Ibanez RG
Last Updated on Friday, 21 August 2009 16:34 Friday, 21 August 2009 13:14
Where sheer number of sales is concerned, the Ibanez RG guitar is probably the most popular on the planet - especially in the metal fraternity. Released in 1987, the Ibanez RG was loosely based on Steve Vai's JEM/Universe series. Ibanez had actually collaborated with a variety of guitarists such as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert. Although Rocky George (Suicidal Tendencies) was an RG enthusiast, contrary to popular belief the RG does not refer to his name; instead it stands for Roadstar Guitar.
One of the first guitars in the RG series, and the one that shot Ibanez to international stardom, was the RG550. Novice guitarists often start using the budget priced RG Tremolo series, whilst at the other end of the spectrum the more experienced guitar players favour the RG Prestige Series. Made in Japan, China, Korea and Indonesia, the Ibanez RG is widely considered to have a superb quality to price ratio.
Identifying Features Of The Ibanez RG
The Ibanez RG series is characterised by the following:
- a thin neck.
- a wide, almost flat 24 fret fretboard, usually made of rosewood.
- offset pointed double cutaways.
- mahogany or basswood used for the body (except the RGT220, which used swamp ash).