RG 5000?

[CygnusX1]

Hi my name's Eric. I've been using this awsome forum to help me strip my Ibanez of it's original paint. I have a problem though that I think only Ibanez or you guys can help me with. Ibanez is taking their sweet time responding to me and my internet searches have producing nothing.

My question is this: Has anyone ever heard of an RG 5000?

My problem is that I bought a lazer blue 1991 Ibanez RG 550 DXLB and I'm the original owner, with no replacing of the body or neck. The blue mirror pickguard broke on me and I've ordered replacements from 2 different pickguard makers for a 550 and they didn't fit. My neck says it's a 550 neck but the body has "RG5000" in it. I'm a huge Ibanez fan and have never heard of this model. I bought it back in '92 knowing what I wanted in that catalog, the RG550DXLB and now I'm confused on what this guitar really is, almost feel ripped off as I can't finish putting it back together without the pickguard (brand new DiMarzio pups waiting too... the torture!).

Any info on this topic/mystery would be greatly appreciated!

[CygnusX1]

Here is a picture of the "RG 5000" stamp in the guitar.

[callen3615]

Google images

[psychoshredder]

it's japan special edition for a music store. there is an ad for this, forgot where did i see that, I'll try to look for it first.

[CygnusX1]

Well, what I meant when I didn't find anything searching for RG5000 was that I didn't find out anything about it. I saw that image, but mine didn't look like that. It was lazer blue with cosmo black hardware (matching headstock but black fret dots) and advertised as a RG 550 DXLB, with the stock V7 and V8 pickups (black) of the time. I never did see one like this in the past, especially with the green mirror pickguard, only lazer blue and purple. But thanks for replying. Hope someone out there has ever heard of a RG 5000 and maybe why I have this body when it was advertised as a RG550DXLB.

[psychoshredder]

got it, from j-custom fan web site

[callen3615]

Hey, I saw that too.

[psychoshredder]

...and to answer your question why your Rg550dx has RG5000 stamp on it?
same question ever asked long time ago, some people find that his RG 470 has RG 570 stamp on it...

the answer is :
some guitar bodies with same routing or ingredients went to same production line, and the factory people just don't have the time to stamp it as individual model.
so example.. any guitar body with H-s-H with pickguard, and edge tremolo routing.. could be stamped as RG550, RG5000, or else, depends on what stamp he's got at that time.

[CygnusX1]

Wow, this is crazy! Mine didn't have those blue knobs, selector switch or fret dots. Mine has a 550 neck and was sold to me in Centerville, OH as a 550 for $600 or so. This ad makes it seem to me that those are incredibly rare! But how the heck could I have ended up with one of those bodies and even more important to me (so I can put it back together...) why would the body be different enough from a 550 to fit a 550 pickguard?
I guess I should include a picture of what it looked like back in 1992 when I got it (don't have any good pics of it really).

[CygnusX1]

"the answer is :
some guitar bodies with same routing or ingredients went to same production line, and the factory people just don't have the time to stamp it as individual model.
so example.. any guitar body with H-s-H with pickguard, and edge tremolo routing.. could be stamped as RG550, RG5000, or else, depends on what stamp he's got at that time."

Just saw that. That's what I suspected. I'm wondering now if anybody knows anything about a RG 5000 having a slightly different shape from a 550 as to not be able to fit a 550 pickguard.

Thanks for the info psychoshredder!

This website and you guys are amazing. I don't think Ibanez is going to be giving me any answers like you guys seem to give around here.

[psychoshredder]

no, your RG 550 DX is supposed to be like in the picture, metal knobs, black dot inlays, etc.
the RG 5000 is indeed has same color inlay as the body, color knobs, etc..

in conclusion : your RG 550 Dx is true and correct as RG 550 DX based on the 1992 picture you taken.
nothing wrong with it.

again your question, why it has RG 5000 stamp on it..?

imagine this back in 1991...
Ibanez made 2 different 'special' RG 550 : RG 550 DX for international market, and RG 5000 for japan domestic market.
eventually : RG 550 DX and RG 5000 shared same finish on the body, example your RG 550DX is lazer blue, and RG 5000 also had lazer blue.
they went into same production line...the stamp guy wouldn't have time to stamp it individualy as RG 550 or Rg 5000. just pun one of it... say RG 5000.
and finally the assemble guy who decided ..
oh this body married with this blue dot neck, it become RG 5000.
another body married with black dot neck.. it become RG 550 DX.
and so on..

hope it clears enough.

[callen3615]

Its still cool tho...

[CygnusX1]

The only problem I have with all of this is I've ordered replacements pickguards for a RG550 from 2 different pickguard makers, pickguard paradise and airguitars and both didn't fit. They both told me they never had any problems before. I thought the Airguitars place were wrong (well, they were incredibly rude) but then pickguard paradise seemed a whole lot more professional and their's didn't fit either.

What you're saying psychoshredder makes perfect sense to me and that's exactly what I thought when I first saw the "RG 5000" stamp, but why wouldn't a 550 pickguard not fit this if they're the same body? Do you think the guitar could have changed it's shape that dramatically from environmental conditions? (This was all before I sanded it, btw).

[moonlight]

I'm no expert on Ibanez guitars compared to many on this board and I hope I will be corrected if wrong about this,I want to learn this Ibanez numbering too. I have found that the numbers on necks and bodies are not always exactly the model number the guitar was sold as, and I'm talking about guitars that I was 100% sure were factory originals. It's more like a reference number for factory use and can cover several models that use identical parts. It seems necks are more prone to have odd model numbers on them than bodies. Anyway, I wouldn't get too worried about that 5000 number not being the RG550DXLB the guitar was sold as.
Pickguards... I've bought a few from different sources and none were perfect. If the neck,pickup and trem cuts are not in alignment and square send it back. If two or three mounting screw hole don't match, I just full the holes and drill new ones, it's under the guard and out of sight after all. Being cursed with perfectionism, it was hard to do that but nitpicking the instrument was distracting from my playing.

Edit- Slow poster here, didn't see the last few posts saying kinda the same thing I said,sorry.

[CygnusX1]

"but nitpicking the instrument was distracting from my playing. "

that's funny you say that b/c that's what I've always said. I've put off doing what I've whated to do to this guitar since I bought it in 1992 but decided now I'll do what I want to it. So now it's been apart for a month now, my main axe, and it's torturing me. I've decided in the meantime to just superglue the bloken pieces of the old pickguard and it looks like it'll hold up... but it's butt ugly. I really can't wait to get it back together!