Need Advise on Purchase

[WilliamNH]

Narrowed new guitar purchase down to two potentials; Ibanez RGIT20FE or Ibanez RG921WZC.

I’m really torn between the two, but I’m very anxious to get a new guitar. Will probably purchase this week or next.

I prefer the look of the RGIT20FE but its Iron Label status is slightly putting me off, am I wrong to think this? The RG921 is a premium.

Guitar will be in Drop B/C Sharp standard. This would enable me to Veil of Maya, Between the buried in me, some Slipknot and Devin Townsend.

Please under estimate my knowledge lol any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[vilk]

I had an RGIR20FE. Pickups did not sit flat in the guitar. Razor fret ends. If you're down with dropping that amount of cash on a guitar with this kind of deal then go for it. Aside from the QC flaws, I think it's a nicely shaped guitar with good aesthetics and I loved the killswitch. Even so, I traded it away just as soon as I could because I'm picky about the pickup not looking flat and razor fret ends.

 

[WilliamNH]

I’ve heard the razor fret end criticism before, not for this model but other Iron Labels. How much of an issue is it? Will I literally be bleeding all over the guitar? None of the reviews mention this point, but obviously anonymous online reviews submitted to commercial websites shouldn’t be given much weight.

Did the lack of pickup flatness affect the sound?

 

[stevexc]

The problem here isn't so much his specific issues, but a general lack of quality control across the Iron Label line overall.

Typically the Premiums I've played have felt a lot nicer than the Iron Labels I've played, so I would lean towards that model, but you're gonna have to play both back to back.

 

[vilk]

I’ve heard the razor fret end criticism before, not for this model but other Iron Labels. How much of an issue is it? Will I literally be bleeding all over the guitar? None of the reviews mention this point, but obviously anonymous online reviews submitted to commercial websites shouldn’t be given much weight.

Did the lack of pickup flatness affect the sound?

No, though one time I thought it scraped my hand enough to cut the skin but without making blood come out. Maybe. It might have been coincidence. I find a lot of weird scrapes and cuts on my hand and I never understand how they got there... anyone else?

And I know that theoretically pickup flatness is supposed to affect the sound. But I thought it sounded just fine. It affected my peace of mind, though.

 

[WilliamNH]

Right. Leaning towards the premium now, lack of quality would affect my peace off mind too. Even if I did prefer the iron label aesthetics.

What do you think about the DiMarzio ibz pickups?

 

[vilk]

Me? The RGIR20FE had EMGs in it.

 

[WilliamNH]

Yeah just wondering if you had any experience with them; they seem ok judging from some forums.

 

[NuBz]

Seems to me the right file could take care of those frets easily.

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I’ve heard the razor fret end criticism before, not for this model but other Iron Labels. How much of an issue is it? Will I literally be bleeding all over the guitar? None of the reviews mention this point, but obviously anonymous online reviews submitted to commercial websites shouldn’t be given much weight.

Yes, I've cut my hand on an Ibanez's sharp frets before. Not blood but it shredded a few layers of skin.

 

[Jujex]

Narrowed new guitar purchase down to two potentials; Ibanez RGIT20FE or Ibanez RG921WZC.

I’m really torn between the two, but I’m very anxious to get a new guitar. Will probably purchase this week or next.

I prefer the look of the RGIT20FE but its Iron Label status is slightly putting me off, am I wrong to think this? The RG921 is a premium.

Guitar will be in Drop B/C Sharp standard. This would enable me to Veil of Maya, Between the buried in me, some Slipknot and Devin Townsend.

Please under estimate my knowledge lol any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Have you actually tried both of these instruments at a shop already? Because when it comes to mid to even low end prestige Ibanez models I've found that there could be huge inconsistencies in builds, as the guys mentioned fret edges for the Iron label was an issue but in my experience sometimes you can find a mid level Ibanez that plays and sounds better than the prestige ones and vice versa.

I was in LA a while back and tried a used entry level 7 string Prestige that played better than the most expensive Vai models and other top end RGs they had at the store, Now going back I regret not buying it.

My point is that before ordering one if you can go to a store and try a bunch of them out and you may find a gem at a great value or you could end up with a fairly expensive instrument that doesn't quite please you.

 

[ToneLab]

I had an Iron Label for about 2 days and the frets were so sharp I was checking my fingers for blood. If you get one just make sure you buy it somewhere with a good return policy. It's just not worth it and it will bother you. But, maybe you get a good one.