Ibanez Artstar AS100 - How do you dat...

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Author Message   Ryder (Ryder) Posted on Saturday, August 31, 2002 - 5:51 pm:    Hi, this is my first post here. I just bought a used, but in excellent condition Ibanez Artstar AS100. The guy I bought it from didn't know too much about it. It has Ibanez artstar on the headstock, and AS100 on the truss rod cover. Through the f hole you can see the ibanez label. The model number says AS100 but there is no serial number. It has Japan also on it. It's a beautiful guitar. The top and bottom are both "sunburst" bird's eye maple. It has dot markers on the fret board. The tone and volumn controls have the rubber grip around them. How do you find out what year it was made? Thanks, I appreciate anything you can tell me. Steve   Johns (Johns) Posted on Sunday, September 01, 2002 - 7:36 am:    Ryder: Welcome to the Board. From your initial description, it will probably be post 1987. However, there should be a serial number on the back of the headstock. Once we know that, we'll be able to help pinpoint a year.   Ryder (Ryder) Posted on Sunday, September 01, 2002 - 9:08 am:    Johns, there is no serial number on the back of the headstock or anyplace else. I think that's kind of weird isn't it?   Artfield Username: Artfield Registered: 4-2001 Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 10:59 am:    This is a strange AS100, it has chrome hardware, no serial number, only a sticker in the body with made in Japan ,serial number is vague starts with H94 or H99 difficult to read,no Artstar ornament on the headstock, dot inlay on the fretboard. I couldn't find a folder with picture of this guitar , the only version i found was the AS200 model pictured in the 1993 brochure but this the gold hardware version. Question when was the last AS100 made ?   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 1:07 pm:    H94xxxx would be Terada 1989 NOT 1994. H99xxxx would be Terada 1989 NOT 1999. The second digit is of no importance for the year in the period between 1987 and 1996. H9x is '89. So, what's the problem? Here is the answer in confirmed in the 1989 price list on www.Ibanezrules.com http://www.ibanezrules.com/catalogs/price/1989/Jun /p05p06.jpg What we often see as a second digit is a "0". So the 4 and the 9 are a bit unexpected in that position. They could mean APRIL and SEPTEMBER in a system in which October, November and December are notated as X, Y and Z. But to my knowledge this didn't take place in Terada in the eighties, at least I haven't seen other examples (yet). Ginger   Artfield Username: Artfield Registered: 4-2001 Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 1:39 pm:    Thanks Ginger, great info everything explained. Funny thing no serial number on the back of the headstock, and no Artstar ornament on the headstock front. That will be a non luxury issue because of the chrome hardware i presume. Do you know what for what kind of money they would sell nowadays, orginal listprice was U$ 999,95 Did you ever saw a pic in a catalog ? Do you think the guitar is worth a buying ?   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 6:27 pm:    These early Artstars had narrow headstocks with less space for serial numbers. Even the wide headstock from 1997 (like my AS120) have the serial number only on the label, not in the wood itself. The AS100 was a DOT WITHOUT a TRISOUND, as opposed to the later AS180, which was a DOT WITH A TRISOUND. So in fact the AS100 was as simple as an ES335 DOT. Is it worth buying? Yeah, why not? It was made in Japan by Terada, an excellent factory for jazzboxes and thinlines and for a very short period of time, which makes it very collectable. The narrow headstocks have the same advantage as a Fender headstock: the pegs are in on straight line with the nut slots, so you have minimal resistance in the nut slots during string bends, so the strings will probably stay in tune better than on a wide headstock. The chrome hardware won't show as much wear as gold hardware. So it will look as new for decades if you carefully wipe your sweat off after playing. You are talking about an "Artstar ornament", but the ornament on the Artstars was NOT always the same. And a DOT is supposed to be simple, not ornamented, so what the heck... It's a good guitar with MIJ Super 58's (notice the 3 adjustment screws). Ginger   Artfield Username: Artfield Registered: 4-2001 Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 7:34 pm:    Thanks very much for all this info, really appreciate your efforts for answering my questions.

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