The RGA121 is much more common. I have owned a few of those as well as the RGA321, which was my favorite Ibanez fixed bridge. There are usually a few on Ebay and Reverb at any given time.

 

Thanks!
I thought about RGA, and I like them, but there's a few "buts":

• I own couple of mahogany/archtop guitars already, and I prefer to have classic basswood/flat RG.
• They seem to be too expensive. RGA121 usually costs reasonable 600-900 USD, but RGA321 is always anywhere between 1k and 2.5k.

I guess I'll keep looking for humble flat RG without maple tops, and if I won't find anything worthy - I'll get back to RGAs.

 

Look for the RG 421 as well. There's also a 521, but it's a fujigen & will cost considerably more coin.

 

RG421 is Indonesia. MIJ is must have for me.
I think I will have to settle on 521, because there's a lot of them out there available, but still I want hardtail over Gibraltar.

Do you know if Gibraltar screw holes align with hardtail bridge? Is there a direct replacement for Gibraltars?

 

I don't know if screw holes line up or not. I personally prefer the Gibraltar over the hard tail, especially with thicker strings. I think they have a greater intonation adjustment range.

 

For MIJ, I would recommend looking at the RG652 series. The RG652AHMFX and RGR652AHBF are identical, except that the AHMFX has dimarzio tone zone/air norton pickups, and the color is different, and the AHBF has a reverse headstock, and dimarzio fusion edge pickups.

 

Those are good, but because they are new they're all rather pricey. I hoped to score some 90s-00s RG for 500-800 USD.

 

I just picked up an RGR652AHBF and it is rock solid.

 

I'm seriously considering it too, looks absolutely beautiful. Also I love swamp ash. All of my builds and partcasters are ash. There's something magical in it's texture.

 

RG1421, I own one and it's great, think it fits all your criteria. Dunno how rare they are now but I got mine for quite cheap back in the day.

 

Yup, this model is rare too.
I start to think it's a brand strategy for Ibanez - if a model has good specs, it should be rare as hell.

 

RG521 Genesis used can be found used in your price range. Fits all of your requirements and since it's practically new it should be easy to find one in mint condition for $700-$800. Also has the tilt joint which some think has slightly better tone than the aanj. Tilt Joint and fixed bridge are like bread and butter. Could use a pickup swap, but it isn't really necessary.

If you're thinking about any other guitar besides this then stop.

Some food for thought,

Ibanez RG Super Wizard necks are kind of love it or hate it. I find switching from those to other necks takes some adjustment. I have a RG6UCS and it is badass, but I also have a JS1600 as my fixed bridge guitar of choice and it has a Fender shaped neck. Switching between the two takes some adjustment. I kind of feel like I'm hurting my ability to develop great muscle memory by switching from one guitar to another that have such different shapes. My JS1600 sounds so good I thought about getting rid of the RG6UCS and getting a trem bridge JS.

Either way, if I decide to stay RG/Super Wizard the RG521 Genesis is my choice.

 

Oh by the way, I picked up Ibanez RG421 (2002).

Love the guitar, the sound, the neck, the binding on the neck.
Hate the GTC Jr. bridge look and "cosmo black" hardware.

Gonna swap everything to plain black Gotoh hardware.

Also I was really surprised by V7/V8 pickups, they get a lot of hate on the internet, but I really loved them, might even keep them, just will throw a cover on them.

 

The V7, V8 aren't bad pickups, that just don't seem to have much bite, they do ok when you crank the gain up a bit, but not nice like the trembucker or virtual PAF in my Jackson. Far better than infinity's though.

 

I think many years ago Japanese RGs were made at various Japanese factories, until 450s on down were outsourced. I believe this occurred in the early 90s, but Rich would be the expert on that.

 

Here's my update:
I decided I have nothing against Cosmo Black color, it's the GTC Jr. bridge I hated and the look of Ibanez pickups. I decided to fix that and installed proper Gotoh GTC102 in same Cosmo Black, added a pickup covers in Black Nickel, which is damn close to the rest of the hardware and wax potted them.
I love the look of black nickel covers wick black hex poles, totally rad.

Also I was pleasantly surprised that they included metal pickup rings, not a plastic ones, quite a move on a guitar where they decided to cut costs on the hardware.

Also I just scored body and neck of a great rare spot model that matches my initial description and I'll show it to you guys when I'll restore it to its former glory.

 

What was wrong with the stock GTC bridge? I thought that Ibanez used the GTC102 on those guitars. My PGM301 uses one, albeit being very worn, so much that the brass is showing through on the saddles. What is the condition like on the one you pulled off the guitar?

 

Nah, 400 series back then used GTC Jr. bridge that looks bad and probably made from something less appealing than brass or steel.

 

Ah I got my models mixed up. And I didn't realise that Gotoh made a version of the bridge with pot metal saddles. I thought those ones were always Ibanez OEM

 

I heard people doing it, but I liked them just with original magnets, so there was no reason to swap.
I guess I won't do it now since I already covered and waxpotted them.