Ibanez - ART120 - - Electric guitar - China - 2009

The little one is really a little monster; Ibanez has made a masterpiece!
When you have an ART120 in your hands you’re already pleasantly struck by its beauty and elegance; then you plug in the jack and you won’t believe your ears, a world opens up!
The timeless Les Paul style here presents a maple top on a mahogany body paired with a glued-in mahogany neck, with a thickness of 20mm at the 1st fret and 22.5mm at the 12th.
The fretboard is rosewood, on which lie 22 medium-nickel-silver frets and a single stylized pearloid ART Special inlay at the 12th fret with side dot markers, nut width 43mm, last fret 57mm and a 305mm radius.
The headstock houses 6 die-cast tuners that are truly smooth and precise.
The strings (.09/.042) follow a 648mm scale to the fixed Gibraltar III bridge and Quick Change III string locks, which basically tune them once and you’re done.
The electronics consist of two active LoZ1 humbuckers powered by two 1.5V AA batteries. They are very well balanced, meaning they’re very powerful but not as aggressive as EMGs, so they produce a clean, pristine sound even without distortion, without the need to lower the volume, and you only need to glance at the amp’s LED to ensure it’s on when the guitar is on standby—no hum or buzz.
They are controlled by two independent volume pots and one Master Tone, plus a three-position toggle switch.
The electronics and battery compartments are shielded with conductive enamel and aluminum foil in the covers.
An accurate setup was performed, including fret level, which allowed a 12th-fret action of 2.25mm under the 6th string and 1mm under the 1st, and infinite sustain since the active pickups can sit quite far from the strings.
All this to ensure exceptional playability and an insane sound, nothing to envy from the more famous sisters!
Aesthetically it’s nothing short of spectacular: ivory-white finish, the black headstock with Ibanez and Art logo and the black-and-ivory binding along the body, neck, and headstock express simplicity and elegance... The final touches are provided by the three inline knobs and the shining chrome of the hardware—tuning machines, pickup frames, bridge and tailpiece, the latter with a unique design in perfect harmony with the rest.
If one really pushes to find a flaw, you’d have to look for some slightly faded spots in the finish, which anyway serve to remind of its 17 years of wood aging.
The woods have also been treated with beeswax, nourished with a straw-colored oil, and the chrome parts polished with an acetic solution.
It will be shipped inside a sturdy and comfortable hard case, perfectly refurbished and maintained, with bomb-proof packaging.
All that remains is to wish the future proud owner some great tone!