AANJ or square heel

[Toce]

Are the AANJ beter guitars then the ones with square heel neck joint? I am asking becouse Reissue of the rg550 has square heel, and not like "newer" RG550.

[djohns74]

It's just personal preference, really. The AANJ was designed in the first place to be a "better" bolt-on system in that the heal of the guitar doesn't get in the way quite as much as a standard block heal. Many people (I might even say most) seem to prefer this newer design, but there are some who prefer the old-style heal. I know Paul Gilbert claims to prefer the block heal for tone, but really, the differences in tone are only going to be detectable to someone with very good ears, and even then, it's personal preference that decides which is "better".

As far as the reissues, I suppose Ibanez was just trying to make them as much like the originals as possible. Then again, they did include the newer 5-piece Prestige neck design, so who knows. In the end, unless you're playing on the 24th fret a lot, you probably won't notice any difference in playability between the two designs.

[brothersnowgone]

djohns74 got the gist of it. I would agree that most prefer the newer design, but I DO prefer the older joint, but it's purely for the fact that you can't see the neck heel begin from the front of the guitar like you can on AANJ bodies.

[Toce]

@djohns74

Thanx for the answer, I figured something like that myself.

OK. One more question about AANJ.

Is this normal on a AANJ guitar or is the neck slightly puled back from the body and fixed that way? Circled in red on this picture.

[Vim Fuego]

The short answer is no!
I've had a look at all my Ibbys, AANJ and square, and the only one that would have a gap like that are the RG470 and RG570 IF you took the pickup ring off the neck pickup! Maybe it's a neck from a RG570?
Jim

[gpenguins]

Originally Posted by Toce

@djohns74

Thanx for the answer, I figured something like that myself.

OK. One more question about AANJ.

Is this normal on a AANJ guitar or is the neck slightly puled back from the body and fixed that way? Circled in red on this picture.

No, that's no where near to being normal.

My first question would be is that the original neck for that body? I only ask that because I had a Japanese neck that I wanted to put on Korean or Indonesian body, and that's pretty much how it would have lined up if I'd used the existing holes in the neck. I know this is not always the case, since I've also done Japanese and Korean combos that fit just right without any problem, but that's one possible issue.

My 2nd question would be does it intonate properly?

[gpenguins]

Originally Posted by Vim Fuego

The short answer is no!
I've had a look at all my Ibbys, AANJ and square, and the only one that would have a gap like that are the RG470 and RG570 IF you took the pickup ring off the neck pickup! Maybe it's a neck from a RG570?
Jim

I'm pretty sure, and I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong here, that the neck on a 570 and 550 AANJ should be in the same position on the body, and the pickups are actually positioned slightly differently due to the pickup ring. I know for sure on non-AANJ this is the case since more than once I've put a pickguard on a 570 body and had a small gap that showed the body bewteen the neck pup and the neck.

[Vim Fuego]

^^
Ok, thanks. I wasn't sure if the 570 necks had a smaller bit of fingerboard after the 24th fret, it would be easier, as you say, to move the neck pickup a little to accommodate the pickup ring rather than have different necks.
Jim

[Rachmaninoff]

AANJ is better on higher frets, no questions about this.
But the old square feels more solid to me.
The AANJ has less wood contact between neck and body, and I guess it's bad.
If I'd play on high frets all time, I'd go AANJ.
But I don't... so I go old-school.

[OliOli]

I like the square heel a lot and it comes with the fancy neck plate on my RG550 20th...and it's no bother going in high frets territory.

This said my mid 90's DT had the AANJ and it was a joy to play.

How unhelpful is that?

[Toce]

So that gap in the upper picture is not normal, and I should not buy that guitar, right? Guy said that every thing on that guitar is original.

[gpenguins]

Originally Posted by Toce

So that gap in the upper picture is not normal, and I should not buy that guitar, right? Guy said that every thing on that guitar is original.

Well, if he only wants the equivalent of $100 or something cheap then it might be worth it just to get the LoPro and other parts. But, other than using it for parts, I'd probably stay away given the information we have right now. Do you have or can you get more pics - especially of the headstock front and back and the back of the body? Maybe a pic of the neck taken off the body if he'd go that far.

That being said, if it is all original, then I've never seen that before on a 550.

[Toce]

He wants $600, So I should definitely not buy this guitar. btw I have more pictures if needed.

[gpenguins]

Originally Posted by Vim Fuego

^^
Ok, thanks. I wasn't sure if the 570 necks had a smaller bit of fingerboard after the 24th fret, it would be easier, as you say, to move the neck pickup a little to accommodate the pickup ring rather than have different necks.
Jim

You know, my first thought was that it was a 570 with a pickguard added, which is possible still, now that I think about how an AANJ 570 would look. That would explain the small gap because the AANJ does leave a small gap underneath the pickup ring and just the curved sides where the neck joint stops the neck show, and somehow that doesn't normally show on 550s - and that's where my guess is that the pickup planement is actually moved slightly on the 550 so it will butt up against the neck.

[gpenguins]

Originally Posted by Toce

He wants $600, So I should definitely not buy this guitar. btw I have more pictures if needed.

Yeah, post more if you've got them, it's at least worth seeing.