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View Full Version : Review: Ibanez RG420EG



ibanezjunkie
May 17th, 2009, 11:48 AM
i reviewed my amp heads, now ill review my main guitar i suppose...

right. here are the specs..

MADE IN INDONESIA
Neck: wizard
body style: superstrat
fretboard: rosewood
bridge/tremolo: Edge III tremolo
pickups: ibanez V7 and V8
locking nut: yes
inlays: sharktooth
body design: spiderweb

Price Paid: £300GBP (in january, 2009)

this guitar shreds best with insanely low action. even when the strings seem to lay flat across the fretboard, it doesnt buzz. the pickups are really good for everything from a nice clean sound to modern hi gain stuff like metallica or slipknot.

i bought this guitar back when the RRP was £425GBP but machinehead knocked down their prices on everything, because they'd had a slow xmas and needed some fast cash to invest. anyway, i was well pleased with this guitar when i got it. passive pickups of course, but still really good for hi-gain and they work almost in harmony with my DDM and my crybaby.

so heres a short lowdown:

Playability: fast, comfortable 10/10
Tuning stability: so far it has never lost tuning on me 10/10
weight: just about the right weight, perfectly balanced sitting or standing 10/10
Action: can go really low but not excesively low. 9/10
sound: sounds like a dream, especially through some nice piping hot tubes. 10/10

so its a cool 9.5/10 on it from me. brilliant guitar, and i believe theyve dropped in price recently.

marnold
May 17th, 2009, 04:14 PM
Do those V7s and V8s do cleans half way decently? I've got to find some place that has a semi-decent selection on Ibanezs and try one out. The RG1550M (http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-RG1550M) is awfully cool, but a bit pricey.

ibanezjunkie
May 18th, 2009, 09:52 AM
Do those V7s and V8s do cleans half way decently? I've got to find some place that has a semi-decent selection on Ibanezs and try one out. The RG1550M (http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-RG1550M) is awfully cool, but a bit pricey.

the v7s and 8s do pretty much everything well. they're passive (obviously, you wouldnt catch ME using actives) but they go metal aswell as stuff like jimmy hendrix, with like alot of reverb and stuff. good with a little blues drive.

marnold
May 18th, 2009, 10:24 AM
The reason I ask is because it seems that a lot of people crap on the V7s and V8s from a great height. Almost every review I read says something to the effect of "great guitar--once you swap out the pickups." Glad you have had a positive experience with them. I'll have to check them out for myself.

Katastrophe
May 18th, 2009, 11:15 PM
I liked the stock pups in my RG, and kept the neck and middle pups. I put the Invader in there because I wanted a really hot, aggressive pickup. I still have the original bridge pup.

The Prestiges are top quality. Here's a similar model, and much more affordable: http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-RG350MDX

Cool review, IJ.

marnold
May 19th, 2009, 07:06 AM
The Prestiges are top quality. Here's a similar model, and much more affordable: http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-RG350MDX
Before I got my Floyd I looked at one of those. It was set up so extraordinarily poorly at the store that it was impossible to tell if the trem would actually work or not. I also discovered that I definitely would not want a gloss black finish. As cool as it looks, the ease with which it would show smudges or fingerprints would drive me mad.

Spudman
May 19th, 2009, 08:19 AM
I've got V7 and V8 pickups in two different Ibanez RGs and they sound completely different. In the mahogany body 520 they really don't sound all that great. I've tried changing the height but they still underwhelm me.

Now in my 470 with a basswood body they sound tight, bright and articulate. Neither guitar has a pick guard so they are direct mounted pickups.

Maybe some of the dissatisfaction with the V7 and V8 come from putting them into guitars that they don't really compliment very well. I'd love to put something else in the mahogany guitar.

marnold
May 19th, 2009, 08:36 AM
I've got V7 and V8 pickups in two different Ibanez RGs and they sound completely different. In the mahogany body 520 they really don't sound all that great. I've tried changing the height but they still underwhelm me.

Now in my 470 with a basswood body they sound tight, bright and articulate. Neither guitar has a pick guard so they are direct mounted pickups.

Maybe some of the dissatisfaction with the V7 and V8 come from putting them into guitars that they don't really compliment very well. I'd love to put something else in the mahogany guitar.
Could very well be. For what it's worth, the RG1550M has a basswood body. Yep, going to have to check one of those out.

Spudman
May 19th, 2009, 08:46 AM
I forgot to mention that I asked the lead tech at the Ibanez importer about the pickup discrepancies and he said that even though they are the same model pickup they wind them differently for the guitar they go in. If that's the case then they missed the mark with the mahogany version.

ibanezjunkie
May 19th, 2009, 01:13 PM
i dont know why, but alot of people seem to have a problem with the edge III. mine is about 5 months odl and has never lost tuning on me ever. even with my dimebag dovebombs and 3 tone bends.