ibanezgitarrero
Ready to RAWK.
Hi folks,
a long time ago when the 1988 Ibanez catalog fell into my hands, the Artstar series with their semi-acoustic construction caught my eye, most of all the Strat-orientated AL100. I did some research but couldn't find out much more than "these are rare beasts". As far as I know the AL100 was only made in 1988.
The most important features of the AL100 are the following:
By pure luck, I got a red one in 2006 and no other crossed my path since then. I recently had a refret job done since the low-profile fretwire was uncomfortable to play. It now has 6100-type jumbo frets and it plays a whole lot better.
Since the serial number H8... starts with the letter H, this tells us that it was not made in the main Ibanez factory Fujigen Gakki, but in another plant called Terada, where today Gretsch Guitars are manufactured. This might be the reason why the guitar is in many aspects quite untypical for Ibanez. Hardcore Ibanheads could tell from the type of screw used for the cavity plate that it's not Fujigen-made!
But now let the pictures do the talking. Looking forward to your comments!
a long time ago when the 1988 Ibanez catalog fell into my hands, the Artstar series with their semi-acoustic construction caught my eye, most of all the Strat-orientated AL100. I did some research but couldn't find out much more than "these are rare beasts". As far as I know the AL100 was only made in 1988.
The most important features of the AL100 are the following:
- The body is roughly Superstrat- or Soloist-shaped and oversized.
- It is semi-hollow and has a modern style soundhole
- The neck isn't one-piece, it has a scarf joint headstock
- 22 fret Rosewood fingerboard - small vintage fretwire
- Gotoh tuners, chrome finish
- 3/3 headstock
- Tune-o-matic type bridge
By pure luck, I got a red one in 2006 and no other crossed my path since then. I recently had a refret job done since the low-profile fretwire was uncomfortable to play. It now has 6100-type jumbo frets and it plays a whole lot better.
Since the serial number H8... starts with the letter H, this tells us that it was not made in the main Ibanez factory Fujigen Gakki, but in another plant called Terada, where today Gretsch Guitars are manufactured. This might be the reason why the guitar is in many aspects quite untypical for Ibanez. Hardcore Ibanheads could tell from the type of screw used for the cavity plate that it's not Fujigen-made!
But now let the pictures do the talking. Looking forward to your comments!
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