Here in New Zealand Artist guitars have a 100 day no questions asked return policy. Any problems, just send it back. I recently bought an ST62 from Artist. I find it great to play, it sounds great, but I will agree that the locking tuners feel a little cheap. A couple of them are a little sloppy. However the guitar holds tune well. I have changed the strings once and the locking mechanism worked well.
I ordered one last week and it arrived today. Luckily no QC issues. Bridge is tight as a nun and no string slip (yet). Pots feel a bit janky but I will see how they hold up and replace if need be. Over all very happy with it for the cost.
Hi John, I bought one of these recently and had a similar problem with the bridge saddles, I am a retired guitar tech and had a set of roller bridge saddles which fitted perfectly but had to drill the bridge to fit the adjusting screw with a nut on the end, everything now ok. It is as you say a ABR-1 style bridge but mine has a small metal insert in the guitar body and is very stable. Also not had any problems with the locking machine heads. The guitar spec is impressive for the price, Bone nut, Fret nib ends, Aluminium locking tailpiece, locking bridge plus mine has a flawless finish and the Bullbucker pickups are great although I may put a Pearly Gates in the bridge position. The pots are smooth although would benefit from being wired 50,s style (the wiring is a rats nest and will get some attention soon). Overall better than any epiphone I have tried and owned, weighs just over 9lbs plus Artist guitars are great to deal with and I would highly recommend them, their semi acoustics look excellent spec worth considering for the price.
I have a TC59 and love the neck. Looking to upgrade the pickups soon. I really fancied the AG100 after getting the TC59 but they no longer offer the AG100 in the States. In fact they have had minimal inventory here for over 2 years and they don’t offer the LP model probably because of copyright issues. Me thinks that’s what doomed the AG here.
I think it can be pot luck what you get with each guitar around this price point.My LP59 seemed pretty much perfect out of the box apart from the weight of it and it's one of my favourite guitars to play.I was so impressed with it I ordered Artist's more expensive version of there Strat copy but that went straight back as it was just one of them dead sounding guitars.
Very Cool, Thankyou. Awesome in Depth Demo/Review. I am sorry you had some issues , I've had one of these for a few Months, and Love it. No issue with Bridge/Intonation and The Locking Tuners work really well, and keep The Guitar nicely in Tune. Such a Beautiful, Fun Guitar which is a Joy to Play. All the Best. Cheers
I noticed in your comments on Thursday's video that you said that you also had one, so I was looking out for your remarks this time to see if you'd had the same problems. Apparently not. The guitar IS worth spending a little bit of extra money on... so it WILL get new hardware...
finally, an independent review .. many aussie reviews of Artist, overlook the faults you (correctly) raise ... like the UK biases when they review a HB guitar. while i still love many in the Artist range , its just the biases and conflicted interests by other reviewers , that grind my gears .. buy Artist guitars, they're great, sound great, pound for pound better than HB, and yes, you pay for what you get
Well, John, that was a bit like watching one of those championship football games played over two legs, by the end of the first game on Thursday the home team looked to be winning on goal average, then in the second game on Sunday the team lost control of the ball... ANYWAY, needless to say, it will get new tuners and a new bridge, probably by Gotoh, as I think the guitar IS worth the extra investment. Out of the box, incidently, the guitar had an even LOWER action than it had when it was handed to you. I felt that it was a tad too low at the 12th, whereas I felt the action at the nut was a gnat's gonad too high, so I cut the nut just a tad deeper and raised the action by a whisker. But as you know, I couldn't do anything about that bridge. It came fitted with D'Adarios, but I gave it to you with Harley Benton 9's on it. I noticed in Thursdays' comments that '@GRBAquatics' also has one, so I'd be curious to know if he has had similar issues...
Nice tones, Hardware specific problems, ah the pitfalls of "value" guitars nowadays. Still not too bad for the dosh, If nowt else they good for experience in modding. Hurley Bent-one aren't without their own issues, In fact I'm beginning to wonder if the ones they send out for review have been through the "Pro" service that's offered.
Must have got a bad one. Bought the LP59 Deluxe version on sale and no issue's. It was on special for 150 quid with no case. Did change the pups and all up cost me 350 quid.
Don't forget Artist offer a free return to base for the first 100 days, so that's 3 whole months for these problems to show up. I would love one of these, but they are not doing lefty versions.
Couldn't fault my LP59 Cherry. The weight is apparently 'typical' LP. The bridge on mine is a roller one. I have always had reservations with the standard metal ones, particularly on the wound strings, but what do I know. Can't say I'm a fan of locking tuners. The knobs are just something else to loosen off and get lost. Can't beat a granny knot. Not being a 'competent' guitarist wasting a grand or so on a 'better' instrument would be pointless. Unless I put the precious thing in the cupboard and waited for it to appreciate.
If your tuners are like mine, they can't get lost...they don't unscrew completely...just apply some good lubricant to the threads and post internals and don't overtighten...just nip up gently...cheers
On the Australian website, at least, there are 2 price options. One with a case and one without a case. John may have referred to the "with case" option? So, I guess you could buy the guitar for the cheaper price and upgrade the hardware. It is of course, in my opinion, a bit of a false economy getting a good deal on price, then having to spend money to upgrade "defective" hardware. That said, Artist Guitars in Australia, (at least) have a 100% free no questions asked, returns policy.
I bought it with the case because I liked the look of the case and you save £10 on the case if you buy it with the guitar, but yes, you can buy it without the case (in delivery, they come in their own boxes) in which case the price of the guitar would have been £249.
John...the issues you describe with this guitar would be fixed under warranty with no cost to the owner...I've got three artist guitars with these locking tuners and one with this bridge and have never had a problem...I have always lubricated these parts however as part of a setup which should always be done by the owner of any new production guitar...Artist kicks Epiphone and HB's backside with more for less...go Artist! By the way have you noticed the very clever hex bolt inside the Tail Stop Screw which locks down the Tail stop...this needs to be loosened before any adjustments are made and retightened again afterwards...who else offers this at this price point? My LP59 even has a roller saddle...
Disappointing hardware with this Artist AP59. Profanity works wonders on sticky things. Failing that hitting it with a 3lb mallet solves the problem for good.
