All user reviews for the Ibanez RG550 [1987-1994]

Guitar factory in Japan since 1987, who gave his Ibanez acclaim by atomizing the Jackson, Kramer and ESP for a price of only 6200 francs. It was the subject of a rdition in 2000 1200 euros still "made in Japan".

Characteristic:

basswood body
wizard reinforced maple neck with button for ultra fast game
floyd rose 3 edge (do not cut the balls!)
Ibanez V series pickups japan spcifique the 550.

the reputation of this guitar is no longer, so everything is thought for maximum efficiency largely because 10 is the best round I got under the fingers ...

USE

It is an ax guitar on rock and metal, but it can do much more, thanks to the warmth of his two doubles, one can easily have his greasy blues and even sound Strat in posistion 2 and 4!
The guitar is compact and lightweight, the maple key gives an ultra accuracy of all intonation can dvelopp all possible sets of techniques!

SONORITS

Microphones for "house" the two double fared very well. They have more than me and are more versatile than EMG HZ.
The neck pickup is round while remaining prcis.
The microphone is very central and allows rcuprer crystalline sounds of a fender
The acute micro for a passive micro really the cannons! heavy distortion and solo singing, there is a lot of sustain and edge.

NOTICE GLOBAL

It is no mystery if this guitar has become a "classic", it is not for nothing. Relative accuracy of all my Ibanez 2500 euros, I do not see the difference, apart from the maple table, microphones sound as good. The handle is even better. At 1200 euros new and made in japan, the price-quality ratio is completely crazy. An essential companion for any srieux guitarist.

Bought it at a second hand guitar shop in my town (Big Deal Shop) for £285 (approx $520). I got it because I was fed up with my old guitar and wanted something better lookin and something with a locking trem.

everything - this guitar is awesome! Plays like a dream. The wuper wizard neck is wafer thin and very comfortable on the hand. The trem can take one hell of a beatin before going out of tune and even then it ain't by much. The pickups are clear and crisp and the overall tone of the guitar is superb. This guitar can really handle all styles of music.

Not much, except that the RG550 is a little on the heavy side for me anyway which makes it a bit harder to thrust around quite as violently as Vai. Appart from that this guitar is all good.

The quality of this guitar is well above average. Only one small negative point: the finash is easily damaged but when it plays this good, who gives a F**K?!

Dude this guitar rocks!!!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Bought this from a second-hand music shop in my town for £285 (approx $520). Wanted a cooler lookin guitar and something with a locking trem.

This guitar is awesome. The neck is wafer thin and is extremely comfortable on the hand. Trem takes a hell of a lot of abuse before going out of tune and even then doesn't go out by much. The pickups are very clear and sounds amazing. Great guitar!

Not much. I find it a bit heavy to thrust around too madly but lighter than a les paul, but apart from that its all good.

The quality of this guitar is very good but the finish is easily damaged.

Dude this guitar rocks!!!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the Ibanez RG 550 in ABC Music Esher. I bought it for use in my band. i bought it above other ones because of its looks and also i know about Ibanez's good reputation. I paid 600 pounds for it with a hardcase.

The 550 has great looks - the headstock, the body, and especially the neck. Its got great pickups for heavy rock guitarists and its a 5 way switch for the H-S-H pickup system. The floyd rose seems to be working great for the time being, and the fine tuners work great.

Nothing

All very good.

Great guitar. Little expensive. Buy it if you can afford.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this guitar off ebay.co.uk. Well kind of i actually saw it there then went to the guys house and bought it off him for £260 ($350 roughly??)

Originally I only bought this guitar because it was so cheap and I was going to sell it on to a friend for a lot more than I paid.. he isn't getting it though

The finish was black, black scratchplate with white binding and looked supreme (even though it was second hand and obviously heavily played) there was a "shock crack" on the point beside one of the cutaways but it was hairline thin and you could only see it if you got the light to reflect off it.

The neck was maple and although it had been played so much that the wood had worn through the frets were fine although I was told that it hadn't been refretted and it certainly doesn't need it. Continuing with the neck.. It is beyond comprehension, it is just too good, too fast too nice.. and because it looks "played" it looks even BETTER.

Ibanez make the best necks in the world bar none and I either own or have owned most decent guitars out there from Gibson Les Pauls to Jacksons.. It beats them all into the ground with a massive wooden stick in the shape and size of Delaware

The pickups in this guitar have all been changed with the exception of the middle pickup which seems to serve NO useful function whatsoever it just shouldn't be there, there is NO point. Although I must say the originals were most impressive anyway, indeed I feel I have lost out on some things by changing them, the bridge pickup is "too" treble-ly and has lost some of the crunch it once had

The neck pickup has been replaced with the much superior Ibanez USA pickup from a custom built RG570, The bridge pickup I'm not so sure about, it isn't original but I don't know what it is although it sounds like a Kent Armstrong..

In general appearence this is one of the most shockingly beautiful guitars i have ever owned, mainly because it looks played, it reminds me of the ESP KH2 they released for a while which was basically an exact copy of Kirk's own guitar he used on tour with the "beatupness" and everything. But also because RG's can't help but look good.

She stays in tune very well and the tone and volume controls have a big range, they don't just explode into life as soon as you touch them, it's more gradual which is nice for cleaning up the noise.

It is SO versatile, it can produce some cracking sounds and is superb for heavy rock and metal.



There's not a lot to dislike here but I'll be as brutal as I can..

The Floyd Rose, I hate them with a passion anyway and i never use the trem, it's a pain in the ass to restring this guitar, that isn't the fault of Ibanez though. However the spring tension can be a real balls to set correctly if you change your strings to another gauge.

The trem arm itself is also "lower" than most and you cant make the strings go "SLORKCHURGH" by pushing it right down as it touchs the body long before this, although to be fair the good old "SLORKCHRUGH" sound isn't exactly the most healthy thing to be doing to your nice new Ibanez..

The volume / tone controls... the original "plastic dials" really annoyed me, I don't even know why exactly, they are just "bad" i replaced them with metal "domes" which are easier to use if you want to do any volume swelling tricks or anything.

It doesn't have a great blues tone or country sound, well mine does thanks to the bridge pickup, even though I dislike country music more than straddling cheesewire and lunging with a fantasticlly large sense of purpose, but the stock model doesn't.

Supreme... the neck is.. "The good neck" and every other guitar neck ever made on every other guitar ever made is "The bad neck" it is as black and white as that, SHOCKING...

The volume controls suck, change them for the sake of a few bucks, they look cheap anyway..

The Floyd Rose is actually a Floyd Rose and not one of the Ibanez Low-TRS fake Floyd Rose things or a "Floid Rowse" this is good, even though I hate them anyway, as it is better than the alternative.

This guitar has been banged around and it has a few "dings" "scrapes" and "scorps" but it's no worse for wear although I nearly urinated myself with horror when i saw that the laquer around the bolts that hold the nut on had "cracked" thankfully the wood was fine though.

Quality Japanese made instrument..

Excellent guitar, It's my "first" guitar at the minute leaving my SG, Les Paul, Two other "lesser" RG's and Kramer in their cases. I don't want to give this guitar full marks because that makes this review seem pointless as "everyone gives their guitar 5 out of 5" if i could give it 98% i would but I can't so it's getting a 5.

Buy one, please...

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I am a huge RG collector. I have an original RG550 from 89 and 91. When the reissue was announced I knew I would have to get one. These are for all intents and purposes very faithful reissues. Basswood body. Maple neck. Access neck joint. IBZ pickups. Edge pro bridge. Japan made. Ibanez really decided to do these right. To my eyes these look like time machines. Literally everything is exactly correct. I rarely give a perfect rating but the vibe says it is.

UTILIZATION

At the time of production these were made to be the best shredders you could find. The Wizard neck still holds up today as a favorite with shredders. It's a wide thin design made for easy scale runs and all that good stuff. You either love it or hate it. The fret access with the originals was not as good because of the block heel. These have the newer access heels which solve that issue. The Edge Pro is possibly my favorite bridge of all time, and fits this guitar perfect. It's very playable and the setup is pristine. While I have babied my reissue since I got it, I have no doubt that it would stand up to heavy touring.

SOUNDS

Despite my historical dislike for stock Ibanez pickups, these RG550 ones have always had a bit of magic to them. Seems like a lot of players like how versatile they are. Personally I put some bare knuckles in mine but that's not a knock against the stock ones. They are quite good just not quite my flavor. The wiring in these is fine and I didn't feel the need to gut it.

OVERALL OPINION

I am truly impressed with how accurate these are. It's like a true time machine. In fact I would say these are better overall than the originals. The Japan factory is doing some great things these days and they did this guitar a lot of justice. If you can find one of these, please pick it up. It's worth every dime. Who says hair metal is over? I use mine for everything.

Made in Japan, the RG 550 DY owns a maple neck consists of 24 frets. the pickups are Ibanez V1, V2, S1 branch standard (I changed ibanez pickups by 2005). it has a floyd rose ibanez EDGE and electronic and consists of one volume, one tone and a 5-way switch. is one of the row that Premire and designed in colaboration with STEVE VAI including the handle, the floyd and color (found on JEM77DY of course)

UTILIZATION

The handle is worthy of the firm ibanez because this one has and finest. there is excellent access to acute. PSE this one a good 4KG therefore relatively heavy for a sound both heavy and hot with lots of sustain. the floyd when he has, it's madness. Disagree impossible to live, you can go like a fury, he always returns to its original position (something you can not find the current row, I know I have 4).

SOUNDS

Ideal for mtal is shred, this guitar is not made at all for the blues and others. gives its enormously fat and heavy. GNX3 a branch, the metal is de rigueur (DIGI thank you ....). branch of a GT8, clean sounds leaves you speechless (thank you B.. S)

OVERALL OPINION

I now use this guitar since 1997 and I can say it does nothing possde a RG current. that is now pass collector and is quite expensive to acquire. if one day ibanez are able to reproduce the SERIES (RG) with the same Features and finishes year 86, so I took a crdit to buy the stock.

This is the revision of the original, extremely successful RG550. The RG550 was around for so long that I once thought it would never be changed, and ironically, not much has changed on this model. The biggest difference is that this has the new Edge Pro tremolo, but aside from that, it's nearly the same guitar. The guitar features a basswood body, a maple neck with a maple fretboard, 24 extra jumbo frets, dot inlays, an Edge Pro tremolo, HSH configuration, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

The guitar had some good fretwork. The ends were nicely rounded, and the frets were crowned properly. The maple on this looks pretty nice as it had some good wear on it. This was a used guitar, after all. The neck on these guitars are very thin, but it wasn't quite as thin as the original RG550 as this was a Prestige model. The Edge Pro is a great trem, but it's a bit stiff compared to the previous Edges. One thing worth noting is that, to get the action I want, the trem had to be lowered a bit. That means a limited pull up. To counteract that, I had to shim the neck a bit to get the pull up I wanted along with the action I wanted.

SOUNDS

The guitar had some aftermarket DiMarzios installed in it. It ha an X2N in the bridge, a Chopper in the middle and a Tone Zone in the neck. It's a slightly odd combination, but this is very similar to what Michael Romeo is now using. The X2N in the bridge is SUPER hot. It's easily one of the hottest pickups I've ever come across. Tons of harmonics and very "in your face." The overall tone is fairly even with a slight high end bite going on. Great for high gain, but it kinda lacks some dynamics. The Chopper in the middle was cool, but it wasn't really doing anything for me. The Tone Zone in the neck was super hot, and it could pull off some sick solos. It also split nicely with the Chopper middle pickup, but I felt it was just a bit too hot for me.

OVERALL OPINION

The guitar is a great guitar, and if you can't find a good deal on an RG550, try looking at the RG1550. These guitars will have less wear, and if you can deal with the Edge Pro, they'll probably be a better overall guitar, especially in the fretwork area as they're Prestige models.

Guitar factory in Japan
24 jumbo frets wide
2 double pickups neck and bridge (on mine they are Di Marzio Evo)
Edge vibrato first generation (much better and manageable, I think, that the Lo Pro Edge)
One volume, one tonalitbr /> A super flat profile Wizard neck

UTILIZATION

Channel trs enjoyable, though a little too late
Access in acute carrment assassin
Ct comfort, we are not far from the stratum. The guitar is lgre and balance.
The sound is great with distortion (metal, fusion, crunch)
The clean sound is a bit anmique despite Di Marzio of mine. Trs quickly you fall in casseroles fawn Neptunes sound (especially the positions intremdiaires). Position on the grave, there is a fawn's "Sisters" Mister Vai.

SOUNDS

I use this guitar to work at home. For a certain type of distorted sounds, it is happiness (shred, modern rock).
I play it with a 5150, or POD.
Satus sounds are not really fat, but trs dynamic and powerful.
Again, the clean sounds are quite varitisant. You have to love.

OVERALL OPINION

I have over 10 years.
Particulirement like mine because it has knocked around, and it looks trs "reliququot, which gives it a vintage sduisant. Well, the color is when Desert Yellow even a little hardcore.
I bought OCCAZ of Pigalle on a head shot for next to nothing.
They can be found for very little, like 400 euros, and for that price they are good guitars trs. Say anything!

Most people know the x550 series to have a maple fretboard, and the RG1550 is no different (despite what the above graphic is trying to show). The main difference between this and the RG550 would be the overall quality and the new trem. The guitar has a basswood body with a maple neck, maple fretboard with 24 frets, dot inlays, an Ibanez Edge Pro tremolo, HSH configuration, all access neck joint, one volume, one tone and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

The maple fretboarded models, to me, look better. They just seem to stand out a bit more for whatever reason. The frets were in great condition, and the ends were nice and round. They didn't cut your hand when you moved up and down the neck, and that was great as some guitars can really destroy your hands with their shoddy fretwork. The frets were also nice and level, so you could get some consistent action without any fretting out. The bridge on this is a great bridge, and I'd rate it up there with some of the best in the world.

SOUNDS

The guitar had two PAF Pros installed in it, along with a Blue Velvet in the middle. The PAF Pro in the bridge is great for that open hard rock kind of tone. It stays clear and uncompressed under gain, but I find it to be a bit undynamic or linear sounding. There are times when I miss that compression, too. The neck was much better as the uncompressed sound tended to lend itself to being more clear overall, and you could get some great, clear lead lines going on. The Blue Velvet split nicely, and I was able to get some cool funk and clean tones without any issues.

OVERALL OPINION

These guitars benefit a good bit by replacing the pickups. Once you do that, you'll get one very solid player. They tend to have better fretwork than the RG550, but I find that the RG550s seem to have a bit more mojo than certain other reiterations of the guitar. The RG550 also tends to be a good bit cheaper than this, but it all depends on how the market is going at the time. Regardless, fairly solid buy.

The Ibanez RG550 was pretty much the archetypal shredder's guitar of the late eighties, so when I had a chance to rescue an abandoned one to add to my stable... I couldn't say no! This one was a 1991 with the pre AANJ 4 bolt neck heel. It was made in Ibanez's Fujigen plant in Japan. The features are as follows:

*Basswood body
*Maple neck and fretboard
*Ibanez Edge double locking tremolo
*H-S-H pickup configuration
*Volume/tone controls and a 5 way selector switch
*The famed uber-thin Ibanez "Wizard" neck profile

The pickups were made by DiMarzio for this particular guitar (as has been common for a long time with Ibanez) and they were definitely eighties in their tonal nature. The bridge was a double locking Ibanez tremolo, so you could very easily go nuts with the vibrato unit and it would still hold perfect tune. It's definitely a guitar that was designed to push the limits... especially for those seeking a killer shred guitar!

UTILIZATION

The guitar was designed to be like a Japanese weapon... light, stealthy, and deadly. It's an extremely light guitar (due to the sculpted basswood body) and fitted my (smaller) body frame like a glove. It was very easy to hold and play (even for extended periods of time) because of its light weight and the ergonomics of it were obviously a key point to the designers. The Wizard neck profile is definitely something that is meant for fast, fast playing. It took me a little while to get used to because it was MUCH thinner than any Ibanez or other guitar that I'd owned previously. The biggest issue I found with the neck was that it would occasionally start to give me hand cramps (after long periods of time) simply because I wasn't used to a neck that was that thin in diameter. Reaching the top frets was a non-issue because, again, the design was made so that you could get to that top 24th fret without a problem. In addition to the cutaways being very deep, the neck plate was angled slightly forwards so that the guitar had an easier grip when you were up higher on the neck... definitely great for shredding on.

I found it very easy to get decent tones with the guitar. When I was given it, the guitar was in rough shape and had been left outdoors and in wet conditions... so I was shocked that the pickups/electronics even worked! However, I didn't even need to touch up any solder joints... everything worked great! The tones were very fitting of a guitar like this. It didn't excel at anything but the high gain thing, but that high gain thing why it was marketed in the first place!

SOUNDS

When I got the guitar, I was using a rig centered around a Mesa Studio Preamp (Mesa Mark IIC+ head in preamp form.) into a 4x12 cabinet. For comparison, I also had a 1987 Ibanez 540R, a 2010 Charvel San Dimas USA HSS, and a 1997 Yamaha Pacifica 604W that I was using as superstrats around that time. I found the 550 to be the most modern sounding of any of them...

The clean tones were not bad. Certainly not as good as a Strat or Tele, but considering that it was a basswood guitar with high output pickups and a locking tremolo, I thought they were decent! There was a nice chime to the clean tones when you split the coils using the 5 way selector switch, which sounded very good for that processed, wet eighties clean sound. It's not the type of clean tones I'd recommend for jazz or country type sounds though...

There was really no middle ground as far as low/mid gain tones went. The pickups were quite high output and really just sounded weak to me at lower gain levels. That might have had to do with the woods or bridge as well.

The high gain tones of this guitar were definitely its strong point. The neck pickup was great for solo tones ala Jason Becker or Yngwie, and the bridge humbucker went from that more processed sounding L.A rock tone to the more modern chunk tones of more recent times. It cut through very well in a band mix and I thought that it was a very nice complimentary tone to my Gibson LP or other superstrat guitars. It was more modern sounding than my Ibanez 540R and had a much tighter sound than my Charvel San Dimas. Staccato shred runs ala Paul Gilbert could be pulled off with ease as the tones stayed tight even at higher volumes.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall I thought the Ibanez RG550 was a great sounding guitar for that eighties shred/guitar hero vibe. The Ibanez guitars of old are killer players that really push the limits of us as guitarists. My biggest caveat was the Wizard neck... as my hands just cannot get along with one after playing a Gibson Les Paul with a baseball bat '50s neck for some time before getting this guitar.

The tones are very eighties in nature like I said. The guitar might have benefited from a pickup change at some point... but I'm not usually one to modify my guitars so really I base my opinions for these reviews on what the guitar WAS, not what it COULD have been. If you want an eighties sounding guitar that can get into some modern chunk tones and allows you to fly over the fretboard, I'd give the 550 serious consideration. Many players have used them over the years and Ibanez certainly built a serious reputation on these guitars. They're very well crafted instruments... and you can usually pick them up fairly cheaply used as well, so it's definitely a cool guitar to look into if you want a shred 'samurai sword,' so to speak.

Back in 1987, Ibanez released the RG550. These guitars had some fairly radical colors at the time, and they quickly became popular thanks to famous guitar players like Paul Gilbert. My personal model is a 1987 Road Flare Red model. Given its year, it means that the headstock is also painted the same color as the body. During the later years, the guitars had black headstocks. The later years also had the new AANJ, where as the older ones had the recessed square neck joint.

UTILIZATION

Ibanez is famous for their super thin Wizard necks and wide fretboards. This guitar comes with the standard basswood body and maple neck, but these models also had a maple fretboard -- something Ibanez still doesn't fully pursue for whatever reason. While they came with the standard HSH configuration, there are tons of pickguards out there to customize it to whatever you'd like. The stock pickups are a bit bland, and the electronics are questionable, but it's an easy fix. The biggest thing regarding these guitars is cracking behind the back of the nut. The nut is rear mounted, and given how thin Ibanez necks tend to be, along with a lot of inexperienced users out there, cranking down on the rear nut screws can result in cracking. If you're not experienced in woodworking, this can be a bit of a pain to fix.

SOUNDS

Basswood tends to get a bad rap because of some of Ibanez's budget line. It's not completely consistent at times, and there are definitely some dead sounding woods out there. However, once you find the right piece, it really sounds awesome. It's a heavy midrange wood with some neutral overtones that work awesome for lead playing. The stock pickups suck, but a pickup swap fixes that no problem. My personal model has Breeds in it, and they work really well with basswood. The Edge trem is also one of the best floyds out there, and it's a shame that Ibanez no longer makes them due to patent issues.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're looking for a wide/thin neck'd shred guitar, Ibanez is the brand you want to check out. The reissues cost quite a bit of money, and they seem to lack the "mojo" the originals had. If you hold out, you can find the original RG550s for a good deal. I actually prefer the tone of the original neck joint rather than the AANJ, but some people cannot get past the slightly hindered upper fret access. Don't be afraid to try a few models until you find one that speaks to you as the quality control at Ibanez varied at the time.