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Y.D.P.B.C, on june 20, 2006
12 of 13 people found this review helpful
Features: There was no review for this guitar on UG before I bought it, so I figured I'd let any potential buyers know what they were in for if they wanted this guitar. This is a 2006 model Ibanez, made in Korea. There are 24 frets, on the Ibanez "Wizard" neck, which promises the playability of a thin neck, mixed with the stability of a thick one. The neck definitely delivers, it's lightning fast, but with a bit of chunk, which is always nice, it doesn't feel like it's going to snap or anything. One of my favourite features-shallow as it may be is that this guitar is very aesthetically pleasing. Rather than the usual RG finish, matt colours, which look very unnatural, we have a lovely flamed maple body (hence the 320FM), a solid maple top, and it's available in two stained finishes - transparent lavender blue (not as queer as it sounds), and amber. The body is basswood, which is solid enough, and is a bit of a comprimise tone-wise. It sits between the two ends of the tonal spectrum, meaning it can go either way, great if you're always switching styles. The RG shape is now a classic, the access is amazing, you really can get up to all 24 frets with no bother. It's a comfy shape too, it sits nicely when you're standing up, and is great when you're sitting down.
The guitar is fitted with an Edge Pro III bridge, which is a floyd rose style locking trem. I know the edge bridges get slated on UG, but it's holding up well so far. I don't know if this is because I don't really abuse the whammy so to speak, controlled dives are the order of the day for myself. The point I'm trying to make is that if you treat it with a bit of respect, nothing will go wrong. It's fitted with a set of passive "infinity" humbuckers, in a two humbucker layout, rather than the usual Hum-single-Hum layout on RGs. I was a little concerned about that at first, but more on that later. I was actually very impressed a lot by the neck item, I feel the bridge could be a bit nicer, and I'll be replacing it soon, that's probably just because I'm used to Dimarzio bridge items now. The tuners are irrelevant really, once you've got the trem locked, but they are responsive enough anyway. As for extras, I was a bit annoyed at this, I bought a gig bag for when this guitar arrived, and it already comes with a great Ibanez padded bag! It also includes all the appropriate allen keys, and the whammy bar. // 9
Sound: I know everyone on here says this, but I actually do play a lot of styles. Aside from very heavy death metal and the like (which I'm sick of at the minute), I play some country, acoustic stuff like Jack Johnson, straight up rock, average metal (say Metallica), Muse and the like, corporate rock like the Foos and Pearl Jam, and, predominantly, Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave and The Chilis. The guitar really does deliver in every department. I generally use a semi-crappy Marshall MG, and the guitar still sounds great on everything. The range comes from a very smart pickup layout, at first I thought it would just be a 3-way toggle, because it's a twin humbucker guitar, but instead, it's a five way toggle, offering the option of neck humbucker, bridge humbucker, both humbuckers, the inside coils of both humbuckers and the neck item connected in parrallel. The result is a vast range of tones, to cater for absolutely everyone.
// 9
Action, Fit & Finish: This was the only slight letdown. Nothing major, just one or two wee issues. Working on the assumption that everything else was more or less perfect, the problems were:
01. The action was too low, and the bottom strings rattled, while the top strings cut out with any bending.
02. One of the bridge saddles had falled out. Two minutes with an allen key soon sorted that out.
03. It then turned out the intonation was slightly off to begin with. This is a batty of a problem time-wise, but I was patient, because it's a new guitar after all. // 7
Reliability & Durability: I've gigged it, it's hard as nails. Nuff said. I'd gig it without a backup, easy. The strap buttons are solid, the hardware has lasted this far with no problems. The finish is tough. What I'm getting at here, is that it is a particularly solid guitar. You drop it, it bounces. // 9
Impression: As with before, I play lots of styles, the guitar churns out a suitable tone for each one. It's thick when it needs to be, thin when necessary, I love it. I don't know why this asks for how long I've been playing and why it's relevant, but that would be 18 months. Don't just dismiss this review as bullshit from a begginer now, in those 18 months I've been through 7 guitars, and my bandmate has had about the same, so I've had prolonged use on all those too. The RG320 strikes me as a great guitar. If it were stolen, I would hunt down the thief, call the Y.D.E, tell them the thief had stolen their Bucky, and watch it unfold. I wouldn't buy a new one, because I couldn't afford it, but if I had it stolen and replaced with £310, I'd definitely buy it again. The tone at the neck pickup is great, and the ease of play is great. I'm yet to see how it will perform with a really high output beast at the bridge pickup, but if it's anything like my last RG, I'm sure it will be immense. The deciding factor is definitely the Edge trem. You either love the floyd rose trems or you hate them. If you switch tunings all the time, and I don't mean drop tunings, just whole guitar changes, then it might be a pain in the arse for you, but as a guy with very very little time, it still suits me, so it should be fine for most others. // 10
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