This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2010) |
Ibanez RG | |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Ibanez |
Period | 1987–present |
Construction | |
Body type | Solid |
Neck joint | Bolt-on, Neck-thru |
Woods | |
Body | Basswood, Mahogany, Mahogany with Maple cap |
Neck | 5pc Maple with Walnut, 3pc Maple with Walnut |
Fretboard | 24 fret Rosewood, Maple |
Hardware | |
Bridge | Edge, Edge Lo-Pro, Edge Zero, Edge III Tremolo, Fixed Bridge, Edge Pro Tremolo, Gibraltar Plus Bridge |
Pickup(s) | H-S-H or H-H Infinity, DiMarzio IBZ, Air Norton, Blue Velvet, and Tone Zone, IBZ V7, V8 & S1, or EMG 81, 85, 60, 707, or 808 pickups |
Colors available | |
Black, Purple Neon, Electric Blue, White, Amber, Transparent Lavender Blue, Weathered Black, Metallic Khaki, Jewel Blue, Black Night, Regal Brown Burst, Stained Oil, Natural Flat, Dark Amber, Aged Natural, Cubed Black Pewter, Grey Nickel, Vital Silver, Galaxy Black, Mirage Blue, Mirage Red, Royal Blue, Black Pearl, Sapphire Blue & Violin Flat |
The Ibanez RG is a series of electric guitars produced by Hoshino Gakki. The first model in the series, the RG550, was originally released in 1987 and advertised as part of the Roadstar series. That series was renamed "RG" in 1992 and all models since are simply known as RGs.
It rose in popularity throughout the 1980s and had the features that musicians in the rising shred and thrash metal movements of that time were looking for: a "fast" neck, [1] comfortable body, powerful pickups, and a reliable tremolo system.
The RG series has the most subtypes of any Ibanez model [2] and is the most popular series of Ibanez electric guitars produced by Hoshino Gakki. The RG's deep cutaway, flatter fingerboard and extended fret range (24 frets as standard) has made it one of the most popular guitars for rock and heavy metal music.
The Ibanez RG was originally designed in 1987, the same year as Steve Vai's signature guitar, the Ibanez JEM. It was created as a successor to the company's previous Roadstar and Roadstar II series guitars produced from 1979 to 1986. The name is an abbreviation of "Roadstar Guitar".
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2010) |
The RG Series features a neck that is very thin in cross-section, with a fretboard that is flatter (430mm/16.9in or 400mm/15.75in radius of curvature), wider, and longer (24 fret double octave) than most. Flatter radius on a fretboards facilitate wider bends and lower string action at the expense of comfort in playing chords. For the virtuosic "shred" style of guitar playing or fast, aggressive thrash/speed metal rhythm, this type of neck is often preferred.
Necks are typically made from maple, while fretboards are usually made of maple, rosewood or jatoba.
The body of the RG Series features sleek, offset pointed double cutaways giving better access to the upper frets. Typically the body is made of basswood, poplar, or mahogany, with some exception such as swamp ash (RGT220A) or alder (select J Custom RGs). Some models such as the RG550 came with a pickguard while others usually feature back-routed controls.
RG pickups options include humbucker and single-coil models, with humbucker-single–single (HSS), humbucker–single-humbucker (HSH), or dual-humbucker (HH) configurations available. Options available include Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, or EMG models in addition to Ibanez custom models.
All RGs of the 550 series and higher have the Ibanez Edge vibrato unit, either the original or low-profile version. The Edge tremolo incorporated several manufacturing changes when compared to the original Floyd Rose, including increased mass, relocated fine tuners and improved locking posts. The locking posts are no longer used as of the 2003 model year along with the introduction of the Edge Pro.
While most models of the RG series use variations of Ibanez Edge tremolo, there are fixed bridge models available, which are equipped with either a Hipshot-style bridge or a Gibraltar standard bridge. Fixed bridge versions of the Edge bridge are also available on a few select signature models.
Since the release of RG7620 and 7621 in 1998, RGs are famous for being the basis of particularly easy to play seven string guitars. Also, in 2007, Ibanez produced its first commercially available 8 string guitar, the RG2228. Ibanez introduced their first commercial nine-string models, the RG9QM and RG90BKP, for 2014.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2010) |
In addition to "standard" RG Series, there are various sub-series of guitars available:
Additionally, current the RG series and related sub-series are split into following versions depending on quality:
Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass-produce the seven-string guitar and eight-string guitar. Ibanez manufactures effects, accessories, amps, and instruments in Japan, China, Indonesia, and the United States. As of 2017 they marketed nearly 165 models of bass guitar, 130 acoustic guitars, and more than 300 electric guitars. After Gibson and Fender, Ibanez is considered the third biggest guitar brand.
The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961, following on from the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG Standard is Gibson's best-selling model of all time. SG stands for "solid guitar".
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.
The Fender Showmaster is a discontinued model of electric guitar made by Fender, and is characteristic of a superstrat. Also see the badge change of Stagemaster due to legal reasons.
The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to the Jazzmaster, it was introduced in 1962 as Fender's feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson. During its initial 13-year production run, the Jaguar did not sell as well as the less expensive Stratocaster and Telecaster, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene. After the Jaguar was taken out of production in 1975, vintage Jaguars became popular first with American punk rock players, and then more so during the alternative rock, shoegazing and indie rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Fender began making a version in Japan in the mid-1980s, and then introduced a USA-made reissue in 1999. Since then, Fender has made a variety of Jaguars in America, Mexico, Indonesia and China under both the Fender and Squier labels. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.
Superstrat is a name for an electric guitar design that resembles a Fender Stratocaster but with differences that clearly distinguish it from a standard Stratocaster, usually to cater to a different playing style. Differences typically include more pointed, aggressive-looking body and neck shapes with increased cutaways to facilitate access to the higher frets, an increased number of frets on the fingerboard, a contoured heel at the neck joint facilitating easier higher fret access, the usage of humbucking pickups, and locking vibrato systems, most commonly the Floyd Rose.
The King V is an electric guitar model made by Jackson Guitars.
The Jackson Soloist is an electric guitar model introduced by Jackson Guitars in 1984, although prototypes were available before then. The design is a typical "superstrat"; it varies from a typical Stratocaster because of its neck-thru design; tremolo: Floyd Rose or similar, Kahler; or a fixed Tune-O-Matic; premium woods; a deeper cutaway at the lower horn for better access to the higher frets, and a sharper body with squared-off edges.
The Jackson Dinky is a Superstrat-style double-cutaway electric guitar built by Jackson Guitars. The "Dinky" is named for its slightly smaller than normal (7/8) body size. Usually fitted with a two humbucker pickup configuration, some models also include single-coil pickups and/or just one bridge humbucker. The fretboard can be made out of ebony, rosewood and more recently maple, or rock maple, with 24 jumbo frets and is always built with a bolt-on neck. Most of the guitars have a Floyd Rose original or licensed tremolo, and a locking nut to help maintain stable tuning. Some Dinkys have hardtail, or String-Thru bridges. The Jackson Dinky is usually preferred by players of hard rock and heavy metal.
The Ibanez Universe is the first mass-produced solid body seven-string electric guitar, developed by Steve Vai and manufactured by Ibanez. The Universe is a seven-string version of the Ibanez JEM series, Vai's signature model. It slightly differs from the JEM due to the absence of a "monkey grip" cut-out handle on the body.
The Fender Katana is an electric guitar built by Fender. It was designed by marketing director Dan Smith in 1985. The Katana was designed to compete with the unconventionally-shaped guitars of the era, such as the Jackson Randy Rhoads, and to satisfy Fender dealers who were suffering from the competition those instruments offered. The Katana did not sell as well as Fender hoped, and it was discontinued in 1986 before being reissued as a Masterbuilt Custom Shop model as part of the Prestige collection three decades later.
The Jackson Rhoads is a model of electric guitar, originally commissioned by guitarist Randy Rhoads and produced by Jackson Guitars.
The Ibanez JEM is an electric guitar manufactured by Ibanez and first produced in 1987. The guitar's most notable user is its co-designer, Steve Vai. As of 2010, there have been five sub-models of the JEM: the JEM7, JEM77, JEM777, JEM555, JEM333, and JEM70V. Although the Ibanez JEM series is a signature series guitar, Ibanez mass-produces several of the guitar's sub-models.
The Ibanez S Series is a guitar series produced by Hoshino Gakki. Introduced in the late 1980s, the S Series is notable for being a streamlined mahogany-bodied guitar with a maple neck that plays comfortably while retaining the resonance of mahogany. Like the RG series, it also has prestige models, as well as derivatives, namely the SZ, SV, and SA series.
Duesenberg is a brand for electric string instruments founded in 1986 and located in Hannover, Germany. The headquarter is in Hannover, Germany, they are known for using a Plek machine for the levelling of frets and setup. Duesenberg has uploaded a factory production video of how their guitars are made, revealing that most of the production of the guitars is done in Croatia, while the final setup and assembly is done in Germany.
The Ibanez GIO Series is an affordable guitar series produced by Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez), replacing the Cimar line. The GIO line is intended as beginner models, similar to Fender's Squier guitars, and Gibson's Epiphone line. This series of guitars are produced in either China or Indonesia, depending on model.
The Fender American Deluxe Series was a line of electric guitars and basses introduced by Fender in 1995 and discontinued in 2016. It was upgraded in 2004 and 2010 before being replaced by the American Elite series in 2016.
The Yamaha Corporation is a multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, motorcycles, power sports equipment and electronics.
The Peavey Predator is a series of electric guitars made by Peavey Electronics. It has been made continuously since 1985. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. There are five models of the Peavey Predator, with different styles and makes of each.