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MGR/Marc « Ibanez RG 120 »
Published on 12/27/03 at 15:00At the Los Angeles Guitar Center, I paid around $170 for the guitar hoping that the most popular & inexpensive one would be the best because I knew squat about guitars, and I wasn't willing to research the matter thoroughly.
I got was I paid for alright; an inexpensive & popular guitar, which had a name brand that was tied to many popular rock bands like Korn. Plus, the guitar looked pretty cool; churning out repetitive power-chord after power-chord hardly seemed like a chore when people saw me use it. To me, this guitar satifies every one of my narcissistic whims, gratifies my superficial pleasures, and-hey-it makes sounds, too. Groovy.
When the tendancy to stroke my own ego went away, and the power-chords I played could no longer hold even my own attention, I began to see the guitar's failings. This was, by the way, only a year after I bought it. As my sound began to mature, I noticed how terribly limited the sound range of my guitar was when played it without distortion. Not only that, but the sound was never crisp, it was always a sound closer to being muffled, or thin. The humbuckers didn't scream, or give a clear tone, instead, they gave a generic, yet almost inefficient sound. Perhaps it was because stock Ibanez humbuckers were just too cheap. Hell, then where did the money go, you might ask. Well, it certainly go to the electronics, and it certainly didn't go to the termelo bar it didn't come with, and it most certainly did not go to the tuners, which always put the strings out of tune, and it SURE IN THE HELL didn't go to the socket that is continually falling apart and becoming loose no matter how many times you try to fix it, no. Since I am naive enough to believe Ibanez wasn't trying to rip me off, I believe my $170 went to the body of the guitar, which I will discuss in the next section.
This guitar is damn heavy. You try to play it sitting down without a strap, you're legs are gonna go numb in ten minuets or less. You can tell how absolutely solid the construction is, so even if you want to smash the guitar in pieces out of the frustration you feel towards yourself from letting yourself get suckered into buying such a piece of junk, you just can't do it in one swing toward the concrete. Try it two or three times REALLY hard, then it'll break. It's not as if it even matters at that point anyway because the inner electronics are probably damaged and warped (especially the socket) so badly that by the time you go insane and want to break it, you'll only be smashing a useless piece of heavy wood shaped like a guitar.
1. Guitar Center is a horde of predators.
2. The Ibanez RG 120 is cheap... cheap in all contexts of the word.
3. It breaks on the inside, while looking shiny and new on the outside.
4. I wouldn't wish this guitar on anybody, not even a novice.
5. If I could, I'd spit in the face of the salesman that sold it to me.
6. Never EVER think this guitar is for you.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
I got was I paid for alright; an inexpensive & popular guitar, which had a name brand that was tied to many popular rock bands like Korn. Plus, the guitar looked pretty cool; churning out repetitive power-chord after power-chord hardly seemed like a chore when people saw me use it. To me, this guitar satifies every one of my narcissistic whims, gratifies my superficial pleasures, and-hey-it makes sounds, too. Groovy.
When the tendancy to stroke my own ego went away, and the power-chords I played could no longer hold even my own attention, I began to see the guitar's failings. This was, by the way, only a year after I bought it. As my sound began to mature, I noticed how terribly limited the sound range of my guitar was when played it without distortion. Not only that, but the sound was never crisp, it was always a sound closer to being muffled, or thin. The humbuckers didn't scream, or give a clear tone, instead, they gave a generic, yet almost inefficient sound. Perhaps it was because stock Ibanez humbuckers were just too cheap. Hell, then where did the money go, you might ask. Well, it certainly go to the electronics, and it certainly didn't go to the termelo bar it didn't come with, and it most certainly did not go to the tuners, which always put the strings out of tune, and it SURE IN THE HELL didn't go to the socket that is continually falling apart and becoming loose no matter how many times you try to fix it, no. Since I am naive enough to believe Ibanez wasn't trying to rip me off, I believe my $170 went to the body of the guitar, which I will discuss in the next section.
This guitar is damn heavy. You try to play it sitting down without a strap, you're legs are gonna go numb in ten minuets or less. You can tell how absolutely solid the construction is, so even if you want to smash the guitar in pieces out of the frustration you feel towards yourself from letting yourself get suckered into buying such a piece of junk, you just can't do it in one swing toward the concrete. Try it two or three times REALLY hard, then it'll break. It's not as if it even matters at that point anyway because the inner electronics are probably damaged and warped (especially the socket) so badly that by the time you go insane and want to break it, you'll only be smashing a useless piece of heavy wood shaped like a guitar.
1. Guitar Center is a horde of predators.
2. The Ibanez RG 120 is cheap... cheap in all contexts of the word.
3. It breaks on the inside, while looking shiny and new on the outside.
4. I wouldn't wish this guitar on anybody, not even a novice.
5. If I could, I'd spit in the face of the salesman that sold it to me.
6. Never EVER think this guitar is for you.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com