Which Jazz Box would I buy? Harley Benton Vs. The Loar Vs. Ibanez -

[@samblack8360]

“big boi with a wiggly guy” -Ryan 2019

[@jbjohnson430]

Title says "Which Jazz Box would I buy?"- Never plays a jazz riff. Doh!!!

[@joefairweatherblues8511]

Lol. Decent dude though.

[@edryba4867]

@@joefairweatherblues8511 I don’t think he COULD play a jazz lick! And he does come right out and say he doesn’t normally play this type of guitar.

[@Julius-vz7pb]

Real bro😂

[@jazzydfromdc]

I agree.

[@johnstuckless4643]

I have two Ibanez Artcore. The AF75, 335 copy and the White Falcon copy. Both are amazing out of the box. Underrated. Best bang for buck. No mods. Love them.

[@petergoddard1960]

The Harley Benton is a rockabilly guitar, the Loar is similar to an ES175, in shape at least and is more of a jazz arch top, the Ibanez is a much more traditional jazz arch top and a decent guitar.

[@gringogreen4719]

True. I would say that both jazz and rockabilly are more HOW you play than WHAT you play. Oddly enough I have a 2006 Ltd Viper with a Seymour Duncan Jazz pickup in the neck. If you throw it on the neck and roll back the tone...JAZZ! Also if you play both pickups and dial back the volume, sounds decent for rockabilly. Definitely sounds and looks the part for psychobilly!😎👍✨ Oh yeah...I threw on a Vibramate and Bigsby on that bad boy so cool visuals and cool tones!

[@rhmayer1]

@@gringogreen4719 What you're saying isn't wrong. Of course the instrument is whatever you make it based on the type of music you play. But I think what Peter.Goddard.1960 was pointing out is that the HB was modeled after a Gretsch. Gretschs were more commonly used for rockabilly and rarely used for jazz. In fact I challenge you to find a great jazz player playing a Gretsch. It's not that they're bad guitars. Gretschs are nicely made. But you'll notice that this reviewer mentioned how the Loar (and Ibanez even more so) are lighter - allowing the wood to influence the tone more. (The HB and Gretsch perhaps may have a solid block down the center.) It's harder to get a really nice, full, mellow, woody tone out of Gretsch. And the Gretschs have less feedback problems at higher volumes - ideal for rockabilly and surf bands, compared to the usually smaller, intimate jazz settings that don't need the guitar cranked up as loud and are then less susceptible to feeding back.

[@MarcoZaniRovereto]

Playing some jazz chords would help though ...

[@13thAMG]

Foreign language to him, obviously. 😉

[@shamardaniel4819]

Exactly! He did call them jazz boxes in the title. What clickbait!!

[@pbrewsky]

@@shamardaniel4819 jazzbox is just a common name for these kinds of guitars. Many people call any semi-hollow and hollowbody guitar a jazzguitar. I see no problem with the title.

[@3cardmonty602]

Ibanez is making really great stuff for the money nowadays. I had to sell my Ibanez Jazzbox because I got sick, but it was fantastic.

[@UmVtCg]

Because you got sick? In what backwards 3rd world country do you live buddy?

[@LuvhandleR]

Hope your better and can get back to playing again.

[@gifty8657]

@@UmVtCg You aren'T that smart ?

[@Ayo.Ajisafe]

@@UmVtCg i have a feeling this is ironic and he knows exactly which country...lol

[@frigglebiscuit7484]

@@UmVtCg one where you dont get jailed for voicing your opinion, and your children dont get groomed by third world country men.

[@TheRisingoftheLights]

I have always assumed Loar is a reference to Lloyd Loar, who if memory serves was a designer for Gibson in the 30's. Certainly the logo alludes to the old "The Gibson" logo.

[@kitano0]

uh-oh!

[@kevfullo]

Oh you have done it now. Loar suit incoming! Sorry.

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

kev f oh dear 😆

[@gringogreen4719]

It is tapping into that for sure. I like to think the Loar is more vintage correct than Epiphone for about the same budget.

[@JillandKevin]

Lloyd Loar DESIGNED AND BUILT the L-5 (L for Loar), which was the first commercial (and pretty much the very first) archtop guitar. He patterned it after his famous Lloyd Loar mandolins. Loar borrowed his name for their guitars. The first (current) Loar archtops were dogs, but they improved their quality immensely. The newer acoustic ones have actual hand carved tops & backs, and are great sounding acoustically!

[@Unlitedsoul]

I just found your channel a few days ago, and man... I think it's between you or Darrell Braun as to guitar demo content creators I enjoy the most. Honestly, I think I'm leaning a bit more towards your stuff due to your personality and less polished, less studio-mixed sounding recording. I love Darrell's informative stuff, but he comes off more as a sales rep running product demos, where as you are just a guitar-loving guy giving us the raw comparison rundowns. And, I absolutely LOVE the affordable pedal board series. Thank you for all you do!

[@denzildcruz2881]

Both the Harley Benton and Ibanez guitars appear to have a piece of protective foam between the floating bridge foot and the guitar top, this must have a significant negative impact on sound and action, do the test again!

[@gringogreen4719]

I've had these on my hollow bodies and honestly the difference is minimal. Its a thing that's there to protect the top before it is sold. Even with a change of fresh strings and removing the foam...minimal. With hollow bodies if you put on heavier strings, that will affect tone more. Now you are talking about "blues/jazz physics" where as removing the foam and or changing say 10 guage strings will just be a barely perceptible change. I got three hollow bodies, use 12 guage strings on them, and play pretty aggressively. My Gretsch has a pinned bridge and my other two do not. Heavy guage strings make more of an impact on full size hollow bodies more than anything else.

The Ibanez stands out. I have an Ibanez Af85tdg VLS my self and love it. I have flatwounds on it for a warmer sound

[@Oscarhobbit]

There seems to be a bit of chatter about the Harley Benton Bigtone's rear bridge tilting because of the pressure put on it by the Chinaigsby which is at a very steep angle. The fix is to pin the bridge and restring over the bar rather than under the bar of the Bigisby. I actually like the sound of the Bigton, I am a Gretsch player and I think the Bigtone is possibly a copy of a Gretsch G54. I am very tempted to buy a Bigtone in white as a project guitar. I have a set of Gretsch brod tron pickups that I could put in the Harley, but I dare say she is no Gretsch under the hood.

[@TropicalLatitude]

Ibanez kicks everybody's butt in hollow bodies and semi-hollows. Their $650 models are a big step up. The $1k models are a match for other high end brands like Gibson (really!)

[@thelowmein9143]

You seem like a good player and a nice guy, but if you are doing a video on jazz boxes shouldn’t you like, play jazz? I think a lot of jazz players not only don’t care about a tremolo, they actively avoid them. That’s a surf or rock a billy feature. I would have liked to hear jazz chords and phrases on the neck pickup with less treble and more mids on the amp eq, more like what I think most jazz players would do (allowing for the fact that jazzers are nothing of not electic).

[@picker63028]

You absolutely nailed my opinion on Jazz box videos. I find few posters that uses the front pickup or a real jazz chord. Too many with twang or distortion. Why bother with an archtop for that? Waste of time for me.

[@oldguydave7355]

Thanks for the testing, Thomann, Euro, you were in Germany? Anyway, it was funny how the Samurai Guitarist gives you snake eyes at 9:58. :)

[@60CycleHumcast]

I was in germany. this was filmed in 2019

[@mediocreboi]

Ive got an AG75 and it has been a favorite for years

[@lance134679]

The HB definitely wants to be a Gretsch 6120, but a bit thicker. I thought the Ibanez sounded nice, but much different with its more Gibson-style pickups. I believe Ibanez is pretty famous for their hollow and semi-hollow guitars, almost as much as their shred guitars.

[@WCM1945]

I became an Ibanez fan in 2003. Fine axe foe reasonable cash. Artcore AFS75T.

[@davidwilson7042]

Hi Ryan, personally, I think that the Ibanez looks really nice, sounds good. I do like the finish for the Loar, but overall, nice Ibanez.

[@an_tran_author]

I would like see you do this kind of video again, but actually playing some jazz or maybe soul on them.

[@Newwaver2007]

Love the ibanez machines. I have a few of my own with original Ibanez bigsby’s. I don’t know why are not on the new ones tho.

[@chriscarreno4930]

Amen!!! I put a bigsby on my trans Orange Ibanez AG75 2 yrs. ago. Bought it slightly used with hard case 12 years ago. It is arguably my favorite guitar of my 11. It is so versatile. No tuning problems. It is nice to play unplugged as well instead of my acoustics because it rocks with the bigsby. The Bible says, A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance and doeth good like a medicine and he that winneth souls is wise.

[@WilhelmWilder]

9:58 samurai guitarist 😂😂

[@lw1391]

Holy crap, is that really him?!? Its a long way from Winnipeg.

[@benjaminhawthorne1969]

The "sharp lower horn" is reminiscent of the Gibson ES-175 that Steve Howe played his entire career, including his time with YES. It was the first time that I ever saw a rock guitarist on stage with what I perceived to be a "Jazz Box." Steve was very precious about that guitar, because when he was a teenager, his "Auntie" had paid a good deal of money for this "American" guitar. Whenever he traveled by air, to avoid having to check his "precious" into baggage, he would buy a ticket for "Mr.Gibson" so the guitar could sit in the seat next to him! 😅

[@craigparse1439]

On the Loar, it looks like the bridge mount is butted up against the bridge pickup ring. I'm wondering if that's supposed to be like that.

[@MrBruneaux]

It is difficult to charge the sound of the Ibanez if the wooden bridge has no sound connection to the top since it is separated by a protective foam sheet. But even then you can hear that the Ibanez beats the others in sound (and in quality)

[@ParanoidGoblinoid]

Eastman’s AR372 was my first laminate archtop. Highly recommended.

[@atozexchange9675]

I think you just talked me into the Ibanez. Good notes, thanks.

[@rupertpupkin4348]

JUST bought the red Ibanez! . This video was the straw. Considered many, but didn't want to get "paralysis by analysis." You did a great job in this video! Concise and surgical, w crisp takeaways. You said more in minutes, than most can say in an hour. Cheers!

[@davevernon4993]

Was that an accidental samuraiguitarist cameo @ 10:00 or just a lookalike :)

[@guitardudesteve]

It sounded like the bridge pick up was turned down on the Loar. Love the Ibanez. Of course all three of those are discounted now due to the dings and scuffs just put in them. LOL. Thanks for the video.

[@gingataff]

Steven Scott I was going say the same thing about the volume control probably being turned down.

[@TexanUSMC8089]

I have an Ibanez ST-50 I bought in 1982. It has the rubber grip on the knobs too.

[@Skipp-q7h]

A jazz guitarist would bring the jazz tones out of this round up.

[@gioigeniale6711]

I play the Harley Benton "big Tone" since about 2 and a half years. Since that I play on gigs only this guitar. It has a very BIG TONE indeed.At a local strore i could compare the HB with Gibson. After a while I couldn`t hear which instrument sounds better or thinner. For 220,.- B Stock.I guess, it was Xmas.

[@colyvor2283]

The tuners of the HB guitar are the same Hagstrom uses on some of ther hollowbodies. As they have a decent wave shape like the upper end of the Hagstrom headstocks, i guess they were originally designed/built for them.

[@jazzguitarstudentufc-fan3908]

thanks for the great review. I am interested in the Harley Benton jazz box and Ibanez. But the Ibanez is the better choice. Can you make a review about the Ibanez AF95-BS or Ibanez AG95QA-DBS.

[@DennisVernier]

Would have been nice to hear the neck pickup by itself clean on the Ibanez instead of a distorted bridge sound. I'm looking at archtop hollowbody guitars to primarily use solo in place of an acoustic. Probably will never play it overdriven. Just my thoughts.

[@johnmccormack6597]

I will say I have an Epiphone Broadway that I haven’t had a chance to play much yet (broken shoulder) OUCH!! But after watching some reviews I’m looking forward to it. Thanks for the reviews

[@puddle3042]

Anyone else spot samirai guitarist at 10:00 ?

[@tonyfdesign]

Looks like the last two had a piece of protective foam under the bridge. That may account for the higher action.

[@60CycleHumcast]

that foam is paper thin

[@PooNinja]

Relics by Ryan or....................... Busted by Burke... so all those b stocks on the scratch and dent page now :)

[@edryba4867]

Ryan, Harley Benton really went after a Gretsch-type design, didn’t they? Right down to the orange color of the Gretsch 6120. Does that whammy bar have the word “Bigsby” anywhere on it? I wonder if the internal construction of the body on that one is anything like the comparable Gretsch. Even if it isn’t, the price is unbelievable! The Loar is along the lines of a Gibson ES-175 in body design, and the logo on the headstock reminds me of OLD Gibson guitars and mandolins… before they changed to their current logo, they had a script (handwriting) type logo, and they always said “The Gibson”. Sounds great! But I REALLY like the sound of that Ibanez. It has more “Twang!” than a lot of other guitars in that style. You could “Rock-A-Billy” all day long on that one, or even play surf music on it and do a credible job. Gorgeous finish, too.

[@Oscarhobbit]

I am told that Gretsch use plywood bracing, but the Harley uses real wood. I own 4 Gretsch guitars and I would love someone to do a comparison video (massive hint Ryan).

[@tom_something]

On that Loar, the bridge pickup is SOOOOO close to the bridge, isn't it? That could be why it doesn't sound very full. In general the string just isn't moving very far near the nut or the bridge, and of course the farther from the center of the string you are, the less of the fundamental tone you're going to get compared to some of the harmonics. If you were to chart out, bridge proximity and loss of fundamental, it's a curve that gets steeper and steeper as you approach the bridge, so even half an inch could make a difference. There could be a way to squeeze more pickup out of the pickups through how the pickups themselves are designed, but even if that's possible, the drop in sound suggests they didn't opt for it.

[@schizoinstereo]

Yo Ryan, I would go for the Ibanez even though it ain't got no wiggle stick. haha

[@Jesuswinsbirdofmichigan]

07:10 Éëʙõņ ÝɛŠŠ 10:19-10:35 absolutely perfect!

[@ronlight7013]

Pipeline on a jazz box. Oh, Ryan!

[@nathanmarineau3993]

I've had my eye on that Ibanez for a while now...

[@PaulWatkins472]

I believe the bridge was touching the pickup on the Loar. That would have a negative effect on the sound.

[@wlawnsldj]

The Loar for me. I like the Florentine cut.

[@jeremyacton4569]

I have an Ibanez AS73 Artcore electric, (the Gibson ES 335 slimline hollowbody shape), with a Bigsby, and it can go from smashing metal crunch to overdriven blues to mellow jazz. The Ibanez brand is one I trust, with good play-ability and action and setup ex factory , and in this video, I would take the Ibanez, though I also liked The Loar.

[@jbh219]

Ibanez semi hollows are serious value for money. Build quality smokes the competition at the same price.

[@AldeanLeger]

I got the Gretsch G5422TDC Electromatic Hollowbody Double-cut with Bigsby the electronics are great and it stays in tune

[@LazyCat010]

The Harley Benton comes in white! Just like a White Falcon! Damn!

[@UmVtCg]

Still a fake

[@rickywaterman1963]

@@UmVtCg that doesn't matter... its got the build quality of a 500-700 dollar guitar, the sound of a one around that price for 250! do remember copies are fine, you calling it a "fake" is saying that's its actively TRYING to be the thing it imitates (which it doesn't). stay safe.

[@altrock86]

I played the Ibanez one step below that one that’s around 330$ and it felt good but was not nearly that bright or clear that extra 70$ makes a big difference with Ibanez I guess.

[@nogunnofear6703]

Lloyd Loar invented the Arch top guitar after finishing the first Arch top mandolin for Gibson. Obviously early 1900s. I have a loar 350 LH and it is the one guitar that I have never even thought about selling because I got a really good one. I have probably sold 25 guitars in the last 10 or 11 years and this one is the keeper. Along with a custom shop telly and a PRS acoustic. Great guitar. It has a floating bridge at the end of the neck. They also have hand-carved Arch cops.

[@jameslewis2635]

I would say that both the Ibanez and the Harley Benton sound much better than the Lore. The Harley Benton is a little brighter sounding than the Ibanez which is a bit fuller sounding, so it is a matter of which you prefer. I think the Harley Benton is a few tweaks away from being a great guitar.

[@Mistertbones]

There's nothing like the sound of a hollow body electric!

[@johnmccormack6597]

Yeah I’m with you I like the Ibanez also

[@estofadodepollo16]

You should check the Gretsch streamliner g2420

[@johnwallace2319]

Yes! Do these random type comparison by price range! Do baritones next! Then superstrats! Then everything else!

[@X-boomer]

Did I hear a snatch of Electric de Chocobo there?

[@ResoBridge]

I recently setup a 2014 Ibanez AF75 for a customer. As far as I know Ibanez is a brand name and doesn't actually make anything. The AF75 I worked on was made by Samick in Korea. It was a well made, good looking guitar, but the acoustic sound was unrefined. With the low cost Artec ceramic magnet pickups things didn't get any better. Overall it just didn't sound that good. Maybe the more recent AF75s have improved. Looking at the Thomann page the pickups are still the same Classic Elites. The wood specs may have changed.

[@stanparsley9186]

Awesome video! Thanks

[@jerrymichael8177]

great video,did you play that black music man silhouette to your left they feel so good!!!

[@riotrob]

So, these things only stay in tune for 90 seconds?

[@Peter-rl4nc]

Hi there I have an Ibanez AF500 sounds good both electric and fairly loud acoustic

[@sassycat]

I agree with you on slapping a Bigsby on that Ibanez, I hope you made it back with that combo in tow.

[@60CycleHumcast]

i fell in love with at least 5 guitars at thomann, somehow i managed to make it home without buying any of them.

[@jonathanhandsmusic]

Those are jazz guitars. Why don't you play something jazzy? Roll off the tone, play on the neck pickup, and adjust your amp. Then you'd get a decent sound. And pick the Ibanez.

[@ParanoidGoblinoid]

3:19 The Loar is legendary

[@Darm0k]

The build quality is great on those Ibenez hollowbodies, but I don't like the pickups in the lower end models. They're not bad, I just ended up not liking them after owning one for nearly a year.

[@wmg1958]

Good to know the Harley Benton tuners feel smooth, because you'll be using them several times on each song you play.

[@rickywaterman1963]

eh the strings are probs new eed stretching...

[@wmg1958]

@@rickywaterman1963 I dunno man, like me you've probably had to change a string mid set plenty of times. It just takes a few seconds to manually stretch one or two out. I'd make sure before I invested the money.

[@gringogreen4719]

Hey Ryan, you are going to drool over my rockabilly box in my pic! Its a cross of all three guitars! The Harley Benton guitar is cool but it's a discount Gretsch to be sure. The knockoff Bigsby is the wrong model for a full archtop. That vibrato is designed for a 335 style semi hollow/ 330 full hollow body guitars because there shouldn't be a rosewood bass to the TOM/roller bridge/bridge. The downward bar is for flat top solid body and thin semi hollow body. Otherwise the guitar is alright...looks like a jazzy Gretsch. I have only played a handful of Loars. My take on them is that they are more vintage correct and budget friendly takes on traditional American guitars, especially Gibsons. The ES-175 style was cool but basic. If you wanted the next step up between The Loar and Gibson I would say it's Eastman. I would say The Loar is as good if slightly better that Epiphone in quality. I the The Loar is more vintage looking where Epiphone is going to be incorporating more modern features in a similar guitar. The Ibanez is basically the Swiss Army knife of jazz boxes. The high end Ibanez guitars are in par with any other jazz box brand. These are the made in Japan models. The purpose of the newer Chinese Ibanez jazz guitars was to make an all rounder hollow body guitar that appeals to rockers, jazzers, rockabillys and anyone else. They used to be called Artcores, what you have is essentially an Artcore minus the headstock graphic. The humbuckers were supposed to be all rounders too. Keep in mind when the Artcores came out it was Ibanez's attempt the pump serious QC into the semi hollow and hollow body guitar world. Unless you were dropping serious money ($2k+) on a hollow body, QC was all over the place in not a good way. Epiphones were decent but not as good as now. Gretsch got better on their Electromatic line. The Artcores cost less money than an Epiphone, had better appointments, and better quality. The early Electromatics had the DeArmond pickups and then the Gretschbuckers which neither were tge Filltertrons that most Gretsch players wanted. Feel wise the Ibanez feel more like an updated Gibson than other hollow bodies. Now if you want a jazz box, any of these are cool. What Ryan did with the bouncing between the bridge or neck pickups is typical of a non hollow body player. The two settings most players would use are either both pickups on or just the neck. With the jazz box and using just the bridge, it really just gets the shrillness of the pickup, the hollowness of the guitar, and if you boost the amp, now you have to contend with feedback issues. On stage its mainly going to be both or the neck. If you do want to use the bridge all by its lonesome, knock yourself out with some early Jesus and Mary Chain covers, that's what its going to sound like. For rockabilly you want both pickups on...this came straight from Boz Boorer and he should know. If you don't know who he is, look him up. You will be in for a real treat. If you want to get into the world of full hollow body guitars you will want to change your string guage and picks. I play D'Addario XL 12s on mine and I use picks thicker than 1 mm, usually 3 mm or more. This will open up the guitar considerably and give you more dynamic options. Also if you want jazz tones consider flatwound strings. The cool thing about flatwounds is that they last crazy long if you clean your strings.

[@persmultimediadesigntutori1293]

Having fun is the pathway to wisdom. Proceed.

[@hikupmusicofficial]

I played one of those Ibanez artcores before they are amazing

[@dat219]

You've never heard of a loar guitar ? They've been around for a long time

[@cathaldalymusic]

Great comparison vid, I've an ibanez asv 73 on the way , they are cracking guitars

[@dryadson]

What kind of strings go on this? I mean western guitar snares or for electric guitars

[@derrickharmon7980]

That's what's up a bigsby on the Ibanez just😙👌

[@a-dawghunchback6927]

I like the Ibanez. Took a jazz combo class and nearly all the guitar players were rocking similar Ibanezes. Almost felt like it was a pre-req for the class 🧐 anyways they sound great and seem reliable

[@benjaminhawthorne1969]

Ibanez simply cannot be beat at this point in time. I am enrolling in the "Jazz Guitar" program at "The Chicago School of Music." I am buying my first "Jazz box" an Ibanez Artcore AS-73. To replace my Fender Telecaster HS, which was lost when I got sick, I am buying an Ibanez AZS "Prestige."

[@benjaminhawthorne1969]

Fender was revolutionary, in 1950, but after seventy-three (73) years, they have NOT kept up with the times. The Prestige has a sumptuous lb carved heel joint that looks much more comfortable than on the Telecaster, it has a roasted maple neck for strength and stability, finally it has modern 21 st century electronics while Fender, again, puts 1950's technology into every guitar that comes off their line today, in 2023. 🤔

[@dannyrivers3922]

I love these videos. I'm looking into a complete hollow body right now. I have a semi hollow Ibanez and it's beautiful plays great sounds great and will probably get a Ibanez hollow body but want to make sure! There's some gretsch hollow body's that cost 50 bucks more that sound great. We'll see

[@seanhershey3390]

Nice Jorts...:)..& the Ibanez sounds great...Epi/ Gretsch territory for 200.00 less..

[@mattheweastel129]

Really impressed with the HB. All guitars with trems though, just add £8 or so to the list price and ship them with Tusq nuts. It should be the law

[@johncollins5552]

Gotta add good tuners to it though.

[@robcarter6599]

I had two different Ibanez Artcore guitars like that and was intending to use them for jazz. Never really got the tones I wanted out of them. I even tried flat wounds.

[@mg55-n1l]

@David Wang You can actually get a very nice jazz sound from an Ibanez AG75 and a Gretsch G2420. Both are under $500.

[@boxcarstewart311]

Nice comparison! Put the Bigsby and the orange from the Harley Benton on that Ibanez abd its out the door.

[@PintsofGuinness]

on the second guitar the bridge isnt in the right spot, look at the pickup pole pieces in comparison to the strings

[@SRNF]

That is just the design to be "different"

[@butteredbiskit3497]

The points on the f holes are supposed to indicate where the bridge should be. Key word should.

[@sumyupee]

I agree. Bigsby on the ibenez and we're in business.

[@calebneff5777]

“ I C A N F E E L I T I N M Y B O D Y “ -Ryan Burke

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

Yes, I like comparison videos. That's the point of being in a big shop, isn't it?

[@60CycleHumcast]

Leo of Red Keep exactly! I did like 10 videos in this format. That’s 30 guitars! Something I couldn’t have done outside a big music shop

[@BoltRM]

Loar is well-known as a good brand, among the big boy jazz guitars 💪😉 Ibanez 90s series are probably best bang for the buck. The pickups in the 90s models are noticeably better than their lower # series IMHO ;)

[@ramspencer5492]

That first guitar is not a jazz-box.... It's more like an old school Gretch If you go up to the artcore 95 series you get a huge pick-up upgrade. The bridge is supposed to find more "familiar"... It's the neck you use for jazz

[@lanceheaslewood4121]

Great vid as per usual Ryan, have you ever tried an Epiphone Emperor Swingster? I've got one and they're amazing, great for surf as well.

[@277southtombob]

The HB sounds like it’s voiced more like a Gretsch. I’ve played some arch top acoustic Loars that I was really impressed with for the price but haven’t tried their electrics but I imagine they play as good as the acoustics. I’ve always liked Ibanez but I never liked any of their pickups until you get into the Custom 58 area in the higher level ones but they make a great platform to mod the electronics and pickups.

[@Rex-golf_player810]

The gretsch sound can be attributed to the filtertron style pickups

[@ParanoidGoblinoid]

13:50 You can’t put a Bigsby on just any archtop.

[@deormanrobey892]

Ibanez makes a bunch of different very good bang for your buck hollow bodies. I have an AG75 that restored my lost interest in electric guitars. I also have a Loar acoustic that I'm quite fond of. It needed some light fret work when I got and from what I have read, that is a common occurrence.

[@zetaminor77]

I think I have that ibanez, but play mostly my tele clone these days... But still like my little ibanez

[@anthonymorales842]

Love Ibanez for the money outstanding.

[@kenwinston2245]

Dude i can see the string alingnment on the loar is totally off maybe if the bridge is a floater you can put it right

[@johnfair62]

Thank you for the review of these guitars. I like the Harley Benton, its a poor mans gretsch. I am going to buy one, for what you get foe the price is affordable. Iwish you would have put the Gretsch in the comparison.

[@dat-e.z3352]

samurai what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in da background 9:59

[@tomdameek]

I prefer the look of the ibby but the sound of the Benton. I love the white Benton.

[@ssm445]

You were in Europe. It is 50 Cycle Hum!