Red re-string

In view of the recent limelight of new Japanese Ibanez models, I was aggravated to soak in the hype by taking this out to play - RG550DX. This was part of the Genesis line up which was not warmly received due to its rosewood fretboard variation. The proverbial RG550, regardless of its resurgence timeline, requires a maple fretboard to preserve the legacy & more importantly, the commercial traction.

Something felt wrong; the guitar playability wasn't as addictive as it used to be. A quick diagnosis revealed a slightly bowed neck & an action that required a wee bit of shimming. I used a discarded name card here to provide a non-intrusive elevation.

As such, an action adjust was required. A reminder to those embarking on a similar set-up adventure; there is a locking mechanism inside the stud post which requires attention first before raising / lowering it. That's why you see the smaller allen wrench being used here. When you are done, do lock it back in place. 

 

A set of fresh Dunlop strings. Sometime, a guitar's set up requires a re-visit as some aspects would be affected by temperature, for instance, over time. Some of us find this a put-off, we just wanna play because by the time we finished tinkering, the urge to play would be gone.

Genesis = Prestige?

I need to address / document this here, please bear with me. 

The current RG565 are currently being marketed here as a Prestige model as evident from the above screen grab. The RG565 is from the Genesis series of instruments which also feature the RG550 / RG570 / RG550DX / RG521 (all discontinued along the way). The RG550, again from the above screen grab, is not marketed as a Prestige offering despite coming from the same series of instruments (Genesis). Confusing? Absolutely.

 

If we refer to the Ibanez homepage, the Genesis models do not fall under the Prestige range. Categorizing them as such is rather misleading. You'd argue that they are made in Japan, in the same manufacturing plant as the Prestige counterparts, of high build quality etc. - yes, we could all agree to this. No contest. Then again, the manufacturer did not label them as Prestige models & we would do well not to offer our own interpretation on the matter & invite possible cases of misrepresentation. 

Are all Made-in-Japan instruments Prestige models? In addition to the Genesis series, the J-Line instruments (not offered here) are also made in Japan. Judging by the specs, these instruments are more Prestige than the Genesis counterparts but again, the manufacturer did not categorize them as such. Maybe there is an element of insecurity if any of the Japanese Ibanez instruments do not bear the Prestige label, from a commercial point of view, this would invite lesser purchase considerations. We would do well to remember that those awesome Japanese Ibanez instruments of the late 80s / early 90s do not bear the Prestige tag & they were outstanding instruments. 

Pics: Ibanez

Stopped

Despite being semi-butchered & brought back to life, this guitar never failed to inspire me in terms of riffing ideas. It's modded to be a simple tool; one pickup, one volume - go!

The latest internal surgery involves the installation of this little ditty; the Tremsetter (1). The industry also refers to it as Tremolo Stabilizer & Arming Adjuster, among others. The idea here is to set it up so that the whammy bridge returns to your preferred position. As such, it is functionally different from the Tremol-No where whammy applications are totally frozen; the bridge stops moving altogether. 

However, being me & having this guitar assigned for no whammy applications, I've decided to screw in the springs entirely as well (2). This effectively means, the bridge is a non-mover. This only works if you use a higher tension set of whammy springs. The absolute advantage - I no longer require the Edge bridge to be wedged during string change, it is now a fixed bridge. What's the point of buying a dual action whammy bridge only to stop it from being one? The point is that I have other guitars with a perfectly functional dual action whammy bridge for whammy applications. Since this one is a 'spare' of sorts, I don't mind it being different from its counterparts.

550 Sunday

Spent time with my RGs. The 550s you see above are from the same Genesis family but different iterations. The DX has a granadillo fretboard & a set of Seymour Duncans (JB / Hot Strat / Jazz). The Road Flare version sports a maple fretboard & kept in its original form, no mods. 

Are there benefits from swapping out the default pickups to some other brand names? It really depends on the owner - are you happy with the default pickups? The in house Ibanez V/S pickups are alright. They are not bad in any way, still capable of pulling off good rock tones. However, I realize that if too much distortion is dialled into them, they sound honky / nasal. The Seymour Duncans, on the other hand, has more tolerance for distortion, maintaining clarity & note definition. 

We're into the final week of April. That's fast.