LarryUK Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Has anyone got one. I'm thinking about one. The RG prestige. But would a Charvel be better value? I like the thin neck.
Searcy Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 I have a slightly modified Ibanez RoadStar. The neck is fantastic.
carv3r Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 ive owned three of them, and all of them were awesome guitars, the RG570 i had was one of the japan made and it was hands down the fastest tightest neck with breath on it to fret a note action, i also had an iceman that was kinda cool but more of a neat looking body then a sound in its own right, the iceing on the cake was the s470DX i had. the slim body and nice neck honestly put out such a huge sound.. i eneded up passing that s470 to a dude that needed a heavier sound for his crappy metal band that he was trying to play a mustang in. so i traded him, and i miss the s470 but i have had a lot of fun modifying the mustang so it was a win win. check out the s 470 rg's are wicked and you cant go wrong, but you may like the body of the s a little more one you stand with it. edit Searcy, that is one hell of a pool route! lol
swleary Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 I've owned a few Ibanez's in my day. RG370, 2005 SA2020, 2 ,S470 (custom shop, made in USA 1989). I recently m tried their new S series out and just hated it however you may like it. I prefer the SA series as they are hard tails lol. One Ibanez that I've always wanted was a RG 1570, really nice neck and body on them .The prestige line of any of the Ibanez models are top notch, I highly recommend them.
LarryUK Posted January 9, 2012 Author Posted January 9, 2012 How would you rate them against Charvel? I get lost in the model numbers of the Ibanez. The prestige line look good though.
swleary Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Charvel and Ibanez...that's kinda like Fender to Gibson. All about personal taste really.
S t e v e Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Charvel and Ibanez...that's kinda like Fender to Gibson. All about personal taste really. ibanez are better than gibson...jus sayin
swleary Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 ibanez are better than gibson...jus sayin No further comment from me Steve...ps we'll discuss this on facebook lol
rjay777 Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 I don't think you can go wrong with the Prestige. Great quality MIJ guitars. Wizard necks are pretty thin compared to a Strat or Gibby neck so make sure you're familiar with it first. The Charvel So-Cals are awesome too... basically a strat with humbucks and a Floyd.
dem00n Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 They make great guitars, i own a cheapo model and all i had to do was change the pickups and pots. The MIJ in ones are ever better...
AlanH Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 I have a Charvel San Dimas USA production and an Ibanez RG1570 Prestige so hopefully I can help a bit. The Charvel has a very nice neck but its overall fit and finish is not quite as good as that of the Ibanez. Out of the box the fret job is much better on the Ibby whereas the Charvel's action has to stay higher than I would expect for a 12-16" radius neck. The Ibby is beautifully crafted whereas the Charvel is a bit rough round the edges. I don't mean to look at, but it just doesn't have that air of precision and perfection that the Ibby has. I haven't tried the Japanese promods that replaced these limited run USA productions but I've heard they are as nice or even nicer than the USA versions. As far as playing goes, the Ibby's neck is indeed super fast and you can play things on it (e.g. that require a classical fingering style) that you can't play on the Charvel because of the Ibby's flatter feeling, thinner neck. It also has 24 frets. The Charvel's neck feels more substantial, although it is a little bit thinner than a Gibby neck, just wider. Sound-wise the Charvel has more power and oompf and the '59 in the neck gives a great blues tone. The Ibby, being HSH, can do the 2 & 4 Strat thing and it does beautiful cleans but the pickups do require more cranking than do the JB and the '59 of the Charvel. It could down to the fact that there is a fuller sound to be had from the Charvel's body. I'm pretty sure you could have yourself a day out in Brum and play these Guitars for yourself- Guitar Guitar stock both brands. The necks do feel different so you really should do so and, if you usually hook your thumb over the fret board, you may need to adapt your playing style to suit the Ibby. For an all round hard rock or blues guitar I think the Charvel is the better (but not as good as a LP or SG.) For clean styles and shredding I think the Ibanez wins but you need to let the amp do the work more. I can't speak for the Jap Pro-mods but, if it I had to choose between my RG1570 and my USA Production Charvel, I'd keep the Ibanez. Hope this helps
LarryUK Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 I have a Charvel San Dimas USA production and an Ibanez RG1570 Prestige so hopefully I can help a bit. The Charvel has a very nice neck but its overall fit and finish is not quite as good as that of the Ibanez. Out of the box the fret job is much better on the Ibby whereas the Charvel's action has to stay higher than I would expect for a 12-16" radius neck. The Ibby is beautifully crafted whereas the Charvel is a bit rough round the edges. I don't mean to look at, but it just doesn't have that air of precision and perfection that the Ibby has. I haven't tried the Japanese promods that replaced these limited run USA productions but I've heard they are as nice or even nicer than the USA versions. As far as playing goes, the Ibby's neck is indeed super fast and you can play things on it (e.g. that require a classical fingering style) that you can't play on the Charvel because of the Ibby's flatter feeling, thinner neck. It also has 24 frets. The Charvel's neck feels more substantial, although it is a little bit thinner than a Gibby neck, just wider. Sound-wise the Charvel has more power and oompf and the '59 in the neck gives a great blues tone. The Ibby, being HSH, can do the 2 & 4 Strat thing and it does beautiful cleans but the pickups do require more cranking than do the JB and the '59 of the Charvel. It could down to the fact that there is a fuller sound to be had from the Charvel's body. I'm pretty sure you could have yourself a day out in Brum and play these Guitars for yourself- Guitar Guitar stock both brands. The necks do feel different so you really should do so and, if you usually hook your thumb over the fret board, you may need to adapt your playing style to suit the Ibby. For an all round hard rock or blues guitar I think the Charvel is the better (but not as good as a LP or SG.) For clean styles and shredding I think the Ibanez wins but you need to let the amp do the work more. I can't speak for the Jap Pro-mods but, if it I had to choose between my RG1570 and my USA Production Charvel, I'd keep the Ibanez. Hope this helps Thanks. This answers a lot of my questions. I am going to Guitar Guitar to try them. I'll update soon.
LarryUK Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 Well i emailed Ibanez and here's the guide tobthere range Hello, First we want to say that we are a glad you are enjoying your guitar! That being said, there isn't really a "best to worst." We typically look at things from a user's playing experience. For instance, the Gio series are going to be models that are typically aimed at beginner/entry level players. These guitars have a lower price and less features for a user who isn't sure if they are going to stay with guitar or want something basic. On the other end of the spectrum, we have our Prestige level guitars. These guitars are designed as professional level guitars. The Prestige level guitars are all made in Japan and are going to have our highest level of craftsmanship/features. In between Prestige and Gio, we have our standard models which cover musicians from all categories. We also recently came out with our Premium series. The Premium series is made in Indonesia, but overseen by our Japanese Prestige Team. This gives the Premium great quality, but not the Japan price tag. With regards to the necks, the vast majority of our instruments are going to have a neck very similar to the SA series. The Gio necks will then to be slightly thicker, and the Prestige/Premium necks will tend to be thinner and have a fretboard that is more flat. Our standard models will be very similar to the SA.
FredD Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 You can't really compare their playing to anything Gibson has and on most models they have bolt on necks. The better Prestige's come with very nice HSC and they will put you back $ 1,500 USD on the average. I really like Ibanez and have 3 times as many Ibanez than Gibsons..... They are very good sounding guitars that sound equally well in the humbucker and single coil and out of phase modes. I suspect that 'lashurst' is a younger player, and the styles he would like to play are more modern than I am personally into. Having said that... You didn't mention the Ibanez Artcore Series, which are now made in China after 'on site' training having been provided by the top Ibanez Japanese Luthiers. The Quality of build and playability of these guitars is 'stunning', especially at the 'price point' they are marketed at !! They are, however, mainly semis, so they might not appeal to 'lashurst'. All I would say is that you would be surprised at the 'styles' of music that they are more than competant in !!
LarryUK Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 Actually. I'm 53. I have a Les Paul. But I have an Ibanez SA160 in my lounge for practising on. I prefer the feel of the neck on the SA to my Les Paul. That's why I'm thinking of having an Ibanez prestige. I'm looking at the RG 870. I'll try them first though. I've had an artcore AF75. It was a faultless guitar. But sold it as I never used it. I've played a Charvel So cal and liked it. The neck felt great. So they are £609 and the Ibanez is £729 at Guitar Guitar. I don't think a Gibson compares in that price range.
swleary Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 If you can get your hands on this Ibanez, do it lol.@005 Ibanez SA 2020,Made only one year with this finish, plays like butter. Best Ibanez I ever had..miss it now
milod Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 This is gonna sound terrible, but I don't think Ibanez is comparatively as good quality as it was in the mid-late '70s in comparison. OTOH, frankly I look back at the 50s and 60s and I'd say that there are far better guitars in general for far less cash in adjusted currencies than there were then. Epi and Ibanez are great examples; the "lower end" Gibbies too. I think the Japanese "invasion" of about all sorts of stuff that was hitting good quality in the later 60s and 70s helped the trend of increasing value per dollar on guitars even among domestic brands like G,F and M. It's also interesting to me how much China and Indonesia are used by Japanese firms, guitar and otherwise, for production of so much stuff at lower prices than domestic labor and federal regulations would allow - just as in the U.S. m
EVOL! Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 The necks on all Ibanez guitars are referred to as a shredder neck being wide yet not very fat. That's why I never got into Ibanez guitars: the necks, specifically the wide & flat spacing on the fretboard, are a bad fit for my hands.
LarryUK Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 This is gonna sound terrible, but I don't think Ibanez is comparatively as good quality as it was in the mid-late '70s in comparison. OTOH, frankly I look back at the 50s and 60s and I'd say that there are far better guitars in general for far less cash in adjusted currencies than there were then. Epi and Ibanez are great examples; the "lower end" Gibbies too. I think the Japanese "invasion" of about all sorts of stuff that was hitting good quality in the later 60s and 70s helped the trend of increasing value per dollar on guitars even among domestic brands like G,F and M. It's also interesting to me how much China and Indonesia are used by Japanese firms, guitar and otherwise, for production of so much stuff at lower prices than domestic labor and federal regulations would allow - just as in the U.S. m In the late 70's I agree the Ibanez Artist and the Yamaha SG were equally as good as Gibson.
LarryUK Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 If you can get your hands on this Ibanez, do it lol.@005 Ibanez SA 2020,Made only one year with this finish, plays like butter. Best Ibanez I ever had..miss it now Although not of the same quality, mine is similar looking.
LarryUK Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 Here is a old picture, look at the lower right side.... Look familiar? Yes. I find that it doesn't stay in tune though.
AlanH Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Yes. I find that it doesn't stay in tune though. Don't know whether you've noticed but I've just sent you a very useful PM.
S t e v e Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 put up a £1000 mij ibanez against a similar priced gibson, the ibanez will win hands down for build quality and any other type of quality you wish to muster...you yanks just don't get it do ya? fools!
EVOL! Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 put up a £1000 mij ibanez against a similar priced gibson, the ibanez will win hands down for build quality and any other type of quality you wish to muster...you yanks just don't get it do ya? fools! SO WHY ARE YOU ON THE GIBSON FORUM? Bet there is an Ibanez one you'd Greek-drinking-ouzo happy at.
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