As100 vs am205

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Author Message Jonas2107 Username: Jonas2107 Registered: 06-2006 Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 8:28 am:    hey guyss can you pleasee help me out here, i goota make my decision pretty soon. can you please tell me which one is better to play...1982 as100 or 1983 am205?? the price is about $200 dollar more for the am205 buttt i guess wat really mater is which one has a nicest tone for jazz and rnb all the kinda stuff??i know tat the body is pretty different, is the am205 quite small?? compare to as100?? pleaseeeeeeeeeee help me out here Blues Username: Blues Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 4:29 pm:    Jonas, They are both excellent guitars for playing most styles especially jazz/r&b/blues stuff. What gauge strings you choose will also make a difference. TONE is in your heart & hands, and then in your equipment. The AM205 is easier to carry around and has a look you don't see everyday, but they are both awesome instruments! BLUES Jonas2107 Username: Jonas2107 Registered: 06-2006 Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 7:03 pm:    but the body of am205 is smaller than as100 right??? which you would you prefer??? Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 7:13 pm:    Jonas, The real value difference is more than $200.=. I would say $300,=. The AM205 is a more exclusive instrument with gold hardware and a tortoise pickguard. They cost $805-1250 on ebay during the last three years. (Average $1025) The AS100 is more of a working horse and seems to SOUND slightly better (Harmony Central 9 for the AM205 (7 responses) against 9,5 for the AS100 (6 responses). Since you are a player, you could consider buying an AS100 for 700 or even less. They cost $462-1025 on ebay during the last 3 years (Average $743) Save the 200 and wait for a wile, and then buy a AM50 or AM70 for 50-60% of the price of the AM205. The cost in excellent condition (9) about $650 average. So for approx $1350,= it is possible to buy one wide body and one small body thinline jazzguitar. That's better than paying $1025 for one small body with gold hardware which might react ugly with sweat. It very much depends on your playing style and your skin of course, but mostly for a player it's better to have chrome hardware instead of gold, certainly on Japanese guitars. Greetz, Ginger Ale Artfield Username: Artfield Registered: 04-2001 Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 7:42 pm:    well check this one, this is a seldom seen.... thought it was a Korean , but the ad sys made in Japan , funny headstock , for those looking its cheap. http://koopjes.marktplaats.nl/muziek_en_instrumenten/snaarinstr_gitaren_elektris ch/37640177.html Artfield Username: Artfield Registered: 04-2001 Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 7:51 pm:    another thing to consider , how tall are you , my experience as a short guy, for me the body of an AM style fits much better playwise, having owned an AS100 , AS200 and an old red Ibanez 335 copy (the 5 switch version) i must admit that the bigger bodies have a better sound, i own now 3 AM models , AM205, AM205 SE and a AM66, i compensate the lesser sound with a good Amp and ofcourse what blues wrote hands and heart. If you are tall go for an AS..if you are short go for an AM. beauty wise the AM wins, soundwise the AS goes deeper. Tg4080 Username: Tg4080 Registered: 01-2006 Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 10:02 pm:    Artfield, that AM-100 is a solid buy for 550 if the neck and frets are good. It looks like a mid 80s european AM-100 to me. I actually prefer the sound of the AMs over AS guitars. They have more character to me. I can tell you that I had 2 AM-100s and I sold them for 800+shipping and 1050 to help fund my guitar project and that was for the grey sparkle finished ones. so 550Euro is not a bad price. Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 10:11 pm:    I totally agree with Artfield. I have 2 AS200s that I play all the time. My AM205 gets much less playing time and I never take it out to jam. I always feel comfortable with the AS200s, never feel that I can't do something or go for a particular sound. The AM205 is not as versatile. For semi-hollows, I'm partial to maple guitars, for hollows, I like spruce with maple bodies. Solids I can get along with just about any wood or combination. If money is an important part of your buying decision, then I'd say go for the AS100. If weight is important than the AM is a winner. Another option might be the early '80s AS50. In between the size of the AM and AS, but with all maple construction. The V2 pickups are generally considered "hotter" than the Super 58s, though. Ah, decisions, decisions. Markownly Username: Markownly Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 10:53 am:    Help me out here guys.... I thought the AM-100 finish was only the blackish/grey sparkle. I didn't know a sunburst was even available, or maybe just not in the USA. Thanks, Mark Jonas2107 Username: Jonas2107 Registered: 06-2006 Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 6:10 pm:    hey johns, is funny enough u mention an early 80s as50 actually i was thinking about it tooo...i already play tat as50 is bloody nice, im wonderin wat would as200 be like?? because on of my friend got the as200 i think is the 79 ones, but i dont like the neck of it, i think he stuff the guitar up, poor as200....okie talking about as50 the neck pickup im pretty sure is has been change, because is covered, but the bridge pickup is v2 because is open....can you pleas send some pic of as50???and alsoo i wanted to buy a as200 knob??anyone???? let me knwo pleaseee thxx Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 7:08 pm:    A picture of the AS50: http://www.guitarcrazy.com.au/IbaAS50Blk.htm But forget about the AS50. (They were made with V2s and covered Super '58s, and Super'58s sound warmer than V2s.) The AS50 has a bolt-on neck and doesn't sound as good as a set neck: 8.6 (14 responses). The AS80 set neck is the next step and sound slightly better: 8.8 (29 responses). The AS100 sounds much better: 9.5 (6 responses) I have a Korean AS120 > sound: 9.6 (25 responses) and a AM50 > sound: 9.3 (6 responses). (Source: Harmony Central) Let your ears be the judge... Greetz, Ginger Ale Blues Username: Blues Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 8:11 pm:    Jonas, If I had to choose between the AM205 & the AS100, I would be the AS100 for the jazzy sound. Yes, the AS100 has the larger body. BLUES Jonas2107 Username: Jonas2107 Registered: 06-2006 Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 10:03 pm:    hey bluess and Gemberbier how much would spend on a as50???and as100?? Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 10:12 pm:    Ginger: That black guitar is an AM50, probably from around 1990. It is not an AS50. What I was referring to is this AS50, as seen in the 1979 catalog: Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Friday, June 09, 2006 - 7:37 am:    I wouldn't buy the cheap bolt-on birch neck AS50 at all. I would go for the AS100 or AS120 (or a good AS200 if affordable, which is hard to find). Fill in the type name of the desired Ibanez in this Ebay sales list, http://www.fordforums.com.au/guitar/searchguitar2.php and you'll find the payed prices over the last 3 years in relation to the condition and the year it was built. Pick a very good condition. 10s are hard to find, so I would go for a 9 condition, or at least an 8 (only if it's cheap). Then I would reserve the midprice of the 9 condition list. So if the cheapest 9 cost 500 and the most expensive 9 cost 900 I'd try to find a 9 for 700 OR LESS. (This is an example) I would perhaps buy an 8 if it were under 500, if I couldn't find an 9 within the 700 budget. Don't underestimate the Korean AS120. Though it's not real vintage yet, it is even better sounding and better looking than the Japanese AS100. The AS120 were quite expensive guitars with beautiful Abalone neck inlays and gold hardware. (I'm not selling mine) PS; I didn't recognize the black AM50 because it is lefthanded and doesn't have a Quick Change II in the picture. (I have an original righthanded sunburst AM50) Thanks for your pictures with description, which doesn't mention the bolt-on neck. Greetz, Ginger Ale Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 7:56 pm:    Speaking of the AS50 bolt-on model that appeared for a short time, here's one on ebay. It's actually a fairly elegant look. http://www.qksrv.net/click-1802666-10381315?loc=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI .dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D7421520785 ebay item #7421520785 Jonas2107 Username: Jonas2107 Registered: 06-2006 Posted on Monday, June 12, 2006 - 7:20 am:    john, i saw tat, is look pretty gud, but hey i just got a as50 setneck is bloody great guitar, nice thou, need to get check up...got the super58 and v2 pickup plus the the trisound switch for the v2 to bad it doesnt have 1 for the super 58 dammit... hehehehehe Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Monday, June 12, 2006 - 7:53 am:    Glad to see you chose a setneck. Now at least you have a good sustain to start with. What you do with the pickups is a matter of personal taste. Are you going to show us some pics? Ginger Ale Writersf4011 Username: Writersf4011 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006 - 5:24 pm:    Seems to be some confusion here re: AS-50s. My 1981 AS-50 has a set neck just like the AS-200 neck or AM-205 neck, definitely not a cheap bolt-on birch neck. After discontuining the AS-50 in about 83, did they later offer it again, but with a bolt-on neck? Whatever the story is on the bolt-on models, the orginal AS-50s are very good guitars. Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, June 18, 2006 - 6:35 am:    After reading the reviews more closely, at least a few thing have become clear: 1) There are Japanese set neck AS50 guitars, from the early eighties. 2) There are Korean AS50 guitars, in at least 2 different versions: bolt on neck and set neck. 3) Those owners who describe their guitars as bolt on necks are all very satisfied with the sound. They give it a 10/10. 4) The 3 owners who are not satisfied all own set necks. One owns a Korean '98/'99 set neck (3/3) described 16-06-2006. Two say they own Japanese set necks. The description by Steve Kaplan (28-5-2003) gives no information on when it was built and what pickups are in it. (He gives so little information, that I even doubt, it's really Japanese (new $280.= ???). (Sound 3/10) The other description (26-06-2002) is even worse, sound: 1/10. Price $285.= Who wrote it? The bloody same Steven Kaplan! Who the hell is Steve Kaplan? What should we do, in order to get proper ratings for the sound of the AS-50? Well, 15 x 8.2 = 123. 123-3-3-1= 116. 116: (15-3)= 9.666666 ergo you did a very good buy! And if we want to be fair, we must eliminate 3x 10 as well. This makes 86:9= 9.555555 ergo you still did a very good buy! What was important, is that you decided to buy a wider body than the AM in order to get the best jazz and blues sound. The AM models have other advantages than the sound, because of their size, which for some smaller built players are more important. I find them both so nice, that I have bought one AS and one AM. Harmony Central is a good aid to make the best choice, but we must read carefully, because there are people who give over-simplified ratings. When do you give a 1/10 rating? I would say, when I hear no sound at all. How many rating may one person give a guitar? I would say, once is enough! Good luck with your guitar! Cherish it! Ginger Ale Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Sunday, June 18, 2006 - 11:18 am:    "Seems to be some confusion here re: AS-50s. My 1981 AS-50 has a set neck just like the AS-200 neck or AM-205 neck, definitely not a cheap bolt-on birch neck. After discontuining the AS-50 in about 83, did they later offer it again, but with a bolt-on neck" Exactly. The early '80s AS50 was the precurser to the AM series. A little bigger than an AM. It was made in Japan, with a set neck, and a very well liked guitar here at ICW. Acetan, says it is the best playing and sounding of all the Ibanez semi's he's tried. Sometime in the '90s, Ibanez introduced a bolt neck Korean version of the AS50, probably as a non-US model. It never appeared in any catalog I've seen. I have never seen a set neck MIK AS50. I believe this may be an error. There was a set neck AM50 made in Korea in the early '90s. Coincidentally, there is a MIK bolt neck AS50 at a local shop, so I was able to try it. This guitar was nothing to wright home about. IMO, It felt cheap and played poorly - a typical budget '90s Korean guitar. The Koreans were not at the top of their game then. The Chinese AS73 is a much better guitar in every way. I think the H-C reviews can be full of non/mis-information most of the time, and you have to take them with a grain of salt. Based on what I've gathered first hand, and from Ace and the other fine folks on this site, the original MIJ AS50 is in a much higher league. No offense to anyone who owns one, but I wouldn't recommend seeking out a MIK AS50 - there's a reason it's been sitting in the store for a year -Sven Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, June 18, 2006 - 12:41 pm:    Sven, For an instance I thought, the negative reviews were about MIK set necks. But there's just lacking information about the neck. You might be right about them. But it's remarkable, that the very positive responses (10/10) were also about the very same bolt on neck MIK guitars. So we might conclude that the quality is not very consistent. I think, it's always a bad move for a manufacturer to use one type name for two totally different guitars. Greetz, Ginger Ale

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