Reviewed by:
KissingShadows, on august 01, 2007
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: This review is for a 2007 RG550MXX made in Japan at the Fujigen factory. It has a 5 piece maple neck (25.5 in scale) with a 24 Jumbo fret maple fretboard. The neck is thin (original Wizard)! It has a solid bright yellow finish, probably my favorite feature of the guitar. It really grabs attention. It's a Super-Strat body style and is contoured for comfort. The neck heal is a Standard tilt block. The bridge is the coveted original Edge locking bridge by Ibanez, said by many, and myself, to be one of the only bridges better than an OFR. The passive H/S/H Ibanez pickups that came stock were very nice, but not my style, so I swapped them for pink and green DiMarzios (Super 3, Chopper, Air Norton). The tuners are nice and I would definitely trust them if a locking nut broke. The guitar is a 20th anniversary reissue of the 1987 RG550, a defining rock and metal guitar, so it came with many extras. The extras included were picks, a strap, a whammy bar, an Ibanez history book (very cool), and a matching yellow case! // 10
Sound: This guitar suits me perfectly, it is very dynamic and I can cover almost any style that I wish except certain variations of Jazz that I don't play anyways. I play hair metal, death metal, black metal, classical, neo-classical, blues, hard rock, prog, shred, pop, and '60s pop. This guitar covers all of this perfectly, and I wouldn't go to any other guitar before this RG for playing in the studio or live. I play this guitar through a Peavey JSX into an Avatar 212 with Celestion Vintage '30s and it sounds great for any style I need. The stock electronics are slightly noisy at loud volumes, but with the slightest touch of the noise gate feature on my amp it is all gone. I did swap pickups, but this was because I already had a guitar with pickups flavored in the style of the stock pickups, so I didn't need another. // 10
Action, Fit & Finish: When I received the guitar it was in perfect tune and the action was just low enough to not get any buzz but to be able to play any Symphony X legato style playing. It was insanely set up, and still has a perfectly warm and dynamic tone. The pickups stock were balanced perfectly and there was no variation in volume across the strings/pickups. The one complaint I have is that the frets could have been filed more on the sides, barely. The finish is insane, everyone I have played for loves it, and it is the talk of the night whenever I play. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I have been gigging with this guitar for about three months with a show every weekend, and it hasn't gotten a ding or a scratch. The stock strap buttons were awesome but I put on strap locks so I wouldn't have to Switch straps when I switched guitars. I would never gig with this guitar without a backup for obvious reasons (floyd), but in the about 15 gigs that I have played with it in, not a single string has broken. // 10
Impression: This guitar is perfect for me in every way. Every guitar I see now, I see as a backup to this. Not even 80s Jems could outplay this guitar the way it is currently set-up. The only thing I wish I had asked before I bought it was if I could get another in red. If it was lost or stolen, I was track down the guy Who stole it, cut off his fingers, inject replicating acid into his balls, gouge out his eyes, and pour silver into his ears. I don't hate anything about this guitar, nothing is bad about it. No other guitar I have ever played comes anywhere near it. The only thing I wish about it, is that it wasn't a limited model so I could get another in a year or so without paying a collector's price! // 10
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Sounds really good
in sweden these cost about the equivalent of 1800USD! so it may actually be more cost-efficient to go to usa and buy one!