This arrived today - won't say it's perfect, but for the money I paid (£419) I'm happy, and I can make it very nice with a little effort. The front is a very thin clear matt/satin - you can see and feel the grain in the wood, which I do like. However there are rough little specs on the finish that you can also feel - they kind of flick off with a fingernail. Anyhow I'll probably smooth it with some fine wire wood and buff it up a little. In general it feels a bit like the guitar was finished in a hurry - there's nothing awful, and I can fix it up nice, but if I'd paid the MSRP of £619 I'd be a bit pissed off to be honest. Looks better than it feels at the moment basically.
It's a very light weight guitar - the body wood is Nyatoh, which looks a lot like mahogany but is obviously way lighter. The fret board is Macassar ebony - it's very dark but not quite black, and with a bit of figuring visible if you look closely - pretty nice. Wizard III neck is slim, but not outrageously so - I find it very comfortable, I also like the look and feel of the baked maple. Upper fret access really is excellent, way better than a strat, which is one thing I was after. The black sprayed logo on the headstock is a bit heavy looking IMO, but I can live with that.
Have yet to try it plugged in, but it has the nice Dimarzio Air Norton and Tone Zone pickup combination - the pickups are set pretty close to the strings, so I'll probably want to lower them a bit. The action is set a bit high, and the guitar will almost certainly will benefit from a fret level and dress, which I can do. Not sure what gauge strings are on it, but I'll put some decent 10s on there. Maybe could do with better pots and selector switch... So a bit of work to do in general, but I think it will be a keeper.
Comments
Gorgeous guitar though. Hngd!
Happy new guitar day
Already have the guitar in bits now , it's getting a fret job and a tidy up. Not sure I want to tackle the electronics yet, but probably will when I've had a think.
I have the zebrawood version as per my avatar, and even though it needed a bit of work just like yours, it’s one of my favourite guitars ever,
it feels like the perfect working tool so to speak: very comfortable, versatile and practical.
I love the light weight.
Enjoy !
Happy NGD!
Have to admit the frets do look pretty well done, just by eye. I'll give them a closer inspection before long anyhow - it would be fantastic if they don't need work, but no probs if they do anyhow.
Cheers! I'm most happy with the look also - I think I might have picked a different finish if it hadn't been for the low price on this one, but now I've got it, it's growing on me. I know it's only a veneer, but the flame maple is very striking.
I guess jazz mainly, as that is my main thing, but also in a band that does blues, funk and pop stuff. Just from the brief time I've played the guitar (before taking it to bits lol) it actually seemed excellent for funk chord stuff. And (in a very modest way) I do hope to get into some of the current technical modern rock/instrumental guitar styles, al la Guthrie, Tom Quayle etc.
I've just put new strings on and set it up and I'll play it a bit before I tweak/upgrade it to my taste.
Mine was made in 2018 which is, according to the Ibanez Wiki, a mahogany body, yay! My neck is not as dark too.
The only thing I don't like is the knobs, they seem too smooth to me, not easy to grip. They'll get replaced when I get around to upgrading the pots etc. The frets are really scratchy too but they'll get a polish at some point in the near future, I can live with them for now.
I'll look forward to seeing how yours is after your work on it.
I've just finished re-wiiring mine - I kept the existing 5-way, but replaced the pots with 500K CTS log/audio taper and fitted a "treble bleed" to the volume - things I normally do to get guitars how I like them. On the RG it is not a job for the faint-hearted though - fine wires from the Dimarzios and the stock Ibanez switch is a delicate thing too.
Had a look at the frets - I've seen worse, but decided I would do a fret level in the end - am now finishing that job today, then I can get a set of 10-46 on there, set up and should be good.
I really wanted to keep the Ibanez 5-way wiring, so kept the custom switch - made a diagram before the re-wire, but if I'd known what a ball ache the job would be I might have thought twice. The stock switch just has little spots on a pcb to solder on to, although I believe there's a version you can buy with metal tags. And those fine wires from 4-connector humbuckers break so easily at the connection - the wiring has to be done/supported in a way that doesn't put any strain on the joints. Got there in the end though. First time I've had an RG, but yes, wonderfully easy to play, I love the guitar, and versatile also - much more than just a rock/metal speed machine.
Cheers, much appreciated!
I'm looking for a guitar of similar ilk myself, good buy for the price if you can fettle it into shap yourself.
Congrats and hngd