ARC100 Review

Ibanez's ARC100 offers unprecedented affordability in a brand name set-neck guitar. Features include a mahogany body, ACH humbuckers, pearl block inlays, and more!

Features:	9
Sound:	8.8
Action:	8.2
Reliability:	8.4
Impression:	9.6
Overall rating:	8.8
Users rating:	7.6
Comments:	8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on february 27, 2008

Price paid: $ 350

Purchased from: Audiophile

Features: I'm not really sure what year it was manufactured but I'm guessing it was fairly recent. It's made in China. It's got 22 jumbo frets and is a solid-top guitar. It's made of mahogany, as it is a Les Paul Copy. The finish is a shiny solid black. It uses an Ibanez fixed bridge with fine-tuners and it has 2 Ibanez stock Artcore pickups. The guitar has a 3-way pickup selector Switch and 2 volume controls (1 for each pickup) along with 1 master tone control. It comes equipped with 6 Ibanez stock tuners. // 9

Sound: I play punk rock, alternative rock, reggae, pop, and electro punk. It suits my playing style really well. It is able to give an overall very full sound and it sounds heavy with distortion. It is able to pump out surprisingly clear and crisp treble tones with the bridge pickup. The neck pickup really makes it sound low and heavy and is great for when I have to play rhythm. I rarely use both pickups at the same time but when I do it gives a more even sound is more ideal to rhythm work, it's not dynamic enough to stand out in a mix. It rarely feedbacks. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: When I got the guitar it was set-up fairly well. The action and pickup height were just right. The finish on the body and the control knobs were very impressive and evoked the feel and visual appeal of an instrument way above the price I stated earlier. The hardware was fitted very securely. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This guitar will definately survive Live gigging. I don't have a spare instrument but this guitar has never failed me. When I step on that stage I am confident that it'll get me through my set. I've banged it up numerous times and some scratches have developed but it doesn't really bother me. My only issue were the strap buttons which popped out a few months after I bought the instrument. I recommend installing strap locks on the guitar but duct-tape will do fine. // 8

Impression: I totally love this guitar. It fits into whatever I play. If it were stolen I'd probably buy another one. If not this then an Ibanez SZ then so that I could spin it. But seriously, this is a solid sounding and reliable instrument that is well-worth the money. It may feel a little heavy at first but you'll get used to it. It will definately last. // 9

overall: 9.2

Reviewed by: cazzman, on september 15, 2007

Purchased from: Millenium Music

Features: This guitar was made in China but I'm not sure what year. It has 22 frets with square pearl inlays.The neck is thin and it has medium frets. It is a Maple top and it is a Mahogany set-in neck. It is a cut away body and on it comes a Gibraltar 3 bridge with a quick change Ultra tailpiece.The tailpiece also has fine tuners. It has Active electronics and the guitar gives volume control, a 3-way selector, and tone control. The neck pickup is a ACH1(H) and the Bridge is a ACH2(H) pickup. The tuners are Non-Locking. This guitar came with a gigbag but it wasn't made for it, it was just thrown in. // 10

Sound: I play classic rock and this guitar suits that genre amazingly. It has amazing tone and variety to it. It can play from Pink Floyd to Metallica. I use a Vox AD30VT on Black2X12 with Chorus+Reverb on the Bridge Pickup and it creates a wonderful David Gilmour Shine On You Crazy Diamond sound to it. This guitar has beautiful stock pickups that suit low distortion players. It's bright full and rich of sound. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: This guitar felt like it was designed for me when I picked it up and tested it out for the first time. The pickups were perfect the bridge was fine and it was in prestine condition no scratches or crummy workmanship. The neck was perfect size and I could just shred up and down. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is reliable but I'm not sure about Live playing 'cause I haven't played with it Live yet. Even though I would definetly play this guitar at a gig without a back up. The hardware is built strong to last long and the strp buttons are wide so your strap doesn't always slip off. The finish seems to be fine but not great and the would seems to chip easy so you have to be careful our you'll end up with half of a neck(not literally). This guitar will last me for a while to come. // 8

Impression: Like I said I play Classic Rock and it seems to suit my needs perfectly. The neck is slim the body doesn't jab into my ribs at all but it's seems to be a little heavy at times because of the Mahogany. I have been playing for two years now and I have no regrets about getting this guitar and there is nothing that I would have asked before buying it. If it were lost or stolen I would buy a new one but I would try out the ARC500 before and if I like that better I would buy that instead. This guitar has everthing I need. // 10

overall: 8.4

Reviewed by: the boogieman, on september 01, 2007

Price paid: $ 260.7

Purchased from: Long and Mcquade

Features: This guitar was purchased in early August 2007. It was manufactured in China. Rosewood fretboard with 22 medium frets and a set neck. Single cut mahogany body with 2 volume pots and 1 tone pot. 3 way pickup selector. An Ibanez "Gibraltar III" bridge which is pretty much a tuneomatic with wider saddles and fine tuners. Non-locking Ibanez tuners. This guitar also has the Ibanez ach-1 and ach-2 pickups. It's a cheap guitar so freebies were expected other than a free setup which L&M willingly offered as usual. // 9

Sound: The main styles I tend to play are punk, metal, and many of the sub genres inbetween. The pickups aren't overly hot, somewhat bright (not hot enough, nor bright enough more like a jack of all trades master at none). I found them pretty weak, but for the price of the guitar, they werent too bad. It sounds great with overdrive, nice creamy, bluesy tone, and decent with distortion (through an Ibanez tubescreamer, a Zoom G2, mainly for delay and reverb, and a Peavey Rage, yes the amp sucks, but you can get some solid tone out of it). it's still a pretty versatile guitar. The sustain is also fairly lengthy. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: The factory set up was meh. The intonation was off and all frets 17+ did not ring out at all. There was quite a bit of fret buzz. The action was also quite high for my liking. Despite being non locking the tuners keep tune quite well. The bridge pickup was also a tad too low. There was also a mistake in the stain on the fretbaord frets 17+ along the d, a, and e string. The body was flawless and the rest of the guitar had no problems. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This guitar seems quite solid and put together well. It is also quite light. The hardware seems as if it will last a while. The strap buttons were well placed. The guitar sits nicely when played standing up. I probably could depend on it during a gig which is good considering it'd be my backup. The white binding on the sides is questionable as to whether it will withstand getting chips, but the finish seems thick. Keep in mind this guitar is only 3 weeks old and is relatively new. // 9

Impression: This guitar suits my style pretty well. I've been playing for the past 5-6 years(only seriously for the past 2). Other guitars I own are an Ibanez RG320, a shitty montana acoustic, and an '85 B.C. Rich Ironbird through a Peavey Rage(getting replaced with probably a jcm2000 in upcoming months). If someone stole it, I'd track that bitch down, take a pair of wire cutters and snip off the dudes ballsack. I bought with the intention of using it as a backup and it does that with flair. I also considered the Epiphone G-400(someone bought it in the 2 day span I didn't to back to l&m) and the Hamer Sat2 (much better stock pickups and same features, colors, better quality fretboard, better stock setup, and materials, but it was $100 more). This guitar looks great, plays well, has a lot of features, and sounds pretty decent. You can't beat it for the price. // 9

overall: 9

Reviewed by: farleysbeat, on january 13, 2007

Purchased from: Audiophile San Juan

Features: Bought this January 2007. Made in China. 22 frets with a fairly thin rosewood neck. it is lacquered/synthetically finished at the back of the neck which is a bad thing for me because I like the "woody" feel of necks (like that of strats). Its Body is solid mahogany finished black with a single cut like that of a les paul. it's got a gibraltar bridge, 1 tone knob, and 2 volume knobs. The only thing I don't like are the stock Humbuckers on it. When I get more money I'm going to buy Seymour Duncans. // 10

Sound: I play a lot of alternative, hard rock, blues, and some metal and this guitar can really give the crunch and wail that I am looking for. The sustain is really good maybe because of the set-in neck. Compared to my Ibanez SA260 this one got more low-end crunch. It can also sound somewhat twangy when plugged in clean because of the stock strings that came with it when I brought it. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: It was set very high when I first tried it. Fortunately the guys from Audiophile San Juan near Greenhills Shopping Center (Philippines) were very nice and they did the adjusting for me. Now it's low and very responsive. The pickups were set fairly high but I really like it that way because it sounds warmer. I can't really say if the top is bookmatched because of the black finishing it got. // 8

Reliability & Durability: It is very solidly constructed but not very heavy which is ok. The chrome tuners, strap holders seem sturdy. This doesn't go out of tune even when I play very hard. Ibanez makes reliable guitars so I don't really bring back-up guitars when I play. Back-up guitars here have a tendency to get stolen anyway. Initially I wanted a unit with a sunburst finish to get a "classic looking" guitar but unfortunately sunbursts here sell like hot-cakes so I had to settle with a black one. Finish is glossy and seems scratch-free. // 8

Impression: Generally speaking I really like this guitar and it suits my playing very well. I have been playing electric guitar for about 7 mos now and acoustic guitar for about 5 yrs. I own Yamaha, Samick, Applause, Vantage, and Ibanez acoustic guitars. For my other guitar stuff I have a Behringer wah, distortion, V-Amp, and tube amp. My gears seem to jive perfectly especially my tube amp and my ARC100. If my ARC100 got stolen I'd chase the bastard who did it and beat him/her up. The only thing that I don't like about it is its color but that is nothing of course compared to how it sounds and its playability. // 10

overall: 8.6

Reviewed by: funkleshlump, on july 14, 2006

Purchased from: Sam Ash Tampa

Features: It's a 2004 model made in China. It's got 22 frets rosewood fretboard and a solid top. mahagony body. It's got a flamed top and a set neck. Tune-O-Matic bridge (which is interesting for the price). Active Ibanez dual humbuckers. There is two volume one tone controls and a 3-way selector. It came with Ibanez tuners but I put in gotoh instead (I get them 50 percent off for brothers employee discount). The original were non locking but my new ones lock. // 7

Sound: I play mostly nu-metal some mainstream rock and punk and it's perfect. It's very versatile as far as genres. I can make Lamb Of God and House Of The Rising Sun both sound good with this guitar. Although the factory strings were a bit twangy which I didn't like so I replaced them with those black beauties coated strings and they sound fine, also if your going to adjust the bridge I would suggest raising/lowering the pickups too because they get ringy if too close to the strings and dull if too far (which I don't get on my ESP EMGs). I have it hooked to a Line 6 Spider II on the insane setting and I couldn't think of a better guitar. I will definatly stick to Ibanez for now on, maybe a prestige next time. I basicly bought this guitar to get a fell for them since I had never played one before. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: Out of factory is not bad but you will need to adjust to fit your music style because of the versatility, besides that nothing wrong with the setup at all exept maybe the strings. Oh, I did have some loose pickup wiring but one twist of the screw driver fixed that, no real damage done to the wiring. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I wouldn't play live simply because I have nicer guitars but if this is your price range then yeah definatly go for it. Unless you like single coils cause this is a real noticable difference. As far as durability I bang it against stuff all the time (on accident) and it's yet to have a scratch of any kind. Finish is definatly here to stay. It seems and looks almost double clear coated to the touch. // 9

Impression: Perfect match for me. I've been going for 5 years now. I own 2 other esps and soon maybe an Ibanez and two Peavey cabnets along with a Peavey head. If it was stolen or lost I would probably buy another one of better quality like a prestige or maybe the mick thompson sig. It's only real flaw is the inlays, they are pearloid rectangles which is nice if you like that but they make it seem to busy for me. I like none at all or dots, or especaily the ESPs with the model name at the 12 fret. // 10

Comments

[liledman_76]

getting one this week hopefully...

[dcloud]

I picked up one of these bad boys as my first ever guitar for an great price. I absolutely love it. Incredible bang for the buck.

[henrychinaski26]

This is my first guitar, I use a Line 6 Spider III 15 Watt to practice. With my four presets, I can make my guitar sound any where from warm and acoustic, twangy and countryish (telecaster), Heavy bluesy (White Stripes/ZZ Top), Les Paul (Sweet Child O' Mine), and EXXtreme (Muse, Deathmetal). I play all types and it sounds and feels better than most guitars i've tried. It has a good weight to it and build that screams quality, even the finish and paint are awesome. I put on a set of Ernie Ball RPS SLinkey 11-48 and it plays great. Thin set neck and tuneomatic bridge, it looks kind of like Slash's Gibson Les Paul Signature (MSRP $4000) minus the pointed cutaway, pearlazoid inlays, and of course, Seymour Duncan Pro Alnico Pickups. Get it NOW! Also comes in piano black...

[butcherer]

Think I'll skip the Chinese gear

[luminousgreen]

Ibanez! Dont they realize that they are the best brand? I love 24 fret guitars.
This aint 24fret

[TheFreeBird]

they got one of these at my local music store. it has beautiful mother of pearl inlays. i liked it.

[cashewchaching]

Yay, ibanez copies yet another guitar...

[guitargodderyck]

Looks like a crappy Les Paul