cheap rg550 alternative?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JackBootedThug
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jchrisf said:
I've got a 2003 570 that I love.. plays great and like a JEM. I have a buddy that collects JEMs and has over a dozen of the different models. I've played them all and it is very similar.. actually they all felt and sounded the same to me. I wouldn't know one from the other if blindfolded.

About 15 years ago I bought an RG350 for $100. This guitar plays and sounds great. Other than the trem it is very comparable to my 570. I really love this guitar. The neck is a little thicker but still feels and plays great. I haven't even changed the pickups. Mine looks just like the one in the video except I have upgraded nothing. They are very upgradable as the video will demonstrate but I've found no reason to upgrade it yet. This YouTuber is a phenomenal player.
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I have one of these. Totally legit. I put two Evolution (neck/bridge) and it's a very decent guitar. Bought mine new when they released the first batch. Fit and finish was very good on my model year.
 
JohnnyGtar said:
The 520 is basswood. The 520QS has the mahogany body with a quilted Sapele veneer top. I'd go for the 520QS because basswood is ASSwood and mahogany sounds far better.

Also both of those guitars don't have a single coil pickup in the middle. They have a 5 way switch that gets similar tones.

https://ibanez.fandom.com/wiki/RG520QS

https://ibanez.fandom.com/wiki/RG520
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I've had a few 520s. several with the quilted top and a gray pewter one that your linked referenced.. they were all mahogany.
 
The Genesis RG550 necks are much more solid and stable than the originals.
 
FWIW, I used to have a '98 MIJ RG570 that wasn't really anything to write home about.

Not to say it wasn't a good guitar, but it wasn't Prestige-level.

IMO, it was around the same level quality wise compared to an average LTD 1000 series. It just had a really thin neck that was really comfy. But IME, the trem wasn't all that awesome. It actually broke (literally) on me at one point.
 
Rex Rocker said:
FWIW, I used to have a '98 MIJ RG570 that wasn't really anything to write home about.

Not to say it wasn't a good guitar, but it wasn't Prestige-level.

IMO, it was around the same level quality wise compared to an average LTD 1000 series. It just had a really thin neck that was really comfy. But IME, the trem wasn't all that awesome. It actually broke (literally) on me at one point.
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I found a beat one local but it had a neck repair. And did I say it was beat?
 
The RG’s with pickguards look weird to me. MIJ 570’s are the ones I like. Tried a 450 awhile back, didn’t care for it. The lower RG’s are not that good imo.
 
Greazygeo said:
The RG’s with pickguards look weird to me. MIJ 570’s are the ones I like. Tried a 450 awhile back, didn’t care for it. The lower RG’s are not that good imo.
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agreed - mine was a beater for the most part and had to do alot of stuff to that low budgie RG to make it shred.

my last mod went awry when i tried to install a 2 post trem to replace the stock creaker and over time, one of the posts pulled through the tender b-asswood to the trem cavity cause i drilled the hole too close to the edge. she lived a good life.

vintage me and my college roomie rockin our ibbyz at a kegger at our socal crib—so blessed i survived that full hessian party era🤌

IMG_3722.jpeg
 
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