Ibanez RG550-RF

Im a fairly new to guitarplaying and don't belong to the category that remembers this guitar from the 80's but since it had gotten so many good reviews I went ahead and bought one. The guitar is great but I also have a Ibanez RGRT421-WK and can't help but compare them alittle bit since they are both from ibanez and in the same rg family.

It's a 500€ price diffrence but the fretwork and setup when it was shipped to me was MUCH better on the Rgrt421 then on this RG550. I had to adjust the trussrod and string hight immediately on the 550 and the frets can be alittle bit sharp at times. I live in Finland so don't know if it is the climate that have caused this on the 550 but anyway worth to mention.

Pros on the 550 is the sound it's really good and the maple neck is amazing if it wasen't for does anying frets sometimes... might have to file them down sometime..

Also Ibanez had really nice instructions on how to handel the cardboard box but then thomann takes the ibanez box and puts it in another cardboard box with no instructions whatsoever.

Great guitar but not without it's small problems

I am completely astonished by the quality of this guitar. I've been watching video after video about this guitar, both the looks and the sound made fall in love with it. I decided to give it a try and bought it.. it's beautiful. The finish is flawless and looks even brighter in person, the neck is unbelievably smooth, perfect fretwork, the bridge can sustain millions of divebombs without going out of tune, the pickups are just amazing and super versatile like no other. It's easily the best guitar ever in my opinion, you can play slow blues or go absolutely crazy with shredding and it will ALWAYS feel right. No matter what you play, this guitar is for you. 10/10

When it comes to cost-quality ratio then this is probably one of the best guitars I've ever purchased. I doubt that I will be ever able to find another high end guitar made in Japan that would be as satisfying to play and cost under 1000 euros.

To be honest I'm not a fan of modern guitars because I believe that guitars back then were simply better made, better looking and had more soul, but it's getting increasingly difficult to get one in a good condition. I was expecting this guitar to be inferior to my old japanese RG470 made in 2000 but instead I was pleasantly surprised when I finally tried it. The fact that they barely changed anything compared to the original model is a huge plus.

I haven't tried the original RG550 but I suppose the new one is close to its 1987 counterpart in terms of quality and feel (except the new neck is 2 millimeters wider, has satin finish and no bolts holding the locking nut). The action was a little high for my taste but it was no problem to set it lower (just make sure that you loosen the stud lock located inside the stud itself that can be accessed with a tiny 1,5mm allen key before rotating the stud itself, then lock it again after you're done setting the action).

The Edge tremolo is very durable and stable, stays in tune no matter how you abuse the whammy bar. You can raise the action without first loosening the strings first which shows how durable the edge tremolo really is. It's also very easy to make the whammy "flutter". The fret ends are reasonably well made, the ergonomics are top notch (except for maybe the block neck joint which makes it harder to access the upper frets and neck is a tiny bit wider compared to its predecessor but it's no problem to get used to it).

Overall, I'm totally satisfied with the purchase, not even some expensive guitars offer such high build quality, level of comfort, ergonomics, aesthetics and sound variety. I encourage you to at least try it out.