Ibanez AM93

The AM 93 guitar is a semi hollow guitar in Ibanez's Artcore series. It has an arched maple top, back, and sides, and all are bound and made of quilted maple. Neck is 3 piece with mahogany and maple, and fretboard is bound rosewood, block inlays, and 22 frets. It uses the Custom 58 pickups, and has a tuneamatic style bridge and tailpiece setup. There is a floating pickguard, and 2 volume, 2 tone control setup with a 3 way switch.

UTILIZATION

This guitar is fantastic. It is gorgeous, and breath-takingly so - this guitar looks like it should cost 4 times what it does. The playability is extremely nice, with a very positive string action. It balances quite well, and the ergonomics are comfortable. Many hollow and semi-hollow guitars have balance and ergonomic problems, yet the AM 93 is a joy to play. One detail I love is the knobs - they are classy looking, yet have a nice rubber ring around the top to greatly enhance finger grip.

SOUNDS

Here we go! These pickups are incredible! Their tone has this nice, buttery warmth, and the crisp note definition is unparalleled. This is a great guitar for blues, jazz, rockabilly, country, classic rock, reggae, ska, and jazz-fusion. Really, about the only genre I can think of this guitar not meshing well with is any of the extremely heavy metal styles, although it could sound neat on metal recordings, being used on clean passages or solos.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar can be had for $550 new. That is just a steal and a half. I don't understand how they can make so much guitar for so little money! There is something about an Ibanez semi-hollow guitar that just works! They've been making incredible semis since at least the 70s, with giants like Scofield, Metheny, and Benson playing their guitars exclusively. This guitar is no departure from that great tradition. Flawlessly done, Ibanez. Highly recommended.