Artist Guitars AS10 Super Budget Guitar! - Is Their BRAND NEW Guitar Any Good?

Artist Guitars AS10 Review

Price: A$229. The reviewer considers it one of the best-value proper guitars available in Australia at this price.

Features

• Strat-style guitar with a poplar body, according to the reviewer
• Roasted maple neck
• Artist-branded ceramic pickups
• Six-point, vintage-style tremolo
• Generic, inexpensive tuners
• Standard Strat-style controls: one volume knob, two tone knobs, and a five-way pickup selector. The bridge pickup has no tone control.
• Available in several colours; the reviewer particularly likes the 1950s-style colour

What Works Well

• Sound: The pickups sound good and deliver convincing Strat-style tones, especially in positions 2 and 4. The reviewer notes that ceramic pickups are not inherently bad.
• Tremolo and tuning: After setup, the tremolo operates smoothly, and the guitar stays in tune reasonably well. The tuners are basic but adequate.
• Value and specs: The roasted maple neck and overall performance stand out for the price.
• Versatility: The reviewer considers it suitable as a beginner guitar, a modding platform, a beater, or potentially even a gigging instrument once properly set up.

Drawbacks and Setup

• The frets are well-leveled and polished, but their ends feel slightly proud along the neck. The reviewer describes this as a very minor issue that could be addressed by sanding the fret ends.
• The electronics feel cheap, though the reviewer considers this unsurprising at the price. Even more expensive guitars may have components that owners choose to upgrade.
• The guitar arrived poorly set up. Based on experience with nearly ten Artist guitars, the reviewer says their instruments have generally not arrived perfectly set up. Beginners should arrange a setup by a guitar shop or technician, or learn to do it themselves.

Comparisons and Verdict

The AS10 is compared with the Squier Sonic Strat and Squier Affinity. The reviewer considers it on par with, or slightly better than, those models while offering higher specs for less money. The main reason to choose a Squier instead would be a preference for the Fender name and headstock.

Squier Classic Vibe models and some higher-end Artist or Jet guitars may be better, but the reviewer says they are not dramatically better.

Overall: A strong budget recommendation, especially for Australian buyers. Its sound, usable tremolo, roasted maple neck, and low price outweigh the minor fret-end issue and inexpensive electronics, provided the buyer gets it properly set up. No numerical rating was given.

Speaker Perspective

The video has one reviewer, who says he bought the guitar at full price and is not sponsored by Artist Guitars.