Ibanez ArtWood AW 40 Acoustic Guitar Review
Update, October 2009 Sigh... the AW40 is no longer in production. I've since found a used one that had been dropped and have rehabilitated it into my mountain-trips guitar. Lovely, wonderful, plays well, sounds awesome, even after it was dropped (hard) by its previous owner.
I had been looking for an affordable solid-spruce-top 6-string acoustic for nearly a year. I was looking for medium-bright sound that also had crisp, clean basses, but with good resonance, easy playability, and good intonation. Finding a guitar that meets these expectations, and is under $400, is a real challenge.
I started my quest by playing countless acoustics at both my local guitar stores. I probably played more than 200 different low-cost acoustics – specifically looking for my target attributes.
I eventually discovered the Ibanez AW 40. This delightful acoustic guitar is from Ibanez's ™ ArtWood™ series acoustics. The street price for the AW 40, both locally and on the street was $200US. This new AW 40 turned out to be the guitar I purchased – and I’m very glad I did. I bought the AW 40 (mine is named “Rosie”) from my Sam Ash guy and have played it quite a bit – it has been used on many songs across three different acoustic albums of mine.
Quick Opinion: I chose to play the AW 40 on and off for a few weeks before I actually purchased it. I wanted to play several other contenders in comparison just to be sure:
The AW 40 is a bargain, and is an excellent purchase! It has excellent craftsmanship, good features, and sounds like guitars that cost $200-$300 more. Purchasers of the AW 40 are VERY unlikely to be disappointed! This is the second-most-played-acoustic I own.
Free Shipping and more information about Ibanez Artwood acoustics here at GuitarCenter.com
Playability: The neck is a delightful satin-finish soft “c”-ish shape (the rosewood color is unique, too). This guitar plays nicer than the gloss-finish necks of many other guitars in this price range.
The frets are finished nicely, and are just the right balance of height and thickness. The scale is just right – medium. There are no buzzy frets on the example I purchased. The string height was a little too low when I brought it home, so I had to change the truss rod just a tad to stop general string buzz. Once I raised the strings a bit, the string sound was flawless.
The weight and depth of the AW 40 body is excellent, and the fretboard feels smooth and quick. The 1 5/8” width nut is just about right for this particular neck.
The AW 40 ships with
D’Addario EXP bronze strings (opens new window), starting with .11 width on the 1st string. These particular strings are really quite nice (especially if you like coated strings), and are appropriate if you like a little darker high sound. After a week or so with the stock strings, I switched to D’Addario EXP phosphor-bronze .11s to give me the crisper bass sounds I was seeking. Once the new strings were installed, this guitar has been giving the low-end
Martin™ guitars (opens new window) a strong run for the money.
Sound: Crisp, crisp, crisp, resonant, and more crisp! The solid spruce top lives up to its job very well. The bass sounds are clean and clear. The 1st and 2nd strings above the 13th fret are a little thin for my tastes. The midranges are clean and rarely muddy for finger-picked notes. The body resonates nicely against your chest and hands when the guitar is played. Very nice!
Value: This is a $450 guitar in value (not 'retail',
'street'). The sound, quality of make, and appointments are top-notch, excellent. To get a better instrument, you’d have to spend at least $499. This guitar is made in China, but you would have difficulty telling its origin from the excellent build quality.
Features: This is an excellently-designed instrument. It has the bits needed for daily use and for recording alike. The body is fully bound in a nice white-with-black stripes motif. The rosette is a beautiful abalone-ringed decoration. The headstock has inlaid pearl Ibanez logo and AW logo. The back of the guitar has a nice black-white center stripe and nicely matched halves. The red-ish shell pickguard does seem a bit bright for the cream-colored spruce top, but is pleasant enough.
An unexpected and
BEAUTIFUL feature of the AW 40 is the
abalone "vine of life" fretboard inlay. This is truly a nice-looking addition, and is really nice and unique. I always get good comments on this feature every time folks see Rosie.
The stock tuners are mechanically sound, but felt a bit uncomfortable. In addition, the gold plating on the tuners was not well done at all. It looked as though the gold had barely been applied (this was true on all the examples I played).
More about the tuners: I ended up replacing the stock machine heads/tuners with Grover™ Rotomatic™-style 14:1 tuners. The screw holes did not match the factory screw placements exactly, but I felt it was worth it to drill new screw holes and putty the old ones – and gain excellent tuners. I bought chrome Grovers, and they look very nice with the rest of the guitar’s appointments. The Grovers function flawlessly and are, well, they're Grovers ('nuff said!).
Wishes: The tuners really should have been better-made and better executed. Even the Yamaha™ basic guitar tuners work better and look better than those on the AW line.
Labels: acoustic guitar, art wood, artwood, aw 40, aw40, guitar, ibanez, instrument
The Jimmie/Jimmy Vaughan Tex-Mex Fender Stratocaster Review
I've been looking for just the right Fender(tm) Stratocaster(tm). My heart wants a nice , Custom Shop American Strat(tm), my wallet wants a Squier(tm) Strat.
Let me begin by saying that the American-made Strats and Telecasters are superb, and that there is no substitute for a Custom Shop or high-end Strat/Tele if you're looking for a high-end instrument. With that said, I've been playing an extremely wide variety of Stratocasters for quite some time now. My big question has been, how can I get just the right playability, feel, price,
and sound for less than $1000US??? This review answers lots of those questions for me, and I hope will help you, too.
My Previous Strat; I had the basic Squier Strat with the maple fretboard for quite a while. It was extremely well-made, very reliable, OK tuning, and OK intonation (it could not be adjusted to the point where the tempered tuning I use would stick...). The neck was a very soft "C" shape, and the body was the lightest Strat I've ever played (it was even neck-heavy when you played it with a relaxed strap position). I made several great pop tunes with that guitar. I sincerely think that the little black Squier strat is absolutely phenominal for a beginner, or for someone who wants a Strat to take to the beach on vacation (don't get beer or sand on your Custom Shop Strat!). The maple fretboard variety is a favorite of mine. I like the feel, the hardness of the wood, and I like the fine grain it offers for pitch-bending. I sold the Squier to a beginning guitarist, and she's havin' a blast with it (I think it's great when guitars live multiple lives! Do they have Karma??? If they do, that particular Strat should be great to go - it's been wonderful.)
OK... now to the part about my next Strat... enter Deus Ex Machina
I had been playing a nice Olympic White (maple fretboard) Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster at my local guitar store – on and off for an entire year – it was like I was magnetized to it – it drew me every time I came into the store.
Quick Opinion: I've played the Jimmie Vaughan many times over the past several months - verdict:
An Absolute Steal!!!!!! It plays like an un-tinted-maple-neck American Strat, handles and feels like any Standard American strat I've played, and has a great, growly, low-noise sound only found on guitars with Tex-Mex pickups.
The picture of the Oly white Strat above is similar to the Jimmy Bear Strat (although the real thing is acually a more pleasant off-white and less of a beige like the picture indicates). I liked it so much that I borrowed some cash and bought the floor-model example. It is the nicest and best-playing Fender I have ever owned.
Free Shipping and more information about the wonderful Jimmie Vaughan Fender Stratocaster here at GuitarCenter.com
Playability: The neck is a light "u" or "v" type of shape, is easy to grasp for large or small hands, and has the quick feel of sealed satin hard maple. Near the headstock, the back profile of the neck is a deeper “v”, and as you go towards the body, the neck softens to a “u.” The neck is a delight, similar to the un-tinted-neck $1200 Strat variety, and is not found on any currently-available non-US Strat that I have been able to find. The body is medium in weight - not too heavy, and not as light as some of the lightweight ash Strats. The JV Strat is much more comfortable than the '70s Strats I played as a kid. Tuning-wise, Fairly aggressive string bending did not pull it out of tune.
Sound: Rox your sox!!! Nice midrange, not too noisy, clean when clean, aggressive when played distorted, and sings the blues (especially through the Fender Hot Rod at the guitar shop) like an old pro! Far surpasses Standard and Highway 1 Strats in the sound department... The Jimmie Vaughan Strat is set up with .one volume knob and two tone knobs (neck to bridge if viewed from the player’s side of the guitar).
Value: This is a $999 guitar in value (not 'retail',
'street'). Period. The sound, quality of make, and appointments are top-notch and represent the Mexican Strat pinnacle. (
NOTE: I've not had the pleasure of trying out the new 60th Anniversary Strat yet. I suspect it will be a really nice alternative to the Standard. {new window} ) If you can afford the JV Strat, go for it. You'd have to step up to American Deluxe or Custom Shop to get a more satisfying instrument.
Features: Nearly every feature makes this a 'working musician's Strat'. The pickups: great; the vintage tuners: just fine; the neck: good for hours at a time;, the trem, bridge, and weight: just fine; the paint finish:
flawless. The gig bag is a nice touch (although I have a Freedom hard shell case for this wonderful instrument). The Schaller-strap-lock-compatible strap buttons are a really nice feature. I’ve got a nice strap that is set up for Schallers, and I can use it on this Strat without installing new buttons. The neck plate is the four-screw variety and does not have micro-tilt.
More about the tuners: I removed the guitar-store-played Fender 250Ls (stock strings) and cleaned everything up for carnauba waxing and re-stringing. I bought some 3350L strings (Fender stainless-steel light .09-> bullets) and restrung the guitar. The tuners are the delightful vintage tuners, with the scooped-bean-shape and the old-style rear covers. The strings are mounted in the machine head stalk much like those on Fender basses – you place an end of the string down into a hole in the stalk, bend it down in the flat slot, and turn the machine key until the string winds along the stalk. These are fine tuners and are easy to get threaded for the start. I did not wind the entire string on the stalk, but cut a few inches from the end. The strings tended to run sharp as I “broke them in” with gentle pulling and string bending. After about five or six tunings and pulling, the tuning became rock-solid and the guitar has not detuned at all in a day or so.
Wishes: The one-ply pick guard on the one at the Guitar Center is flat and firm, but unexpectedly cheap of Fender. A nice white/black/white or pearloid pick guard would have been more appropriate.
If I had the guts to yank the pick guard and put one of the super-duper Terrapin Guitars Custom Pick guards (THE BEST pick guards, fit like/better than factory)(Opens new window), I'd do it in a skinny minute. The neck-bolt plate should have an "F", or "Fender", or something on it. The plain neck-bolt plate is surprisingly plain-looking on this great Strat.
Labels: electric guitar, fender, guitar, jimmie vaughan, jimmy vaughan, strat, stratocaster, tex-mex, vintage
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