Ibanez RG550EX

I bought this guitar just before christmas 2001, about 6 months ago. It cost me about €1400 (US$1300) (i live in Ireland so guitar prices are high). My old guitar was a Yamaha Pacifica 112 and in many ways, the Pacifica was better.

The colour. It's described as "silver sand" in the Ibanez catalogue and this is not traditional paint as usually seen on a guitar. What theyve done is sprayed slightly purpley-silver sand on the guitar and put a "very" light laquer over it. This adds an extra bit of class to an already beautiful guitar. BUT, this proves to be a small problem. My nice new shiny guitar has a habit of chipping. I imagine there must be a magic pixie with a chisel that hides in my guitar case (complimentary of Ibanez with the 550 EX) who likes to add little dents whenever he gets the chance. Replacement paint cant be bought or replicated because every mixture of the "sand" is "unique". Damn!

The neck. For the price I paid, i expected the best, and the best is what I got. The super slim Ibanez Super-Wizard neck is one of the slimest on the plannet. Its easy, fast and long (24 frets)

The action. After I brought it to my local dealer and had it fully set-up (for €65) its almost perfect. The strings lie very close to the frets without buzzing.

Where to start...

I traded in my old cheap Yamaha Pacifica 112 for my nice shiny new Ibanez RG550 EX. I now wish id kept it as a second guitar.

Floating Bridge. The 550 comes with a Floyd Rose, Lo-pro Edge Tremolo system as standard. (this is apparently Ibanez's best system) I first thought this was a good thing. I could push the bar to the body, letting the strings drop completely and pull back a 5th of an octave... not bad u say... This might sound cool but it has some major drawbacks. If you bend a string, the other 5 drop slightly. The more you bend it, the more they drop and sound out of tune. This leads to problems with bending 2 notes at the same time. Its complicated, but once you get to know the guitar, youll understand. All 6 strings are linked to each other at the bridge. This means that when they are in tune with each other, the bridge will float on E. Its not too difficult to tune, but dropping to D is not possible. All 6 strings must be Retuned if this is done (and it wont be exactly D. Hard to understand again)

Ive heard some horror stories about tuning and restringing the floyd rose systems but in reality they're not so bad. The ball at the end of the string must be cut off and then locked in place at the bridge. 1/2 an hour max to change strings and tune which is nothing near the 2 or more hours ive heard of. A nifty neck locking system keeps the strings in tune.

About 2 months after i bought it, it developed a really anoying buzz on the 14th fret, 3rd string mostly. This is one of the most used notes in the E-blues scale. I had to spend some money getting the frets filed. (i dont think this was ibanez's fault.)Also, the bridge was off centre (i've had it fixed) which meant that the guitar was never perfectly in tune with E.

It chips very easily. A pity, because the paint job is very cool.

Built delicately using very high quality materials. The paint chips (i can't stress that enough)

The three piece neck is nothing less than perfect and stays in tune. Actually, necks are what Ibanez do best.

When I first opened the hard-case for my sister, she gasped. Its a jet black furry lined case made for Ibanez guitars, and the silver beauty sitting snuggly in its groove was shining out. Perfect. To look at, at least.

Its a great guitar, it plays well, but the tremolo is just too frustrating. There are better guitars out there for less.

Later this year im going to buy a Fender Stratocaster, something i should have done in the first place. Nothing beats a fixed bridge.

any Q's, email me at iwasneutered@hotmail.com

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

hey guys .. i needed to change my guitar man ... my ibanez GSA 60 was getting old and it was pretty beat up ... and it could handle john petrucci , yngwie malmsteen and stevie vai songs .... so one day ... i snapped . sold the guitar online and went to look for one ..... soon it was down to 3 models , a RG 550 EX , 570 EX and 620 EX ( john petrucci's signature model ) ... they were all the same price @ $1400 Singapore dollars from a shop called sweelee ... there was a 20 % off .. so i decided to buy the RG 550 EX .. @ $1160 .. with a hardcase

the RG 550 EX , 570 EX and 620 EX are basically the same .. just design diferrences .. naturally ... the RG 550 EX silver sand thrashed both of them looks wise ...the super wizard neck allows me to SHRED MIRACULOUSLY FAST ...... and its tok quality construction sure can hell take a beating ... then the low pro edge bridge rocks ! i have hit the whammy bar @ least 14 times so far and this baby din go OUT OF TUNE @ ALL .the pickups , v7 , s1 , v8 .. they ROCK !! i guess i'll be changing them to a dimarzio evolution soon ... i mean .. i love this guitar .. it's got chilling good looks and all the best features .. just modifying the pickups from good to BEST would make it the perfect guitar .

NOTHIN ! except the pickups being only good .. not best ... its abit pricey to me too though ..

ROCK SOLID ! BETTER THEN FENDER STRATOCASTER TO ME !!!!!!!!!

THIS ROCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its value for money ... and thrashes the competition . if u wan a best looking guitar ... with best features ..... its gotta be the RG 550ex

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

CHARACTERISTICS correct for the price. It's not high art in terms of violin making, because it is industrial manufacturing. But it is also cheaper 2 3 X therefore must not ask too much. Even when finishing irrprochable. I love the color silver sand (nice dress to die) I love Bolt least moving in the Premire year of use (like all Bolt for that matter). Raccordage prvoir for a while then. I love the floyd that can be pushed around lol, I love the rear hatch of ACCS hyper easy, convenient to adjust the springs! The knobs are pellets, super nice. The pickups (passive arf ...) are beautiful but do their job taken care at the cost of the machine. The weight is gnial compared to other guitars. And above all strength of the standard RG SERIES: super wizard stick: a complete success. Super fast, easy ACCS all the notes (even if I do not like the jumbo frets tro rapido that wear over time). Shred, sweep and tap at will, then, progressive friends, go for it!

UTILIZATION

ITP advice: replace the microphone by the EMG active (81 or 85) and admnage encoire more. Otherwise the original ones do a good job even when. The bridge is more cutting edge. More prcis. The handle is more runny, heavier. Rhythmic brief and lead are well distingus. The slecteur 5 positions is effective and does not change too much noise in "channel". Tone is trs sensible. In short, the report quality price ibanez in the mid-range is still an excellent compromise. I find the range between low and high survalues ​​been careful to utiliss matrial. In terms of price, I think we found it perfectly in the range RG. Major rock types, fast and mtal but ... The series is if the other sword.

SOUNDS

If the big positive is the handle ultra thoughtful ngatif the big point is the clear sound ... OK RG The series is not for a fare. With less than a round fender reverb possder death kills ki pais a double chorus, a High Level rverb and Dlay a fine program ... Zall galrer for arpges limpid and crystalline. In addition, on scne, I have a mesa boogie (rput not really for the cleanliness and neatness of clean sounds) so I would not tell ... For home, I had to invest and galrer not bad for clean sounds out of order. But with a ToneLab (the lamp gives a warm little roundness) and a multi SERIES effects (both those of the ToneLab, those of the sound card and those of cubase) it's OK ... But it takes time!

OVERALL OPINION

Qualitprix excellent (especially since it is now the only OCCAZ). Weight hyper OK! Channel gnialissime. Micros typs big rock sound, output level a little low ... beautiful dress in color silver sand. Pink Floyd and still prcis rsistant. We like the sound less clear and Bolt. The same thing with a handle and through a microphone (about 3) is warm and total happiness. Anyway, if you find one of OCCAZ, Do not hesitate too long.
a +

Ibanez made in Japan in 2002

The handle:
- Bolt Ibanez Wizard II Rabl (3pc)
- The key is rosewood 24cases
- Jumbo frets
- The radius is 400mmR
- Power cord nut
- Mcaniques oil bath

So flat handle, trs end and wide enough, known and recognized Ibanez

The body
- Basswood body amricain (basswood)
- Floating floyd Ibanez Lo-Pro Edge (Floyd Rose Licensed)
- Mirror pickguard

The floyd is good agreement trs

The electronic
- Volume 1 potentiomtre
- 1 potentiomtre of tonalitbr /> - 1 5 slecteur positision
- 3 micro Ibanez HSH configuration V7/S1/V8 home

UTILIZATION

Channel trs trs fine and enjoyable, perfect for shreddeur, close enough sleeves Jackson.
Accs aig very easy thanks to the form superstrate ', we 24me accde the box without any problem.
The sound is good but plutt a change in microphone is trsbnfique!

SOUNDS

The basswood body brings a lot of low and medium low. The pickups were changed for t ACIF EMG: EMG 81 for both H and EMG SA in the S. To place the battery, there is room between the two potentiomtres.
So its a pretty aggressive, good in plutt distortion, but not great in the clear, however, it is all the same dbrouille trs well.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 1 year, j'apprcie the handle, very easy to play and easy to aigbr CASC /> qualitprix The report is excellent, and I would do without this choice h Siter