Cheap Semi recommendations (Again)

bobblehat

Thanks Again for all the replies.

Just waiting for the right one to come along now.

OilCityPickups

DarnWeight said:

Not a recommendation, but I just had a promo email through from gear4music advertising this semi for £220.  It's one of their generic-branded SubZero imports, but I have to say, it looks the business in the photos.  Googling returns me nothing but stuff about SubZero amps, so could be a worthless pile of crud, but thought I'd pass the info along nonetheless.

That's identical to the ones Dangleberry were doing ... might have been badged Crafter or Westfield back then. Bodies were okay if a little ugly in the flesh. Pickups were the usual Artec ceramic stuff ... mini pots etc etc. Could be made okay with a bit of work.

noisepolluter

I had an Ibanez AS73 for a while - it did have a really good fit and finish, looked great and felt nice to play. 

Pickups were a bit insipid however, and the main problem was that there was just too much flex in the neck - might have been a one-off, duff timber or something but you had to sit or stand maddeningly still while playing it.

paulk

Hard to go wrong with a good Dot in my experience. I pumped some extra upgrades into mine after I got it but, to be very honest, they were more a matter of taste than necessity. Another cheap semi that I have been very happy with is the Hagstrom Viking IIP - good build quality, great pickups though a very flat radius neck (if that matters to you). All said and done I'd be looking at a Dot first

OilCityPickups

noisepolluter said:

I had an Ibanez AS73 for a while - it did have a really good fit and finish, looked great and felt nice to play. 

Pickups were a bit insipid however, and the main problem was that there was just too much flex in the neck - might have been a one-off, duff timber or something but you had to sit or stand maddeningly still while playing it.

neither of my Ibanezes ... er ... Ibani ... have wobbly necks

bobblehat

Just to let you know I just bought this:

Hope it arrives in one piece!

bobblehat

bobblehat

OilCityPickups

ooooooo that's quite pretty ...

Phil_aka_Pip

@bobblehat pray, do report back on what it's like and your views on its VFM

bobblehat

Will do.Pick ups have been changed to Seymour Jazz and Jeff Beck Bridge apparently so should sound ok.

Will post picks and review when it arrives. 

OilCityPickups

I whacked some pickups on an older Vintage 335 alike a little while ago and it seemed pretty much up with an Epi quality wise. Pots were a bit rough, but I count pots as collateral damage on most stuff out of China. If you get good ones it's a plus.

Loobs

I picked up this Ibanez AS-120 Artstar (Korean model, 2003, Super 58 pickups) for a hair over £300 on ebay last month. Deal of the century. The RRP was £900. It plays and sounds incredible. Much nicer than the current ArtcoresI think. 

BluesyDave

Nice Ibanez duo there Loobs.  They've always known how to make really good quality Guitars.

bobblehat

Just had the Vintage AV3 delivered.

Set up was dire but lowered the action and adjusted the pick up heights and gave her a quick blast and it now plays and sounds great.Will give it a good run out with the band at the weekend but looking good so far..

One of the pick up rings was broken when it arrived (not shown on the ebay pics!)

Are these all the same size ? Have seen some cheap on Amazon so just wanted to check before I order them.

Was a bit miffed about the damage but got myself a real bargain and its only going to about £2.85 to fix. 

Will post pics after its sorted.

Cheers

 

ToneControl

Ibanez, the bigger the number the better, 100+ is best

or old Aria Pro II (1980s)

57Deluxe

...all of you  who want a cheap semi too...go on ebay and see if you can get yourself a used ALBA semi... they were only about £50 new so cheap as chips now... I snaggled a demo of one a while ago off YT - sounds decent enough - until he drives the amp then WOW!... link in my dropbox. There is a white one demod on YT but is a rubbish demo...

I had both a STRAT and TELE of theirs... total price FOR BOTH delivered was... £80 ! The Tele is amazing...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14096671/Alba%20black%20semi%20acoustic%20guitar%20demo.flv

Oh look - here is the guy's blog showing it too... good job I grabbed the vid before he removed it then!

http://ukguitars.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/alba-black-semi-acoustic-guitar.html

marktheharp

great hofner verythin down London way! I have nothing to do with this ad!

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/109690440/hofner-verithin.html