I hope you'll be happy with the AR500 you mentioned. Mine is an AR
250, that even when new at the music store, felt terrific. A major
downside was the nut but after having the brass one made for it, it
was a radical change for the better.

The AR 250 stays in tune for weeks at a time and is a joy to play. It
responded very well to a neck and bridge adjustments. The original
pups were alright but lacked the punch I wanted. I installed
DiMarzios Evolution pickups (the Steve Vai model) and was worried it
might not sound good but I was wrong. They work very well with this
guitar and permit a wide range of adjustment. Another thing that
changed the guitars feel was treating the fingerboard with linseed
oil.

I still plan on installing a tone pro bridge and an RS historic
wiring kit like I did on the Sheraton. I realize these are not
expensive hand built instruments and that puting money into them will
not transform them into one of those, but it's fun to work on them
and help them be, all they can be.

Good luck with yours and I'd love to see pictures once you get it.

Dan








--- In The-Guitar-Cafe@yahoogroups.com, Gene Deegan
<myfavoritestringz@y...> wrote:
> Hi I'm a "geezer" and a Newbie to this forum also. I've been
playing over 20 years, and I'm just now getting serious after a 10
year period of little musical activity. I really like your
collection, and I think you're doing a good thing exploring different
instruments and styles as long as you can afford it. I particularly
like the Ibanez Artist series - great solid body LP style and semi-
hollow 335 style guitars. I had an AR350 "Super Edition" which I
really liked, but I couldn't get used to the locking nut / tuner
system with the Pro Roc R tremelo bridge (I don't really use the
whammy bar). So I sold it and now I'm awaiting delivery on an AR500
with active EQ and tri-tone switches (coil-splitting and phase
shifting). I've been doing the same thing as you in exploring
guitars - buying and selling over the past two years - to try to
develop my style and settle on some real "keepers." The keepers so
far are a Martin HD-35 - great for flatpicking and strumming; a
Breedlove J25 - great
> for fingerstyle, flatpicking and recording; a Burrell "ergonomic"
acoustic/electric - very nice and easy to play hours on end; a 1989
Heritage 535 - better quality and tone than a Gibson 335 I bought and
sold; a Hofner New President - classic jazzbox; and a Hofner Verythin
John Stowell Signature in Antique Violin Finish - cross between a
jazzbox and a 335. I'm hoping the Ibanez Artist AR500 solid body
(mainly for blues) will round out my current collection of keepers.
I'm currently gigging, jamming, open-micing and recording. I'm
developing a web-site where I hope to post MP3's of some of my
recordings soon.
>
> d_gassie <d_gassie@y...> wrote:
>
> 47-year-old Newbie here… just signed up today so I'll post on this
> one.
>
> I've been playing for a year and am enjoying myself immensely!
Can't
> play much but am making progress. Most of what I've learned has
been
> from a wonderful group of folks over at the Strat List. My dream is
> to learn how to play the Blues but I love classic Rock as well.
>
> During this last year, I've been through a surprisingly large
number
> of guitars, having bought and then sold, most of them. I've kept
two
> and am waiting for a Fender Lite Ash Telecaster to come in by the
end
> of next week. After that, there are two more guitars I'd like to
buy
> sooner or later; A Gibson BluesHawk and Gibson Standard Les Paul. I
> don't have an acoustic either but would love to find one I like, is
> easy to play and won't melt my credit card.
>
> Right now I have…
>
> An Ibanez Artist with DiMarzio Evolution pups and a brass nut. Very
> nice sound, action and a real joy to play. It's a mahogany body
with
> a maple cap so the sound is very much like that of an LP.
>
> An Epiphone Sheraton II in Ebony modified with Seymour Duncan Phat
> Cats (P90s) and a RS Guitarworks rewiring kit, including pup
switch.
> The P90s go with this guitars character very well. Great sound and
> playability. Brass nut on this one too.
>
> Fender Blues Junior with JJ tubes, which at only 15 watts, is way
too
> loud for my practice room. I'd love to get that saturated tube
sound
> at a lower volume level and by using pedals, it's getting close to
> where I like it.
>
> Yamaha DG60fx solid-state amp. IMHO, really nice clean setting but
> nothing else is much use.
>
> You can see some of my gear here:
> http://public.fotki.com/dgassie/guitarras/epitele__before_and/
>
> =D
> Dan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- In The-Guitar-Cafe@yahoogroups.com, neil kelly
<leni_lekly@y...>
> wrote:
> > nice gear tehre randy,
> >
> > I am a retired bass player! i still have some basses,
> > (my fav is my old precision) and a couple of valve
> > amps. -including a Goldentone bassmaster. from the
> > sixties.
> > My electrics; Mostly Gibsons, favs: 65 ES330, 66 Guild
> > StarfireIII,
> > but now I play more acoustic than anything:
> >
> > Martins and Gibsons: love em both.
> >
> > Favs: Original first year of HD28, A custom shop
> > 00-18, a beautiful vintage D12-35, Hummingbird, L-00.
> >
> > After all those years as a struggling Muzo, I feel
> > VERY LUCKY to have all these instruments in my studio.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Y! Messenger - Communicate in real time. Download now.
> > http://messenger.yahoo.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---
>
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