hollow-body guitar, which means you won’t have to be super paranoid about damaging the instrument. The biggest complaint that a lot of musicians experience when playing the AF75 is that you may experience some feedback at high volumes on the AF75.

Ibanez AF75
Image from Flickr

Features of the Ibanez AF75 Electric Guitar Review

The Ibanez AF75 has two closed-cover humbuckers, a binding on the neck, f-holes, body, and headstock. The tuners are very comparable to Grover tuners, are they are incredibly accurate and very smooth.

There are a trapeze and floating bridge combination that provides the AF75 with an open sound that’s airy and light. As for the toggles and switches that are available on the AF75, there is a three-way toggle that doesn’t jam and is easy to reach; there is also an individual volume knob and control knob.

In summary, the AF75 comes with:

  • Single cutaway body construction
  • White binding
  • LP boy shape
  • Maple wood top
  • Full hollow body
  • Maple body
  • Tune-O-Matic bridge
  • Humbucker bridge pickup
  • Cared top
  • Tone control
  • Volume control
  • 12-inch fingerboard radius
  • Rosewood fingerboard
  • High gloss finish
  • Pearl block inlays
  • Chrome hardware
  • Set neck joint
  • Humbucker neck pickup
  • Artcore neck shape
  • 22 large size frets
  • Two pickups
  • Six strings
  • 69” nut width
  • 24 ¾ inch scale length
  • Trapezoid Tailpiece bridge
  • Nitrocellulose finish

Ibanez AF75 guitar

Sound

If you’re looking for an electric guitar that produces an airy and open sound that would fit in with music that was produced in the 50s, 60s, and/or 70s or you’re looking to produce music that fits in the Jazz or Blues genre, the AF75 may be the best electric guitar for you.

While this would also be a guitar that would suit soft rock well, the original factory pickup that is installed in the AF75 just isn’t strong enough to compete in thrash metal, hard rock, or heavy metal.

The Ibanez AF75 doesn’t do very well when on stage with a band that has a loud stage presence because the electric guitar will provide some feedback if it happens to be placed to lose to an amplifier.

However, the overall sound of this guitar is clear, crisp, fresh, and refined without having that edgy sound that the Strat provides musicians, but is more mellow than a Les Paul.

Playability

The neck of the Ibanez AF75 has a short feel to it, which provides users with the ability to play quickly on the neck without having to worry about hand cramping. There is a nice tapering to the neck of the guitar that allows an easier time sliding your hand up and down the neck of the guitar.

As for the overall weight of the guitar, this is a lightweight guitar that doesn’t wear too heavy on the wrists and the shoulders of the musician, which helps to increase the longevity of playability.

Through my personal experience of using the Ibanez AF75, I did end up having to re-string the guitar with better quality strings just to increase the overall playability of the guitar, while also improving the sound quality that the guitar produced.

I ended up switching out the strings that Ibanez had installed on the guitar with Fender flat-wound electric guitar strings and once I had done that, my guitar had a lot easier time producing a rich tone from the instrument.

Price

The Ibanez AF75 is valued at $499, which is an extremely affordable price that considers the quality of production, sound, and tonal qualities of this instrument. While the AF75 is manufactured in China, you would have to really go over the physical appearance of this guitar to tell where this guitar was originally produced.

If you’d be interested in upgrading your AF75 and still receive the same quality sound and build, you would have to upgrade to a Gibson or a high-end Epiphone. However, if you’re looking to save a bit of money and go with the AF75, I would highly recommend that you also pick out a case for your new guitar.

Pros and Cons of the AF75

Pros of the AF75

  • Had an amazing overall build
  • High-quality performance when in comparison to the price tag of the guitar
  • Smooth sounding that makes it perfect to fit into Jazz, Blues and music produced in the 50s-70s
  • Can customize the intonation of your guitar by adjusting the floating bridge
  • Makes the perfect guitar for hobby players, intermediate players, and advanced players.

Cons of the AF75

  • You may be looking for a stronger output
  • You are going to have to search around on the Internet for instructions on how to adjust the bridge’s placement
  • Fretboard is flat, which can make playing more difficult if you’re used to playing on a curved or rounded fretboard

Ibanez AF75 Alternatives

Gretsch G2420 StreamlinerIf you’re interested in getting our hands on a hollow body electric guitar that was built for musicians who are looking for an affordable archtop guitar that is comfortable to play, the Gretsch G2420 is great for higher-gain rock tones.

The floating bridge and completely hollow construction are great for producing smoky jazz tones, while the custom wound humbucking pickups really help to balance the lows, mids, and highs.

Read our full Streamliner Review.

Gretsch Guitars G2420 Streamliner | Sweetwater

The G2420 Streamliner Hollow Body Single-Cut with Chromatic II is designed for the modern guitarist who yearns for something beyond the norm. 

Check price Check availability on Reverb
We may receive compensation from the companies whose products we review. We only recommend products that we believe in and test.

Ibanez AF75 Review Final Note: Is the Ibanez AF75 Worth it?

If you’re looking to get your hands on a hollow body electric guitar without having to spend an arm and a leg on an instrument that’s only going to meet your expectations half-way, the Ibanez AF75 is the perfect budget buy for you.

There are very few setbacks and cons when looking over this guitar, which means that you’re going to be purchasing yourself a guitar that not only sounds great and looks even better, but will accompany you on your musical journey for years to come.

Bottom Line:The Ibanez AF75 is one of the best hollow body electric guitars in its price range and it is one that a lot of musicians in the community would highly recommend.

Ibanez Artcore AF75 Hollowbody Electric Guitar | Sweetwater

This beautiful instrument features a nyatoh set neck; linden top, back, and sides; vintage-style F-holes; and an old-school look with modern tonal expressiveness.

Check price Buy at GuitarCenter
We may receive compensation from the companies whose products we review. We only recommend products that we believe in and test.