Ibanez RG

The Ibanez RG is a series of electric guitars produced by Hoshino Gakki and one of the best-selling superstrat-style hard rock/heavy metal guitars ever made. The first in the series, RG550 was originally released in 1987 and advertised as part of the Roadstar series. That series was renamed 'RG' in 1992 and all models since are simply known as RGs.

It rose in popularity throughout the 80s and it had the features that musicians in the rising shred and thrash metal movements of that time were looking for - a fast neck, comfortable body, powerful pickups, and a reliable tremolo system.

The RG series has the most subtypes of any Ibanez model ^[1] and is the most popular series of Ibanez electric guitars produced by Hoshino Gakki. The RG's deep cutaway, flatter fingerboard and extended fret range (24 frets as standard) has made it one of the most popular guitars for rock and metal music.

Origin and name

The Ibanez RG was originally designed in 1987, the same year as to Steve Vai's signature guitar JEM 777, and perhaps RG was received and served as a derivative of Vai's model back then.

Also, there has been some confusion and mischief around the RG name. One of the popular opinion was that Rocky George (guitarist formerly of Suicidal Tendencies, currently of Fishbone), was its designer, because Rocky's initials are the same as the model, and he was one of the first famous users of the RG model. Another was that it was meant to be a competitor for Yamaha RGX. Both above are disputed. The RG in the Ibanez RG name, in reality, is now widely considered to mean "Roadstar Guitar", although current instruments differ significantly from the past Roadstar and Roadstar II series, introduced in from 1979 to 1986.

Features

Neck

The RG Series features a neck that is very thin in cross section and a wide, flatter than most (430mm/16.9in or 400mm/15.75in radius) double octave (24 fret) fretboard. Flatter radius on fretboards facilitate wider bends and lower string action at the expense of comfort in playing chords. For the virtuosic "shred" style of guitar playing or fast, aggressive thrash/speed metal rhythm, this type of neck is often preferred.

The fretboards are usually made of maple or rosewood.

Body

The body of the RG Series features sleek, offset pointed double cutaways giving better access to the upper frets. Typically the body is made of Basswood or Mahogany, with some exception such as swamp ash (RGT220A) or alder (select J Custom RGs).

Hardware

The pickups are usually configured as HSH, HSS or HH. There are Japan-Custom IBZ, USA-Custom IBZ, Infinity, Powersound, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, Acis, LoZ or EMG pickups in the RG Tremolo and Fixed series. The Prestige series typically comes equipped with either the USA and Japan IBZ series, IBZ DiMarzio pickups, DiMarzio pickups in different configurations (most often the "Tone Zone" and "Air Norton"), active EMGs in several configurations, and one model comes equipped with Non-OEM Seymour Duncans. Bare Knuckle pickups are now standard on some Prestige models.

All of the RG550s, 560s, 565s, 570s, 670s 750s, 760s and 770s have a version of the Ibanez Edge tremolo (vibrato unit), be it Original or Lo-Pro. The Edge tremolo incorporated several manufacturing changes when compared to the original Floyd Rose, including increased mass, relocated fine tuners and improved locking posts. The locking posts are no longer used as of the 2003 model year along with the introduction of the Edge Pro.

While most models of the RG series use variations of Ibanez Edge tremolo, there are fixed bridge models available, which are equipped with either a Hipshot-style bridge or a Gibraltar standard bridge. Fixed bridge versions of the Edge bridge are also available on a few select signature models.

Extra string models

Since the release of RG7620 and 7621 in 1998, RG's are famous for being the basis of particularly easy to play seven string guitars. Also, in 2007, Ibanez produced its first commercially available 8 string guitar, the RG2228.

Model variations

In addition to "standard" RG Series, there are various spin-off series of guitars available:

RGA

Arched top body shape.

RGD

Only available as 7 string variants. Longer 26.5 inch scale length.

RGR

Reversed headstocks.

RGT

Neck-through design.

RGXL

Available in 6 and 7 string variants. 27 inch scale length.

RT

More "traditional" features and look, such as non-locking synchronized style bridge.

RX

Same concept as RT, except these are 22 fret guitars.

GRG

Ibanez GIO RG, budget-line guitars.

Additionally, current RG Series is split into following versions depending on quality:

Ibanez J Custom

Highest quality Japanese made RG guitars exclusive to the Japanese market, sometimes available retail in Europe. The only source of 7-String RG's with non-IBZ branded pickups. Did not become available in the U.S. until 2011.

RG Prestige

High quality Japanese-made RG guitars which contains the RG, RGA, and most of the RGT series. Contains the higher quality model of the 7-String RG's.

Ibanez RG Premium

High quality instrument below the RG prestige series, has USA-made DiMarzio/Ibz pickups and Edge Zero II tremolos. Some models feature highly figured maple veneer.

Ibanez RG Iron Label series

Indonesian-made RG guitars that are part of the new Iron Label series, a new Ibanez lineup of guitars purposely-aimed at the metal guitarist. Standard Iron Label features include active EMG pickups, Gibraltar standard bridges, Edge-Zero II tremolo systems, killswitches, and the new Nitro Wizard neck.

RG Tremolo

RG series guitars of non-Japanese origin (Korea and Indonesia) with Floyd Rose-style tremolo.

RG Fixed

RG guitars with fixed bridges of non-Japanese origin (Korea and Indonesia).

Footnotes

References

• Bacon, Tony (2013) "The Ibanez Electric Guitar Book: A Complete History of Ibanez Electric Guitars" San Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1617134531

External links

• Jemsite - A fansite for JEM and other Ibanez guitars
• A comparison of the RG models by guitar123.co.uk