Sheesh, I totally forgot about this (that, plus the fact that AJ asked me to keep it on the down-low for awhile). So yes, as speculated earlier in this thread, I was lucky to acquire Al Joseph's LACS RG when he parted ways with Ibanez. I could've probably got the RGA as well, but couldn't afford both
Enjoy!
As you might suspect, it's in player's condition, but not too bad. I've certainly seen (and owned) worse. You don't really see the dings and finish wear in the photos, but there are a few scattered about.
A nice surprise was the Evo gold frets. I actually never realized that Al's guitars had Evo fretwire... until it arrived.
Plays and sounds fantastic. Someone at the LACS did a great job with the fretwork, because I can set the action silly low on this thing without buzzing (unless I play hard, of course). Really, really nice guitar and it's my main player now.
After years of coveting Al's blue RG and RGA, this one definitely doesn't disappoint.
Pickups are Titans, volume-only, 3-way switch. The tone control has been replaced with the coil tap switch.
Though it's not on in the photos, I do have the trem backplate.
There's a part of me that thinks this might actually be Al's early non-LACS cobalt blue RG752, just refinished to be satin and spruced-up by the LACS into what you see here. I think the neck might be the most non-production aspect of this guitar. The birdseye maple fretboard is pretty dark... almost like it's roasted, and the profile of the neck just feels... different... than all my other RG's. Then, of course, there's the Evo gold fretwire.
There's actually a lot I don't know about this guitar... because I wanted to be respectful of Al's time and not bombard him like a fanboy with a million questions.