(Salvador) Ibanez through the years: The Ibanez Artwood follow up

Besides the classical guitar that resemble the Tama,

Kohno, Sakurai and Orozco branded guitars, Ibanez

did have some models that appear to be made in the

same factory. It al started with the import of the Spanish

Salvador Ibanez guitars and it might even be possible

that Telesforo Julve, who produced guitars with the

Salvador Ibanez e Hijos label seas a supplier for

the Japanese company. The second world war but

at first the Spanish civil war stopped that. The only

possibility left was to roduvce the guitars themselves

and the rest in fact is history. Ibanez is one of the

leading guitar making companies having made the

lower end guitars outside Japan. The Cort company

(South Korea) produced Ibanez labelled guitars

and sometimes of a very good quality. Then, after

some time production also went to China.

Ibanez Artwood AW 95 (Series 1)

Twelvestrings never drew my attention that much in the past.

But having purchased this one I really can be beaten

by it's sound and attention for construction by the builders

of this instrument. Though it came to me with a crack I

think it has no dramatic effect on it's perfomance.

A nice volute at the back of the head can be seen on this picture.

The overall attention to detail is great on this instrument as is the

sound. These Artwoods were built at the Tama factory in Japan.

Collectors are aware of the quality these luthiers provided!
Hoshino Gakki Ten / Tama connections ??
This model is from the series 1 what means that it was
made at the Tama factories just after the Ibanez take-over.
Everything has been executed in wood: Bindings on
front and back and even the scratch plate! A lot
of details are similar to my Tama TG120.

Ibanez Artwood AW 40 (Series II)

Presented here is the AW 40 from the second series of

Japanese Artwood guitars. The concept was in fact the

same as for the series 1. This is of course a somewhat

cheaper model in the range and compared to my Tama

TG 120 it is obvious that there was less attention to detail.

Moreover the bridge bone construction: a compensated

wide saddle in fact is detrimental to the sound of this

guitar and other models Ibanez provided this saddle

with. But once you change this strange move into

a more traditional approach the sound is there as the

internal bracings are leftovers from the Tama idea.

In fact this back is quite identical to the Terada FW 504 I

had. As this guitar in fact duplicates the Terada I figured

I'd better sell that one as the overall workmanship on the

Ibanez Artwoods is slightly better and I already was

collecting a bit in this direction.

Beautiful figured maple for back and sides though not

solid. The workmanship is still very good though not

on the same level with the higher end Tama's of the

second series. I like the insert for the two halves of

the back. The wood parts used at first for bindings

as well have disappeared regretfully!

The fingerboard is rosewood but the double binding

gives it a luxury look anyway. The later Japanese

fretwork is of a better quality than on the mid

seventies products.

The same thing counts for the tuners. They work really

smooth though the knobs do not appeal to my taste.

The Mr. Honda signed label, in fact the same as on my AW 95

Artwood label. The AW 40 is a maple constructed guitar.

The neck as well as the sides and back have been constructed

from these woods. Odd thing is that the spruce used for the top

has some irregularities in it but a violin maker assured me that

that is the thing to look after! It gives a guitar something

unpredictable and as a result a voice of its own!

Ibanez OT 320

This model appears to be real close to the Artwood
models while in fact it is not an Artwood labelled
one. Nothing can be found about this model but
it is a more modest but well sounding guitar that
has been built with care.