- For a list of AR models, see Portal:Artist series.
The Artist series (or AR series) is a line of electric guitars produced for Hoshino Gakki and sold under the Ibanez brand. The first Artist models were introduced in 1973. It was one of the first series of original models by Ibanez. Prior to the Artist's introduction, the company produced mostly copies of other guitar makers' designs. Although the majority of Artist models are electric guitars, the series also included a small handful of electric bass and acoustic guitar models.
The general Artist shape is clearly influenced by Gibson's Les Paul model, but it is certainly not a Les Paul copy or clone.
Originally, the Artist label encompassed not only the now classic "Artist shaped" models, but also other body shapes like the first Iceman models and various semi-hollow models. By 1979, most of these models were offered as separate series, including the similar named Artist Semi-Acoustic series which later became the Artstar series. By then, the four digit numeral model names were also replaced with the now standard AR + numeral naming convention.
Due to popularity of the various Superstrat models introduced in the late-1980s, production of Artist models was halted after 1992. The series was reintroduced in 1996 and has remained in continuous production since.
The Artist line has spawned and inspired a number of variants, including the AX series (which debuted in 1998), the ARC, ART and ARX series in 2006 and 2007, and the ARZ series in 2011.