But I had been looking to buy a hollowbody lately (I owned an Ibanez ak85 a few years ago and I've really been missing it).
None of those are available on the local used market and the few nice artcore or Godins (I've been itching to try the cutaway 5th avenue) I found on kijiji throughout Canada I couldn't convince the sellers to ship (understandable but I had been lucky in the past). Ebay yielded nothing in that department that would've ended-up below a thousand bucks when all was said and done with shipping and import taxes (and none were worthy of such a final price-tag) and Reverb was as abysmal as usual to us north of the border.
I was looking used but for some reason I looked at Long&Mcquade's website (Canada's smaller Guitar Center equivalent) and noticed that a few artcores were on sale, including the AKJ95 (the expressionnist's version of my former ak85). 300$ off the regular price (650$ instead of 950$...canadian of course), it was too good to pass up. No case but I can always carry it in one of my acoustic cases if I ever gig it but it's not likely to happen.
It's the first time in many years that I bought something online and got it within 2 days instead of waiting for it to cross the US then the border then the whole province from south to north to me...
The guitar is great. Sounds full and rich, plays beautifully and is definitely a step-up from the 85 I owned. The Super 58 pick-ups are definitely good and are more piercing than I expected from a jazz-oriented guitar. Flatwounds are a new experience to me and so far I like them, except for the fact that I usually bend a lot and these are, as expected, much harder to bend. And it looks great too!
Here's a pic of course:
None of those are available on the local used market and the few nice artcore or Godins (I've been itching to try the cutaway 5th avenue) I found on kijiji throughout Canada I couldn't convince the sellers to ship (understandable but I had been lucky in the past). Ebay yielded nothing in that department that would've ended-up below a thousand bucks when all was said and done with shipping and import taxes (and none were worthy of such a final price-tag) and Reverb was as abysmal as usual to us north of the border.
I was looking used but for some reason I looked at Long&Mcquade's website (Canada's smaller Guitar Center equivalent) and noticed that a few artcores were on sale, including the AKJ95 (the expressionnist's version of my former ak85). 300$ off the regular price (650$ instead of 950$...canadian of course), it was too good to pass up. No case but I can always carry it in one of my acoustic cases if I ever gig it but it's not likely to happen.
It's the first time in many years that I bought something online and got it within 2 days instead of waiting for it to cross the US then the border then the whole province from south to north to me...
The guitar is great. Sounds full and rich, plays beautifully and is definitely a step-up from the 85 I owned. The Super 58 pick-ups are definitely good and are more piercing than I expected from a jazz-oriented guitar. Flatwounds are a new experience to me and so far I like them, except for the fact that I usually bend a lot and these are, as expected, much harder to bend. And it looks great too!
Here's a pic of course:
