First off, new member here; first post. Nice to meet you all.
OK. I've got this old
RG440 I bought new in .... whenever it came out. '86? '87? It's the red one with black pickguard and Floyd Rose licensed Trem. Humbucker in the bridge (splittable), single coils in the middle and neck. I babied it for a few years, then quit playing altogether. Within the last year or so, I've got back into playing, but bought a new guitar (a G&L ASAT Bluesboy). I guess you could say the RG440 is my backup.
It's still in great shape, despite spending a couple of years in my garage. When I pulled it out of the garage a year and a half ago (when I got back into playing), I was amazed at the guitar's condition. It had some corrosion on the frets, which I buffed off easily enough, and the screws that hold the pickguard on are rusty. Other than that, it plays, and looks, like it did when I bought it. Neck's still straight, it holds intonation, and, as a testament to the great hard cases these came with, there wasn't even any dust on it.
So, now that I'm primarily playing the G&L, I'm trying to figure out what to do with this old gal. I've settled on two options, and hope those more knowledgeable about Ibanez geetars can help me out.
Option 1: I REALLY covet the Fender Strat. Almost bought one recently, but with the economy in the crapper, I've been pretty careful about unnecessary spending. I'm wondering, with some new pickups, can I turn my old RG440 into a reasonable facsimile of a Strat. If so, what might be some good replacement PUs? Has anyone managed to get a similar type of Ibanez into Strat territory by replacing pickups? What's it going to cost me?
Option 2: I could sell it and put the cash toward a Strat. I'm not sure it's acceptable to ask for a price check on this forum, but, if it is, what would you say a RG440 in very good condition is worth? (If that type of question isn't acceptable on this forum, kindly disregard.)
Basically, I love the feel of this old Ibanez (the neck is sublime). I want a Strat, but Fender is doing its best to keep a good one out of my hands (recent price increase). I feel like I might be pretty close to having a Strat with this
Roadstar. Am I right?
