Gear Friday: Arbor Semi-Hollow Guitar

There are times where I find a guitar that's way out of my comfort zone, so I have to try it. That's what happened with today's Gear Friday guitar.


This is from a company called Arbor. I didn't know much about them, so I did some research and found a connection to Yamaha and Ibanez. It has a lot of nice attributes to it, but I'll just hit the ones that matter.

For starters, the pickups are decent. Not too hot, not too cool, but just about right for that bluesy and classic rock vibe. The F hole cutouts are sharp, as is the binding. The shape always looks a little funky, almost like the bottom (right side when hanging) is slightly larger than the top, but it plays quite well.

I find that the neck is a bit slimmer and faster than a typical semi-hollow. It stays in tune well, has a decent balance, and overall just sounds and looks good. I don't play it nearly enough, though. I tend to grab a Gelvin, Ibanez, or something I've built for most things. However, I think I'll be recording quite a bit with this and my Gretsch over the next few weeks. If so, I'll post some audio / video of it.

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