Ibanez AM93ME-NT vs AS73FM | Which is the best semi-hollow guitar for under $1000? In-depth shootout

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Today, we’re trying to find the best Ibanez semi-affordable semi-hollow guitar, by comparing the AM93ME-NT and the AS73FM!

Get the AM93ME-NT at Thomann:
At Sweetwater:

AS73FM at Thomann:
At Sweetwater:

These two guitars form part of Ibanez’s Artcore series of guitars. The AM93ME-NT – which costs around $699/€749 – is distinctive for its beautiful ebony body and neck, while the AS73FM is cheaper (coming in at around $549/€599) and is resplendent in its Azure Blue Gradation finish.

While all that ebony surely helps make the AM93ME-NT more expensive, the two guitars are otherwise specced fairly similarly with Ibanez hardware. Both feature the brand’s tuners, Gibraltar Performer Bridge, and Quik Change III Tailpiece. However, their pickups are different: the AM93ME-NT has Ibanez Super 58 alnico humbuckers, while the AS73FM has a pair of Ibanez’s ceramic Classic Elite humbuckers.

With all this in mind, these two guitars are certainly both worth checking out if you’re in the market for a new semi-acoustic guitar and want to look at more than just an Epiphone 335/339. But which is the best choice? Which sounds better? Which plays better? And which is best value for money? That’s what we’re going to find out today, so join me as I test them in as many different musical styles as I can, from country, folk and indie, to pop, rock, blues, punk, metal and more. Let me know which guitar you think is best in the comments!

Here are some links to the various playing samples and info bits:

00:00 Hello!
00:16 Introduction and what we’re doing today
01:52 AM93ME-NT specs and info
04:14 AS73FM specs and info
06:11 Today’s rig and plan

Clean Sounds
07:01 Clean tone reference chords on all pickups
07:35 Soul pop riff
07:56 Country ballad arpeggios
08:09 Country strummed chords
08:28 Blues progression
08:51 Ascending droning indie chords
09:04 Ringing open indie pop chords
09:31 Grungey open chords
09:48 Strummed folk pop chords

Overdriven Sounds
10:05 Kings Of Leon inspired riff
10:20 Indie rock octaves
10:47 Garage rock riff
11:03 Choppy barre chords
11:22 Southern rock picked arpeggios
11:41 Upbeat indie barre chords
11:54 Indie octave chords
12:23 AC/DC inspired riff
12:39 Groovy classic rock riff
12:57 Airbourne inspired rock riff
13:09 Quacky classic rock riff
13:18 Driving rock riff
13:33 Hendrix inspired riff
13:50 Classic rock riff

Higher gain drive sounds
14:07 Classic hard rock riff
14:24 80s rock riff
14:45 ZZ Top inspired riff
14:56 Hard rock riff
15:13 Melodic hard rock lead
15:34 Glam rock riff
15:55 Pop punk riff
16:21 Pop punk melodic lead riff
16:37 Green Day inspired punk rock riff
17:05 Less Than Jake inspired punk riff
17:16 Progressive rock riff (Drop D tuning)
17:32 Modern rock palm-muted chords (Drop D)
17:57 Rage Against The Machine inspired groovy riff (Drop D)

Heavy Distortion sounds (all in Drop D)
18:14 Metal chugging riff
18:31 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang
18:55 Hardcore punk riff
19:10 Heavy metal lead sound
19:26 Rammstein inspired industrial metal riff
19:40 Modern pop metal riff
20:02 More hardcore punk
20:14 Classic heavy metal/sludge riff

20:52 My thoughts
21:53 Looks
22:32 Price
23:05 Build quality and hardware
24:35 Playability and necks
25:39 Weight
26:24 Sounds and pickups discussion
28:37 What other similar guitars are out there? Epiphone!
29:17 Which guitar is better, and which should you buy?
30:34 Thanks and goodbye

My setup was as follows: I ran the two guitars into my Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200 head, also using my Greer Lightspeed and my Revv G3 pedals for overdrive and heavy distortion sounds. The amp went from the Red Box DI straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. That's it. No post-processing on the sounds was done.

Here’s some links to those bits of gear:

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H&K Black Spirit 200 at Thomann:
At Sweetwater:

Greer Lightspeed:

Revv G3 at Thomann:
At Sweetwater:

Focusrite 4i4 (the new 2i4) at Thomann:
At Sweetwater:
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Enjoy!


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Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Duck In The Alley – TrackTribe.

#Ibanez #IbanezGuitars #IbanezArtcore

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