The AFD40-Z is an Artfield series solid body guitar model introduced by Ibanez in 1988. It was made in Japan by Iida Gakki and sold exclusively in Europe.
The short-lived Artfield series was a line of premium guitars which offered innovations such as the new All Access neck joint, multi-ply necks and locking tuners along with three new body shapes in exotic woods.
The AFD40-Z's body shape is a non-symmetrical, sculpted, offset double-cutaway design with rounded shoulders and a short pointed lower horn with a deep cutaway and a much longer pointed upper horn. The profile shows that the entire body has an arch shape. The overall shape is somewhat reminiscent of the Maxxas series body.
AFD40 side view
The AFD40-Z has a bubinga body bolted to a mahogany and maple neck with a 30-fret rosewood fingerboard with small dot position markers. The fretboard is beveled past the 24th fret, so only the upper strings are accessible up to the 30th fret. Components include a pair of DiMarzio-made IBZ/USA pickups with humbucker at the bridge and a single-coil at the neck, an HQ synchronized tremolo bridge and Gotoh locking tuning machines.
The AFD40 is a near identical model with Bill Lawrence Ultrasonic pickups. The AFD45 is a related model with three single-coil Ultrasonic pickups and gold hardware. The AFD5 and AFD25 are related models with similar components but different body shapes and gold hardware.
The AFD40-Z was discontinued after 1989 along with the entire Artfield line.
