Yeah, I found it strange they stopped offering a Prestige RGA7. I slightly prefer an RGA over an RG but I guess the sales weren't what they were expecting.
But it is near impossible to build a guitar that suits most peoples needs.
Ibanez NAMM 2020
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But it is near impossible to build a guitar that suits most peoples needs.
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I bet it just costs a lot more to make them. It's a lot more time and effort, so offest the cost by moving it to the low wage labor fator and use cheaper quality wood. Do the occasional J-custom and charge an overpriced forture for it. They learned to not give people everything because then you're happy and hold on to your guitar instead of selling it and buying another.
...and I'm the kind of guy that waits it out and buys it used.
jwade
Doooooooooom
Oh man, I want that guitar.
aesthyrian
Well-Known Member
...and I'm the kind of guy that waits it out and buys it used.
A new Ibanez just seems... weird. But then again, I don't own an Ibanez made in this millennium so I may be biased.
mrdm53
Well-Known Member
My wish is a simple one:
- RGD body shape, 7 string
- Lo-pro Edge
- 26.5 scale
- 2 hums
- solid color
- Maple fingerboard is optional
- REVERSE HEADSTOCK!
- RGD body shape, 7 string
- Lo-pro Edge
- 26.5 scale
- 2 hums
- solid color
- Maple fingerboard is optional
- REVERSE HEADSTOCK!
SlamLiguez
Voidist
Guess I'll have to make another ritual sacrifice in 2021 to see if they'll bring back the X-Series, because the last one obviously didn't work.
To reverb I go
To reverb I go
Didn't surprise me at all. The initial reception of the RGA427Z was not particularly positive. Yeah, people thought it looked nice, but the specs weren't what people were hoping for. First, EMG-sized soapbar pickups, and not even real EMGs. Ibanez has always been known around enthusiast circles as a brand that basically requires a pickup change out of the box, so them going down the rabbit hole of putting in pickups which not only sounded comparatively weak out of the box but also presented limited options for replacement, it alienated a lot of their core fans. Second, it had the Edge Zero bridge, a unit that has also never been particularly well liked compared to the Lo Pro and Edge Pro. Popular perception was that the switch to a bridge that was manufactured in house instead of by Gotoh was a step down in quality. Also, it came out fairly quickly that this was the guitar which Ibanez intended to be Chris Broderick's signature, and the revelation that the reason he left Ibanez for Jackson just before its release was because Ibanez refused to make a signature with the specs he wanted really damaged their credibility, given that Broderick was a) somewhat of a hot commodity as a guitarist at the time, and b) had otherwise displayed excellent taste in instruments, collaborating with LACS on several custom RGA7s that people around here would have sold their firstborn for.
Had it just been the Edge Zero bridge, something Ibanez was switching to throughout their entire higher end line, I think people could have found a way to live with it. After all, Broderick's LACS guitars also had it. Everything else piled on top though really poisoned the well. Honestly, I'm surprised it lasted more than a single model year.
That's not totally correct as far as considering the provenance of the later MIJ RGAs and Broderick's reasons/circumstances for going to Jackson.
The rumor mill was pretty lively when it all shook out, but things are honestly a heck of a lot more boring.
I didn't get the RGA427Z specifically because of the bridge. I've played an Ibby with it and it's nice, maybe even better in some ways than a LoPro, but I just couldn't get into how it felt. I do like how the fine tuners are on it by not dangling out in the open to get bumped and the offset intonation screws but that's about it, not a fan of the spring system either. I would have got it if I could easily change it out for a LoPro though. Another example of Ibanez just barely missing the mark for what I want. Hopefully this year is different but I'm not getting my hopes up.
cardinal
Buys guitars, sometimes plays them
The RGA427Z was just a trainwreck. I really didn't like the version of the carve they used (there are three RGA versions, I think, and that one is by far the worst). Then the bridge that seemingly no one liked. I can get over soapbars, but together with the rest of it, it was just... no.
The RGA7 that Munky was using sure looked great.
The RGA7 that Munky was using sure looked great.
It was really a perfect storm of shitty circumstances.
- The marquee artist left seemingly abruptly with a ton of negative rumors.
- The Edge Zero was the trem of choice as it was the four year gap between Edge Pro and Lo-Pro that Gotoh needed to tool up production for the global reintroduction of the Original Edge and Lo-Pro.
- The original pickup vendor flip-flopped on design and thus they had to go soapbar, which meant that LoZ was the best of a bad situation.
- The Yen wasn't hit as hard as the Dollar, so the price was high just about everywhere but home market.
It was just a shit show.
Interesting. I never knew about different RGA carvings, could you elaborate more?
Not that I've seen or played many RGA's. I did buy a JBM27 a couple of years ago. And now that you mention it, I'm beginning to think the horns on my JBM are smaller than the RGA427. I always assumed it just looked like that because of the wooden binding.
Actually, that silver-gray-ish RGA7 that Jake Bowen showed off here on SSO, 10 years ago, is probably the coolest RGA7 ever built.
Not that I've seen or played many RGA's. I did buy a JBM27 a couple of years ago. And now that you mention it, I'm beginning to think the horns on my JBM are smaller than the RGA427. I always assumed it just looked like that because of the wooden binding.
Actually, that silver-gray-ish RGA7 that Jake Bowen showed off here on SSO, 10 years ago, is probably the coolest RGA7 ever built.
Metropolis
Well-Known Member
First model is without carves in the horns, second has them but horns are same thickness as first RGA. Latest one has thinnest horns with more carve in them.
Dealers get catalogs between three and six weeks prior to the show.
Ahhh so my JBM27 probably falls in that 3rd category.
Getting off topic so I'll quit about RGA's from the past. I'm more into FR's these days anyway
Those Prestige RGAs had a completely different shape of lower horn cutout and no carving on the inside of the horns. It was not the same as the awesome LACS shape that Broderick had and is now used on Iron Labels and Standard series.
Albake21
Ibanez Nerd
Maybe I'm just super blind, but I don't see any difference between 1 and 2. I always thought there were only 2 versions.
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