Ibanez RG550 Review

Ibanez RG550 – This guitar manufacturer may not need to be introduced beforehand because almost every guitarist knows this guitar. Call it Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani, and many other guitar heroes who use Ibanez and have their own signature series.

However, it is not the artist series that we will discuss here, but one of Ibanez’s best-selling series; the RG series. In particular, the old RG series was reissued by Ibanez; RG550.

Ibanez RG550 Specs

Top/back/body Basswood body

Neck type Super Wizard5pc Maple/Walnut neck

• Fret: Jumbo frets
• Fretboard: Maple fretboardBlack dot inlay
• Bridge: Edge bridge
• Number of frets: 24
• Neck pickup: V7 (H) neck pickupPassive/Ceramic
• String space: 10.8mm
• Bridge pickup: V8 (H) bridge pickupPassive/Alnico
• Middle pickup: S1 (S) middle pickupPassive/Alnico
• Factory tuning: 1E,2B,3G,4D,5A,6E
• String gauge: .009/.011/.016/.024/.032/.042Nut Locking nut
• Strings: D’Addario® EXL120
• Hardware Color: Black

 

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This Ibanez RG550 guitar is a favorite choice of “shredders” in the era when this guitar was released in the market. Using Ibanez’s “wizard” neck; where the neck is thin and wide, so (according to some people) it makes the user more comfortable playing the scale with a fast tempo. The use of the connection construction between the neck and body on this reissue guitar has been updated with the times, different from the original RG550 series which uses a connection that is still in the shape of a “box”, so it is a little difficult to access the high frets. The use of the Edge Pro tremolo keeps this guitar from having that classic Ibanez feel, which sets this guitar apart from today’s RG series.

In terms of sound, it’s like a typical Ibanez RG sound; with basswood and rosewood fretboard. Maybe it can be described as a “sound shredder 80’s”

Ibanez’s decision to re-release this series was indeed the right step because, despite the many guitarists who used the series quite a lot at that time, this item deserves to be a collectible item.