Daily Archives: October 6, 2023

Ibanez AM73T Electric Guitar

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This is a hands-on review and video demo of the Ibanez AM73T — my first electric guitar, an Artcore semi-hollow I bought as a broke college kid and later upgraded with Gibson BurstBucker pickups. In this post, you’ll learn why I picked this model, hear how it sounds in the full video demo, and see why I’ll never part with it.

Why the AM73T

The Ibanez AM73T electric guitar is not one you’ll easily find on a web archive. I saw it in a music store catalog in the early 2000’s and instantly fell in love with it. I loved the look more than anything- I didn’t know how different pickups and woods affected the sound of a guitar! I just thought it looked like Chuck Berry’s guitar and my love of early rock’n’roll made me gravitate to this model.

I bought this with my own money (tough to do when you’re a broke college kid) but this was my first good guitar. But, when I played it, I realized that I didn’t like the sound very much! That happens when you don’t really use it for the right purpose. I was more of a rhythm player trying to play this import guitar to sound like an early Beach Boys record. Oops!

So, I did what anyone who doesn’t know much about guitars would do: consult the internet! I decided that I needed real Gibson pickups. I didn’t know why, but I knew that’s what I needed. So I bought some Gibson Burstbucker pickups (the ones in those clear plastic cases) and had them installed in my Ibanez. I thought I was ready to rock!

The BurstBucker upgrade

Only I still realized that these pickups weren’t what I was looking for. Now I had pickups that were worth more than the guitar itself!

Verdict

But I could never get rid of this guitar- I’ll always keep it, as I still think it looks perfect and is aging nicely, too. Now that I appreciate and can play using Gibson Burstbucker humbuckers better now, I can get more use out of the guitar, as well!

This guitar checked off the following on the Guitar Bucket List:

#29 – semi-hollow guitar
#52 – volute (on the back of the headstock)
#60 – Gibson BurstBucker pickups

Watch the video demo

More guitars like this

Watch the full Ibanez AM73T demo on YouTube, and keep exploring with two more reviews: the Ibanez ARX300 Electric Guitar (same brand) and the Firefly FF338 Spalted Maple Guitar (another semi-hollow). You can also browse every review in the Guitar Reviews hub.

What is the Guitar Bucket List?

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The Guitar Bucket List is a video series started by Jim Fusco. Way back in 2006, Jim started the Laptop Sessions with his friend Chris Moore and since then, their videos have earned millions of views on YouTube. Over the years, Jim became somewhat of a guitar collector. After amassing a couple dozen electric guitars in his collection, he decided (okay, he might have been coerced by his wife) to add some logic to his collecting. Otherwise he would just buy and buy everything that was nice or even just a good deal. And in the guitar world, especially on the used market, good deals aren’t too hard to find.

So, Jim started thinking about the guitars that he couldn’t “live without”. But as he thought about it, he realized that it wasn’t models of guitars that he was chasing…it was certain features of the guitars that he really wanted to have!

Now, some of these are admittedly a bit silly- should someone really want to have a metal medallion on the back of a Les Paul Custom guitar? Well, if you saw one on a guitar and your collection didn’t feature one with it, you might want it, too! So, the Guitar Bucket List was born.

Jim has decided to document this journey to complete the bucket list (will it ever actually end, though?) through insightful videos that showcase each guitar in his collection. He’ll talk about their various features and what made him want them. And at the end of each video, he’ll recap the features that each guitar checked off of his guitar bucket list! Below is the first video that explains the list and make sure to check out the “Current List” link at the top of the page to see what progress he’s made!