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Artist AP54J Vintage Burst Electric Guitar w/ P90 Pickup

The Artist AP54J is a premium single-cutaway guitar. If you're looking for a minimalist punk rock machine, this AP54J is the choice for you; punchy mids and responsive controls in a very tidy package!

It features a timeless Vintage Burst finish over a solid African Mahogany body, with a simple black scratch plate completing the look. The Mahogany bolt-on neck has a high-grade Eco-Rosewood fretboard, Dot Mother of Pearl Inlays, 22 frets in a 24.75"" scale length, and a comfortable C-shape radius.

The AP54J also features a Wilkinson wrap-around bridge, with adjustable bridge posts and saddles to lock in your intonation, and the 43mm Bone nut and Chrome machine heads will keep you in tune through any basement punk show! With a single dog-ear P90 in the bridge position, the AP54J has got some serious bite, and we have used premium-grade hardware to ensure the tone and volume controls are responsive to the touch.

With just a single Volume and Tone knob, this guitar has a surprising tonal range for those willing to experiment with their controls. Alternatively, this is the perfect guitar to just turn everything up, plug into a cranked amp, and let rip!

This comes strung from the factory with D'Addario EXL110 strings.


The Tech Features

Body
Body Material: African Mahogany
Body Finish: Vintage Burst
Body Paint: Polyurethane
Body Construction: Solid

Neck
Neck Material:
 Mahogany​​​​​​​
Neck Construction: Scarfed​​​​​​​
Neck Joint: Bolt-On​​​​​​​
Neck Finish: Satin​​​​​​​
Neck Shape: 22mm C Profile​​​​​​​
Scale Length: 628mm/ 24.75"​​​​​​​
Fretboard Material: Eco-Rosewood​​​​​​​
Fretboard Radius: 305mm​​​​​​​
Number of Frets: 22​​​​​​​
Fret Material: 25% Nickel​​​​​​​
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo​​​​​​​
Nut Material: Bone​​​​​​​
Nut Width: 43mm / 1.7"​​​​​​​
Position Inlays: Pearloid Fret Dots​​​​​​​
Binding: N/A​​​​​​​
Side Dots: White​​​​​​​
Truss Rod: Dual Action 2-Way

Electronics
Bridge Pickup:
 Dog Ear P90​​​​​​​
Middle Pickup: N/A​​​​​​​
Neck Pickup: N/A​​​​​​​
Switching: N/A​​​​​​​
Configuration: S
Special Electronics: N/A

Hardware
Bridge:
 Adjustable Wrap-Around Wilkinson​​​​​​​
Hardware Finish: Chrome​​​​​​​
Machine Heads: Die-Cast ​​​​​​​
Pickguard: Black

Miscellaneous/Special Features
Strings:
 D'addario EXL110 ​​​​​​​
Weight: 3-3.5kg / 6.5-7.5lbs

Accessories
Included Accessories:
 Instrument Cable, Truss Rod Adjustment Key, Bridge Adjustment Key, Picks ​​​​​​​
Optional Hard Cases: REC350BK
Optional Bags: ​​​​​​​HGBAGST, BAGST

(17450)


Reviews (20)

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AP54J Vintage. Awesome budget guitar

By: on 29 November 2024
Guitar looks amazing, has a really nice finish. Has a nice weight to it, pickup sounds great and is really versatile. Neck looks and feels nice. Needed a very minor action adjustment but otherwise perfectly playable out of the box. Highly recommended, doesn't feel like a cheap guitar at all.

Artist Guitars Response
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. We look forward to your next purchase.

AP54J vinatge

By: on 5 August 2024
Prompt delivery, packaged well to protect the guitar. Faultless finish with quality equipment fitted. Played well straight out of the box. Keen to add more Artist guitars to my collection

Artist Guitars Response
Thanks so much for your feedback! Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.

Cool guitar

By: on 3 August 2024
Really fun to play. I changed the pick up and put a string butler on it. It feels great to play. Looks really nice in real life.

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

Excellence in rock.

By: on 5 July 2024
Very happy with this guitar, i have high end American guitars that do not vibrate as much as my AP54J when strummed . it is excellent for Rock and for everything else. My new favorite guitar .

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

Real BANG for buck.

By: on 21 May 2024
I got this for our music therapy room basically so that teens, often with poor coordination, can bash away at it and hopefully stay off of my Artist Black58DLX. Instead I find myself bashing away at it. It's just a lovely chunk of wood. It hangs well around my neck, the neck is way better than you'd expect for this price. I like the pickup, unless you need a really thick multi-pickup sound, it has enough bite and it cuts through. I had an Epiphone Les Paul (with two pickups) and this is a much better feeling unit. 100% intonation and action perfect out of the box. The only reason I am not completely surprised by it is that I now have 6 Artist guitars or basses and so I have high expectations. If you are interested enough to be reading the reviews, it's time to buy one.

Artist Guitars Response
Thank you so much for your review! Please let us know if you have any questions, we are always here to help!

Be prepared to do some work

By: on 9 March 2024
I purchased my AP54J after playing one that my brother had already bought, due to how nice his felt straight out of the box, despite a few small issues (buzzy bridge, loose input jack). When mine arrived the action was insanely high, the intonation was super off, but it didnt have any of the other issues the previous one had. After doing some minor setup steps (truss rod adjustment, lowering the action, redoing the intonation) it now plays very well and I'm quite happy with it, however a similar issue appeared on my bridge on the A string, where if you take the action too low, it'll start buzzing acoustically, but as doesn't come through the pickup, it doesn't really bother me. If you are a complete beginner or buying for a complete beginner, avoid this specific model, I'd go for one of the cheaper strat clones, however if you dont mind doing some setup, and also the fact that it is a heavy guitar, this does the job well for the price.

Artist Guitars Response
Thanks so much for your feedback! This really helps us a lot to improve our products. Please note that all our products are covered under the customer satisfaction guarantee that has 100 days of free returns plus 3 years warranty. Feel free to reach out to us for further assistance. Cheers!

Artist AP54J Vintage Burst Electric Guitar w/ P90

By: on 23 January 2024
First up, shipping was fast and the guitar arrived safely. The body is beautifully finished in a tobacco burst style and looks great. The guitar was set up well, and intonation was about right (easily changed with the adjustable bridge) P90 pickup sounds good, although I will possibly change it in future. Machine heads are fine and stays in tune. Great value and an enjoyable guitar to play

Artist Guitars Response
Thank you for your review. We truly appreciate it.

Nuggety Little Beastie

By: on 19 December 2023
I bought this for a bit of a toy. Wanted a P90 driven guitar. It’s really good fun, plays nicely and has a solid feel with a nice finish. Stays dead in tune and is simply a rocker of a guitar. I’m lucky enough to have a few high end guitars, and no, this isn’t meant to be competitively close - but - and it’s a huge but, this guitar is a ton of fun to play. It’s just great fun. For the money it’s a steal.

Artist Guitars Response
Thank you so much for your review. We truly appreciate it.

A very good guitar at a great price

By: on 10 December 2023
This is in my opinion primarily a guitar made for rock. It won't give you the ringing clear notes of a stratocaster or the twang of a telecaster but its P90 style pick up is well suited to rock music. When it comes to hum, my pickup is very quiet which is a pleasant surprise as some P90 pickups can be on the noisy side. There's a lot to be said for the simplicity of a one pickup guitar in that it allows or even forces you to focus on how you are playing rather than worrying about lots of options. You can of course vary your tone by where you pick and strum - close to the bridge for a brighter tone and closer to the neck for a less bright tone. The tone knob has a very usable range before the sound becomes too muddy, it's quite impressive and much better than what I have experienced when rolling off the tone on Epiphone & Gibson guitars. The volume knob on my guitar was a bit scratchy when I first plugged it in but after rolling the knob back and forth about 20 times that went away. I did notice that the volume knob was sitting higher off the body in comparison to the height of the tone knob off the body. It was a minor difference that probably wouldn't bother most players but it bothered me enough to change that knob for a similar spare knob I had lying around and the difference is now gone. Other than those two minor issues with the volume knob everything else with my guitar was fine. The body fit and finish is very good. The neck heel fit into the neck pocket on the body is excellent and better than what I have seen on many Fender guitars. The nut is cut very well in terms of both the depth of the slots and the spacing of the strings. There is plenty of room to spare for both the high and low E strings from the edges of the fretboard. The action on my guitar was low but not too low which is just as I like it. The intonation was fine for 3 of the strings but slightly out for the other 3 strings. This part of the set-up isn't something I would expect to be delivered at the price point of this guitar. I will adjust the intonation to my liking when I change the fitted strings for my preferred brand and gauge of strings. The tuners are adequate but I will change these out for locking tuners which is just a personal preference for faster string changes. I also intend to apply Danish Oil to the back of the neck which comes in a satin and somewhat unfinished condition. Again this is just a personal preference as I like the back of the neck to feel smooth and polished. It's neither a heavy guitar or a light guitar - I suppose you would call it medium weight. I'm very happy with the sound of the guitar when adding a bit of overdrive it really does rock with a lot of body and fullness to the sound. This is a guitar that you don't have to worry about taking out to jam with friends or play in a pub. It looks great, it's tough as it is made of mahogany and if someone was to steal it then you haven't lost a precious instrument. This is excellent value for the asking price; it would still be great value even if it was $150 more.

Artist Guitars Response
Thanks so much for your positive review! We appreciate the support. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.

Great guitar with great price

By: on 2 October 2023
This is the best guitar ever made with so many good quality of features to start with my guitar learning skills and my music journey. Amazing work done by Artistguitars

Artist Guitars Response
We are glad to hear that you are happy with our product. Thank you for sharing this feedback with us and for the support!

The Only Thing Entry Level Is The Price

By: on 11 April 2023
I have had the AP54J for several weeks now and I am super impressed – this guitar is fantastic! I just wanted a no-frills P90 guitar, and based purely on its price, no-frills was what I was expecting. This, however, is a beautiful looking and really well-built instrument. I thought it might feel and play “cheap”, but this guitar feels great, plays well and the tonal range is awesome. The P90 pickup is way better than I was expecting. The bolt-on neck is fine – the guitar has nice sustain and tuning stability is pretty good. It is hard to believe that such a simple and inexpensive guitar is capable of sounding so good from bright, jangly chord strumming, to big heavy riffs and great lead tone. I love this guitar - not only does it look awesome and is it fun to play, but the sound and the versatility of this instrument is amazing.

Artist Guitars Response
We are pleased to hear that the guitar has exceeded your expectations. Thank you for your purchase and for leaving a review.

Cool Junior style Guitar 5 Star Rating

By: on 23 March 2023
Purchased this guitar for very good student I am teaching....He wanted a Gibson LP junior...but did not quite have the funds. So I saw this AP54J advertised for $229.00 and thought it would a good start for him...as at the price...he was happy. BUT !!!!! When I saw the guitar....I was knocked out at the quality of it.... Here is my Review... Stunning paintwork....very nicely finished.....with a nice vintage burst. Very good P90 pickup dog-eared style....puts out just over 9k resistance...so quite a bit of power here. The neck has medium frets...extremely smooth straight out of the box...with no rough edges....very very good quality frets. The neck is a very nice c shape...just enough chunk to give it that vintage feel...and good tuners fitted. The intonation was spot on out of the box...and was instantly playable. I have never seen a guitar of this quality for the price.....so.....well done by Artist guitars...for a stunning junior at an affordable price. My student was delighted at having a quality junior....his favourite guitar....in his hands...for a price he could afford to have his own guitar. PROS......Get one....as they say...."TAKE MY MONEY"....Best value guitar I have seen. CONS....Absolutely none.....

Artist Guitars Response
Thanks so much for your awesome feedback! We are glad that you love this guitar. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us should you have any questions, we are always happy to help!

100% Worth the punt

By: on 11 March 2023
The price was right to be worth a gamble on a single P90 guitar and I'm happy to say it paid off. A pleasure to play and great tone from the P90, I'm not surprised they sold quickly. I can say that the AP54J and the Grungemaster are my favourite two Artist guitars to date.

Artist Guitars Response
Thank you so much for the awesome review. We're very glad to hear that from you. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to contact us. Cheers!

A great version of an old classic Blues/Rock guita

By: on 6 March 2023
I received my Artist AP54J based on a Gibson LP Jr and am stoked. This simple but elegant single P90 pickup single cutaway is a raw Blues/Rock machine. I love the 'growl' from the P90! It plays nice too. I also have a HB DCjr in 'TV yellow'. It's nice but I prefer the Artist, even if it has a bolt on neck. Fender still does it after 70 years! No problems. Nice unpainted back satin neck with good playability. I only did a minimal setup and the Wilkinson wrap over bridge gives you perfect intonation. It joins my Falcon which also arrived to join my Artist guitar collection. Love it Well done (again) Artist!

Artist Guitars Response
It's our pleasure and thank you so much for taking the time to leave feedback. We really appreciate the support!

Single cut above the rest

By: on 18 February 2023
So again Artist have come up with a quality affordable option based on (we all know ). After a set up which is and should be expected, the AP54 is as sweet as any guitar in my collection. Plays and sounds killer with the single P90 along with the benefit of no pick up option paralysis. Tone, volume and an amp are all you need to make this thing work in any genre or style of music. Value is unbelievable IMO..

Artist Guitars Response
We really appreciate it for taking the time to leave feedback and are glad to know that you are happy with our products and services.

Nice Cheaper Version of a LPJr

By: on 23 January 2023
I'd pre-ordered this guitar as it's one guitar type I'd never owned, so I was looking forward to it. The initial plans was to have a more regular honey colour in the centre (like Gibson and Epiphone), whereas what ended up being was almost a tobacco burst instead. Still a nice looking guitar though. The guitar was setup perfectly out of the box (nut height, intonation, fret ends) and I was really impressed with this. The pickups are OK, I would have liked them with a bit more gain, but they're OK. One thing that looks a bit out of place is the bare neck (well it's covered in clear). I probably would have finished it in the same colour as the back. The necks finish is also a little grainy around the heels which I look care of with some 400 grit and polish. The neck isn't huge, but not thin either. I would have gone with a thinner 60's tapered neck. The necks also a screw in, much like the epiphones. I would have paid extra for a glued in neck. Minor things really when you look at the price of this. There's something to be said about a simple one pickup guitar.

Artist Guitars Response
We truly appreciate your feedback and input about the guitar. Thank you for your detailed review about it.

Absolutely stoked :)

By: on 9 January 2023
Anyone who follows the Artist Guitars Designer Facebook group may have noticed that I've been pitching for agess for this guitar to be made. I was absolutely stoked once it appeared in the initial survey of possible models to be made. I voted for it as many times as I could. Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised when my fiance bought me this guitar for Christmas. Feels nice, great weight to it (without being too heavy). But all in all, I just love the simplicity of the single bridge pick-up. My only issue is that the P90 can be a bit noisy when playing high gain stuff (Metal & punk etc), but adding a noise gate to the signal chain pretty much solves that issue. Perhaps a BullBucker version could be introduced down the stage. But as an overall "jack of all trades" guitars which can be applied to a wide range of genres, the AP54J is a must have!

Artist Guitars Response
We are happy to hear that you loved your Christmas present. Thank you for your good review about the guitar.

A great value version of the LPJr

By: on 4 January 2023
Received my Artist AP54J and it was better than I expected. Basically OK to play straight out of the box. Being fussy I did a slight adjustment of the bridge and saddle for intonation and lowered the nut slots slightly. Plays beautifully and holds tune well. Love the raw blues/rock sound of the single P90. With just a touch of drive it breaks up nicely as the volume control is increased and cleans up nicely as the volume is reduced. Solidly built and the bolt on neck is just fine and stable. For the price I can't recommend it any higher.

Artist Guitars Response
We really appreciate it for taking the time to leave feedback and are glad to know that you are happy with our products and services.

Brilliant little rock machine

By: on 3 January 2023
I preordered this little beauty a while ago. And it was definitely worth the wait. I cannot believe how good this little beast is. Was it playable out of the box? Absolutely yes. If a beginner was gifted this guitar, they could have tuned it up and played immediately. The intonation was even pretty close. And the string height at the first fret was spot on. No nut filing required. So cowboy chords for beginner fingers would be nice and easy. But, while watching a movie one night, I set it up to my liking. Removed strings. Polished the frets with 0000 steel wool to remove the slight scratchiness. Very lightly oiled the fretboard. Changed strings to my preferred gauge. Tuned it down my preferred half-step. Re-adjusted the neck relief and intonation. Then adjusted the action my liking (low and fast). It sounds absolutely awesome through my Marshall tube amp and Boss Katana. And it plays like a much more expensive guitar. The overall finish and appearance of the AP54J was almost perfect out of the box. Gloriously shiny, great burst finish, nice looking grain and no sharp fret ends. Were there any flaws? If I was being super picky, I'd only be able to name 3 things. Slightly scratchy frets (only noticeable when bending), very minor tooling marks above the 22nd fret on the bottom E string (beyond playable range anyway) and the matte finish on the back of the neck was a little rough to the touch on one part of the neck (but this disappeared after playing for a while). If you want a fun little rock guitar, then the AP54J is one you should really consider. And if you're looking for a first or beginner guitar that's a bit different, this is really worth a look. I really can't give this any less than 5 stars. Great job Artist Guitars. The AP54J is an absolute cracker.

Artist Guitars Response
We truly appreciate the detailed review about the guitar. Thank you so much.

Lefty?

By: on 2 September 2022
Any chance of any of the new guitars coming in a left-handed version?

Artist Guitars Response
I am sorry but we still do not have plans yet but we are not closing the possibility in the future.