Ibanez Series I Artwoods

chazmo

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Hi folks,

My holiday present to myself was an Ibanez AW-60, built in Owari Asahi, Japan. I'm so excited about this wonderful dread. Maybe you guys don't know this, but after the copycat stage in the late '70s (the lawsuit era), Hoshino (Ibanez / Tama parent) introduced the Artwood series as Ibanez's finest lutherie products. In my opinion, these might've been the best acoustics to ever come out of Japan, possibly only rivaled by the Kazuo Yairi-build Alvarezs.

Anyway, this AW-60 was the humblest of the first series Artwood, built between 1979 and 1981. But, like its bretheren, it has no plastic on it. It's all mahogany with a satin-finish Sitka spruce top (the higher Artwoods had gloss-finish German spruce). It has a wooden pickguard, which was a signature of the first series.

I guess I'm also excited because the fellow I bought it from was only listing locally in the Chicago-area Craig's list and wouldn't ship. For $100, I think I scored big time! There are some serious cracks in this guitar, but they've been stabilized with humidity, and the guitar sounds really wonderful!

Before stringing 'er up with D'addario PBs:

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Nicely bound (purfled?) heel, yeah the button is plastic on the AW-60. Shame. :):

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Look at the gorgeous grain on this major honkin' chunk of Ebony fingerboard!:

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The -60 joins its 12-string brother, the AW-75, which incidentally I bought new in New York in 1981. Yes, I'm attached to Ibanez guitars! :)

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Guildmark

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I don't know a whole lot about Ibanez, Chazmo, but I do like the side-by-side stablemates.
Congrats! Nice way to kick-off the new year. :)

PS - You do still need more Guilds, ya know.
So do I, for that matter. :(
 

chazmo

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;) More Guilds!!! I'm not counting on getting any nice Guilds for $100, though, Guildmark. :)

In any case, I now have exactly as many guitars as days in the week (since I gave my classical to my son). That has to be some milestone... :)

I played a bunch of current Guilds at the store a few days ago, and I wasn't drawn to any of them. We'll see, maybe I'll start looking at older instruments as time goes on.
 

chazmo

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This might be of some interest to you folks... Turns out that the late Dan Fogelberg had an Ibanez 12 just like mine! It's up for bid right now on eBay for a cool 10Gs... That's at least 9Gs more than any other Ibanez acoustic I've ever seen for sale!

I started a thread about this over in Ibanez Collectors World: http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/i ... ic=11537.0

The seller of Dan's AW-75 seems like a good guy, and we've been corresponding today about this axe. I'm a little moved by this connection to Fogelberg, and I suppose that's a feeling that Guilders feel more frequently because of the popularity of Guilds over the years.
 

chazmo

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Whelp, the Ibbys keep on comin'. I'll be selling my second Taylor to acquire this baby, one of a handful of Ibanez series I AW-120s in the world. Japanese craftsmanship at its finest. This one joins my AW-60 and AW-75.

These pictures are from the fellow in Germany who's selling it to me. Wish me luck in getting the guitar here to the states. If my experience with mahogany Artwoods is any guide, this rosey honey should be a major-league canon!

[edit: pictures moved, see later... - chaz]
 

capnjuan

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Congratulations Chazanez ... do you have any experience with Takamines from the era? Do you have any compare/contrast notes to share? Nice-looking gear! CJ
 

chazmo

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CJ, I don't have much experience with the Taks from that era. But, I know they were doing the same thing that Ibanez (Hoshino) was doing -- copycat. I didn't pay attention to them at the time. Yamaha was also big in that era, but I only got to play a few of their top-of-the-line axes, and they were very nice.
 

capnjuan

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Was just wondering; I piddled with a late 70s/early 80s Tak EIR dred 12-string. The strings were dead but it had 'heft'; strong sense of substance to it. CJ
 

chazmo

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CJ,

Man, I love the electrics, but the truth is that I really don't have the disposable income to get into that. Wish I did. Maybe someday. I'm in a very small minority over at the Ibanez Collector's World; most of the frequenters there are serious leccie-heads. :) The key for me is that I play all my acoustics; I know that really wouldn't happen if I branched out.

I'd love to have a room full of Guilds too, but at least I've got a few that really do it for me. Popping for that F50R was pretty out-of-the-box for me, but these jumbos are really something else.

The thing with the old MIJ acoustics (particularly the early Artwoods and the Tamas that preceded them), is that they're like the undiscovered country. The best of the best are still relatively inexpensive. While sometimes I think I'm singing praises into thin air, that doesn't bother me. It's my thing. :)
 

capnjuan

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Chazmo said:
... Man, I love the electrics, but the truth is that I really don't have the disposable income to get into that....
Well .... let's see ... you could always re-arrange your gear inventory. For example, you could throw the Taylors under the bus ... pleasing the folks here and in Ibanezville who are hostile to Taylors ... and you'd wind up with one of the 'Nez 335s and maybe a Champ or a GA5 like Fungusamungus ... Never having owned a Taylor makes it easier for me to (mindlessly) denigrate them ... but that's one sharp-looking 'Nez leccie!
 

chazmo

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Hehehe!!! You're bad, CJ! :D :D

Actually, I sold off a magnificent Taylor 30th anniv. XXX guitar recently to help backfill for the F50R. I'm thinking about unloading another to backfill for this Artwood AW-120.

In truth, I love Taylor; you won't get any hate from me on that score. :) :)

But, yeah, there's the Artwood twin double-neck leccie that would go great in my living room........... Yikes!
 

capnjuan

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Chazmo said:
... there's the Artwood twin double-neck leccie that would go great in my living room ..........
Like this one? ... in your man-cave? A 'Nez with one too many necks ... wonder why 'SG' keeps coming to mind ... that's an impressive axe ...

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chazmo

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CJ, the lawsuit SG copies like that are neat, but it's the Artwood Twin I'd love to have. Why have one neck when you can have two! :D :D

I'll dig up a picture for you. They did a magnificent re-issue of the AW Twin in 2006 that's amazing. I live vicariously through the leccies on ICW, no question! :)
 

capnjuan

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Alright; but if you don't find a pic of the two-neck AW, I'm gonna keep slamming up pics of 'Nez SGs and 335s ... regardless of how many necks they have. CJ
 

chazmo

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CJ...

This is the leccie that someday I'd like. This is one of the re-issues. The original Artwood Twin started life as a 2670 model in the late '70s. Anyway, this one makes me drool, but I'd have to sell my Guild acoustics and then some to own it, so that *ain't* gonna' happen:

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capnjuan

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That's a serious GAS inducer! The inlay work reminiscent of some of Marcellis' guitars; wowser!
 

chazmo

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The vine thing goes back to Ibby's association with Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), back in the '70s. If it's got a vine on it (and this one has TWO for Chrissakes), well, it's a collectible. :) Actually, it was Jerry Beckley from America who made this particular double-neck famous. One of the guys on Ibanez Collector's World owns Beckley's 2670 that was featured on a couple of America's album titles.

Yeah, I've got leccie GAS, but I'm just not going there until my ship comes in. Someday...
 
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