So I tried an Ibanez guitar.....

I've been playing an Ibanez 7 string mostly for the past couple of months. I find that weirdly it has a positive effect in terms of my technique on a 6 string guitar. I had about a dozen Ibanezes over the years. Right now I have FRM100, RG121 (bought for like $200 many years ago - excellent guitar, even though it's not much to look at), RG752AHM, and JS1000. Are they as good as my Suhrs? Not really. But they aren't that far behind.
 
I think 1987 was the first year for those... It was a great year for Ibanez, so I'm sure Mr Sales Guy was excited ;)

It's funny after having been playing my Charvel DK-24 and Suhr Modern primarily for the last year, when I picked up one of my Ibanez guitars it felt really thin! So I can see if you're coming from something bigger how it could feel wrong... But I've been playing them so long that almost every other neck felt huge to me :D

I bought my first 'real' guitar in 1987. Ibanez RG550. I hated the bridge pickup and replaced it with a Duncan Distortion because I'd read that's what George Lynch used. It was neon orange. I think the color options were neon pink, orange, green and white. Years later when I started playing in a band again I was embarrassed to use it. So I had it painted. Me and the guy I paid to paint it couldn't think of a color, so I told him something understated. You can see the orange in the head stock. The guitar is so versatile. They come with treble bleeds, which I now consider a must on all of my guitars.

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The RG550 comes with Ibanez V7/V8 pickups. You notice the improvement when you replace them with a good set of Dimarzios
 
The RG550 comes with Ibanez V7/V8 pickups. You notice the improvement when you replace them with a good set of Dimarzios
Ah... Yeah, that's right. The S/P/R series all had IBZUSA...

I wasn't a fan of the V7/V8 or the S1 in the middle.
 
Ah... Yeah, that's right. The S/P/R series all had IBZUSA...

I wasn't a fan of the V7/V8 or the S1 in the middle.

I never use the web version of this forum and just noticed your signature. I think you'd like some of the Ibanez S-Series guitars I've owned over the years.
 
Ah... Yeah, that's right. The S/P/R series all had IBZUSA...

I wasn't a fan of the V7/V8 or the S1 in the middle.

i like the low output of the stock neck and middle pickups. The Duncan Distortion is a great match for that guitar. It’s my only guitar with 9’s on it. That’s because I grew up playing 9s and I keep the action low on that guitar compared to my others. It usually takes a few minutes for me to get comfortable when I pick it up. It’s has a real good recording tone too. So I always use it as a baseline on presets and the tunes I write and never finish. I have a 10 album discography of unfinished tunes...lol. Talk about under achieving.
 
The RG550 comes with Ibanez V7/V8 pickups. You notice the improvement when you replace them with a good set of Dimarzios
That's what I don't get - it's not like Ibanez can't create a competitive pickup. Heck, there's no need to even create in this case, just buy the designs from a boutique pickup shop and don't tell anybody. It's like Apple bundling piece of shit headphones with their $1K+ phones, only it makes even less sense, since Apple at least milks their customer base by upselling them to $250 AirPods, and Ibanez doesn't even do that.
 
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