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5K views 37 replies 14 participants last post by  BZ Beetle 
#1 ·
The RGT... I have a dark brown one. It arrived this past friday. This guitar is absolutely gorgeous. The flame is excellent. My only thoughts on the looks is, since they glossed the neck I'd prefer that they paint the back and neck all black and the front dark brown. As it is I don't like the way the back looks. Construction... well this guitar is built solid, It feels like the most solid Ibanez I've ever owned, and I've owned alot of them. The pickups are paf pros, I'm not thrilled with them, they seem way to trebly for this guitar and not very tight. I'm a very picky player, out of the probably 35 or so guitars I've owned only three have made it into my keepers group. I definitely think I'll keep this guitar. I love everything about it minus the back looks(which who cares much?) and the pickups, which I'll probably change out soon. It plays so smooth for lead work... its also fine for power chords and over all rock and metal playing, however if you like to use 7,9 and 13 chords I feel the neck is a little bit wide and makes these chords not as comfortable to grab, but it is doable and probably can be easily gotten use to. A note about the heel, oh wait what heel!!! this thing kicks the crap out of aanj, trust me.

I would not hestitate to recomend this guitar above any other Ibanez model except a JS model. If you are thinking of buying one, STOP don't think... FEEL!!! the guitar in your hands, you have to get one, you won't be disappointed! I'm extremely picky and this guitar is a winner. Please note these are my opinions about the guitar I've got, your experience may vary.
 
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#6 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

The 3 keepers in no particular order...

1. Ibanez JS BTB
2. EBMM Albert Lee Model(3 single coils)
2. Fender YJM Signature strat with these mods...
Gold Wilkenson Vintage replacement trem... all other hardware gold too...
seymour duncan hot stack(neck), hot rails(middle) screamin demon(bridge).

I'll post pics today!

Why did I keep these 3 over all others, which has included guitars in the rank as PRS, Ibanez(jem10, dna, js2k, jpm, j-custom), Jackson(custom shop), Gibson(custom shop) etc... I only keep guitars that have extreme tone with extreme playability. Are these 3 the prettiest of the bunch... heck no... but are they the best of the bunch, you betcha! They are all rock solid in construction, have tone for days and play better than butta. Most of my guitars have made their way into Rich's hands. He can vouch for my extreme pickyness. My list will probably expand to 4 with the rgt, so far I'm impressed but I've only had it 3 days, we'll see. If a guitar doesn't make it, I usually let it go at a great deal! Right Rich! ex... sold my dna for 1500.00 now thats a great deal. :) I also have to give mention to my Jem PMC which I sold a while back after having it for more than 6 years or so. I was told it was the last PMC off the line. I only sold cause it was in rough shape.. I now miss it and regret my sale of it. Can't remember who got it, but they'll never let it go, I guarantee.

Most of you guys don't know me right off, I'm not very VISIBLE on the forum until lately. My prefered guitar setup goes something like this...
3 way lever switch(I find this most comfortable and easiest to control).
concentric tone/vol knobs for each pickup
any other switches I feel are needed, such as tap, pickup switch(used to obtain bridge-neck or bridge-neck-middle all on)... etc... Sometimes I want high pass filters all depends on the tone I'm squeezing out of the pups or the range of tones I know I can get or want out of the pups.
 
#10 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

Rich on 11:42 am on April 15, 2002
Yup, Brians guitars are some of the cleanest I've ever bought.

But you sold the DNA on ebay for $2500!
Thats right, I sure did!!! Sorry about that, didn't mean to lie, I remember, the guy paid me in two payments... one was 1000 the other 1500. Still not bad though. Though you have to admit, I work up some good deals. Another thing too, just because I don't deem a guitar worthy for me to keep, that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it, just that for my personal preferences its not for me. Rich can tell you I always sell good stuff and its almost always exceptional.

I'll get the pictures up later today... I'll also answer the question about what pups I may put in it.
 
#12 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

vaijem777 on 12:37 pm on April 15, 2002
I'm thinking of putting a FRED in the neck of my RGT3120TV, and a ToneZone in the bridge. For some reason, I've had really good luck with that combo. Either that, or possibly an Air Norton in the neck, like the RG-ART and ARCH.
Pickups that I think will work in the brdige..
ToneZone
SuperDistortion
DualSound
AirZone

Neck
Norton
AirZone
AirNorton

I really think a fred won't work well because of the construction of the guitar and wood choice. I'd be interrested to hear anyones experience on it though. I think either a ToneZone or SuperDistortion would be great for the bridge. Any of the above three would work for the neck. Its hard to make any definite call without hearing them first. Equipment and personal preference will ultimately give drastically different responses to what is the best pup combo.
 
#13 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

I've experimented with FREDs in both bridge and neck positions in a few USA Custom Exotic Woods models that I've had in the past, and had great luck. The only real difference was that they were, of course, bolt-on neck guitars. But, I found the FRED in the neck position to be very well-balanced with the mahogany body and maple top. Not too bright, with plenty of warmth, but not so much that it was nasally. However, personal preference and setup will definitely make the biggest difference
 
#14 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

vaijem777 on 1:16 pm on April 15, 2002
I've experimented with FREDs in both bridge and neck positions in a few USA Custom Exotic Woods models that I've had in the past, and had great luck. The only real difference was that they were, of course, bolt-on neck guitars. But, I found the FRED in the neck position to be very well-balanced with the mahogany body and maple top. Not too bright, with plenty of warmth, but not so much that it was nasally. However, personal preference and setup will definitely make the biggest difference
I would definitely go for a fred on the rgt.. only two problems...

1. its an all maple body... that means treble if I'm not mistaken... I don't know if a Fred can get around that.

2. It being 24 frets doesn't help, this is because the neck pickup had to slide back a little to compensate for the 24 frets... so what does this mean? It is closer to the bridge giving it more treble and not enuff butta! Ibanez, smartly, did all they could by putting the pickup absolutely as close to the neck as possible.

however that said, these are only speculations... the only way to know for sure is to wire one up! Please let us know if you do put a fred in and how it turns out.
 
#15 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

Course I keep getting different answers on what the body is made of..

some have said mahogony. some say 3 piece maple. some say maple center block with mahogony wings.

Personaly IMO, the most important is the center block, if that is maple it'll probably rule most of the tonal response despite if the wings are mahogony.

anyone know for sure?
 
#16 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

I thought you had your RGT already Brian? It's pretty easy to see what the woods are just by looking at the back. The center block IS 3-piece maple (same as the neck of course), with mahogany wings and maple top.

(Edited by vaijem777 at 4:01 pm on April 15, 2002)
 
#18 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

vaijem777 on 1:40 pm on April 15, 2002
I thought you had your RGT already Brian? It's pretty easy to see what the woods are just by looking at the back. The center block IS 3-piece maple (same as the neck of course), with mahogany wings and maple top.

(Edited by vaijem777 at 4:01 pm on April 15, 2002)
Thats what I thought when I looked at it, however some are claiming the center is mahogony and others that the wings are maple. I'm no wood expert, but looked like mahogony wings to me.

(Edited by BrianH at 4:43 pm on April 15, 2002)
 
#21 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

Well I have pics, but after looking through the faqs and using the search I can't find any information about how to upload them to jemsite. There is a File Upload at the top of the page, but I can't click on it, its disabled. Some great pics here if someone wants to spill the beans on how to get them up!
 
#22 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

When you're on the posting screen, you'll see over on the left, it says "IkonCode is on for this forum".

That's a link.

Click it.

Scroll down to the instructions on how to use the tag.

You need to upload your photos to your own web hosting service first. (Most Internet Service Providers include a few megabytes of space on their servers for each user to build their own Web site.)
 
#25 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

pri0531 on 10:44 am on April 16, 2002
Very nice Brian. Do you have 9s or 10s on it? The flame looks great. I hope your allergies are better.
Out,
GP
I use to play 10s all the time, but I've been sticking to 9s lately. Even guitars that originally came with 10s I put 9s on recently. Just depends on the tone I'm wanting. I think everyone should try a pak of 10s on their axe at some point, it can sometimes really make a difference. My YJM strat came with 10s but when I put the SD pickups in, I found the 9s to be more suited tonally for me then.
 
#26 ·
RGT A first look at the beast...

OH, about my allergies.. I've been alive 27 years and never had an allergy before. Bam hit me this past week with hives all over my body that would come and go in 2 mins 5 mins or several hours. Last night I was just sitting their watching tv and I couldn't breath and it was like I came down with the flu in 2mins flat. I felt it was time to see the ER when you can't hardly breath and don't know whats causing it.
 
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