FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Ibanez Prestige Guitar

Question:
I am interested in buying one of these and was wondering if anyone has purchased one or at least played one. It is an updated model of the RG550, with a new edge-pro trem and bridge and it is considered now a part of the prestige line of Ibanez guitars...whatever that means. I have never owned an Ibanez guitar but I just saw an RG550 in the shop the other day, and was really impressed by it. Those who are regular Ibanez owners never really seem to say anything bad about them

Answer:
have to RG 5xx guitars and love them. One is a 1990 RG550CM and the other is a 1999 RG520QSTB. They are versatile guitars that will give you everything from a nice clean strat sound to warm Les Paul type sounds. Not perfect, but close. They do have their own voice. You'll either love or hate the stock pickups. I didn't like them so originally I had a Dimarzio PAF Pro in the neck, and a Super Distortion in the bridge of my 550. Recently changed those to Evolutions. In the 520 I went straight for Evolutions. The RG 15xx has some problems with the trem, since they decided to drop the locking studs that the previous model came with. www.ibanezrules.com is a good place to read up on what I'm talking about. Also try www.jemsite.com , Jemsite is primarily a Jem owners site, but everyone is welcome and almost all of the information applies to all Ibanez guitars. I suggest you join Jemsite's forum and ask some questions there. We're all always willing to help and many of us are long time Ibanez owners. Some are either pro-techs, or ex-pro-techs (like myself) that just can't seem to NOT help people with problems, when we can. So even if you don't go with Ibanez, Jemsite is still a great place to look for answers to many of your questions. And most of us are a little nuts, so it's entertaining as well. Note; I have no affiliation with Jemsite other than the fact that I'm a member of the forum. The Prestige title on these guitars refers to the extra steps taken in finishing the neck. The neck is fine sanded and oiled, not lacquered, the edges of the fret board/frets are rounded and smoothed off to give the neck a played in feel. When I brought my 520 home (not Prestige) it felt a little stiff and not quite as smooth as my (then) 10 year old 550. The 550 is VERY played in and feels great. The 520 does as well, NOW. It's nice and played in. The guitars with Prestige on the headstock (and all of their signature line, The JS, JEM, so on) feel like an old lover right out of the box.