Getting back into playing, got an RG320DX (2001) off e-bay

[hall]

I played guitar many years ago and recently got the itch back after playing my brother-in-laws. After much research, I settled on an RG320DX, S/N indicates made in Korea (Cort) in 2001, off of e-bay. Good or bad choice, I'm on a budget, this was in my price range, and I decided to give it a shot. I did have a few "reasons" for choosing this one (or similar) and they were: locking tremolo (I'm an EVH, Satriani, etc fan), at least one humbucker, light weight, and a thin neck. I haven't even rec'd it yet though.... talk about anxious.... I've bought a little Ibanez practice amp, TB15R (really wanted reverb), a couple of Proco cables, strap, gig bag, and tuner --- yet NO guitar to use them with yet !

Anyway, a year from now, if I'm still into playing, if I decided to "upgrade" this guitar vs buying a different one, where should I start ??

I've read good and bad, mostly bad, things about the Lo TRS II tremolo. Apparently it can be cleanly retrofitted with an original Floyd Rose though. Anything that would require "hacking" will be out of the question as far as I'm concerned. I see a wide range of prices for OFRs though, from $50 to $250.

I've heard the pickups described as "muddy". I don't know exactly what that means but I guess the opposite of "clear" comes to mind. Replacing the pickups .... ughhhh ..... where to start ?? There's what, like 400 thousand different ones available, aren't there ?? I wouldn't have a clue where to start there.

Finally, are the electronics on these "okay" or junk or pretty good ?? I can replace pots, switches, wiring myself, I think. What's this I read about "star grounding" ?? Or adding shielding to the cavities ?? Only do those if there's noise ??

[hall]

I get the feeling that this model isn't worthy of this site now....

I will say, I've had the guitar for 4-5 days now and it's a great-looking guitar. The action was set rather high and the strings appeared to be "not new" so I put new D'Addario XL 9s on it, stretched them, adjusted the action, and it feels -- and SOUNDS -- great now (IMO, of course). I love the thin neck. It reminds me of my very first guitar, a Peavey T-15, which had the best neck of any guitar I've owned. I like this Wizard II neck better than the one on my Charvel Model 5, in fact.

There is an issue with noise when the 5-way switch is in the 2 and 4 positions (1 being the neck, 5 being the bridge). It only occurs when the amp is in overdrive mode though or at least it's (slightly) noticable then. It is more pronounced when I'm near my PC, which I realize is part of the problem. I also have flourescent lighting in the basement which I believe can contribute too. If it's not the PC or the lights, what's likely the issue, the switch, the pickups, what ??

[lyconxero]

First off, congradulations on your not so new Ibanez guitar. I've never actually played a guitar with a Lo-TRS II tremolo but I've heard the atrocious horror stories about them and that the current Edge Pro II and Edge III blows it out the water, but I'll leave judgement up to you since you own the guitar.

As far as the noise goes, ANY guitar placed close to a computer is going to make noise and the same goes for florescent lights. One other thing that I've noticed that can add more noise is a bad soldering job. I had someone install some pickups into one of my RGs when I was out of tone and I have found that the guitar is a bit noiser than my two other Ibanez guitars, and one of them has the exact same pickups installed. But there's also the fact that some pickups are just better than others and i'm sure that Dimarzios are quite a bit quieter than the powersound pickups which are in your guitar, I believe.

[fettouhi]

The best buy you can get when you are on a budget and you want it decent guitar is a RG550/570. The RG320 isn't bad and you get the TRS to perform quite well if set up right or you just place it with a OFR.

Regards

André

[phantoms]

From looking at the wiring diagram for my son's RG270, in positions 2 and 4 the humbuckerbeing used at the time with the center coil is tapped and thus not working in humbuking mode. Could this be the noise that hall is refering too?

[lyconxero]

The single coil should be wired in reverse so that the two pickups more or less cancel each other's hum. But you have to understand that you're talking about really crappy pickups and the single coils are ALWAYS the worse. Get a decent tech to install some Dimarzios and you'll marvel at the difference in sound quality.