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New guitar day.

Posted: 26 Jul 2016, 08:25
by Lavabug
rg350m.jpg
Sold my 7 and got this thing in pretty good shape for cheap. I have another one in red, I quite like these guitars.

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 26 Jul 2016, 12:55
by shadowalk
:xx:
 
is that an rg350?

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 26 Jul 2016, 18:20
by Lavabug
Indeed a RG350M. I now possess two of these in the rarer finishes. The wizard 2 neck plays really nice, my other RG also has a paf pro in the bridge and it can really make any sound imaginable. This one has noticeably less fret wear too. :xx:
 
Aesthetically, this is the closest I can get to some of the RG550's without shelling out a ton to get something that isn't beat up. The edge 3 trem on these unfortunately is absolute gobshite, they do not stay in tune with any sort of use. My red RG is blocked with a brass stopper and this one actually came blocked off as well, but I've got an Edge Pro coming in the mail that I intend to replace one of them with to at least have one with a useable trem.

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 26 Jul 2016, 21:14
by shadowalk
I never tried an ibanez tremolo (or any other tremolo for that matter) so I wouldn't really know. I can say though that those indonesian-made rgs are amazing guitars as i've got two of them myself, rg321mh and rgr321ex. Both are hardtail models and one has a wizard 2 and the other has a wizard 3 but i couldn't really tell the difference to be honest.

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 26 Jul 2016, 21:26
by Lavabug
Yeah I'm sure they're on the same level of build quality. The numbered edge bridges are built with low grade materials so they wear out and track improperly really quickly. The original edge, edge pro, edge lo-pro and any other built in japan has hardened steel parts and the lore is that they are superior to the original floyd rose.
 
I just went for the edge pro as the internet claims it can fit into the edge 3 cavity with no mods/routing, so we'll see...

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 27 Jul 2016, 06:52
by jawn galliano
this is the exact same year/finish etc. as my 570: https://www.gbase.com/gear/ibanez-rg570-1998-gold-top
 
just picked it up for the first time in probably a year and it was still perfectly in tune. as floyd style tremolos go, the edge is very good :santa:

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 27 Jul 2016, 09:58
by Lavabug
Yeah everyone skeets over the original edge, it is after all what the original JEM's have and what Vai swears by. I've seen several of photos of Bill Steer, Trey, and I think James Murphy playing a 550 with the same trem. Seems like a favorite!
 
I'm hoping the edge pro is just as good.

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 28 Jul 2016, 06:41
by shadowalk
I still want a prestige with a fixed bridge though. :eyes:

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 30 Jul 2016, 09:31
by zim
how much do 550s go for

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 30 Jul 2016, 10:23
by jawn galliano
range seems to be $600-1200ish, with the $1000+ examples being relatively rare
 
eventually i'd like to get a 550 in white but i can never seem to actually find one for sale

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 30 Jul 2016, 19:04
by Lavabug
Very beat up old ones in the more common finishes like black or MYE yellow go for at least $600. Not great if you want to get one of the less common finishes like road flare red in decent condition (what I want), probably 900+.
 
There seems to have been a 550 reissued in the last couple years for the 25th anniversary. I've only seen the hot pink and neon yellow finishes, wish they'd come out with the road flare red again. These go for 600-800.
 
You could just get something like a 350 or a 450 and hunt down a superior tremolo like edge 1/edge pro/edge lopro  that will retrofit the cavity and spacing for whatever cheap modern trems they have, and have basically a 550 for under $400-500.
 
I just got an edge pro for $160 which should retrofit the 350 without mods. The fret job on the 350 is really good, almost as good as the one on the UV7BK I used to own. The only other major differences between a 350 and a 550 besides country of origin, colors and wizard I/II profiles are possibly the tightness of the neck joint (which you can fix, my red RG came a little loose) and pickups (which you'd probably want to replace anyway as most ibz's are tinny-sounding ceramics). I don't think the 550 had stainless steel frets, so the quality of materials there should be about the same.
 
Might try a Gotoh floyd for my other RG, once I take the measurements. These go for $110-150 new and are MIJ with hardened steel parts and heavy brass blocks, so stupidly high quality. Gotoh did manufacture the original Edge bridges, so they should be comparable.

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 30 Jul 2016, 21:05
by shadowalk
Overall, would it be better to go for a 550/570 or any RG from that era against a more recent Prestige/J-Custom model?

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 30 Jul 2016, 23:57
by jawn galliano
for those anniversary models, they only came in neon colors; the stock strings were also matching neon-colored.
 
@shadowalk, in practical terms it's not a huge difference really, the main thing is probably going to be which trem/color you want as it varied over the course of the original run (and the newer ones for that matter). the RG1550M/1570 are the modern-day equivalents of the old pre-prestige models, they're MIJ and spec-wise are very similar. i'd be happy to settlle on a 1550M, but i think they only make them in blue and orange.

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 31 Jul 2016, 00:06
by Lavabug
I agree with stormy. The only concern is what color and fretboard wood combination you want, that'll constrain things. If you're going to shell out $500+ then just make sure you've got one of the better trems on it.
 
Oh and if you want an AANJ type joint, the original 550's don't have it, FYI.
 
If I didn't already have an ibanez, I would have probably saved up and hunted down a deal on a 550.

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 31 Jul 2016, 15:27
by shadowalk
so i just had to post some porn
 
Image
 
that black 565 :jizz:

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 31 Jul 2016, 19:50
by Lavabug
The road flare red one <3.

Re: New guitar day.

Posted: 14 Aug 2016, 03:51
by deckard
nice