What ARE these parts? RG550? RG470?

cy_berg · #1 10-04-2005, 05:18 AM

Hi!
I'm new to this board, so please have patience with my questions!

OK, this is the story: I guy wants to sell his almost complete Ibanez RG dirt cheap (I'm from Sweden so it's kind of hard to tell the price in US$ since guitars are a lot cheaper in the USA than in Sweden, so when I say cheap, I mean cheap in Swedish measures :-). He claims that he bought the guitar complete (all parts mounted, like a guitar should be...) but that he decided to strip it and sell the parts. The only thing he managed to sell were the neck screws (which attaches the neck to the body) and he's given my a really good price for all other parts than the neck screws (i.e. the body, neck, bridge/trem, tuning machines, pickups, electronics etc.). Now to my question:
The seller states that this guitar is a RG470 and that it's JAPANESE, not Korean, check out the following link to the pictures of the guitar and parts:

http://photobucket.com/albums/b41/cy_berg/

* The body: This could be a RG470 I assume? The pic. is not good enough to show what is says in the neck cavity, but still...

* The neck: Well, the label reads "RG550", right? Hm...would there be any problems mounting a 550 neck on a 470 body? Further, the guy THINKS that it's a Wizard II neck, what do you guys think?

* The trem: The guys THINKS it's a Lo TRS, what do you guys think?

Thanks for a nice Ibanez forum!
/Kristian
Sweden

ericbaquiran · #2 10-04-2005, 05:36 AM

The trem is definitely not an Edge or variants. Looks like Lo-TRS to my eyes. That fact right there indicates a 470 model or lower-end RG.

horstausmforst · #3 10-04-2005, 08:36 AM

Yeah, if these parts belong together, it is indeed a jap 470. Not uncommon, since there were quite a few japanese ones in europe.

fettouhi · #4 10-04-2005, 08:43 AM

It's a RG 470 no doubt there. The trem is a TRS plus it can't be RG 550 because this one in pic is back routed (no pickguard).

Regards

André

cy_berg · #5 10-04-2005, 08:49 AM

Thanks for the answers!

I know that the BODY can't be an RG550 (like you said, the 550 has a pick guard which the 470 does not), but did you check the heel on the neck, where it says RG550? Is it possible to use a RG550 neck on a 470 body?

cy_berg · #6 10-04-2005, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by horstausmforst

Yeah, if these parts belong together, it is indeed a jap 470. Not uncommon, since there were quite a few japanese ones in europe.

How can you tell that it's a jap?

fettouhi · #7 10-04-2005, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cy_berg

How can you tell that it's a jap?

The back of the headstock tell you that F=Fujigen factory plus the RG470 are jap made

.

Regards

André

tTz · #8 10-04-2005, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cy_berg

Thanks for the answers!

I know that the BODY can't be an RG550 (like you said, the 550 has a pick guard which the 470 does not), but did you check the heel on the neck, where it says RG550? Is it possible to use a RG550 neck on a 470 body?

Didn't the 550 and the 470 have the same neck, a Wizard? (or Super Wizard, in some cases). That would make the neck interchangeable between the two models (and for all I know, all Wizards may have had RG550 stamped on them before being sent to be assembled in a different guitar - why they would do this, I dont know though

).

cy_berg · #9 10-04-2005, 09:55 AM

Aha...thanks for the info :-)

jkahrs · #10 10-04-2005, 12:27 PM

There's no bubinga stripe on that neck, so it's not any RG5xx series neck. Maybe it's just mis-stamped. I'm agreeing with everyone else that it's a MIJ RG470. --Jason

tTz · #11 10-04-2005, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkahrs

There's no bubinga stripe on that neck, so it's not any RG5xx series neck. Maybe it's just mis-stamped. I'm agreeing with everyone else that it's a MIJ RG470. --Jason

The bubinga stripe was only on the Super Wizard necks, weren't there some RG5xx series guitars built with standard Wizard necks? I'm sure I've seen pics of an RG550 with a plain maple neck with no skunk stripe.

Ferrous Lepidoptera · #12 10-04-2005, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tTz

The bubinga stripe was only on the Super Wizard necks, weren't there some RG5xx series guitars built with standard Wizard necks? I'm sure I've seen pics of an RG550 with a plain maple neck with no skunk stripe.

Definitely. I own a 570, a 550, and a 470, all made in 1991 or 1992, and all with wizard necks with no bubinga stripe. I think the bubinga stripe appeared in the late '90s, well, that's when I noticed them showing up anyway. If that's a 550 neck, I think it should be a wizard, not a wizard 2.

cy_berg · #13 10-06-2005, 06:35 AM

Do any of you own a RG470 (japanese)? Everyone seem to praise the e.g. RG550 but dislike the lower series, like the RG470, or? I'm not buying this RG470 to make it my main guitar, but just because I get a good deal on it and because I like guitars in general, but on the other hand, I don't want to buy anything that plays so bad that I will never use it.

Are there any main differences except for the trem (and of course that the 550 has a pick guard)? The bodys are both basswood, right?

jkahrs · #14 10-06-2005, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tTz

The bubinga stripe was only on the Super Wizard necks, weren't there some RG5xx series guitars built with standard Wizard necks? I'm sure I've seen pics of an RG550 with a plain maple neck with no skunk stripe.

The old square neck joint 550's didn't have the bubinga stripe, but I've never seen an AANJ 550 neck that didn't have the bubinga stripe. --Jason