Hey,
I've been playing guitar for just about 7.5 years, and for the longest time my primary guitars have been a BC Rich Bronze Mockingbird and an ESP M-207. I've had these guitars for quite some time now and I've decided to invest in a better axe. Eventually, I will have a better quality of guitar in both the six and seven string categories, but I have first decided to upgrade my six-string as I feel the BC Rich I have is a lot less viable as a six string than the ESP is for a seven-string.
The decision to go with Ibanez was quite an easy one as I have played many different Ibanez' and they are just simply better than anything else I've ever played. A friend of mine (who has, I think, 7 different Ibanez guitars) also did a little bit of convincing.
With that being said, I wandered onto the Ibanez website and, after a couple of hours of researching, have decided on one of two guitars. I'm going to go with either the RG3570Z or the RG3550MZ.
The thing is, I can't easily reach a decision between the two. Looking at the specs of the guitars on Ibanez' website, they seem to be nearly identical, aside from the fact that the 3550 has a maple fretboard and a pickguard. I have tried to look up different articles on both guitars, but it seems that resources are limited (I'm going to assume that, from this information, that these two models are relatively new). They are both the same price ($1499.95 USD), are composed of the same body wood, possess the exact same neck, etc.
So, I guess my questions are: Has anyone played either of these guitars? What are the differences between the two (aside from the obvious fretboards, pickguards, neck binding, color, etc.)? Which one would you rather invest in?
Also, in regards to tone, what are the differences between a maple and ebony fretboard?
(LOL, pretty intricate for a first post if you ask me! Sorry for all of the questions!)
