Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

M

moth_baller

New member
Acquired an af85 off of ebay and received got it yesterday. I got it all cleaned up (was pretty gross). Pleasantly surprised with it. I feel I got pretty good price on it for 225 (including shipping) in pretty awesome shape.

Does have the issues but that's my fault for not asking more questions.

Seems neither tone knob works. Have a small inspection mirror and I got up in there with it. Looks like everything is still wired up. Definitely looks like original wiring and pots they look like mini pots. If I replace all the pots in there with cts, Am I going to have to widen the holes?

Pickups aren't bad. Bridge pickup seems weak volume wise. Planning on raising it up a little more. I would like a gretschy
sound but I'm curious about how p90's might sound in it. Basically i want this guitar to do blues and country as far as sound goes. What little I could find for what it sounded like stock before I bought it , it doesn't sound near as jazzy that I have it now

Tail piece is fine but was curious if any upgrade would be an improvement. If even worthwhile.

Not looking to dump a bunch of money in it. As far as pickups go, most threads confound were over 7 years old and I know some stuff has changed.
 

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Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

tone knobs are a bad ground wire
probably there just broken

beautiful guitar

could we see the back please
 
Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

Cool guitar! Should be fun when the minor issues are fixed up!
 
Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

I played one of those for about 45 minutes killing time in a music store. Really nice guitar!
I don't have pickup recommendations for your style, but I can tell you changing the tailpiece probably won't do much for you.
 
Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

ehdwuld said:
tone knobs are a bad ground wire
probably there just broken

beautiful guitar

could we see the back please
Click to expand...

The finish is violin sunburnt. The af85 only came in that finish. The first pic has it showing up more orange. It's actually a lot more brown.

To address the ground wire, would it have to going to one of the pots where it would be bad? It's got a floating bridge (I found out the hard way) so I know there's no wire to the bridge.
 

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Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

Dave Locher said:
I played one of those for about 45 minutes killing time in a music store. Really nice guitar!
I don't have pickup recommendations for your style, but I can tell you changing the tailpiece probably won't do much for you.
Click to expand...

I took a bit of a gamble not trying any artcore out ahead of time. I'm pretty much an ibanez guy so I felt confident. I did really want a gretsch elctromatic, but getting a good deal in one was becoming an annoyance.

I didn't think a different tail piece would do anything. I still might but for merely aesthetic purposes. I still may even stick a vibrato on it.
 
Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

I dont imagine it has a ground on the bridge

the tones share a ground back to the volume
you will have to get a mirror and look through a f hole
 
Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

ehdwuld said:
I dont imagine it has a ground on the bridge

the tones share a ground back to the volume
you will have to get a mirror and look through a f hole
Click to expand...

No it doesn't have a wire to the bridge. I did get up in there with my mirror and couldn't see anything. I'll take another look that I know what to look for now. I may just wait til I can get new pots. With how a hollowbody is to work on, I'll just go ahead and replace them all.
 
Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

If you plan on changing the pots to CTS, I'd just wait and do the work then. You might have to enlarge the holes, and if you do, use a reamer to do it properly.
 
Re: Picked an artcore af85 have a couple questions

Mincer said:
If you plan on changing the pots to CTS, I'd just wait and do the work then. You might have to enlarge the holes, and if you do, use a reamer to do it properly.
Click to expand...

zionstrat said:
+1 reamer

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I figured I might have to enlarge the holes since it appears to have mini pots in it from what I can see. I think I do have a reamer reamer somewhere. Do all the work at once after I figure out pickups. Stopped myself from going ahead and sticking the extra switch kraft jack I have lying around.
 
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