AM70 Arrived!!!

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Author Message Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 12:39 pm:    UPS delivered my AM70 (1987) this morning. I’m at work, so I was only able to take a quick peek. Here are my first impressions but more to follow when I have a chance to sit down and play it. Case seemed very flimsy at first glance and smaller than I anticipated. I wondered if the guy shipped the correct guitar. I was relieved once I opened the case to find the real McCoy. It is unbelievable how good the condition of this guitar is. It appears to have not gotten any playing time at all. I will inspect the frets more carefully when I get home, but at first glance it is almost mint. Almost mint but not quite. There are the normal cotton candy like scratches in the finish. It is possible these marks exist just from wiggling back and forth within the case. Nothing that cannot be polished out although I will not bother. The plastic heal cap has a very minute separation at the seam between the cap and wood – barely noticeable. I once briefly owned an Artstar AF207 (the 7 string archtop) that had a more pronounced issue with the plastic heal cap. I took it to the local repair guy and he said this was a common problem. Apparently, the plastic expands and contracts at a different rate than the wood and depending on how perfectly the cap was applied, a gap at the seam can develop in time. This gap is almost invisible but I will probably take down to the local repair guy at some point to see if it can be filled. Other than that, I could not find a scratch, ding, dent or anything. Even the corners of peg head appeared to be without dings – further evidence that maybe this guitar has not been played much. I will give it a more thorough inspection tonight. More importantly, I can’t wait to plug it in. Having never heard the IBZ pickups nor having ever played a guitar with EMG style pickups, I have no idea what to expect. I’m not that stressed about it though. I’m hoping to have more of rock guitar out of this one but in the worst case scenario, if I just can’t stand the sound, I could always swap out the pickups. In the back of my mind I’m thinking this guitar would sound great with SD Classic 59’s. Anyway, had to blow off some excitement by posting this message. Back to the salt mines now. Darryl Guitartim Username: Guitartim Registered: 04-2001 Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 1:32 pm:    Wildfield~ Congratulations on your new score! Nothing beats a new gitfiddle! Check this link...AM70 and most Ibanez model porn can be found if you search carefully. http://www.ibanezregister.com/ http://www.ibanezregister.com/images/images-artstar/am70av.jpg Tim Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 5:39 pm:    if I just can’t stand the sound, I could always swap out the pickups. In the back of my mind I’m thinking this guitar would sound great with SD Classic 59’s" How about a SD Custom Custom, or Custom 5 in the bridge for a little warm drive? Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Wednesday, November 02, 2005 - 11:49 pm:    Well, my mother-in-law was over when I got home from work tonight and I felt compelled to sit and talk with her until she left. Unfortunately, she left AFTER the kids went to bed. Dying of curiousity, I plugged in for just a few minutes and at fairly low volume. These pickups definitely have a growl which is kind of neat. I like that when you punch out a chord, it sounds a little like your rev-ing an engine. Should be great for rock and should sound great through my SanAmp GT-2. Again the finish is almost perfect. The binding is coloring just a little, there was a some oxidation (rust) on the two screws that adjust the fore and aft on the bridge and just a little fret wear to indicate that someone actually played this guitar before. Definitely needs to be setup up. The truss rod probably needs to be loosened ever so slightly and then the action lowered just a tad. I'm going to replace the 10's that are on there now with some 12's. I'm anticipating that this guitar will setup very nicely. I'm not sure what is the best part. The overall finish is immaculate and the guitar is in gorgeous condition. The neck plays like butter - can't get over how sleek the neck is. The body size fits my dwarf stature perfectly. Suffice it to say that I'm quite pleased with my purchase. What a find. I don't feel so badly spending the amount that I did, now that I've had a chance to see her up close. This guitar is almost too nice to play, yet this guitar is begging to be played. Thanks for all the comments from folks on this forum that led to the purchase of this guitar. Hope I can take some photos soon to give you all a look-see. Best regards, Darryl Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 10:27 am:    "Well, my mother-in-law was over when I got home from work tonight and I felt compelled to sit and talk with her until she left. Unfortunately, she left AFTER the kids went to bed. Dying of curiousity, I plugged in for just a few minutes and at fairly low volume. AARG! That sort of thing has happened to be and it drives me crazy. Guitars never amps sound good at whisper level. -Sven Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 10:44 am:    "AARG! That sort of thing has happened to be and it drives me crazy. Guitars never amps sound good at whisper level." - Funkle Ah, whattaya going to do? She's my mother-in-law after all. She's a sweet lady and she even brought over a tasty dinner. I've got a rehearsal tonight with a jazz combo. Maybe if I can get to rehearal a tad early, I can plug in the AM70 and crank it up a little. Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 11:56 am:    "Guitars never amps sound good at whisper level." Reason why I've decided to get myself a 5 watt tube amp for X'mas. Any suggestions? Ace Guitartim Username: Guitartim Registered: 04-2001 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 12:06 pm:    "Reason why I've decided to get myself a 5 watt tube amp for X'mas. Any suggestions?" Ace You might consider the Gibson Les Paul GA5 amp. Great tone from a 5 watt, simple, point-to-point, quality tube amp. Another consideration (analog/solid state, however) is the Tech 21 Trademark 10 or 30. They even have headphone jacks (to not wake the wife and kids) and DI for recording...PLUS they sound great. Tim Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 1:39 pm:    I have read-up on the Gibson LP GA5, the Crate V58, Epiphone Valve plus a couple of boutique amps. The prices range from $120 to $900+ and I can't try any of them but I just hate to have to go in blind. I guess the old saying "...you get what you paid for..." will apply and I should get the highest-priced one I can afford. The Gibson goes for about $600 and is the high end choice among production models. Ace Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 6:34 pm:    I've been strongly considering a low power tube amp myself. I'm leaning toward one of the Torres Engineering heads. They have designs based on Boogie, Marshal and Fender circuits. In case anybody isn't familiar with low power tube amps, the concept is that the sweetest distortion comes from overdriven power tubes, not the pre-amp. So with these little guys, you can crank the power stage and get rich tube distortion, and still be able to carry on a conversation over it. They are supposed to be great for recording too. Tim, I had a Trademark 10, and I didn't feel the distortion was very usable - kind of harsh and scratchy for my tastes - but that could be me. I would certainly recommend the Yamaha DG series for great distortion at any volume. -Sven Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 7:29 pm:    Hi Sven, Have you heard any comments on an amp called "Bumbox Lead 1 Watt"? According to the HC, it is supposed to be great with a single watt of output. Ace Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 7:31 pm:    I like the sound Paul Jackson Jr. gets out of his Gibson Goldtone something or other. I thought it was a 15watt amp, but I could be way wrong. Anyway, that guy has great chops and he sounds very funky through the Goldtone. Of course, he is probably one of those guys that play through almost anything and still sound good. My buddy at work has been trying to talk me into buying a used Mesa Boogie Subway Blues. Anyone ever play through one of those? Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 7:32 pm:    Hi Darryl, Didn't mean to hijack your thread, I'll start a new one down below. Well, how's the AM70? Ace Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 7:48 pm:    Didn't mean to hijack your thread, I'll start a new one down below. Hey Ace, Who cares? It's all in fun anyway. I have a rehearsal with a trio tonight. I'm going to try and get there a little early so I can finally crank up the amp and hear this thing. I will post more AM70 comments again...whether folks like it or not. Best regards, Regg Username: Regg Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 8:11 pm:    I keep hearing good things about the ZVEX nano head. Anybody tried one? Sorry, I know this wasn't an amp thread, I was just curious. Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 12:43 pm:    Hi Regg, Thanks for the info. I went to the ZVEX site but didn't find a lot of details on the amp except how cool they looked. Ace Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 1:01 pm:    Ace, Did you check out their forum? Seems like they have some discussion on the products there. Darryl Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 4:59 pm:    I had a browser problem that I just fixed. I can see the full content of the web site now and it sure look very promising. Ace Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 9:59 pm:    Ace, did you see my link to the zVex video in the other thread? Michael Thompson gives it a thorough demonstration. I'm sold. Also if you type "zvex" into google, there are links to a bunch of articles - pretty cool, huh? Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 12:18 am:    Yes I did. I found a lot of info on the Zvex and have narrowed down to two: the Zvex Nano or the Bumbox. Ace Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 2:04 am:    Well, I had a chance to plug the AM70 in last night. Very interesting guitar. Here are some random comments. Re: Pick Ups So far, I really like the IBZ pickups. From what I had read before hand, I thought I might end up not liking the sound of this guitar. On the contrary. I played this guitar for 3 hours last night at a trio rehearsal. With the volume pot turned up about 1/3 to 1/2, the tone is very dark, warm and full. Almost reminded me of Pat Martino's sound. Of course, if you turn the volume pot up all the way, the tone becomes very throaty and driven - great for more rock oriented sounds. I'm playing some back ground music at a dinner tomorrow night in Fresno, so I'll get another impression of how this guitar with IBZ pickups sounds in a jazz trio setting. Re: Guitar Condition Well, I found a few more flaws with this guitar. Granted, this thing is in suberb condition for 18 years old, as I continue to go over this guitar with a fine tooth comb, I have found a few more things. I was getting some fret buzz at the 14th fret and above. Thought maybe the frets needed to be dressed. Was hoping this wasn't the indication of something more serious. Upon closer inspection, I found that the end of frets 15, 16 and 17 are sticking up slightly. I don't know if this is caused by the guitar drying out, or if it's some other issue. I guess at some point, I'll have to take it in to have the frets inspected. I purchased a guitar once in Hong Kong (GB100). When I got it back to California, the drop in humidity appeared to affect the frets in a similar way. The local luthier was able to get the frets to sit down again using cyanoacrylate (essentially crazy glue) and the repair lasted quite a long time. There are also a few cracks on this guitar. The most obvious one (although not serious) is a crack where the neck meets the body. I have found this is a common issue with these guitars. There is also a crack forming near a part of the binding. Again, nothing alarming. It looks superficial and possibly caused by expansion/contraction between dissimilar materials. Re: Sustain I had forgotten how much sustain these guitars are capable of. This guitar produces beautiful, full, clear sustained tones. Again, sounds like Pat Martino. For the first time in my life I'm using round wound strings to play jazz. Man, have I been missing out playing flatwounds on full sized archtops all these years. Well, that's about it for now. Will know more about this guitar and it's tonal characteristics after this weekend's gig. Thanks for listening, and now back to your Zvex discussion. Regg Username: Regg Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 4:00 am:    Thanks for the review of the AM70 Darryl: it could be good ammo for my next GAS attack. Again, I didn't mean to bring up ZVEX, but if you guys check 'em out I hope you'll give a review here (but maybe in another thread). I've been scoping out the Nanohead for awhile, as it looks like a good contender for me. Wildfield Username: Wildfield Registered: 05-2005 Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 2:55 am:    Update on the AM70 (as if anyone cares ). First, my stock AM70 has undergone a radical extreme makeover which I have shared in some other posts. In short, I replaced the shortstop bridge with a more standard TOM style bridge. This required plugging the post holes with (rosewood) dowels. I redrilled the holes to be properly spaced for a TonePros tune-o-matic brdige. Added a nice ebony Benedetto style tailpiece. Replaced the IBZ triple magnet pickups with Seymour Duncan 59's. Tuners replaced with Grover 18:1 tuners. All hardware is now gold. I just returned from a big band rehearsal. This is a band I used to play with a few years ago, but due to time constraints could not continue to gig with. I'm sitting in for their regular guitarist who cannot make their upcoming gig in September. I decided to take the AM70 even though I had planned to have it re-fretted. I haven't had a chance to play it in such a large ensemble and I thought it would sound better at loud volumes than my AG195. Holy cow! It sounded fantastic. I really love this guitar. It desparately needs to be re-fretted and buzzes a little above the 12th fret but man it sounds so good. Neck p/u sounds so dark and warm. Neck and bridge together cut through nicely when comping chords, even with 6 horns blaring. Bridge p/u is funky - we played 70's version of Lou Rawls "You'll Never Find". Man, I felt like Paul Jackson Jr.! Why the h*ll doesn't Ibanez re-issue the AM as an Artcore United??? With Super 58's, laminated maple top and back (yes, I know my AM70 has a birch ply back), and same neck shape as the AS193, they would sell a million...okay, at least I would buy one. Anyways, almost one year later, I'm as happy as can be with this purchase. I do not regret the mods one bit and in fact, the guitar is now perfect as far as I am concerned...well, it will be perfect as soon as I can get it re-fretted. That's all...sorry to ramble. I just couldn't contain my happiness with this guitar.

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