Latest Flip: Ibanez ART100

...it came right out of left field!

Just made a flip yesterday. I didn't figure it would happen, but I did, and I let it. Sort of bittersweet. Here's the story:

I was doing my regular rounds at pawn shops when I discovered a new guitar, which looked great, but I hadn't read much about:

Really a great-looking guitar. A nice, carved top, Les Paul copy, with an impressive headstock and great color palette. Really, the binding on this guitar was topnotch:

Kind of a white-outline-around-black-binding sort of binding. Really cool, really smart. A small chip on the back showed me it was real binding, not painted, which made it all the more impressive.

I never had a chance to test out the sound, as this is not my way when flipping guitars. It doesn't matter if I like how it sounds, it only matters if others like how it sounds and are willing to pay for it. There were a couple of issues with it. Some scuffing and dents on the back, and both of the strap pegs were completely stripped out. Some of the dings convinced me that this guitar was probably dropped when the pegs loosened (maybe someone was pushing down on it? Not sure...) as there was a finish crack where the neck met the body and some dings on the bottom of the headstock. One of the tuners was loose.

I bought the guitar for $75, haggled down from $85. I assume they made the price low because of the issues, but it turns out they had such a low price because they didn't know what guitar it was. It was listed as just "Ibanez Guitar" while all the other guitars they sold had a model number. A few Google searches on my smartphone and I found out what I had. The ART100 went through a design change. Here it is now:

So the fingerboard inlay has changed to the rectangular type. Honestly, I like the old inlay better. Sort of a tribal graphic.

At any rate, I bought the guitar, with all of its baggage, knowing this guitar was $350 new and could sell for maybe $250 if really fixed up.

Repairs:

• Used the toothpick-and-wood-glue method to repair the strap peg holes and installed Planet Waves Elliptical End Pins in their place. I really like those pins! They lock the strap in place really well but it's easy to remove the straps.
• Used the same toothpick method to repair the low-E tuner which was loose. It would rotate slightly due to an enlarged screw hole. A single toothpick cleaned it right up.
• Electronics needed work. Not much, but the hot signal on the 1/4" jack was loose, as it was physically tightened in place. I soldered it good and secure.
• As a side note, one of the downsides of this guitar is the controls. It has a master tone but individual volume for bridge and neck pickups. This seems a weird combination, especially not having tone control for each pickup. I would recommend having master volume and individual tone controls. I didn't make the change, but it's something to consider. Or go to a 2-band active EQ.

And that's all she wrote. After that, and a good polish, I had a great guitar. When I plugged it in, BIG MISTAKE! This thing sounded great! Very hot, but not metal-hot if you didn't want it to be. It took pedals well but had a great warm clean to it. Even my bandmates were impressed.

But alas, this guitar was bought for a flip. Hesitantly, I put it up on Craigslist, with an asking price of $200. Because I love the sound, this price was firm.

It just sold yesterday. The guy who bought it was really nice, a drummer who wanted to learn guitar, so I showed him the ins and outs of it, etc., and he happily paid my asking price. It was a good profit but I will miss that guitar! The one thing holding me back from making this a keeper was the color. I already have a black strat and a black bass, but I don't consider myself a "black" kind of guitarist. I prefer colors, yellows, reds, blues. I would really jump at the opportunity if I got the same guitar in the silver sparkle color. Look at this!

So pretty...

Buy Price: $75
Sell Price: $200

TOTAL NET: $125

I still miss her!