Product Description

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Artist AS72 Black Electric Guitar w/ Hand-Made Pickups

What you've been waiting for is here! For those of you who prefer your guitars to look a little less battle-worn, we're introducing the AS72 in a non-relic nitrocellulose finish!

Dig beneath the ordinary and reveal the extraordinary. The Artist AS72 comes bounding through time, from a California factory in 1968 into your waiting hands - but not without a quick stop off to catch up with the times! With a classic black nitrocellulose finish, the AS72 has all the mojo of the very best vintage guitars. The quarter-sawn roasted maple satin neck is topped with a rosewood fretboard, a material becoming rarer by the day within the worldwide guitar market. The 14" fingerboard radius allows for super low action and effortless bends, while glow-in-the-dark fret markers on the side of the neck map the fretboard on even the darkest of pub stages. 

Having tested untold amounts of pickup options, we settled on a set of high-end, hand-made pickups wound by the Laohao workshop, a small team producing low-quantity batches of custom pickups to a frankly unbelievable standard. The bridge humbucker provides a bit more bite than your average S-type guitar, while the neck and middle positions sound that familiar quack we all know and love. Each AS72 comes with copper shielding, making it whisper quiet when you're not playing!

A bone nut, locking tuners, strap locks, and a modern-style bridge will keep your tuning stable, and your guitar strapped to your shoulder... you won't want to scratch your new favourite guitar!


The Tech Features

Body
Body Material: Mahogany
Body Finish: Black 
Body Paint: Nitro
Body Construction: Solid

Neck
Neck Material:
 Quarter-Sawn Roasted Maple
Neck Construction: One-Piece
Neck Joint: Bolt-On
Neck Finish: Satin
Neck Shape: 22mm C Profile
Scale Length: 650mm / 25.5"
Fretboard Material: Rosewood
Fretboard Radius: 350mm
Number of Frets: 22
Fret Material: Stainless Steel
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
Nut Material: Bone
Nut Width: 42mm / 1.65"
Position Inlays: Abalone Fret Dots
Binding: N/A
Side Dots: Glow in the Dark 
Truss Rod: Dual Action 2-Way

Electronics
Bridge Pickup:
 Laohao Hand-wound Humbucker
Middle Pickup: Laohao Hand-wound Single-Coil
Neck Pickup: Laohao Hand-wound Single-Coil
Switching: 5-Way Switch
Configuration: HSS
Special Electronics: Copper Foil Shielded Cavity

Hardware
Bridge:
 Classic Tremolo
Hardware Finish: Chrome
Machine Heads: Premium Locking Die-Cast
Pickguard: 3-Ply Cream

Miscellaneous/Special Features
Strings:
 Ernie Ball 10-46 Regular Slinky
Weight: 3.2-3.5kg / 7-8lbs

Accessories
Included Accessories:
 Instrument Cable, Tremolo Arm, Truss Rod Adjustment Key, Tremolo Adjustment Key, Picks, Strap Locks
Optional Hard Cases: REC300RC, REC350FTB, EC500
Optional Bags: HGBAGST, BAGST

(18368)


Reviews (3)

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AS72 STRAT Style in Black - BLOWN AWAY!

By: on 22 March 2025
Another review of my Artist Guitar Purchases. This Artist AS72 Black Nitrocellulose finished strat style guitar with many extras (you must read the specs above) has BLOWN ME AWAY! The quality you get for a cheaper price is criminal; I mean Stainless frets, a bone nut (beautifully cut), hand wound pickups, roasted neck, rosewood fingerboard, strap locks, locking tuners, and the list goes on! I couldn't believe it until I picked it out of the box. I'll say right now I really wanted a non-relic red paisley in nitrocellulose finish BUT this black one is magnificent; absolutely beautiful as nice as it is different from my '73 Deluxe LP. The sounds of the single coil pickups are absolutely gorgeous. I'm still working on settings for the humbucker (worst case scenario I may change it out as it's very bright and lacking low end punch currently) but boy does it bite! The AS72's action out of the box was superb and I'd go so far as to say it was the best I've played out of the box with just under 1 mm at the 1st fret and 1.5 mm at the 12th - measured by eye with a steel ruler. No buzzing and the intonation was spot-on, all except the E strings which were barely out. This guitar IS better than the "F__d_r" MIM Strats I've compared it to personally, which I may say didn't hold tune very well on the humid day we compared them inside under a/c, whereas the AS72 was stretched and then tuned up once and away we went for two hours without an issue. The finish was flawless and the neck so smooth both on the fretboard, at the rear and down the fret ends. The bone nut went un-noticed by my hand, so no sharp edges to file and even after moderate usage of the tremolo it was in tune. Man I just can't fault this. The roasted neck - beautiful to look at and even better to hold. The body was not too heavy but not light. The finish of nitrocellulose allows the wood to "breathe" and after checking out many videos online on the subject I am amazed at the difference. One final touch I love is the abalone neck dot inlays and the "glow in the dark" fretboard markers. Pretty damn cool. TWO exceptional value guitars in Two days - Artist Guitars thank you. PS - I put my $2K plus Godin, Which I felt was great value for money, away to leave this one out to play every day. It feels as nice or better and I love the single coil pickup sounds I'm getting. I'm all about value for money with my guitars to get the sounds I want, not the name. These are fantastic value for money.

Artist Guitars Response
Thanks so much for your review! Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions.

A dream guitar to play!

By: on 7 March 2025
This is my third Artist guitar, and I have one more on pre order. It would be an instant 5-star rating except for the blemish in the paintwork on the back of the body that slipped through quality control. That being said I am not bothered by it as everything else about this guitar is exceptional. I lowered the action a bit and adjusted the neck. Checked intonation (which was spot on). I was expecting to swap out the pickups but they sound great! The neck feels amazing and all in all this is a joy to play. Well done Artist Guitars!

Artist Guitars Response
Thank you for your honest review and for bringing this to our attention. We’ll strive to improve our quality control to prevent such issues in the future.

Black Magic

By: on 31 October 2024
I just got mine in matt black and love it. The specs are amazing. forget the price this is a fantastic guitar. the pickups are wonderful. I have three artist guitars and sold sold two so I could buy this and I'm not disappointed. This is my new go to guitar. I'd love to see a relic AP97 Chambered.

Artist Guitars Response
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave feedback. We really appreciate the support!