RG 550/570 with stop tailpiece?

[deere]

Hi all, new member here saying hello.

I've been playing Fenders and Gibsons for the last ten years, but I was a proud owner of a RG550 before that. Unfortuneatly I sold it :-(

Anyway, lurking around at this excellent site have made me lust for a RG/Jem again and I have two questions:

1. I will probably buy a used RG550 (or similar) off of the evilbay some time soon. Would an early- or mid-nineties RG need new frets? I understand that the correct answer is "sometimes", but I'm looking for a general answer. Are the frets usually worn out on these guitars?

2. I don't use the whammy. Are there any RG-models of the same standard as the 550 that has a stop tailpiece? Custom mods? Any info on the matter would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[brothersnowgone]

I have a 570 from 91' that I recently bought and it's has very little fretwear, so you can find one that doesn't need a refret. Of course it varies from guitar to guitar because some have been played more, some less. Just make sure you see pics of the frets before you buy it and I'm sure you'll be able to find one with a little fretwear that has years of life left before a refret.

[jem7vwh]

I don't believe any stop tailpiece models have been designated with the 550/570 or 1550/1570 name.. However, you may want to check out the RGA321 or 121. Wizard neck, arched top, stop tailpiece.

http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=RGA321F

[Lefty Robb]

just get a tremol-no and lock down your tailpiece.

http://www.tremol-no.com

[bpd111]

Originally Posted by Lefty Robb

just get a tremol-no and lock down your tailpiece.

http://www.tremol-no.com

+1. You beat me to the punch.

The creator of tremol-no used to be a regular hear. I think he still pops in from time to time.

[gpenguins]

Well, they're not "stop tailpiece" per se, but if you're looking for something without a trem there's the RG421 that was Jap made (at least all of the ones I've seen were) and the RG321 that is Korean that are hard tail.

Then there's also the RT Series, which is a similar pickup configuration to the RG550/570, but has a strat trem, which can basically be used as a hard tail. I think there may be an RT Series on the bay of evil as we speak, but being the apple polisher that I am, I know I'm not supposed to talk about live auctions, so I can't say that there is for sure.

[jkahrs]

There are a couple of out of production, Japan only, RG hardtails that you can occasionally find. The RG521, and RG621. Also, don't forget about the PGM301. It's the ONLY Ibanez hardtail you're gonna find with a maple fingerboard like the 550's used to have. --Jason

[gpenguins]

Originally Posted by jkahrs

There are a couple of out of production, Japan only, RG hardtails that you can occasionally find. The RG521, and RG621. Also, don't forget about the PGM301. It's the ONLY Ibanez hardtail you're gonna find with a maple fingerboard like the 550's used to have. --Jason

Oh man, Jason, you totally burned me!! I can't believe I forgot about the PGMs! What the hell is wrong with me?

[deere]

Oupps, I just noticed there are a million threads on the subject of hardtail RGs. Thanks for replying to this common question anyway.