Hi all,

I just tried a bunch of prestige guitars back to back in a store.

I tried a rg3521, a 655 and another I cant remember.

While playing i was googling the specs and was surprised to see that apparently all 3 had exactly the same neck, yet the 3521 felt alot bigger, more around the shoulders of the neck super wizard hp neck.

Can anyone explain how the same necks cam feel so different?

some inconsistency could happened sometimes.
maybe somebody had too much sake last night....
but if you tried 2 or more 3521 that have thicker (feel) neck than the 655, it must be a spec changes from the factory.

Haha definitely completely sober while playing them

I know it sounds weird, but I have played at least 3 guitars with the super wizard HP and then the 3521 and was noticeably chunkier.

I tried these exact models

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/eg_...=32&color=CL01
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/eg_...=36&color=CL01

The Rg3521 according to the specs below has exactly the same neck but felt chunkier, as if it was just the normal Wizard HP.

http://www.ibanezguitarcentre.com.au...21-GK-744.aspx

It's not been uncommon over the years, but it seems odd to see it in guitars that all seem to be contemporaries! I can only suggest 'hand finishing' of the necks might have removed more wood from some than others?

Anyone else got any straws I can grasp at?

Most likely the setup was different on those guitars (action, tension, maybe even string gauge) so it gave you a different feel...

LOL, it's not you my friend, but the person that doing the neck in the factory perhaps had too much sake , so.....

I've noticed a lot of variation in Wizard necks and have found that the thickness is an extremely misleading measurement when trying to determine how the neck feels.

How quickly the neck tapers away from perpendicular to the board is what really makes the difference. The more you go towards a v shape, the thinner it will feel. I could give you my '03 J Custom which I know is 17/19 and then give you my RG1560 which I know is 18/20 and you would definitely tell me that the JC has a fatter neck. I've measured both necks with digital calipers so I have thickness and width to the tenth of a mm.

I have a buddy who has a red & blue RG3120, same Wizard Prestige neck, same build year... they both played awesome but each neck did have a different feel.
It was weird for sure...

Yea it seems to be exactly how you put it. I have an old RG520 which is meant to be 17mm 1st and 19mm 12th but it feels a lot chunkier then the guitars I tried. To be fair I actually measured with verniers and it was closer to 17.5 and 19.5 so I don't think the specs are 100% accurate.

Its making my next purchase very hard because I was looking at this J custom

http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/pag...1#.VLyWgov9nVg

But I have no idea what the neck will feel like, there is no way I can try it as I would be getting it from Japan.

I have two RG1527Ms from 2010 and the necks feel pretty different. One seems rounder than the other. I was pretty surprised by the difference, which I noticed immediately.

Your original Wizard would have been a 17/20, not 17/19. 17/19 necks didn't exist until much later. I think my '03 is one of the first guitars to actually have that thin of a neck.

In general I've found that the real measurements are slightly thicker than the catalog specs.

'03 JCRG8670 17.1/19.5
'06 JCRG8620 17.2/19.4

A few square-heel original necks I've measured:

'93 RG770 17.5/20.7
'90 UCGR 17.0/20.3
'87 540S 17.2/20.0
'87 540P 17.3/19.6
'89 JEM7P 16.7/19.9

A couple newer Wizard or claimed Wizard necks:

'10 RG1560 18.2/19.9 (pretty true to a Prestige Wizard)
'06 RGT320 18.9/21.8
'04 RG2120X 19.8/21.9 (this was listed as a Wizard in the US catalog and Ultra elsewhere)

Thanks for the info, I was unaware that my RG520 was thicker then the 17/19, that makes a lot more sense now.

It makes it pretty hard/impossible to buy guitars sight unseen, especially J customs as I have no idea what a certain guitar will feel like as the specs almost mean nothing. They really need to list carve type, so either U shape, D shape etc, as I have found that like with my Rg520 having more meat on the shoulders of the neck makes a huge difference in feel.

I really want J custom (even had a dream about one, how sad) but being in Australia we never ever see them so I would have to buy from Japan. I am currently in contact with meestursparkle so hopefully he can help with finding something.

I suspect the variation in feel comes from the hand-sanding process that the necks go through during the manufacturing process: I've got a 2009 RG3570 and a 2011 S5470 that are supposed to have the same dimension 17mm-19mm neck but the RG feels a bit thinner in the hand (haven't got any calipers to verify this though) and has a lot less "shoulder" to it.

exactly. I'm guessing that too.

I had the pleasure of playing a original 87 RG550. Man the neck on those are really nice. To bad the newer wizards are nothing like it.

I have been trying to gather info on the J Customs necks as well but the only info I have found is the same 17/19mm thing. I wish they actually listed the shape of the neck somewhere.

I have been really keen on a 8571z like this one

http://www.ikebe-gakki.com/ec/pro/disp/1/254236

Its pretty much the only J custom with a fixed bridge