Ibanez RG550-DY

En väldigt bra byggd gitarr med snyggt outlook och bred funktionalitet. Jag spelar för det mesta hårdrock och var förvånad över hur bra notseparation den har när man spelar ackord med distat ljud, man verkligen hör varje not. Mickarna har hög output. Testade även på min akustiska amp med clean sound och det lät bra även där. Man kan få rätt många ljud om man leker med volym och tone. Jag ville ha en neon gitarr och färgen är faktiskt neon gul, vilket inte framgår av bilderna. Den ser mer som vanlig gul på bilderna, men i verkligheten är den riktig neongul färg. Super snyggt! Av nackdelarna så är den rätt tung. Jag tycker också att Ibanez borde ha gjort klacken vid halsens början lite plattare, eftersom den ändå känns i handen, vilket gör det ändå lite svårt att spela mellan band 20-24. Halsen i sig är bara perfekt. När den kom in så hade den väldigt låg action, men ingen buzz eller så. Det är en smaksak, men jag höjde strängarna lite och justerade intonation något öre. Overall är den byggd utan anmärkningar och kvalitén är på topp! Jag blir glad varje gång jag tar den i mina händer!

Rating: /5
I bought an Ibanez RG550 because I wanted a classic superstrat with a good neck and high playability without it costing a whole month's salary. And on the whole I was satisfied - but there is one thing that really bothered me.

The good:
The neck is really good. It is thin, comfortable and fits perfectly in the hand (Wizard III or whatever they call it these days). It feels both fast and controlled, perfect for both rhythm and leads. I have been playing it for a few weeks now and it has not tired me out at all.

The bad:
The fret edges were very sharp straight out of the box. It was not a little "a little sharp", it was really unpleasant and I cut myself several times during the first few days. I had to get out a file and sandpaper and sand down all the fret edges myself. It took a couple of hours and it doesn't feel right on a guitar in this price range (it's around 10–11 000 SEK new). It's something Ibanez should have taken care of from the factory.

Other:
Everything else works really well. The pickups, the tuning, the tremolo, the finish – I have nothing to complain about there. It feels well-built and playable straight away (after the fret sanding…).
Summary:
Good guitar with a great neck, but that sharp fret edge was an unnecessary disappointment. If they had fixed it from the factory I would have given it a 5/5 without a doubt. Now it lands at a strong four. If you're prepared to spend some time on some finishing work yourself (or buy one that's already "set up" by a good tech) it's still a great guitar for the money.

I'm going to replace the pickups with DiMarzio Tone Zone and Air

This was a now or never kind of purchase. I'm not professional but I had the money and been admiring the RG550 since I was teenager, so I went for it.
Pros: Walnut reinforced super wizard neck is the thinnest neck you'll find and a super flat radius. Built for speed but a nice variety of tones make it very versatile. Excellent build quality. This feels like a solid, well-crafted instrument.
Cons: True to the original it has the square neck joint. Even the newer, cheaper Ibanez models provide a better cut out and improved high fret access. But it is a re-issue so they can be forgiven.
A re-issue of the late 80s/early 90s shred machine, the so-called "poor man's" JEM, this is very faithful to the original. More than that, there is a wide enough variety of tones, especially the cleans, to make it a perfect multi-style work tool. For high gain the pickups are more 80s/90s phrased, you may want to change for modern genres. The quality is nothing less than excellent, what you would expect from a made in Japan instrument. A guitar for a lifetime.

I added this to my rapidly-expanding collection of guitars, and it's one of my favourites.

Pros:
+ If you like really thin, super-flat necks (and I do), this is outstanding. It's ever so slightly thinner than my old Jem.
+ The fret ends are perfectly finished. You really won't see this level of attention to detail out of the factory without spending a lot more money.
+ The full-spec Edge trem is probably the best double-clocking system ever made. It's a real challenge to make it go out of tune.

Cons:
- The pickups are very slightly bland to my ears, but perfectly useable.

I'd like to see some sort of gig bag included, but given the quality of the components and the unbelievably good finish on the frets, I can forgive that.

If you're into hair metal, need a guitar that people can see where you are from the far end of a stadium, or a Steve Vai fan without the budget for a PIA, get one. If you're not... get one anyway.