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Hatsubai « The pinnacle shred guitar »
Published on 03/17/11 at 08:03Back 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.
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.