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Ibanez RG550 20th Anniversary Electric Guitar
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The Ibanez RG550 20th Anniversary guitar features a slim, fast Wizard neck and a maple fretboard with 24 jumbo frets for easy leads and chording. The lightweight basswood body has a sculpted upper edge for comfort. The bridge is the original Edge tremolo with die-cast saddles. Pickups include Vintage 7 and 8 humbuckers framing a high-output single coil. 5-way...
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Searched Ibanez RG550 20th Anniversary Electric Guitar in Reviews
A classic reborn 
| Sound |
The Ibanez RG550 in stock form is a little inconsistent when it comes to how it sounds. Unplugged it is a little muddy. I believe this is attributed to the basswood body, and probably the fact that the pickups are mounted on a plastic pickguard.
There is a reasonable amount of sustain for a floating Floyd Rose type guitar, and the maple fret board enables a bit of snap from the notes too.
Plug in the guitar and set the bridge humbucker, and unfortunately there is still a little bit of mud. The notes don't really cut through that well. Again I think the basswood body doesn't allow bright punchy notes like an alder bodied guitar would. The Re-issue V series pickup in the bridge just doesn't quite have enough high end, and the low end is a little over bearing. I'm planning on dropping in a PAF Pro to hopefully sort this out.
However, the neck position V series humbucker is actually quite nice. When soloing high up the fret board you get a nice rounded musical tone that just sings. I think I'll be happy with keeping the stock neck humbucker in the guitar.
The single coil is nothing special, but it does the job. Lower the pickup considerably, and split a humbucker with it and it drops your distorted sound quite considerably. Roll back the volume a bit and you've got a pretty convincing strat type chiming sound for cleans. I personally prefer splitting with the neck humbucker.
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| Action, Fit, & Finish |
The action was just as I expected from a Japanese Ibanez. Nice and low, enabling effortless playing. The frets were pretty reasonable, although they could have been rounded off a little on the edges.
I did adjust the pickups to my personal preferences, but they were only minor changes. As always, the original Edge trem is a joy, intonation was pretty job, and it was a comfortable height to allow the nice low action.
The Road Flare Red finish on my guitar is just as amazing as I expected to be. It is a colour that just cannot be captured in photos, and it truly looks like it could glow. When the guitar case was opened up to me for the first time at the music store people walking past stopped just to check it out. Gasps were heard!
The newly updated neck with the 5 piece construction and titanium reinforcement bars is amazing too. Beautifully smooth, and easy to slide around, it is a joy to play. The 20th anniversary cavity cover is a nice touch too.
There are a few issues with finish as far as I am concerned though. It is pretty well known that Ibanez quality control isn't quite as good as it once was, and that there can be little bit on a guitar that aren't quite up to their traditional level of quality.
The paint is quite thin, and I do worry about chipping it accidently. I've been pretty lucky with that so far. The thin application of paint is really apparent in the trem cavity.
Some of the insulation on the pickguard was also showing a little on the outside of the pickguard which is a bit of a shame on such a high level instrument.
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| Reliability & Durability |
Despite the few little problems I mentioned in the previous category, I think that the RG550 reissues are built to last. With the reinforced 5 piece neck, I don't even see that needing a truss rod adjustment too often. I haven't touched it since I bought the guitar. Maybe only if string gauge is changed might you need to adjust it.
The paint certainly stands a chance of chipping, but that wont really affect the tone or playability of the guitar.
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| Customer Support |
I haven't needed to deal with Ibanez with this particular guitar, but in the past they have been pretty helpful. Although parts can sometimes take a while to arrive.
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| Liked about it |
Classic looks and Ibanez playability
* Road Flare Red paint of course!
* The neck construction is amazing
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| Didn't like |
Muddy tone acoustically, and when the guitar is plugged in and using the bridge pickup
* Paint could be thicker
* The little things like trimming the pickguard insulation could have been done better
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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Great guitar!
| Sound |
The stock sound was decent. I was expecting a little more, but after I changed the pups it really came alive. I didn't have it long, but for the time that I did, it was great. Used it mostly to practice and have fun with when I wasn't working or busy. I was just using it through a Laney LC15 with no effects and it was great.
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| Action, Fit, & Finish |
Everything was perfect when I received it. Action was just right, fit was nice and finish is awesome. I had the road flare red and pictures do not do it justice. It's a beauty.
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| Reliability & Durability |
I didn't have it very long, but it seemed very reliable.
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| Customer Support |
n/a
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| Liked about it |
Loved the color and having it reminded me of days long gone. It was a great guitar.
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| Didn't like |
Stock pick-ups and case. The case was very cheaply made.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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5.0 |
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could be alot cheaper for the quality.
| Sound |
the sound is ok but not as good as the original ones.
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| Action, Fit, & Finish |
the finish is beautiful down to the new style neck. and beautiful paint.
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| Reliability & Durability |
how can it not be reliable its a japanes ibanez need i say more.
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| Customer Support |
never delt with.
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| Liked about it |
i looved that i could get a rfr rg550 now.
i love the trem never goes from tune.
i love the anniversary back plate look sweet.
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| Didn't like |
i think it could have been an exact replica of the 80 models would yhave been better.
i still thin k all ibanezes should ship with dimarzio pickups.
it cant touch the originals.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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Ibanez RG550 20th Anniversary
| Sound |
Using through a Peavey solid state amp and boss pedals and string XL120 09's. I have to say I find this guitar outstanding for the cost. It retailed at £850 in the UK but i found a website doing it for £600 inc p+p and this is the best value guitar I have purchased. The sound it creates is very good, it's almost up there with the Jem, there really isnt too much difference. Dimarzio pick ups do a great job for clean and distortion. The guitar like the Jem is built for all sorts of styles of sound. The bridge is the original floyd rose style like the original 1987 RG550's, although not as sleek looking as the Edge pro, they perform just as well, very responsive, great for flutters.
Often see people debating whether go get a Jem 555 or one of these or other prestige RG. I say forget the Jem 555 and go with an RG550. For a similar price the quality of the Japanese RG is much better and you get a good bridge instead of an Edge 3.
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| Action, Fit, & Finish |
From the factory I just had 1 change to make, 1 dead note that was fixed by intonation. What I love most about this guitar is the neck. The guitar is made in Japan like all prestige models but the work on the neck is outstanding, it is very smooth, its a 5 piece neck that looks stunning on the back with its pattern of 2 stripes leading up the neck. It's also a very flat, which feels outstanding, similar to the Jem in width, but flatter than a Jem. The Jem does have better quality on the fret work themselves but I am being very picky there.
I have the black Rg550, i did try to get a DY with maple neck but unable to get hold of one, next choice was RFR but again missed out. I don't mind though the black looks classy and as you can probably tell I am really pleased with this guitar.
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| Reliability & Durability |
Seems pretty sturdy built, no issues for me so far and I've had it 2 years now. The case isn't that durable, not like a prestige standard case, which is a shame as this is a prestige guitar so it should of been given a the same level prestige quality case.
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| Customer Support |
Not had to deal.
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| Liked about it |
1) The amazing feel of the neck
2) The quality of the work
3) The performance and look of the guitar.
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| Didn't like |
Nothing not to dislike. Abetter case would of been nice though.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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5.0 |
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internal use: spec98 spec484
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