Ibanez RG470

This axe says it was born in 1997, in Japan. 24 frets, and is basswood. 5 way selector, and has the V7 S1 V8 or whatever. Is kinda cool how the pickups are wired with the switch. Neck is Wizard II without bubinga stripe on it. Finish is blue, is in decent shape for 11 years old. I said I would NEVER get a Floyd Rose bridge (being a Fender guy), oh well. Got an itch from seeing Steve Vai playing a song on youtube. Case is raggedy as a mug. Will have to use a bungee cable to hold together, but is functional.

I play pretty much everything, will use this for mostly R&B (no, I did not stutter on that). This guitar seems to be able to do many styles, yeah I know it is a metal dive bomber, but I want to push the envelope with this axe. Am using a Digitech multi effects pedal and a PocketPod on stage thru a Fender Frontman 65R, mainly for its clean power. It is noisy on the middle selector, but with the in-between settings, is good enough. The neck pickup is full, but lacking something, not quite like my Les Paul, for sure. Treble pickup seems to be hotter, will do the job for most rock music.

Setup is ok, need to have a pro set this thing up. Bridge pickup was screwed up, as I bought this on ebay, had to reassemble the screw for treble pickup, but is ok now. See no flaws on guitar, is well made, finish is good, this thing is well made in general.

This thing is already 11 years old, and will last 50 years or more with proper care. This guitar will withstand the Large Hadron Collider, or better, for sure. Had a couple of nicks in finish, but will withstand much more over the years. I would use as main guitar, but I generally bring a backup, just for kicks.

Went on the website to see an old manual for this guitar, other than that, have not had to deal with Ibanez.

Playing guitar over 20 years, still as fun as when I first started banging out notes on the fretboard. Own several keyboards as well, am a committed musician.If this were stolen, would get another of its ilk, probably something newer. Like the versatility of sounds the best, hate the weirdness of the Floyd Rose tremelo system the worst. I compare this to my Mexican Strat, but not with the quirkiness. Wanted another Ibanez guitar, cause I know they are made well. This particular model is very nice, am going to add to my herd, though I really don't need any more, buy one and you won't be sorry, esp. if metal is your style.

JAPAN 24fret 3piece maple wizard neck, V7(alnico) S1 V8(ceramic) pickup gotoh tunners edge floyd rose with lockin nut... the circuit has a treble bypass capacitator on the volume knob so when I use the volume the sound doesnt get muddy as in cheap guitars.
very versatile guitar I get tons of sounds just using a weak distortion/strong overdrive and the volume and tone knobs...

I play rock covers, jazz standards, fusion improvisation, rarely some metal shred (and the guitar rox), but mostly jazz and fusion...
the alnico V7 is very warm and suits very well my needs, and the V8 is high output ceramic great for soloing... the single coil S1 gives me even more tonal options.
I was bettween an epiphone les paul and this guitar, and with less money I got a better guitar I dont even need to change the pickups so soon... with other guitar I'd had changed the pickups already.

I use it with a marshal solid state combo as a monitor and my podxt live kicks it to the PA. I learned a lot how to program the podxt live and so, I'm very happy with the result. I can play so many styles... and in most of them, I sound great, and I cant do this with some other guitars...

I dont use factory setup, I bouthg it 2nd hand, and I take all pieces of every guitar I buy, to make my own setup: IF you want something done well, do it yourself!!

The measures on the guitar were great, and the action is very very low, I get 4mm at 12th fret, with no fretbuzzz and perfect intonation...

all the hardware is working OK and i bought it used ^^ lucky ^^

a like a lot the green almost blue finish and the whole guitar itself looks cool.

I use it many times and it will last many years and I can depend on it for sure

no idea, never needed this thing

I've been playing 6years
I got
squier strat affinity
fender 2002 strat anyversary
phoenix costum strat handmade in japan, 20year old
sonora acoustic guitar + piezzo
hammer preccision bass
Marshal 50DFX
Podxt Live

I cant live without a guitar like thiz anymore, probably I will just put and hipshot tremsetter after a few years, and when I make up my mind about the pickups, I will upgrade the guitar pickups, but I'm not sure wich pickups I will buy...

JAPAN 24fret 3piece maple wizard neck, V7(alnico) S1 V8(ceramic) pickup gotoh tunners edge floyd rose with lockin nut... the circuit has a treble bypass capacitator on the volume knob so when I use the volume the sound doesnt get muddy as in cheap guitars.
very versatile guitar I get tons of sounds just using a weak distortion/strong overdrive and the volume and tone knobs...

I play rock covers, jazz standards, fusion improvisation, rarely some metal shred (and the guitar rox), but mostly jazz and fusion...
the alnico V7 is very warm and suits very well my needs, and the V8 is high output ceramic great for soloing... the single coil S1 gives me even more tonal options.
I was bettween an epiphone les paul and this guitar, and with less money I got a better guitar I dont even need to change the pickups so soon... with other guitar I'd had changed the pickups already.

I use it with a marshal solid state combo as a monitor and my podxt live kicks it to the PA. I learned a lot how to program the podxt live and so, I'm very happy with the result. I can play so many styles... and in most of them, I sound great, and I cant do this with some other guitars...

I dont use factory setup, I bouthg it 2nd hand, and I take all pieces of every guitar I buy, to make my own setup: IF you want something done well, do it yourself!!

The measures on the guitar were great, and the action is very very low, I get 4mm at 12th fret, with no fretbuzzz and perfect intonation...

all the hardware is working OK and i bought it used ^^ lucky ^^

a like a lot the green almost blue finish and the whole guitar itself looks cool.

I use it many times and it will last many years and I can depend on it for sure

no idea, never needed this thing

I've been playing 6years
I got
squier strat affinity
fender 2002 strat anyversary
phoenix costum strat handmade in japan, 20year old
sonora acoustic guitar + piezzo
hammer preccision bass
Marshal 50DFX
Podxt Live

I cant live without a guitar like thiz anymore, probably I will just put and hipshot tremsetter after a few years, and when I make up my mind about the pickups, I will upgrade the guitar pickups, but I'm not sure wich pickups I will buy...

Green finish, Edge tremelo, Gotoh Tuners, Thin Wizard Rosewood neck, Hardshell Case, Guitar was made in 1991 in Japan. 24 fret neck, basswood body. 5 way switch. HSH V7 SI V8. I replaced the Bridge pickup with a DiMarzio Tone Zone in '93

Versatile sounds from the 5-way switch. I play a wide range of music from Rock to Jazz. I was using a Carvin X-100B through a 2X12 Cabinet, and an Ampeg SS-140C. I am currently using a guitar port. Deep tones can be achieved with a pickup replacement.

Setup from the factory was mediocre at best. The action was set too high and the pickups too low. I can not find any flaws in the finish or fretwire. The tremelo needed a few small tweaks, then it stays in tune even during a simulated Brad Gillis whammy frenzy.

This guitar actually withstood a flood! It was completely submurged under 6 feet of water for three days. The hardware seems as if it will last even after sixteen years of abuse. I would use it on a gig without a backup.

I do my own repairs

Been playing for 33 years. If it were lost or stolen I would look for another RG-470 from the 1991 era. I love the neck and the ability to achieve low string action. I wish the volume knob was distanced further from the bridge pickup. This RG-470 replaced a 1987 Ibanez 540 Sabre.

Purple/Plum sparkle finish, Lo-TRS bridge, Gotoh tuners, Wizard neck. Guitar was made in 1999 in Japan. 24 fret neck, basswood body. 5 way switch. HSH V7 SI V8

I play this guitar through a Line 6 vetta/carvin legacy 412. brighter. more sustain with these stock pickups than my 350DX with air norton and x2n.

i love the sound...

bought it used and the dude apparently was all talk. the bridge was all the way forward, neck was filthy, dusty, old strings. i had to adjust everything and it kicks ass! stays in tune..feels way better than my Edge III...neck is a little wider just a tad than my wizard II neck.

i havent used it long enough to see if strings break easily.

never talked to them

ive been playing for like 9 years.. if it were stolen id be pissed as fuck. id buy another ibanez...same model? if i could find one.

MIJ 1992 superstrat shape HSH with a v7 in the neck, s1 in the middle, and v8 in the bridge. Wizard Maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 24 jumbo frets, Gotoh tuners, Good electronics. Edge Trem..Basswood body

I love this guitar, and i chose it over some of the newer prestige models, they just feel better made from back in the old days. I have a Jade Green 92 model made in japan and it has the orignal v7 in the neck, s1 in the middle and the v8 in the bridge. Some people seem to knock the v8 in the bridge but i think it sounds awesome and compliments the v7 very well. The v8 is still nice and full sounding and adds some brightness to the guitar to provide some more versatility. This guitar will pull off any style fairly well in my opinion. I dont use the s1 very much but thats not to say its not good, it just doesnt suit my style. The pickups are best described as very ROAR and crunchy. Fantastic for heavy rock or metal but you can also get a nice fat warm clean sound with the neck bucker, and it doesnt sound thin up the top end. It's not very noisy at all. I run it thorugh a visual sound jekkyl and hyde > visual sound h20 > Hotrod deluxe or a POD XT Live > Hotrod deluxe. Sounds great either way but the Fender Hotrod tends to colour the sound of the POD XT a bit coz its a fairly FAT ASS sounding amp. The only thing i would change on the guitar is replace the edge trem to an edge pro. But the edge is doing a good enough job so theres no need. Harmonics are a breeze to pull off on this guitar. If you can, find yourself a MIJ one, you wont be dissapointed. I'm not a big fan of the Korean stuff but thats just my opinion. This guitar rocks and i'm giving it a 9 coz nothing is perfect.

I didnt get this guitar new so im not going to rate this section but when i recieved it, it was wayyyyy out of tune and the setup was terrible. The guy had put a set of 11's on it and the springs couldnt take it.. Once i got the guitar in tune the trem was taking a divebomb something severe. I ended up changing the strings to 9's and now the action is perfect, i didnt have to change the height of the trem and the knife edge is perfect. It's super low with just a tiny bit of buzz on the E string if you strum it hard, but this doesnt come through the amp and its only noticed playing unplugged. Doesnt bother me at all. The pickup height was perfect. The finish of the guitar is pretty much flawless the only thing is that the neck plate is starting to oxidise slightly. Besides that its been well looked after. Electronics seem fine. Neck is just beautiful. Routing is perfect.

This guitar will withstand live playing without a problem. I;ve been playing it live for a year now with no problems. I will usually put strap locks on my guitars but the strap buttons on this thing are HUGE! I alternate between this and my American Chrome Blue Fat Tele when im gigging. I wouldnt gig without a backup coz as we all know, replacing a broken string on a floyd rose style bridge isnt a 1 minute job. Paint seems fair, mine has no chips but i dont think its as thick as on my Tele. But the Tele has really nice thick paint. I'll rate it an 8 coz of the need for a backup due to string breakages.

Never had to deal with them but from the looks of other reviews theyre not the best which is a shame. There are plenty of helpful websites on the net to help you out with problems anyway. Do yourself a favour and learn to set up your own guitars!

I've been playin on and off for 12 years i've owned a fair bit of gear but my current guitars are the 1992 ibanez rg470 MIJ , 2003 American HS Fat Tele and an Aria 1970 Les Paul copy which needs a work over but the neck pickup on that baby sounds better than alot of gibsons i've played. If my Ibanez were lost or stolen i'd catch the prick and tie him down with a low E String and prick him to death with the high E string. I'd replace this guitar for sure, its the final addition to my collection and my search has finally ended. Although id love a Les paul Special with some p90's... The v7 humbucker in the ibanez is awesome believe me!!!!

2002, black, basswood, Japan-made. H/S/H

25.5" satin finished neck, which is very smooth and very fast. This guitar is all about the neck, isn't it? I prefer the feel of the 50s rounded Gibson neck -- it feels better in my hand, but the Ibanez's Wizard neck is so smooth and so fast - moving up and down the neck is effortless, although after a long set my thumb becomes tired because I don't have enough wood to hold on to.

I did not like the stock Ibanez bridge pickup, so I replaced it with a Seymour Duncan Parallel Axis Distortion (the PA is made to to fit the string spacing of the Floyd Rose). Ahhh! much better definition and higher output - I can hear every note even though my amps distors sooner.

I also replaced the stock 5-cent capacitors with some 50-cent Orange Drops (this is supposed to make it less microphonic; who knows, I can't tell the difference).

I replaced the stock 5-way switch, which seemed a little flimsy, with a Fender 5-way switch, which feels more solid to me.

And I replaced the cheapy volume and tone pots with real Alps pots of the same value -- they feel smoother to me.

This is my Metal and Grunge guitar , and it is usually plugged in straight to a rectified Mesa Boogie, and sometimes through a Danelectro Black Paisley.

I highly recommend the SD Distortion pickup (the SD PA-TB2) in the bridge -- you may think the stock PU's are fine... but you'll get a woody when you hear the combination of the RG470 and the SD Distortion through a Mesa Boogie rectified.

The single, middle pickup is lifeless -- useless, really; no real twang. The neck pickup is OK for rhythm, but again it is lower in outout than what I'm used to.

The Basswood is very light (good) and the resonance seems kinda "dead" (bad) compared to my mahogany Gibsons. I am surprised it sounds as good as it does -- pure Metal heaven.

The set-up from the factory (I bought it new) was horrible - the action was too low (fret buzz), ad the intonation was way off. This was OK with me because I prefer to do my own setups anyway.

There were no dings or scratches when I bought it. Honestly I don't know why people are so concerned with is; your guitar is going to be rife with dings and scratches after a few months of playing.

I have looked at some Korean- and Indonesian-made Ibanez', and I have to day that my Japanese-made RG470 show much better quality control -- the tuners were tight, the frets were smooth, the switches and pots were not noisy at all.

Some people say the Floyd-Rose trem is difficult to adjust. Not really. Just learn how to do it, and it will be as easy as any other trem. The micro adjustments screws do make it very easy and very fast to adjust for string stretch.

I have owned this guitar for three years, and I have played it on stage for two, and it has withstood the use. I usually change the strap buttons on all the guitars I own (my other guitars are all Gibsons -- know for their POS strap buttons), but this Ibanez has some beefy strap buttons-- I've never had a problem with them.

I try not to abuse my guitars, so the soft basswood has not been a problem for me - sure it's gome dings here and there, but so what? Do you really want to go on stage with a shiny, new axe? Remember what happened back in elementary when your wore new shoes!

I don't know about the customer support for repairs. I've always fixed my own guitars.

I've been playing for about 4 years, and I own a Gibson LP studio, and a Gibson LP Junior. Between these three guitars I can get any sound I have ever needed. The one thing that stands out with this Ibanez is the neck -- for fast runs up and down the neck this thing can't be beat. And trust me, change the bridge pickup to a SD Parallel Axis Distortion, and you WILL BE Metal.

I looked at ESP and Jackson. I prefer this Japanese-made Ibanez. If I found another one on Ebay for a good price, I will buy it.

Made In Japan, 24 frets, Double locking Edge Pro trem, thin maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Basswood body, Gotoh Tuners, Jumbo Frets,
5 way pickup selector (lots of sounds available here). Pickups id H(bridge-V8 but i changed it to ToneZone)-S(S1)-H(neck-V7)
Mine is sangria and sparkly too

I play the metal and I think this gutiar suits all styles I'm interested in. I use a AX1500G. This guitar pickups sounds so hot.. Even with vol-control roll-back-off, yes, i mean off, i cant still hear my playing the guitar (crunch). But the bridge pickup (tone zone/v8) is not good for clean. For clean channel I prefer to use middle/neck PU.

I bought this new, reason being I picked it up at a guitar store, had a jam, try another RG series and try this rg470 again, then i love this rg series more. I was in the market for a more expensive guitar, but just loved the way it sat in my hand.

I'm surprised how well the trem keeps everything in tune, It'll withstand live playing.
I'd like to say I can depend on it.

no Comment, but they are nice person

Started playing guitar since 1997 - self taught. I definitly want a similar guitar again as I love this, I chose this because of the price, the whammy and the sounds I was after.

I won't go into too much details on the stock features as if you're down to my review you'll know them by now, so I'll outline my mods.

- Dimarzio Evolution (bridge)
- Dimarzio Breed (neck)
- standard centre pickup
- upgraded trem posts
- Locking nut removed, standard tuners removed
- graphite nut installed with locking tuners
- all push pull pots

As a standard guitar, I give it an 8 due to its price.

I've been playing for 9 years now with 2 of the past years professionally in a bluesy metal band. What I hate most about these review pages are people who have been playing for 2 years or sometimes less that think they know everything about a guitar. Take 'aady' above slaggin off on Ibanez gutiars. Yes my friend mr Vai, and Mr Satriani mustn't know as much about guitars than your knowledge gained from you extensive experience.....what a joke....."All Ibanez guitars a crap".....pffft

Anyway, like I said I play heavy riffs usually around blues type scales, but solo in whatever fits. After putting in the evolution pickup first I had aural orgasms after realizing that I'd been playing for years not really 'connecting' with my instrument (even after years something ne can be found from playing the guitar....no one knows it all...thats why its exciting). I recently went the whole hog and installed a Breed pickup as well. Let me tell you that within reason I can achieve 99% of the sounds I want from this baby. The only sound I can't get...well not good enough comes from my strat....there are somethings you don't want to imitate.

But basically this thing sounds awesome now after the mods. I play through a Marshall TSL100, or a Line6 flextone III depending on where I am.

I bought this from new, reason being I picked it up at a store, had a jam, and fell in love. I was in the market for a more expensive guitar, but just loved the way it sat in my hand. Someone said it before and its exactly right...its like an old friend.

I've now removed the locking nut, and standard tuners and replaced that witha graphite nut for the strings to slide over (not locking) and locking tuners. I wish i did that years ago as its made tuing a lot easier, faster, and more reliable. I've also replaced the trem posts with new and improved ones which rejuvinated my tremelo and surprisingly gave me a little more solid sound.

I give this a ten cause you know when you go out looking for a 2000 dollar guitar and coe home with a 1000 dollar one (Australia) you know it must have had a good vibe.

My only gripe was that my tremelo fell into the guitar and sat at a funny angle one day when I was a little too whats the word, pissed or stoned?, well both, and using the tremelo too harshly.

Anyway got that fixed, and with the new posts its all good and stays in tune for ages. For anybody who is thinking of buying a tremolo like these, remember that they are a bit of a hassle to setup, but once its in tune, and you're not Dimebag Darrell it usually stays there. (I don't know how Dimebag used to keep his under control......that mans a genius, god rest his soul).

Never had to deal with them as the faults happend after the warrenty period expired.

I think if this was stolen I'd probably buy a different type of Ibanez (even if they still made these). Basically due to my curiosity of different guitars, and my RG was made to be as good as it is, so the same could be done to nearly anything. Either way, I'm certain that my rig will always consist of at least one Ibanez. they are quality guitars (you get what you pay for mind you) and easy to modify.

A good addition to this guitar or any for that matter would be a sstem where you can block up the tremolo (so it doesn't move) while gigging, but allow it to be removed while recording. As I've found that I rarely use the whammy bar on stage, but like to use it for effects in recordings.

To cut a long story short, you have to play something that inspires you, and due to my mods its a one of a kind...my signature guitar if you like....he he he......and that inspires me, or the thought of one day having one. :)

Model number = F0133926
I believe that to make it a Japanese 2001 model :)
24 frets, Double locking Lo-TRS trem, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. I was told it's the RG470, I got it second hand on News Years Eve 2004 (Happy Days!!!)
5 way pickup selector (lots of sounds available here)
Mine is very, very, very dark purple and seems to be kinda sparkly too

I play a range of sounds, but generally lean towards rock and its illegitimate sons and daughters. I bought this as a result of feeling a bit down and listenin to lots of Dream Theater and therefore forcing myself into believing I needed a bar... I LOVE THE BAR, I NEEDED IT!! OK!!?
Pickups are V7 neck, S1 middle, V8 bridge (thats H/S/H folks)
the pickups are pretty rocking, but I would like to venture into the world of better pickups when my financial situation is calmer as they dont have the balls of my Gordon Smith humbucker.
For the time being it's metal as f***
It's got a nice clean tone, and playing with volume and tone as always opens things up plenty.
I keep it simple with setup - using only a wah and amp distortion on practice amp Marshall MG50, sounds fantastic through Marshall TSL head and a Marshall valvestate amp. It even sounds good through my crappy little 30watt Peavey amp thats about 15 years old!

It was setup quite nicely, the neck is really fast, and it's set to use gauge .09 strings (I use Super Slinkys). I adjusted the pickup heights to suit myself however.
Reason I got this as cheap as I did is because of two small dinks that are round the back edge. I'm not complaining, it's been knocked about and seems to stand up to the abuse.
The pots are a little noisy, but I think they just need cleaning and possibly re-soldering.

I'm surprised how well the trem keeps everything in tune, It'll withstand live playing. Only issue I've got is that when you snap a string - its an arse to change etc cos of messing round with allen keys, but I'm getting used to it, plus, once its in tune it pretty much doesnt go out.
I've had to tighten the strap buttons a couple of time as they seemed to be coming loose.
I'd like to say I can depend on it.

Can't really comment.

Started playing about 10 years ago, but consider myself to have only been playing seriously for 6 years - self taught. I definitly want a similar guitar again as I love this, it's completely different beast to my Gordon Smith Graf Deluxe, and a dream compared with my first electric - the Encore EB1 (bless it's dead little socks).
I chose this because of the price and the sounds I was after. I actually intended to buy a 570 from another store for a couple of hundred more without a case, but luckily (not for the store) they were shut on news year eve - the day i caved in and decided I couldnt wait the week to get a new guitar.

This is a korean made one. Usual RG features. "INF" pickups...not sure how good they're supposed to be. I think the neck is a wizard II since its a bit thicker than the wizard. It does have everything I could need in a guitar, minus pickups but you never get exactly what you want stock anyway.

I play the metal, and jazz fusion , and the progressive rock. I think this suits all styles I'm interested in.
I use a behringer v-amp, and a roland cube 30, and have played this through a laney VC-50 a few times.

It sounds pretty good for what it is. I'm going to switch out the bridge pickup at least. Depending on what I do with the tone knob, I can get a searing metal sound, or a slighty richer fusion sound..frank gambale or something like that. I like versatility in a guitar sound, and this does have it. It doesn't nail anything in particular dead on, but does any sound I want reasonably well.

I didn't buy it new, but it was like new from the pawn shop I found it in, though the locking nut mechanism had been removed for some bizarre reason.
I don't think anyone had set the guitar up, so I'll assume it arrived like this from the factory. The action was too high and I had to do the intonation and adjust the spring tension, but that all is no big deal.
Even being a used guitar, the finish is still flawless, with only the guitar equivalent to swirl marks on a car, since its black and all. It feels quite solid.
The tuners don't feel as good as the ones on my japan made RG570, but they're not terrible.
The bridge seems a bit crappier than the 570 as well, but it stays in tune just fine and works just the same. It's just that the fine tuners don't have that smooth action that they have on the 570. Probably not a big deal really.

There is no reason for this guitar to not withstand live playing. There is nothing wrong with the floyd rose bridge if you take the 5 minutes it takes to figure out how it works. If it's setup properly, it stays in tune better than any tune o matic guitar I ever had.

I would use it without a backup, yes.

no idea

I've been playing for a long time and have an ESP explorer and a japanese made RG570.
I can have no complaint about this guitar....it's not a real high end guitar, but it does its job well. I can think of no better guitar than the ibanez RG, whether korean or japanese. The ESP just sits now that I own 2 RGs. They definitely have expanded my playing beyond hitting palm muted power chords all day. I've played some yamaha, kramers, BC Rich, gibson..I don't like them at all. I would take this korean RG over a lot of more expensive guitars.
I just wish it had better pickups, but you really can't hold that against a guitar of this price.

one last thing...this guitar was in the pawn shop because the person couldn't handle a floyd rose. I see a lot of that in reviews. Take the time to figure out how to set it up! It's not that hard and it stays in tune just fine! Don't blame the guitar!

This has changed from the manufacturers standards spec. I think I may have reviewed this earlier, but this is a bit of a road update. I bought the guitar in 2000 and I'm still using it live.

Current specifications:

EMG 81 bridge SA middle and 85 Neck
5-way switchcraft switch
Official Floyd Rose tremolo, black.
Gotoh SG tuners, black.
Professional Refinish

The sound is ballsy and meaty. I use this as a backup in my thrash band, though mainly use it for recording these days due to its convenient shape. There is just something about basswood. I got the guitar with DiMarzios initially and hated the sound... The evolution sounded sterile and flat and the PAF Pro was muddy. I used it for years as a beater with a single EMG81. Now I have recently rejiuvenated it with a refinish and new hardware and its phenomenal! For some reason, EMG plus Basswood is just unbelievably nice!

The 81 has all the balls necessary to wake the dead, or at least drive any neighbours insane. The SA has a sweetness to it like a strat on its way to the prom. The 85 has some really classic lead tones in the neck position and really punches through well.

I am using an Engl Powerball and a Marshall TSL 100, each through its own Marshall 1960 cabinets, each with v-30s and g75s in X formation.

I love the sound of this guitar now.

The guitar has lasted a long time. The finish wore our and died under my sweaty paws. Its just had a refret after years of use the original frets were a little dented and discolored.

The basswood chips a little too easily for my liking and during the modification process, I had to strengthen some screw holes and in some cases fill them and re-drill them. The most risky was the tremolo posts, but it has come off alright!

I would be happy to rely on this guitar now. It has always been a well built guitar and survived a few drops and unintentional slams! (ooer - its metal after all!)

The TRS tremolo wore quickly and wasn't much use after a few years, but that has now been remedied. I love that you can just change out the tremolo to the official floyd.

I'm sure I can depend on this guitar and always have really!

Never dealt with Ibanez

I have done the following to this guitar:

Ripped out the worn-out TRS tremolo and replaced it with an Offical Floyd Rose in black: #120-130 ish
Replaced the tuners simply to match the floyd rose, the original tuners are still in good nick: #30
EMG pickups: #160
Refinished in bright yellow: #175

The guitar looks phenomenal and plays really well. I have it tuned to C and the neck feels really nice!

I have been playing since I was 8 and tinkering with guitars since 15 or so. I am 24 now.

I hope this never gets stolen as I'm sure its almost one of a kind. Again massive kudos to Ibanez for making the tremolo the same size as an official floyd. I ended up filling the original holes for the tremolo posts and recalculating/redrilling them, but it was worth it.

I have two other Ibanez RGs. One is an expensive ish quilt top one, unfortunately with an Edge tremolo and the other is an RG 570 which is still going strong after all these years. I intend to modify this one next.

I love the new color and the new hardware. Its a real piece of eye-candy. I will endeavour to beg or steel for a digital camera and show the world!

OK, so yes, its essentially #500 of upgrades for a guitar you can now by for #200 or so. Was it worth it? Well, for #700 you can buy a nice guitar, or you can get one of these and do what I did and get something that your REALLY want. I know when I'm jamming out and playing, I feel like I'm playing an extention of me and that the guitar is part of me, not just something hanging off me! Its going to make its first outings soon!

I've had it at rehearsals too and when guitarists of other bands see it, they ALWAYS ask about it and are very very interested. One wanted to swap me for his Jackson Rhoades RR5, but for me, this is definately going nowhere!

Amazing - when I first got this guitar, I really didn't like it too much! It was a while before I discovered how good the EMGs sound in there with the basswood body and how much difference a decent tremolo can have!

Go me!

Korean Made, not sure of year. 24 frets. Controls: volume, tone & 5 way selector switch. Pickups: H/S/H all dimarzio (put on by previous owner), LoTrs Locking Tremolo (which although there seems to be quite a few bad reviews of, seems to hold its tune well. I did have to use a spring under the arm screw on to tighten the arm but its been good), Neck is smooth, slim & a pure delight & comfort to play

This guitar sounds very good with fitted dimarzios (not sure of model) and is very versatile. I play alot of rock, metal, funk, jazz & blues and this guitar does all rather well but a little weaker on the jazz & funk although I would use as a backup on a gig if necessary.
sound is near full (not as much as my strat fitted with hot rails) but very good excellent for metal and hard rock.
I like the sound of this guitar alot but there is still a tone gap between it & my strat.

this guitar was purchased from a guy who makes guitars so set up, condition & everything was absolutely flawless.
this guitar was as new, hardly played.

no reason why this little beauty wont live on the stage with me for many years. The neck does creak/click very, very, very. very slightly no & then due to the tapered heal but this is only slightly & not a problem. All hardware is black, infact everything is black!
some have slated the lo-trs locking trem system which has been completely fine so far, with good abuse i should add! Finish also is very good. again this guitar is like new! Strap buttons are very solid. I can definately depend on this guitar. Although I always take a back-up guitar for every gig, I would'nt be over concerned if I only had the 470.

I once owned a steve vai jem some years back. the neck warped & it took Ibanez about 8 months to sort it & replace with new, which they did but was frustrating due to time limit & the new neck was as good as the other (before the warp obviously). So, maybe its changed? dunno, however, I quite like Ibanez guitars & the warp was a rarity so I have no problem about buying Ibanez again as long as its a regular production model.

I have been playing guitar for 13 years & in that time have become a full time guitar tutor and have also picked up a music degree along the way. I own a few other guitars, tone wise my strat is superior to the Ibanez but I was looking for a competitior, I was looking for a locking trem guitar and Ibanez has just the best feel. If this guitar was stolen I would take a look at different Ibanez models as this model is now discontinued but I would replace it no question. The guitar just feels so nice & sounds very good with the dimarzios, keeps its tune well. I compared this guitar to a few other locking trem models, maverick, Ibanez 550ex but the 470 was just in a different class completely & felt like an old freind. maybe if the lo-trs becomes as bad as people say I'll replace it with a lo-pro but thats all.

Bought it about 6 years ago. It's got a pain in the ass floating bridge and locking system. Other than that it's only an Ibanez. 8 for ibanez's goal to make my life a living hell to tune.

For metal and hard fucking rock, this is the guitar to go. It has no variety though. It is harder to play light and vintage stuff. I regret liking hard rock 6 years ago. Fret board also likes to rattle like a fat woman having an orgasm. 9 if you like metal and hard strumming. 3 if you are everyone else.,

What do I look like? A freaking guitar tech.? the bridge is a pain in the ass. The neck is for black basketball players with hands that can grapple an eight pound watermelon. The finish on the guitar really does make the scratches stand out. There are plenty of loose screws on the bridge and the black paint on the bridge comes off with time. Low quality assembly.

LOOK ABOVE IF IM NOT A GUITAR TECH U THINK I PLAY LIVE?!?!?!? Well the finish doesn't last. The floating bridge won't last much longer if I have to keep changing strings on this sh*t. There is also the tone knob likes to fall off. Maybe it's because i drop it like I drop my kid. The locking nuts do not like to fit snuggly near the head of the guitar. I'll let you know how it lasts when I change strings again. I'll see how long it takes me to snap it in half.

First off, THEY CHARGED ME FOR A FREE CATALOUGE! I mean what do I look like? Bill Gates? I can't afford a catalouge that's free. Other than that Ibanez U better do something about the big freaking necks. PRS on the other hand mailed me a free catalouge and dvd. I would have got a PRS if I could afford it. I can barely afford a pick. If I lost this guitar, some poor guy will find it washed up in a river.

I have been playing for 10 years. I wished I asked the damn company how da heck to tune these guitars man. If I lost this guitar, some poor guy will find it washed up in a river. IF YOUR A METAL MAN THIS IS FOR YOU. IF YOUR EVERYONE NORMAL GO WITH SOMETHING LESS PAIN IN THE ASS.

This guitar rocks,i bought it used. Its has 24 frets, with 2 control knobs, a volume and a tone. The pickups are H/S/H, my pickups have been replaced and has a dimarzio DS100 supre distortion neck pickup. and fender red lace sensor,which sounds like a humbucker and hotrails for the bridge pickup. It has an awsome floyd rose bridge with cool string lockers. The guy at the shop gave me a free nylon case with it too......

this guitar definatly fits my style of playing, i like to play rock and cKy, which is listed as alternative metal, the pickups are awsome, i am glad that the person who owned it before me changed them, They give the guitar a nice full sound, especially the humbuckers on them, i run this guitar through a pedal, so its not noisy at all, but when it is not ran through the pedal it hums, but my amp sucks anyway, so i dont think it would matter if it does hum.
there is nothing i dont love about this guitar

When i bought the guitar it was great, but there was a dramatic change in temperature over here where i live so i had to get the neck re-adjusted thats about it. When i bought it there were 2 little tiny nicks in the body, nothign too serious, but you cant notice them from a foot away...

This guitar could withstand anything, messing around or live playing, the finish seems fine and doesnt look like its going to wear down anytime soon, i would definatly use this guitar without a backup, if i could have one guitar for the rest of my life, this would be it...

never had to deal with any customer support

I own a takamine guitar, that was my first guitar, after i bought that i bought a squier strat, and the Ibanez RG470 is the biggest upgrade i have made and probably ever will. I have a digitech RP100 mulit effects pedal that i play this guitar through, i compared it to other ibanez models, i knew i wanted an ibanez, but wasnt sure which one, glad i found this one, the only reason i would not buy this guitar again is becuase i would buy the RG570. I would only change one thing, i would add another tone knob, but overall this is the best guitar ever in my opinion

Basicaly the same features as described in other reviews except the infinity pickups (96/97), it has the dreaded Lo-TRS II floyd, made in korea

I play mostly rock and metal, i like to play classic pieces too. The bridge infinity pickup is decent since it provides a good metal distortion sound although leads sound a bit sterile and bright, the single coil is cool for clean stuff but the awfull bridge takes away most of the sustain, its pretty noisey too, the neck pickup is worthless as it is not sensible to fast shred notes at all, its like your playing sounds like an ice picker. With a decent neck pickup this would make the guitar pretty versatile ... this Lo-TRS bridge is the worst piece of crap floyd ive ever seen, even my 3(!) maison guitars have better floyds, it just kills the sustain and it makes the guitar go out of tune instantly. Overall the guitar does sound a bit cold in most settings, with a pickup and bridge change it would probably be alot better since the guitar plays pretty well

I got it used so i had to set it up myself, pretty easy to get a low action without buzz, if you dont use the trem it will KINDA stay in tune but not for long, i am gonna block this worthless thing next week, i dont know what the hell did the guys at ibanez were thinking when they put out this trem. Most of the screws are corroded but that is understandable since its a 96 model, the arm is in excelent shape

You can play live with it but you have to block the trem or it will go out of tune, this guitars is 7/8 years old and looks like new so i guess it will last a long time, since i dont play live i cant say mutch more ...

Been playing for 5 years mostly with my brothers Maison but also with other borrowed maison guitars (no i dont have a fetish for maison guitars!), i bought this guitar cause it was a nice oportunity as i intend to sell it for more $$$, i had a little bit of a problem adjusting to the tall frets but i'm kinda used to it now, the arm is excelent for my girly hands, i wouldnt buy it for more than 250euros cause of the terrible Lo-TRS but since that was discontinued a couple years ago (the rg 470 is discontinued also) and now that the new edge pro 2 seems a pretty decent floyd i would consider another korean rg (maybe the 321 with fixed bridge), overall it has potencial due to the nice playability but it probably needs new pickups and bridge to really shine

1993 model i think, black, Korean made. has all the usual stuff.. locking nut and fake floyd rose, 5 way switch, tone & volume knobs, maple neck/rosewood fretboard.

Has all the usual stuff you'd expect a guitar like this to have, dont know about the quality of said parts though.

Sounds like ass. the pickups are really REALLY weak. i know it's not my amp or my style because my other guitars sound good. my rg470 isn't even a backup anymore because of the way it sounds.

Not much of a variety because it sounds so thin and weak. I don't use many effects(read any, except amp lead channel) so i mostly vary sound by changing pickup & volume level but with this guitar it has to remain maxed out and on bridge pickup to get heard though the mix.

Strangely enough, this guitar sounds almost 'fendery' thru my jcm800. had someone play a greenday song with it and it sounded 98% there.

I got the guitar 2nd hand, my 3rd guitar ever and 2nd electric. It was set up fine when i got it and has never needed any serious repairs. the electronics still work fine(pots are a bit scratchy), the hardware has gotten a tad rusty though. I've put my fair share of dents in the neck and body and it's held up fine. I'm suprised so much of the finish is still attached. Frets still fine, neck straight, no sharp bits on bridge or nut. the locking bridge sometimes has trouble holding a .009 e which kinda sucks, but i never play it so doesnt bother me.

I wouldnt gig with this guitar, but that's because of the weak sound. I did play a few shows with it when it was my only electric but those days are long gone.

Hardware goes rusty, had a few bridge problems (strings not being held firmly by locking bridge)

oh yeah, one of the tuning pegs broke! they dont make the kind anymore so had to order in an almost identical set and install. new one isnt as 'smooth' as the old one though.

other than that, it's fine. it nails that shredder style for ease of play.

Never dealt with 'em.

Been playing since '93. Main axe is '99 american deluxe strat with dimarzio super distortion in bridge. main amp is 1988 50w lead series marshall jcm800.

Dont have any real regrets about buying it because it served its purpose til i got the strat. that being said, i probably would've quit guitar if i hadnt scored the strat.

Neck is superfast, that's good. pickups suck, that's bad. looks too metal (i play in a punk band now), that's bad.

it needs a higher gain bridge pickup. i dont know how the jap or newer rg470s shape up in that regard. if you can score one of these cheap and it's fairly straight, it would make a good do'er upper/fuckaround guitar. something to try out weird pickup wirings or new pickups on. if it were lost or stolen i wouldnt care, i'd prefer it were stolen from my house or when car is parked on someone's driveway so i can get the insurance payount.

The reviews below tell the story. Basically, this is an Ibanez and it has everything you expect. Now discontinued so good deals are out there to be had and believe me...you want one.

I'm going to give it a 9 because for #300 it has everything you need.

The sound is pure Vai/Satch etc... Some people will have you elieve the pick ups could be improved upon or that it doesn't sound as good as a Vai or Satch signature model. Forget all that. I have owned a Jem, I have owned a JS1000. There is almost no difference.

You see, a decent rock sound is all about the amp and your technique. Not the guitar or the pick ups. Generally, the sound is so processed anyhow (distortion and effects) that the pick ups make v.little difference indeed.

This guitar has the same 24 fret access shape as a Jem (the JS1000 doesn't even have 24 frets) but costs #1,800 less. Use the difference to get lessons.

Set up is fine no problems with this at all. You could go higher or lower as you require. Use the money saved on buying such a cheap guitar to get it done professionally.

It is as strong as any other precision Ibanez...which means it is not a strat and actually very fragile.

I would never bother Ibanez. If a guitar goes wrong it is becuase I didn't check it properly. Anyone who feels different should get off their high horse.

No other Ibanez is worth considering. Just buy this one. If your technique is bad, change the pick ups and add more distortion. Otherwise enjoy the best value shred machine money can buy...but remember it is a discontinued model so move quickly!!!

This is a Japanese-made 24-fret beast, one of Ibanez's most common types of guitar and the kind of thing (minus monkey-grip!) that Steve Vai uses. You can see why. The H/S/H pickup combination gives it tonal versatility, and the licensed Floyd Rose trem means you can divebomb, wobble, even bounce the guitar up and down using the trem bar in a fit of rock cheese without it losing its tuning!

I'm gonna give this one 9 because it has so many features that make it a very usable guitar.

I said above about the tonal versatility - let me expand on that. the neck humbucker does the creamy kind of sound that you'd expect, with plenty of clarity. The middle pick up does a very Strat sound, with its own edge. If I say it sounds artificial, I don't mean it in a bad way. I mean that there's a real unique tone to this pickup, it's not quite metallic, not quite twangy, indeed it has tons of warmth. It's perfect for anything from crunchy cutting-through blues solos or quieter melodic moments like Steve Vai's so famous for. The bridge humbucker is impressive too, a real rounded sound unlike the nasty trebly fare you sometimes get from Eastern-made guitars, especially if you roll off the tone pot a tiny bit.

The volume and tone pots have a real effect on the sound, and clever use of the volume control especially can mould the sound from the same pickup from all out, vivid, expressive rock to a cleaner yet still full-bodied sound. In fact, it works like a perfect volume control should, keeping the compression and clarity of the sound all the way through.

I'm rating this as 9, because, 4 years into owning this guitar, I still believe it to give tone that you'd struggle to find on most other guitars even at higher prices.

To be really critical, the frets were only 90% good enough, the action was a little low in places, but that is being very very critical. The important thing to remember is the price, and for a #400 pound guitar, this is the best you will ever get. It's sleek, well-built and the finish (if I say sparkly purple don't get the wrong ideas, it comes out as dark blue really) is impeccably done.

You can always change the pickups on a guitar, but you can't do much about the playability, and on this count the RG470 is superb.

I've had a problem with the input on the guitar, has crackled a bit but no worries most of the time. The pickup pole-pieces have rusted a bit, as has the trem, although it hasn't affected the performance of the guitar. 4 years on, it's been used plenty, and yet the only marks on it are little chips on the back of the headstock where I've decided to join in with the drummer and play a cymbal or two!

Never dealt with them, but the guys at the Guitar Amp and Keyboard Center in Brighton were very helpful.

Overall, I'm gonna go the whole way and give it 10/10. This is because if you're just starting, as I was at the time, to build on your Squier Strat or whatever and spend #400 on a nice electric, you will not get a better guitar. There's a nice, organic feel like you connect with the guitar, and on a guitar this cheap it's a rare and very welcome feeling.

24 fret, double locking crap whammy. The pickups are U series instead of V series, I'm not sure why, I just know they sound AWFUL!!! Very muddy, no bite to them at all. I tried a .001 capacitor on the volume pot like Fender does with their telecasters and it helped a little but it has no sustain, it just goes ?thunk?. I also put in a coil tap to switch from single to hum bucker. It?s o.k. Clean but when I use any drive it makes my 4x12 peavey or crate cabinets sound like a 1x10. I tried it with my Marshall and my Randall amps, and digitech preamp effects but it still doesn?t help the sound of this thing. And Ibanez wants $450 bucks for this thing new? I?m glad I only paid $100 for it used at Sam Ash!!!! I thought I was getting a great deal but it?s only worth about $25 to me. I have an rg270 that sounds and plays better and cost me less.

The neck is nice and thin but there?s too much string buzz if I try any decent low string action. It could need some truss rod adjustment or fret work. It?s a pain in the ass to tune or change strings. The only thing I like about this guitar is the color (jewel blue), the lightweight and the thin neck.

Ibanez 2001 model. Made in Japan. 24 frets, solid top, volume and tone knobs. 5 way selector. H-S-H pickups. with V1-S1-V7 pickups.

The sound of the guitar overall is great. But the stock pickups kinda hide the real beast inside. I changed the pickup with dimarzio fred in the neck position and tone zone in the bridge position. I love it. Especially the fred pickup. I am using it mostly straight to my vox amp. Occasionally I use boss me-8, boss od/dist. and delay. It sounds wonderful with each of them. The guitar will sound great for rock type music, also truly holds other kind of styles. Ive been playing for 10 years, thats why I kinda know about guitar playing styles =).

The factory set was kinda high so I brought it up to professional for re set-up. Everything after that was great! The wizard II neck feels like way expensive guitar. Slick and fast. The paint is wonderful, but I dont know if it will last long since I only bought it for 3 months.

I would give this guitar a high rating especially since I bought it for $300 but truly can fight the sound of more expensive guitars. Dont really expect much for the stock pickups though. The stock pickups still considered great compared to other standard/stock pickups in this price range. I would say the guitar is comparable to higher prices ibanez models like the RG 1570 prestige.

Japanese made. 2001/2 basswood body, maple neck w/ rosewood fretboard, 24 frets, lo-trs floyd rose trem, H/S/H pickups configuration (passive- V7 neck, S1 middle, V8 bridge), 5 way switch, 1 vol 1 tone, Titanium Ice colour (sparkly light purple), cosmo black hardwear. i'll give it a 9 because no guitar has the perfect features for everything, but the finish and features are all high quality.

i use this guitar for metal (dream theater type stuff) and the pickups suit this style perfectly. the humbuckers sound rich and are very responsive, good considering they are stock pickups. i prefer the bridge humbucker because it copes with distortion better, but the neck isn't bad either. the single coil adds a lot more variety to the sounds you can get, but i don't use it as mush because of my prefered sound. this guitar is certainly not noisy, however i have heard better. i would prefer slightly more powerful pickups.

this guitar had just been bought by a freind when i swapped my jackson jdr-94 concept for it. straight out of the shop the action was pretty high, as was the bridge pickup but i set it up to my liking in no time. there are a couple of dents from use in the shop but the only flaw that i can see in the building process is the locking nut is very slightly out of line with the edge of the fret board on the bass E side, however this makes no noticable diference to the way the guitar plays. not the toughest of finishes judging by the dents.

it's an ibanez - it'll last twice as long as a jackson. all the hardwear seems totally flawless and durable. the finish won't wear but it won't take hard knocks (this doesn't bother me though cos it's the way it feels to play that counts). i changed the strap buttons for schaller straplocks (always a good idea). i would never gig without a backup incase of strings breaking, but i am totally confident that this guitar is dependable.

1 year warranty i think.
never dealt with ibanez.

this guitar was well worth the swap. i got the jackson 2nd hand for #250. i have always prefered ibanez to any other guitar brand. the Japanese RGs are built to last, and the position of the controls is better than on jacksons (no knocking the volume when you need to flick the switch quickly). it would be hard to find a better guitar for the price of this one. jacksons may look a bit better, but you get loads more quality guitar for the money with ibanez. i might change the pickups later though.

mine's made in june 2001. standard rg features - new penny finish, which is basically copper like. (24fret maple wizard neck with rosewood fretboard, hsh pickup config(v7,s1,v8), 5 way switch, volume, tone. low trs bridge.

let me start off by saying that this guitar, and other ibanez guitars and most other imports are totally fuckin' gay and not at all worth full price or even fuckin' half price in many cases. i would have never paid fuckin' 450 for this shit, i got it for 200 and i bought it as a project guitar, and for that it fuckin' kills now. the bridge is basically locked down(5 springs, eraser to hold it up), it used to go out of tune like a bastard and spit strings.

anyway, back to sound. with the stock pickups i'd give it a 6. decent stock pickups but lack output and character. but they're not HORRIBLE like some other stock pickups, like epiphone for instance with their wax potted donkey turds.

but anyway, the stock pickups had to go, now this thing has a dimarzio paf pro in the neck and a duncan distortion in the bridge. i'm gonna change the middle single coil to a cool rails but am not sure what to put to get a huge range of sounds on the guitar. maybe even a texas special or dimarzio virtual vintage blues. the pafpro and the DUNCAN distortion are probably one of the best matched pairs in existense, especially in this guitar, it's prog rock heaven. the basswood body takes away some grind and adds some roundness to the tone. i noticed that right away when i plugged in my charvel with the duncan distortion and the thing actually managed to SCARE THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME(that's when i figured out why it's called the duncan distortion). now i rate this guitar highly. it has a huge variety of usable tones, and will have more once my pushpulls arrive. stock, it's a decent instrument, but with or without modifications, i would not have paid a penny more than 200 for this shit. i'd rather get a 'deluxe' squier and do work on it the wood's probably from the same tree anyway.

first of all, as someone mentioned, this is totally fuckin' biodegradable!!!! the most horrible finish known to man, the bridge fades by itself. the finish falls off if you fuckin' play too many chords or something. and let's not even go to the setup. ibanez makes some of the worst guitars out there, and each and every one of them is jap. if you're 'lucky' yours is korean!!!!!!

mine has the bridge locked down, it spit strings at it's own free will(aside from changing colors) so now that's stopped. but also this helped me acheive the LOWEST FUCKIN' ACTION POSSIBLE. fuck lockin' trems they're gay anyway, especially ibanez bridges.

any guitar, including this one with the vomiting floyd, will withstand live playing. i don't see the difference between playing in front of people and playing in your bedroom, you're still playing the guitar, you're not mopping the floor with it at a gig...................well there are exceptions but those homosexuals(most ibanez fans infact) shouldn't be playing.
but anyway, the bridge has got to go, and it will, in a couple of months, me getting american floyd rose. i'm gonna have it sprayed with clear sealer, since the copper finish which is actually great looking, falls off like the chocolate layer on the icecreams when you take a bite. i would definitely gig with even the stock guitar though, most probably without the backup since i PLAY the guitar, not fuckin' dance with it and fuckin' have target practice or whatever.

i've heard so many bad things that i could write a book about them. personally i don' blame them for not picking up the phone. after a couple of phonecalls they probably realised they ship all the shit with colored primer on it. the fact that you need customer support shows there's something wrong. i never hear people callling fender for a new fuckin' left side for their strat because their pick knocked it out. but i'm not gonna rate them since i'm never gonna call the fags.

i've been playing for 2.5 years, probably all of it since playing guitars is all i do. i've gone through like 10 guitars now and i currently have 6.. i play straight through a marshall tsl602(yes all tube, no intels here). i know A LOT about gear and guitars etc now. i've made my major mistake in life(my ibanez s1540 with mods which ain't worth shit anymore) and i sure as hell know that any guy who likes the company ibanez is a huge fuckin' asshole, and any guy who actually pays full price for his ibanezs is a bigger fuckin' asshole. these guitars are worthless trash, fuck resale value, let's just talk about the guitar, half the paint is missing as you're paying for it. most never stay in tune, no matter how much you use the bridge(don't give me the you don't know what you're doing shit, i can fuckin' smoke you in my sleep). the pickups suck, sometimes the guitars are wired wrong(like my friend's rg3120). i picked up this as a project guitar when i saw it for 200 bucks, and after i'm done with it it'll be a good guitar, but otherwise, for 450 i'd rather buy a mexican fender, or a jackson(since i know how to pick 'em), or carvin and warmoth(great and AMERICAN). that's how everyone should go about with ibanez. buy 'em for like a hundred bucks in the used market since they have NO resale value, and rebuild 'em. otherwise they're horrible guitars.
i have no opinion on the overall rating.

Sparkly purple, H-S-H, 5way switch, lo-trs2 locking trem, 24 frets

I Play mostly punk/new metal on it but its also excellent for iron maiden, metallica, well, anythin u want really its so versatile. i run it through a zoom gfx4 fx pedal and a HH 100w professional power amp and a peavy 100w pa speaker. Any effect i can come up with the ibanez just makes it sound good. it is the best sounding guitar ive ever used in my 8/9 years experience, live, practicing and recording

The set-up and finish were excellent, my shiny new plaything!

OOH, heres where it fell flat on its face
1) the top strap nut comes loose frequently
2) the volume knob is a bit faulty, when turned all the way down it still gives out sound. you have to turn it back a bit to mute it.
3)It dosnt stay in tune as well as it should considering the locking nut!!
4) chips really easy due to soft body and im a clumsy mo fo

never used 'em

AWESOME ALL ROUND

Ibanez RG-470
2001 model made in Japan
Serial No. F0123139

I have had this guitar for about a year now

It has a Basswood body in a contoured strat type shape, slightly more "Metal" though. In a nice purple colour that looks a little sparkley close up.

25.5 inch scale Wizard II neck, maple with a rosewood fretboard with 24 jumbo frets and an AANJ(All Access Neck Joint)

Double locking floating trem system using the Lo-TRS licenced Floyd Rose trem

H-S-H, ibanez V7-S1-V8 passive pickups with a 5-way selector switch

Master volume and master tone knobs

Came with all the hex keys needed to do a full set up, got a free strap, spare strings and a couple of picks free too. No hardcase though

im giving it a 9 because it would be nice to have a hardcase with it

I mainly play rock/Metal, mostly a mix of power/thrash/prog/death metal although i do plenty of clean mellow stuff for recordings at uni and at home too. This guitar gives out some pretty good sounds given the right equipment, although it is mainly directed towards a rock/metal setting.

The stock pickups are pretty good, but lack that something that turns good tone into really good tone. And they are not the quietest pickups on the planet, not really noisey, just prone to feedback a little more.
The humbuckers in the bridge and neck are both using Alnico 5 magnets and have a fairly balanced output.

The Bridge pickup, to my ears, is the worst of the pickups. With my setup the high up can be a little too edgy, sometimes a bit harsh.I compesate for this by rolling the tone pot back about a quarter or a third and that sweetens up the high end.
Also the low end doesnt sound tight enough for me, and can get muddy at times.
Overall it comes off sounding a little thin, lacking body and being a bit overbright. Although it is a quite useable tone and cuts well.

The Neck humbucker is the better sounding pickup, its quite smooth sounding and full giving a pleasing lead tone, but the low end can get really muddy, especially if you are using lots of gain, but if you stick to higher notes for high gain lead parts it sounds great.
and it can sound a little too punchy when using it clean.
Overall it lacks personality and sound a bit sterile, Although it is definatly a good pickup, these are just niggles i have with it.

If you play lots of clean then using the "in between" sounds will work very well. settings 2 and 4 have a noticable drop in volume, not too much, but it can be really usefull for cleaning up an over driven sound. It sounds a lot cleaner than the humbuckers by them selves, has less punch and a slight twang or quack too it, these can be great used for a lush clean sound.

The tone knob is quite usefull for taming the bridge pickup or getting a slightly jazzier tone from the neck, but the volume isnt quite consitent and stops having much effect at about three quaters or more on.

im giving it a 7 because of those small niggles with the pickups. it is a great guitar, its just that those areas arent quite great

The loveley Purple finish is really nice, it came pretty much perfect, nice and shiney. Finger marks arent too much of a problem but the body is a little softer than some, probably because its made of basswood, so it dents a bit easier.

When i brought this guitar it was fitted with 9s and the action, intonation etc... were spot on. the nice low action made it really easy to play and the combination of the flat fretboard and jumbo frets makes it super easy to bend. Although some of the fret wire at the treble side is a little rough so you have to be carefull sliding up and down. its not too bad, just a little anoying.

The pickups were fairly well ajusted, but i did raise both humbuckers a little and balanced the pole pieces a little better.

The neck is a wizard II neck and is very similar to the wizard neck, its flat, wide and thin, but not as thin as the wizard neck, although the difference is only a couple of mm. I personaly prefer the slightly thicker profile of the wizard II and utra necks, they feel more comfy to me.
The AANJ and the really big lower cutaway alow pretty much totally unrestricted upper fret access, the next best thing to a neck-through

The Pickup selector is not noisey at all, although the plastic bit in the end did start to fall of after about 8 or 9 months, i just pushed it back on hard and it hasnt come off since.
The volume knob is a bit crackley but the tone knob it fine.

The top strap nut does come loose slowley, i have to tighten it a little every couple of weeks, no real big problem. theres no risk of the nut falling out, its just anoying

Im giving this a 7 because of the volume pot, the strap nut and rough fret wire edges.

I have played live with this guitar loads of times, plus a weekly practice were i get a little rough with the trem. Its held up fine so far.
I have giged without backups before as well and it was fine, although, having a floyd rose trem on it, i wouldnt advise using it without a backup because the strings take ages to change

The trem was the main problem at first, its a Lo-trs trem which has a bit of a bad reputation. its mainly the lo-trs II on the korean ibanez guitars that are really crap.
This trem isnt a perfect float trem, it slightly up tunes if i pull up on the bar and dont push down a little before letting go, i could most likley fix this by sharpening the knife edges but i havent found the time yet.
The other problem was that when i first got it the high E, B and sometimes the G strings would sometimes snap at the saddle it i pulled up on the trem bar too much. After i set the float angle on the trem properley it wasnt quite so bad but still happend.
This all changed after i switched to 10-46 gauge strings. now i can leave the strings on for a couple of months and abuse the trem loads and they are fine.

The strap buttons are big, and they arent angled like some, i have never ever had my strap fall off, not even once.

The finish, apart from a couple of dings, is as good as new.

I feel as that as long as i have a fairly new set of strings on, this guitar would not fail on stage

Im giving this an 8 because of the trem

Never dealt with them

I have been playing for around 7 years and i can play a fair bit of Satch and Vai stuff so im not a beginner, and although i havent had many guitars i have played plenty.

When i bought this guitar i had spent a couple of week trying out guitars at the, very few, local music shops. I played mainly Ibanez but also some B.C Rich, lower end Jackson, Yamaha and a few others and this came out on top.
It has all of the features i wanted. H-s-H pickups, floating floyd rose trem, great neck, 24 frets and a fairly light body.
It makes a great stage guitar that, when set up right with heavier strings, is very reliable. And the main thing is that its fun to play, it just feals really easy and unrestricted.

There are some bad points, the pickups and the trem mainly, but you can do a direct swap for an OFR(Original Floyd Rose) and some new pickups and it would rival many more expensive guitars.
It would be great if it came with these, but then it wouldnt be #450

Overall it as a great bang for buck guitar, it looks good and plays very well but im going to give this an 8 because it is definatly not perfect, even if it is cheapish