I don’t have an Ibanez. If I was to order one, should I get an RG, Jem, Pia, or S? Or something else?! 
They have so many models that it is overwhelming…
You probably saw the other thread that compared RG 550 to JEM
FWIW, about a month ago I bought a Prestige RG 5121 and I’m really happy with it. Feels great, sounds great. It was my first Ibanez. I’d highly recommend finding a store that sells lots of them and seeing what you like though. After all, we’re all so different in what we like.
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I noticed that Sweetwater seems to stock a huge amount of J. Custom RG guitars, so I presume that they sell very well, and better than Jems and Pias? They don’t seem to have much in S. I don’t think that I can find any of these in a physical store (Guitar Center), and I don’t mind adapting to a guitar because it takes a lot of time to get used to something… I suppose that I could order four guitars and return three (!), but I think that this would be overwhelming and I would just be confused.
At this time I am thinking of a HSH J. custom RG do to its popularity, but as you can see, this is hardly based on science. I was curious if somebody had figured this out and I could just copy their thinking.
Not to question you or anything, but do you need an Ibanez? It sounds like you’re going for one just because you don’t have one, which is fair if that’s the case, just curious.
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Every now and then I revisit old assumptions that might no longer apply.
For example, decades ago EMG pickups made perfect sense to drive guitar cables (because they don’t have differential design), and ALL of my guitars have them. Today, there is no point for EMG as one feeds right into a wireless’s ADC converter, the cable is a foot long.
All of my guitars were assembled by me from Warmoth parts with some eccentric notions (scalloped necks, etc.). I’m thinking, “I should have just one normal guitar that is well-regarded for metal,” hence (say) an Ibanez. But this is not to say that it couldn’t be something else from another manufacturer. The only “requirements” perhaps are locking tremolo + HSH, and that leaves a lot of choices.
I’m not sure if this will make any sense, but thanks for asking!
Go to a music store and play one. Never buy a guitar you haven’t played unless you’re Frankensteining it. Or it’s a really good deal. Or if you really want it. I take back my original statement. Buy away!!!
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Definitely check out LTD as well, for a while I felt they did better than Ibanez for the mid-range guitars.
What’s your price range? I think that’ll help weed stuff out.
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About enough for a Pia, etc., that’s the low $3k range? (And used would be about half that?) I’m hard-pressed to justify spending more in the age of CNC machines, that’'s for sure.
Lol!
I’ve actually purchased 3 guitars without ever first trying them out, just based on the reviews alone.
Schecter Hellraiser
PRS SingleCut (Pre Gibson lawsuit!!!)
Ibanez Prestige RG 5121
I’ve loved each one. I guess I gambled on the Harry Potter phenomenon where “the wand chooses the wizard” lol!. With the exception of the Hellraiser, which was probably about $700, the others were well within the ‘decent’ price category and I think for the most part when you pay decent money from a reputable maker, you’ll get a good instrument. That was my thinking anyway…
Hypocrisy well noted, I don’t think what I did was wise and I don’t recommend others do what I did. It turned out great for me, but I could have easily hated any of them and been out the $.
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Scanning the thread first…
The JEM/PIA are Steve Vai signatures - if that has value to you, then sure. Otherwise, a good Japanese-made RG is probabloy better value.
A RG550 (or equivalent) is kind of a classic shred guitar, and everyone, IMO, should own one. They’re fairly versatile, surprisingly, but with their thin necks, jumbo frets, and deeply recessed tremolos, they really lend themselves to over the top playing. The necks are a little thinner than I’m comfortable with for all-around playing, but it’s a good guitar to have in the stable.
There’s a few other options they make that I find interesting - the AZ series is basically Ibanez’s take on a Suhr-style superstrat, and if I didn’t already own a couple Suhrs I’d be interested in one. But, IMO, a RG550 is the classic.
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That price range offers up a lot of flexibility. I recently got a low end Strandberg and have been loving it, and they’re definitely making a place for themselves in metal / prog / technical guitar. 3k I think would be close to their highest? Less than 2k for a new “lower end” one.
Of course, not as classic / iconic (yet) as Ibanez.
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Have owned many Ibanez and anything Prestige or above is, from my experience, going to be a very well made, quality guitar. That being said the J-Customs are on another level entirely in regards to attention to detail and overall quality.
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I wanted to thank everybody for their thoughts, and I’ll likely get an RG8570Z. I was somewhat shocked that the frets are apparently soft (not stainless), and the tuning machines are not locking, but that’s OK, I suppose.
Has a locking nut so no need for locking tuners too 
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I have an Ibanez s series. I would really recommend it as the thin body is really nice.
But that might be my personal preference as I prefer smaller ergonomic body’s.
And personally I’d never buy a brand new one, I got mine for about £120 If you search around on ebay or Facebook you can find some great deals. Ofcourse if you’re going to spend some money, the best thing to do is go to a proper guitar store and test them out. You can never tell untill it’s in your hands.
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You are absolutely right but the locking tuners make it faster to string. I guess that it’s staying true to the 1980’s.
I’ll definitely be on the lookout for an S every time I go to Guitar Center.
That’s a great deal on an S.
And having tried one in a store, I agree, they feel really nice to wear and play - I love how lightweight they are. I think they’re pretty close in weight to headless guitars like the Strandberg Boden / Ormsby Goliath.
And I’d recommend going to a guitar store and trying some guitars out too. Even if you don’t find the exact model you want, you’ll at least find some stuff you like, some stuff you don’t, and comparable models that will help you figure out what you like. For example, the GC near me didn’t have the Schecter Hellraiser Extreme I was looking for, but they had a Schecter with a similar body and another with a similar neck, so trying both out I had a pretty good idea that the Schecter Hellraiser Extreme I found online would work for me, and it did.
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Beautiful guitar.
Ibanez guitars are awesome. Very good for shredding and just very nice to play.
I too have a couple of S series guitars - including a rare S prestige made in Japan in the early 2000’s. The frets and necks on these guitars wonderful.
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Resale value is really good right now and with nicer Ibanez it’s always been good. Hunt for a good deal on Reverb and just buy a used prestige or J Custom from a reputable vendor, they always have some on there.
You can also find a lot of J Customs used on Ishibashi USED Guitar Ibanez JCustom RG8570Z Royal Blue Sapphire [10] - Ishibashi Music Corporation
For the latter - Ishibashi is very reputable and apparently have great customer service, but buying international can be a pain you’ll wanna research it a bit. I’m pretty sure Ishibashi build the shipping price into the guitar prices they post, but if you’re in the US try to make sure the domestic part of the shipping goes through USPS and not a private company because they will tack on a ton of extra charges for ‘duties and customs’ whereas the only required amount (which is far, far less - potentially hundreds of dollars less) when done through the USPS.
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Here’s a bit of a plug for Marshall Harrison and his Ibanez S. I think it looks awesome 
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