[NutMaster8000]

So first post and ive been meaning to make it sooner but here it is anyway, maybe 6 or 7 months ago i came across this rg that was in a japanese ebay shop and it looked intersting with a thicker neck and no double locking edge system as well as an aanj, wasnt too exspensive so I bought it on a whim not sure what to expect as i couldnt find any info on what model it was. When it got here I fell in love with it, to me the best guitar ive played the neck is like no other as thick as a fender style neck but with the flat back that is characteristic of a wizard neck, but then also having the construction of an old fender neck with the truss rod being inserted thru the back and having a skunk stripe also meaning the neck and fretboard are the same piece of wood and no tilt on the headstock, I have done some upgrades and mods which will be obvious in the pictures but most of what ive included is how i got the guitar to my knowledge the only thing that got changed before i owned it was the pickups. Ill list the specs seperatly since im poor at writing. My best guess is this is an obscure prototype or perhaps something a worker at fujigen made for themselves in the 90s.

Tldr:
Thick neck, Fretboard and neck same piece of wood with the trussrod being installed via skunkstripe also says RG on the headstock.
HSH pickup config
vintage style 2 point non locking trem
Serial dates to 1995
back route no pickguard (I added one for the look)
Gotoh non locking tuners
pancake style body which i believe is some type of mdf material (also has weird dowel plugs in the neck pocket)

and here are the pictures
The Straight black hardware and no pickguard is how i got it also there is a side by side with a wizard 2 neck.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

I've seen this model pop up a few times (in black and red, don't know what other colours there were). I believe they were only meant for the Japanese market in the mid-90s. Notable for the fatter neck and the TZ non locking trem.

In the international market, the RG450 was basically a cheaper version of the 550 with the same sorts of specs.

 

[NutMaster8000]

I've seen this model pop up a few times (in black and red, don't know what other colours there were). I believe they were only meant for the Japanese market in the mid-90s. Notable for the fatter neck and the TZ non locking trem.

In the international market, the RG450 was basically a cheaper version of the 550 with the same sorts of specs.

yes I happend to see a candy apple red one today when i searched prg-450# like it says on the base of the neck, its good to know theres atleast 1 more out there unfortunatly it was sold, I want another one as a backup incase anything ever happens to this one

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Mm, the first one I saw was like yours - black with cream pickups and knobs. I was also kinda interested because you don't often get RGs with fatter necks. The lack of separate fingerboard is also unusual, not really seen since the old Blazers from the early 80s.

If you wanted another one, you'd probably have to trawl east Asian auction sites and hope sellers ship internationally! I suspect they also didn't make that many, maybe it was one of those 'let's see what the market thinks of an RG with a fat neck and non locking trem'. They had the RTs around the same time, so maybe a bit redundant? Don't know.

Nice find nevertheless.

 

[Mr_Scotia]

I cant help identify the guitar as a whole but the neck is very similar to a Roadstar II neck, similar looking profiles although Roadstar necks were square heel and not AANJ. Ibanez brought out the modern pointy style headstock in 1987 i believe, which is when the Roadstar turned into the RG. Previously they were branded RS before the switch to RG in 1987.

The finish and wood choice on your RG body is a bit suspect, the horns look a bit strange to me aswell? Also a strange bulge where the upper horn curves round to meet the neck? I dont think its counterfeit purely because there's clearly Ibanez style serial numbers in the neck pocket and the neck heel itself, but the body does look quite odd to me.

Either way, i think that neck is a winner in AANJ fitment, ive grown very fond of my Roadstar necks as ive only owned Wizard necks in the past so to have a neck with that style that can fit modern Ibanez is pretty cool.

As you say, may well be some weird prototype unicorn that you have?

Welcome to the forum

 

[NutMaster8000]

I cant help identify the guitar as a whole but the neck is very similar to a Roadstar II neck, similar looking profiles although Roadstar necks were square heel and not AANJ. Ibanez brought out the modern pointy style headstock in 1987 i believe, which is when the Roadstar turned into the RG. Previously they were branded RS before the switch to RG in 1987.

The finish and wood choice on your RG body is a bit suspect, the horns look a bit strange to me aswell? Also a strange bulge where the upper horn curves round to meet the neck? I dont think its counterfeit purely because there's clearly Ibanez style serial numbers in the neck pocket and the neck heel itself, but the body does look quite odd to me.

Either way, i think that neck is a winner in AANJ fitment, ive grown very fond of my Roadstar necks as ive only owned Wizard necks in the past so to have a neck with that style that can fit modern Ibanez is pretty cool.

As you say, may well be some weird prototype unicorn that you have?

Welcome to the forum

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thanks for posting that bulge is actually on all modern rgs I think, I believe it was to prevent neck pocket cracks I never noticed it till someone poitned it out to me, and the body material was actually being used on a few rgs talmans and rxs at the time, They called it resocast as opposed to mdf. Also something i noticed in my photo of the neck pocket is that i think the shim they used is a piece of photoflame haha

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Yeah, the 'bump' is an AANJ RG body thing, something which actually helps distinguish real ones from fakes.

The resocast stuff (basically mdf) was used on a couple of models in the mid 90s, some Talmans and other RGs.

 

[Mr_Scotia]

I had no idea they ever used a wood like that to make a guitar, quite surprised actually.

Ive not owned and RG in 15 years so i may not have the best reference but the bump just looks quite pronounced on OP's RG.