Ibanez RG470

Ibanez RG470m Made in Japan, Standard 24 frets, 5-way pickup selector, solid pain finish, floyd rose bridge, locking nut, thin neck, no accesories.

The guitar sounds amazing with basically any amp. I have tried this guitar on Fender frontman 15 watts to my Marshall MG100DFX, the guitar sounds amazing and has a lotta tone. This guitars suits better for heavy music such as death, black metal etc. And many black/death metal guitarists use Ibanez RG470 (ex: Skinless)

Titanium ice finish, which is actually great as you can make it reflect any color you want using proper lightning. The guitar didnt have any problems except the screw hole for the strap buttons was huge, and the buttons didnt fit

Ibanez Rg470 isnt a reliable guitar considering the fact it takes 3 hours to retune and re-string my guitar because of the fuckin floyd rose bridge. The finish was awfull, and it has chipped from several places. The strap buttons sucked and i had them replaced because the screw hole for the straps was too big
On the bright side, the guitar didnt ecnounter any problem even with severe abuse. It has fallen several times on stage, but it didnt cause any trouble

Ibanez said that i could get it fixed at any ibanez authorized dealer, and i found out i couldnt ( i brought it online). But the people who i brought it from were nice enough to pay for the repairs

good for metal

This guitar comes with a Wizard II neck, basswood body, rosewood fretboard, 24 jumbo frets, Floyd Rose Licensed Double-Locking Tremolo, a V7 Humbucker at the neck, V8 Humbucker at the bridge, and a S1 Single-Coil pickup in the mid. 5-Way toggle switch, 1 volume and 1 tone knob. Mine has a sparkly copper-colored finish with black hardware.

I love this guitar. I run it thru my 535Q Crybaby, Ibanez CF7 Chorus/Flanger, and Boss MT-2 Metal Zone Distortion into my little Peavey Envoy 110 amp. What can i say? For early Metallica, Slayer and other fast crunchy metal this thing can punch it. I've been tryin to tweak my setup for months now and couldn't seem to get much lead-way in terms of gettin a sound with scooped mid that didnt muddy up with bass or screach with treble and still get enough out-put to hear it. This guitar is the answer to my prayers. To keep it realistic, i'll give it a 9.....but thats just because they didnt include free EMG Actives with it :-)

Again, almost perfect. I'm really skeptical about floating tremolos, but with the action on this guitar i really dont care what i have to do to string it up and tune to perfection. The finish is beautiful and the actions low enough to do the stuff i need, but not so low that its riding down on the body when i do palm-muting (IMHO Fender sucks....) Only thing i can find to complain about....every now and then my fingers accidentally hit the volume knob....boo-hoo...

This guitar, like any good Ibanez would definetly withstand live torture. I can say much about deterioration since i just got it, but ive had to trouble with fairly-treated Ibanez guitars b4 so i dont predict a problem. I wouldnt gig it without a backup, as that is just stupid no matter how good of a guitar u think u have.

I've been playin for over 3 years now and this is the finest guitar ive ever had the privledge to own. I cant think of anything id wish for it to change except to have factory installed EMG actives, but hey....toilet seats arent made of gold either...peace out and happy playing

I think it was made in the year 2000 (if someone can tell me how to find out exactly pleas E-Mail me). It was made in Japan.
24 Jumbo frets, solid top, 1 volume, 1 tone, 5way selector, Pickups in H/S/H configuration made by Ibanez neck-V7 mid-s1 bridge-v8, Passive electronics, Purple-blue basswood body, Flamed Maple neck, Body style- super strat, Double locking floyed rose licensed tremolo called Lo Trs. The neck is called "Wizard" but in the catalog it says "Wizard II" but it's not ("Wizard" is better than "Wizard II").

I play matal, mainly leads: Kirk Hammet, Zakk Wyld, Glenn Tipton, Marty Friedman and so. I'm using Marshall MG15DFX amp and Marshall Jackhammer distortion/overdrive pedal. The stock PUs are lousy ones. The two humbackers sounds bassy and hollow: the one in the neck is muddy, the one in the bridge isn't hot enough and they both lacking "personality". The single coil is fine for clean - I cant tell for sure because I'm not an expert in "clean", but anyway it's not the kind of a guitar you want to use for clean.
I gave 6 to the PUs but to everything else I give 10 because when I'v changed the PUs it became a perfect guitar for my style!!!

I've bought it used so I don't know which flaws are from the factory but everything is functioning.

Everything looks like it would last.

I've been playing for a couple of years now. I had aSquire Stratocaster and an Epiphone SG both of which sucks. I went to the store to buy a Jackson (probably DXMG) but the were ono in stock and the salesman convinced me to buy this one which has "the same feats and quality and a lower price". If it was stolen I'd probably buyJackson instead, its stock PUs are better and besides Jacksons look cooler and have much better history.

Mine was made in Japan as it says "Japan" on the back of the headstock and all the tuners say Japan. I don't know what year, but it's a RG 570 TI it says? This is 2002 so I'm guessing it's a 2001 or 02 guitar.. I can't seem to find it on their web site though for the 2002 models, so I'm guessing a 2001!

It has a great thin maple neck with rosewood board, 24 frets that are huge which I love, etc.. The rosewood is killer on this guitar.. It's a purple color with specs of glitter or something.. very light colored purple.. Very nice.. Basswood body, low TRS trem.. which stays in tune great so far, etc.. Has a 5 way switch, one volume and one tone.. Great set up.. HSH picups.. The brdige is an Ibanez v8 Humbucker, then a V1 I think it is single coil in the middle and a V7 in the neck.. The pickups are a little muddy in my humble opinion, but I've always played with high output EMG's or Duncan Distortions, etc.. I think I'm going to put in either a Dimarzio Tone Zone or Evolution in the bridge.. If anyone has a suggestion of the two, please let me know! Email me please!

Sounds great so far.. Really acoustically loud.. Like my old wolfgang really.. I think it will sound better once I install new pups and I'm going to install them directly in the body of the guitar like my old wolfgang and then block the trem maybe although I do love to raise the pitch of the note when jamming, so maybe not..hehe.. It's a tad bright in the bridge pickup when distorted, or a tad harsh I think.. Maybe the mid is harsh.. I don't know, but to me it's a tad thin sounding and harsh and I figure it is the trem that does this..
The guitar sound pretty good really.. for most anything.. I think it would do blues well, clean well and metal ok.. you might want stronger or higher output pickups for metal..

Mine was perfect.. I mean perfect.. and the store told me it came that way from the factory.. I actually tried this Ibanez against a couple others including a white Jem of some type which had the Evolution pickup which I really liked, but this guitar sounded acoustically at least as good unplugged, etc.. and is just as easy to play.. easy to get to all of the frets, etc.. I don't or didn't like Ibanez in the past, but I must say this guitar has made me a believer.. I traded a really beat up Gibson XR 1 (Predecessor to the Gibson Studio for it) because it was so damn heavey and it didn't even sound as good to me with the Gibson Dirty Finger pickups as this thing does.. Those japs would rather commit suicide than make a bad product I think.. It's very Jackson like to me in that it works well for the money.. It's about a 500 dollar guitar I think usually.. but that's just a guess..

Don't know yet.. Because of the Trem you might want a backup.. I'm currently not playing in a band, but have and anything can go wrong.. I'd guess it would be reliable though.. It's built well it seems.. Everything seems aligned properly, set up properly, etc.. I did lower the trem just a tad and lowered the pickups just a tad as I don't like pickups with too much output too close to the strings or you'll deaden the strings.. With EMG's you don't have to worry about this of course..

Havnen't dealt with them yet.. Don't have a clue.. Does have a warrenty but I doubt I'll ever need it.. I think it's a year..

I've been playing for too many years.. on and off for about 24 years.. I'm 41.. and I'd guess this is a great guitar for begginers and experts alike.. It seems very nice sounding, better than average, is lightweight, comfortable more so than 99% of the guitars out there which was a requirement for me and my old aching bones to rock out with.. hehe.. Part of the reason I dumped the LP XR1.. Has the correct pickup combo for me to get most sounds from Clean to Metal, etc..I'm giving it an 8 because of the stock pickups, and no case with my purchase as the dealer told me it didn't come with one.. Otherwise it's a very good guitar.. I also wish it had a neck re-inforcment like the wolfgang did with it's neck.. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with this guitar for an all around guitar to jam with.. Will do about whatever you need.. Much better than a standard strat with it's big neck, weak sqeauly pickups, etc.. for much less money..

I think it's a 2000 japanese guitar.
24 jumbo frets
laminated top (great golden-like color)
volume & tone
5-way selector H-S-H V7-S1-V8 passive pickups

It has all what I need!

I play mostly metal, and it sound great! I use it through a 65-watt valvestate, sometimes through a korg AX1500G or sometimes straight to the amp, and it sound great anyway!

I really like the pickups, and the humbuckers are practically noiseless

I use this guitar with 10-46 strings

I got this guitar from a sealed box (she didn't spent any time at the store being showed up, so nobody played her before me!!!! hehehe) the factory settings wasn't so bad, but after a calibration the guitar turned to be incredible to stay in tune, with a great action, the pickups height was just fine, I haven't moved them.

However the floyd rose came somewhat bad-painted, I haven't noticed any factory flaws, and the volume knobs tend to get dirty very quickly and make noise when being turned up and down

I have used this guitar without backup many times, I definitely trust on it.

This is a great guitar, I would definitely recomend a calibration so you can enjoy it fully.

1994 Made in Japan, Metallic red finish, 24 frets, "Super-strat" body shape, thin 2 piece neck, h/s/h Ibanez Pickups, 1 Volume & 1 Tone control, 5 position selector switch, Ibanez "Floyd Rose" bridge, Gotoh tuners.
Case included.

This is a good guitar for the beginner and intermediate metal player. When I bought it (1994) I was playing mainly metal, and this guitar suited that sound very well. I play it directly through my Marshall 40Wx2, dual reverb combo and it sounds really powerfull. It's has a tight sound, a "fast neck" and is very confortable to play.
The two humbuckers have a nice tone (although not very versatile), but the single coil (center position)is of no use at all - the tone is terrible, flat dead, has no spark at all.
I use the bridge humbucker for rythm (this is my favourite pickup in this guitar) and the neck humbkr. for clean sounds (richer tone but a little too bassy).
The worst feature by far on this guitar is the tremolo. It is an Ibanez modification of the Floyd Rose, and although it looks great, it works really bad. Even a moderate use of the tremolo, causes noticeble detuning...The only workaround seems to be the replacement of the bridge for a real Floyd Rose.
Besides this issue it's a good guitar, very confortable to play, and with a special vocation for metal.

The factory set-up was ok (I'm taking it for the 1st set-up ever next week), and the guitar had no flaws whatsoever.

I have this guitar for eight years, and despite some heavy gigging and practicing, it almost looks good as new.
The metal "plate" in the neck/body junction oxigenated a bit from the sweat, but apart from that, there's no other visual detiorations.
Besides that, I get some noise in the pickup selector, but only in one position and only every now and then.
I've used it several times without any backup guitar.

Never dealt with them.

- I've been playing for 11 years, and besides this guitar I own a Vester Strat, a Marshall Valvestate 8240(40Wx2), a Korg Pandora PX3 effects processor and a Jim Dunlop Wah pedal.
- At the time, and in the 5 or 6 years that followed the purchase of this guitar, yes I would definetly buy it again if it was stolen. In the present time, I probably wouldn't, only because I'm looking for a guitar with a different, more versatile tone - I'm on the process of buying a Epiphone Les Paul Standart.
- I love the playability and the guitar tone when playing metal (it has great looks too!). I don't like (at all!):the tremolo and the single coil pickup.

This guitar was made in late 2000 I believe. It is a Japan made guitar. With the Neck Wizard II. Basswood body. Jumbo frets. Floyd Rose floating temelo Lo bridge design. H/S/H pick up configeration. V7 humbucker neck pick up. S1 single middle pick up. V8 humbucker bridge pick up. In a flat black color. For the price you can't expect much more.

I like this guitar cause it fits my metal music style needs. With a Boss MT-2 you can't go wrong. Too distorted in the neck position but the single and bridge pick up work and suit my needs. I think if your looking for a clean sounding guitar this is not it. The guitar seems to bring out its own form of distortion. But as I said before. If your into metal and heavy sounds, this is the guitar for you.

I bought the guitar from a shop and it was set up after the factory. So I have no idea how the Ibanez reps took care of the set up. The pick ups are fine so I left them there. I'm not anal with my guitars. If they sounds right off the bat, I let them do their own thing. As far as flaws there was one slight nick in the finger board. I'm not sure where it came from. I noticed it after owning it for a year. I really don't like the flat finish. Oil from your hands shows up like a sore thumb. Over time from strumming, my fingers rubbing cause a glossy shine in the finish. But it adds character so I don't mind. The action is sweet. The neck is real thin and makes playing a breeze. One complaint is the neck finish though. It's a bit rough, sometime I wonder if I should chalk up before playing.

I believe this guitar could hold its own. Only for metal and rock though. I can't see anyone playing classics on this guitar. I think if I dropped this guitar it would be the end of it. It seems real fragile. The hardware however seems solid. I like the strap bottons they are big and chances of dropping this fragile guitar are slim. I guess Ibanez had that in mind. It's been dependable for the last year and I feel it will continue to be.

Don't know anything. If it breaks or gets stupid. I'll just buy a new one. And yes I would buy another.

Like I said, if it was lost or stolen I'd buy another. I like it for it's metal and rock abilities. I can't say I really hate anything about this guitar. The look of this guitar is sharp though, and I think thats what brought me to buy it in the first place. I must say that if it came up to this guitar vs. my Brian Moore. The Brian Moore would win by a guitar length.

These are all set up the same. V8 and V7 humbuckers, S1 single-coil, controlled with a 5 way switch. Volume and tone knobs. LO-TRS double locking tremelo. This is where I have a problem with the guitar. It is marketed mostly to metal-heads (although very versatile) but doesn't have two volume knobs - very key for Morello style fun. I have rewired my previous two-knob guitars, but this can be expensive at the shop when all those wires are too confusing for people like me. For those of you complaining about the tremelo system...why did you buy this guitar? You need to know what you're getting into when you buy a Floyd Rose guitar. The advantages include guilt-free whammying and never having to tune after stringing - ever. The disadvantage is a more complicated re-stringing process and no dropping D on a whim (what would be ideal is Floyd Rose with those new MIDI pickups). *** Here is how to string this type of guitar *** (1) Open up the backplate. (2) Loosen the screws providing tension to the trem. (3) Place a stick of chapstick between the trem and the backplate. (4) Turn guitar over and re-string one string at a time. (5) Get all strings to tune then remove chapstick, which will cause the tuning to drop a step or so. (6) Tighten the screws evenly until the trem tightens to tune. (7) Relock nut and don't worry about it until your strings turn black.

I run my guitars through a wah and a Digitech RP300 (also a must have) into a Marshall Valvestate 100. Between three pickups, a tone knob, and the multi-fx, I've got more tone than I know what to do with. The V8 is awesome. I've purchased Seymore Duncan pickups as replacements before, but this V8 is here to stay. Great metal sound. I do play a wide variety of music, and really have no problem getting the sound I want. Right now, I'm mostly into old Metallica, Rage, AC/DC, System of a Down, and old White Zombie. I have no problem matching these tones - but I also have the help of song-specific fx patches.

The guitar was set up very well except the high E string was broken between the nut and the tuner, and ringing E flat. I just popped in a new string, not finding the process too difficult. The action is awesome. This guitar replaced my old BC Rich Platinum, and there is a world of difference. The neck is soooo thin and you can barely even feel the strings below your fingers. It was more like I bought an additional two years of experience rather than a new guitar. This guitar is so easy to play, it's unbelievable. It's almost boring playing songs that I found challenging before. Instruments can be very limiting to performance, and this guitar is helping me get to a new level.

I have only had this guitar for about a month, and have had no problems, so I don't feel like I can fully comment here.

Haven't had to deal with Ibanez.

If this guitar were stolen, I would definitely get a new one. I really want another one for a different tuning, but I know I should wait. I really love everything about this guitar except the single volume knob and (as with all floating Floyd Rose trems) no changing tune on the fly. I compared this guitar with many other guitars in this price range, and this one really stood out - seeming as though it should be grouped with much more pricey guitars. I know you're not supposed to submit a super-glowing review, but this guitar really exceeded my expectations!!

2001 Model Made in Korea, 24 frets, solid top, one chrome volume and tone knob, 5-way selector w/ coli taps in 2nd and 4th positions, passive HSH configuration: V8 bridge position high output alnico humbucker, S1 ceramic(?) single coil, V7 high output ceramic humbucker, basswood neck and body, thin Wizard neck, rosewood fingerboard, black finish, contour on the side of the body, floyd rose style floating tremelo bridge, locking tuners, came with gig bag and strap. basically, everything i wanted in a guitar at the time. not very special though.

first of the positions:
five way selector: 1. full bridge humbucker 2. middle sc w/ coil tapped bridge hum 3. middle sc 4. middle sc w/ coil tapped neck hum 5. full neck humbucker

this guitar is very versatile it can get many sounds ranging from twangy blues to warm, acoustic-like tones and heavy distortion. the pickups really don't shine out by themselves but a lot of different sounds are achievable.

1st position: a bit thin sounding on clean, i turned up the bass and treble almost full and it was better, sounded nice, not very special though. distortion is good, nice bass, not very tight, but doesn't ge muddy. treble is a bit harsh, good for low gain blues, not very smooth though. not a lot of mids. i use this position for most of my distorted stuff (metal and punk).

2nd position: less output, twangier. good for acoustic-like lead tones and single notes are fairly sweet. i prefer the tapped neck pu though.

3rd position: the single coil is okay, blues is nice, a bit harsh and percussive sounding, especially with distortion, kinda "quacky".

4th position: big, warm, acoustic-like tone. very nice. good for short passages or chords. very big and warm.

5th position: basically a bigger, warmer, bassier version of the bridge pu. single notes are nice and warm. with distortion, the bass is tight but there seems to be too much of it, it can get muddy.

when i got this guitar i was into mainly punk, such as blink-182, green day, sum. 41, new found glory, and nu metal (korn, limp bizkit, staind, linkin park) and i didn't know much about guitars. this guitar looked sick (black pointy guitar!), had a cool looking bridge (floyd rose), and felt good/was easy to play. now i play mostly metal, ala megadeth, metallica, ozzy/zakk wylde, korn, slipknot, and still some punk and progressive rock: satriani, vai, SRV. and this guitar still fits great with me. i recently replaced the bridge pu with a seymour duncan JB model, very similar to the replaced pu w/ thicker distortion and sweeter clean tones. individually the pickups are okay, and overall this guitar is versatile.

the guitar came with stock ibanez light (42-09) strings i replaced them with regular(46-10) dean markley/ernie ball strings and for a while my git stayed in tune as much as my friend's mice singing acapella, it was horrible. i tuned the strings and by the time i was done tuning the bottom strings were out of tune again, SH*T! i finally figure out how to adjust the spring tension and now it's fine, stays in tune great. action was set fairly low, i raised it a little. pickup height was just fine, good string-to-string balance. the pots were a bit scratchy so i had to unscrew the back plate and spray some WD40 on them. the finish was pretty cheap, typical of ibanez, really thing and the edges chipped especially easily.

the guitar is pretty durable, i've banged it around quite a lot, the finish isn't great and the bridge is rusting. the ibanez floyd rose isn't the same as the original, as ibanez uses cheaper, less solid metal, which means it isn't as durable and doesn't stay in tune as well. i prefer higher end bridges, such as edge's. those in my opinion are the best on the market. strap buttons are pretty solid. i don't gig but in a few years this would be my backup.

never talked to them, 3 year warranty

i've been playing close to a year. i wish i had gotten a HH guitar instead, but this guitar's fine. my only gripes are the bridge and the cheap paint job. if it were stolen, i would track the guy down, impale him with the headstock, and if he were still a live sell him the guitar for double the price i paid or send him to jail. i would definitelyt get a new guitar. if it were a HH guitar i would probably stick EMG's 81/60 in 'em and replace the bridge. good guitar nonetheless

This is a Japanese made 24 fret guitar. The body is made of Basswood and the Neck is maple. The neck width is 44mm which comes out to about 1 11/16. The pickup configuration on mine is H/S/H. It comes with a Floyd Rose trem and has a Wizard II neck.

The sound is very bass oriented (lacking mids). Sounds great unplugged. The pickups are very quiet. This is a great metal guitar but do not buy it if you are looking for a blues sound. It is meant to be played with a lot of distortion and the neck is made for metal riffs. I mostly play rock/metal so it suits my style fine.

Let me first say that when I took the guitar home it made a cracking sound on the neck everytime I picked it up. I returned it an got an exchange. From the factory the second guitar was set up horribly. The action was high & the bridge was not adjusted properly, minor probelms. The frets were not well dressed and I have noticed superficial cracks beginning to form where the neck meets the body. Nothing serious but annoying none the less.

Be aware, the hardware quality is horrible on this model. The screws on the nut began to rust a month after I got it.

This guitar is good for home use or as a backup but it cannot take abuse. The finish is durable but to use this for live playing requires some serious hardware upgrades.

Never had to use it. The store I purchase it from Sam Ash, NYC was great.

I've been playing for 14 years. If this guitar was stolen I would not repalce it. The sound is great both plugged in & acoustically. Compared to other guitars in its price range its a good buy.

The main thing I would like to see changed on this guitar is a narrower, fatter neck. Also better quality hardware.

Every body has already mentioned all of them, has all the features i need

I love the sound of this thing! I play alot of ozzy-metallica type stuff and it does it perfect! I love the tremolo on this thing i can go crazy on it and it doesnt even think about going out of tune. When i compare to my Epi les paul it sounds better with clearer notes on the higher frets, its sounds a bit brighter with distortion and i love the clean tone i get from the V7 in the neck. I'll give it a 9 because its not perfect but pretty damn good.

When i got it the action was a far bit too high and the pickups were too low so i lowered the action and the pickups. the when i was playing i discovered that the trem was raising above the body so i TRIED to adjust it and srewed it all to hell so i figured while it was srewed up i would just new strings on it. that messed it up even more and it ended up taking me and my freind about 2 hours or so to fix it, but now that it is fixed i can change the strings in about 5 min or so, there wasnt any flaws on anything and checked it over really good because of the price i got it for i was skepticle about the quality of it but it is great!

Every thing is rock solid,it will last!

No clue, hope i dont need it!

overall i give it a nine, i love it! When the guy told me the price of the thing over the phone i about shit myself, it was on clearence for $299, but when i called the dude said he would let me have it for $220! What a deal!

2000 Ibanez rg470... medium yellow finish... very nice looking. 24 frets(jumbo) and 5 way selector. H/S/H pickup config and basswood body. Floyd Rose lockin tremolo and lo bridge.

This is the perfect metal guitar. Sounds very very close to Pantera, Slipknot, Slayer, Sabbath, Mudvayne... you can get it to sound just about like any metal guitarist. Not too noisy on back or front setting alone... but on middle pickup it is a little noisy.

Set up perfectly from the factory for a normal person, but I had to go and re-tune it down to C# for Pantera. No flaws whatsoever.

Hardware seems durable and so do the strap buttons. I would use it in a gig without a backup guitar... but I have only played a few gigs so I don't know for sure yet.

I have been playing for approx. 3.5 years and I also have a B.C. Rich bronze warlock and a Washburn dimebag darrell 333(which owns the ibanez). I love the tone versatility and I also like the thin neck it has. If it were stolen, I would pry save up and buy an rg higher up the ladder like a 570 or something... for the few extra features... but all in all this is a sweet guitar.

Made in 2002, most likely in Japan. 24 frets with a laminated top. One tone knob, one volume knob, with a 5-way selector. Passive Ibanez Vintage 7 neck humbucker, S1 middle single-coil, Vintage 8 bridge humbucker. Basswood body with a Wizzard II maple neck. Really cool metallic blue finish. Standard pointy Ibanez body. Ibanez Lo Trs double locking bridge. Nice thin neck with jumbo frets.

I play mostly metal, with some punk thrown in for good measure. This guitar is the best sounding guitar I've played, and it suits my musical tastes perfectly. Right now im using it through a Dunlop Cry-Baby wah pedal and a Crate GX-65 watt amp. Nice and quiet except on the middle single-coil, but that should be expected.

Guitar was set up great from the music store, but i don't know how it was set up from the factory. The action is nice and low, but not so low as to cause fret buzz. No flaws that i can find. It was actually in tune when i brought it home from the store.

Only had it for a couple hours, so I really cant comment on this one.

Never dealt with Ibanez, but Brighton Music Center was VERY helpful and friendly.

GREAT METAL AXE!!!!!!!

2001 Ibanez RG470, Japan made, 24 frets, Lo TRS (Floyd Rose style), normal pointy superstrat. Very thin neck.

The H-S-H pickup routing is pretty good, with better pickups this is a very versatile combination. The bridge pickup is very hot, even on a crystal clean amp setting it sounds dirty and distorted, this pickup had to be raised considerably to get a hope of an artificial harmonic on this guitar, and even now it's still hard, which is confusing considering the power of the pickup. Middle single-coil is very noisy, no real use unless linked with a humbucker in posistions 2 or 4. Neck pickup is thick and warm, although very quiet compared to the bridge. This guitar has a slightly "wiry" tone due to the Floyd Rose style bride. Not usefull for everything, but it gets the job done.

Neck is THIN, which to me is absolutely useless for rhythmym playing, its just too damn thin! My hands are just too big for this guitar,it'd suit those who have small hands or like a thin neck, but it's not for me, my hand's keep falling off it. Definately an aqquired taste, but its not for me. Upper-fret access is superb, deep cutaways and a contoured neck-body bolt mean your comfortable all the way up to 24. Had a few chinks on the back of the body, also had some very odd mark on the lower horn, almost looks like black paint, its not very noticable but its a bit on the odd side.

This guitar would look great live playing due to stage-lighting off its almost glittery paint job, the hardware (especially the bridge) seem's to be able to withstand my slightly over-powerfull picking. The Floyd rose is an interesting one. It's probably my biggest fault of the guitar, it sucks sustain away, it gives a wiry tone, it's not too good for dive-bombs, or EVH style whammy-bar abuse without strings snapping. And when a string DOES break, its time to get the anger management books out. On the plus side though, that with all floating bridge, whenever you pick a string, the entire bridge flexes, lessening the wear on the strings, thus making them last alot longer, I've not broken a string on this guitar yet apart from when using the whammy bar. The floyd rose really lets this guitar down, I dont see myself using a Floyd Rose equiped guitar again.

No dealings with them.

The Floyd Rose and the neck are my main concerns here, I just cant use them. I'm not sure whether its due to the scale length or not but for some reason this guitar feels very uncomfortable to strum away on, this is an aqquired taste, but not for me.

Read the other reviews, except this is a black one, made in 2000, Japanese etc.

I play a bilot of everything in the broad Rock genre. Punkt to thrash, abit of Robert Palmer, 80's pop covers.

I play through a couple of different setups. Acoustically it has quite a neutral, but well sustained sound.

I generally practice through a korg AX10G (cheap multifex). It sounds just the same as everything else, except on the low gain patches, where it has a noticably fuller and deeper tone than some of my other guitars.

Through my serious stuff (Marshall JMP1, Behringer tube composer, Into mixing desk with some EQ adjustment) it can be a fickle beast. It ranges from tear you head off, uncontrollable tone etc, if played with too much gain, all the way too the best, chunkiest metal guitar sound I have ever heard. It has clarity especially when combining the single coil with the humbuckers. We used to cover Mr Crowley (you know the one) and it was our start of practice warm up and end of practice run down. I swear we used to play that song for an hour a night, and the ridiculous sounds (in the way of tremolo dives, pick scrapes, and harmonic screams)we managed to get just never got dull.

The whole thing was setup beautifully. In fact when I bought it I compared it with a Satriani model, and it blew it away, even though the JS was way more expensive.

Recently I have been using thicker strings (.0010, oh my god they are like tree trunks to a super strat type like me)with a higher action, and it still plays fantastically if not better than with a super low action. The added bonus is that my finger strength, and picking accuracy is really improving. So aet up your guitars badly like me, and improve your playing.

Solid work horse, totally vrsatile. Once setup it is incredibly stable. I used to break plectrums on the strings from being just too metal for words, and it never even detuned, with serious abuse that is impressive. Definately one to buy if you want a main axe that can do everything well.

They wont sell me a seperate neck with inverted headstock, and I don't want to pay over a grand for a PGM, which is basically an rg 4xx or 5xx with said inverted head.

I have been playing for 10 yrs, and I also own a fender pre CBS Musicmaster, and an Ibanez DT350 (80's pointy guitar). They are good, but the RG is way better.

I have played alot of guitars over the years (les pauls, washburns, charvel, jackson, more fenders, cheapies, the lot). The only other guitars that I liked as much in the same style were charvels (my other Ibanez is pretty good too). The only guitar to beat it was an early Jem. Since the RG is really a low spec Jem I suppose that is not too bad.

What don't I like.

1. Ibanez wont sell you custom bits. I want to use Ibanez parts and i can't.

2. For me the fret wire is too chunky, but after a while you get used to it.

3. The pickup sound is raw and powerful. This can be good, but it is tempting to turn it up to 11, you never get the best sound that the guitar can give that way.

4. Setup is a bitch, really, It takes me hours to get it in tune. Iam sure for professional it is a 2 minute job, but for me it is a real chore. This means that I don't restring as often as I should. Or worse still when I am practiicng or gigging, I spend 4 hours a fortnight restringing and buggering about.

Other than that it is a dream (once it is setup it is truly a lovely guitar). I actually wanted an Ibanez for about 7 or 8 years befroe i bought this, and I wasn't disappointed. It is arguably one of the best alround guitars that money can buy, after the HM strat.

This is a "higher" end Ibanez made in Japan I'm pretty sure...24 frets..1 volume 1 tone....5-way selector switch...H/S/H PUP configuration.....Passive electronics of course...Basswood..more of a "super strat" body type....Lo-Trs II Trem....REAL thin neck..If i ahve forgot anytihng...go to IBANEZ.COM and get the rest...

Well I am pretty much a "metal head"...It suits that pretty well for that purpose....but it is REAL REAL bright...that is a down side of this guitar...with distortion it sounds pretty good....oh ya..
I HATE THE LO-TRS II TREM...IT SUX A BIG ONE...so i just blocked it and stoped complaining...now i em kinda happy with it..:)

my factory setup...was OK i guess...not the best..no chips or dings i guess so that is a plus...i did order about 4 of em befoer i got one that want damaged!!! i mean what the hell is up with that???!!...but i finally got one that wa flawless...i'll give it a 7 cuz of those dern mishaps

I have the New penny color..I LIKE IT!!!...nice shine to it..it is my back up guitar but i still luv it!!..lol ..REAL strudy though

nope..never dealt with Ibanez directly

Sweet ass guitar for what i paid for it...i of course got it on a close out deal..otherwise IBAENZ tries to rip ya a f**** new as*hole on their bogges prices!!!???

MY Ibanez RG470 is packed full of features. It was made in 2000 in Japan, it has a Titanium Ice finish which looks really attractive in the right lighting. It has a 5 - way pickup selector and a H/S/H pickup configuration featuring V7 in the neck which gives a clean warm tone, S1 produces a twangy strat like sound, and V8 in the bridge which is better for leads as it produces a wide range of harmonics considering that these pickups are only stock. It has a super strat style body with a licensed floyd rose in the bridge (TRS II) which is pretty cool, it never goes out of tune and lets me do some nice dive bombs. Gotoh tuners with nice stylish headstock. The neck is a super thin maple neck (Wizard II) and the body has nice deep cutaways for easy access to the high notes. Came with allen keys and whammy bar.

This guitar is very versatile, i can get near enough any sound i want. It suits my style down to the ground as I play Satch/Vai and this guitar allows you to execute all the divebombs and harmonics you want. And with the super thin neck you can get around very quick and easy. I use it through my crappy Westfield 10 watt amp but along with my Zoom 707 it makes up for what I lose in my amp. When played on Lead i get a cool warm sound which is great for those mellow solos in the neck, and in the bridge i get a Satch 'Summersong' type tone when set on Wild. Together with the floyd i can make this axe squeal like a pig. EXCELLENT! Although I am considering swapping the bridge and the neck for some Di Marzio Evolutions because I want a more aggressive sound.

The guitar's factory setting was fine by me, i like a nice low action for more speed around the neck. The pickups however had to be adjusted as they were a bit too tame for me, a few turns of the screws to raise them a little and they were perfect. The floyd feels well made as it has a reinforced steel plate that the tremelo is based on. I also had to tighten the locking nut a little too because it kept going out of tune but now its brilliant, but i would not use this guitar live as floyds are tricky to change strings, even though i havent had the problem myself yet because these strings haven't snapped yet.

It looks to be tough enough but I am always so careful when I'm carrying it around, i treat it like a king. The finish as ive said before is 'Titanium Ice' which is like a metallic purple colour, it seems thick so it wont wear off through time as quick as others do. It has nice big strap buttons and generally seems well made. I wouldnt use it without a backup because of the floyd bridge.

Never tried???

I've been playing for about 5 years self-taught and I must say I consider this guitar part of the family even though I've only had it for a week. I also own 2 acoustics, an Ibanez PF5NT and a Hohner countryman. I've always liked Ibanez since i first heard Steve Vai Play at G3, since then I've been hooked. I love the Lo-TRS trem but i hate the fact that I cant play like Vai and Satch, YET! An Excellent guitar, if it were stolen I would buy it again, no questions asked. Great value guitar, buy this or you'll be missing out!

the guitar was made in 1999 un Japan
24 frets
1 voulme, tone, 5-way selector
HSH that means V8, S1 and V7 i think they made by dimarzio they all passive as far as i know.
the bridge is LO-TRS, sucks! the tuners are locked i have no idea who made them.
the bridge is sucks...i want to replace it, it going out of tune to easy and the strings are cutting to many times

the sound is good...quite good....
after i set the neck pickup to higher ground the sound became very worm.
the single and the bridge pickups too boring...

every thing is quite good
the only problem is the tone control...i cant use it now and i need to replace the pot.
the pots of the volume and the tones are very bad...very cheap...
the selector is nice but im going to replace it too after ill put a new singel and bridge pickups (im going to put symor on the bridge and fender strat in the middle)

the guitar will hold if you want it as is...
the bridge is bad, replace it to Ibanez Adge or FR orginal/pro/2 or even kahler bridge, the bridge on the guitar is going out of tune too easy, the strings cut off when i used the tramolo and i had to change the setup so the strings wont cut off.

never tried

i have 13 guitars inculde this...this was the only one i had to replace the bridge.
i love the guitar but still...the bridge and the tone made me quite mad...
the wizerd neck is very good, nice to hold it and easy to play with.
the body very good too, and easy so you cant brake your back to hold it.
but you need to thert this model very nice and not to smash it on the walls :-)

This guitar is an Ibanez RG470 in Cosmic Blue finish, made 6th December 2000 in Ibanez' Japanese factory. 24 Frets, solid body, 5-way pickup selector switch, H/S/H pickup configuration, Ibanez made pickups (V7, S1, V8), All-Passive electronics system, Basswood body, Rosewood fretboard, not sure about the neck, looks like Maple or some other light wood.

The neck has been finished in Satin and the body has a gloss finish. Body style is the distinctive Ibanez RG Super Strat with the tilted back neck. Bridge is a Floyd Rose Licensed Tremelo, in Cosmo Black finish (dark chrome). The neck has quite large frets, not as high as a Les Paul Studio, but slightly thicker.

No accessories were included from Ibanez, but plenty of free bits from Rockas in London on Denmark Street near Charing Cross Road. (Thanks guys!)

I play all types of music ranging around the rock area (Metal, Punk, Classic Rock, Hard Rock) and I like to dabble in 70s rock sometimes (Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple), but my band mainly specialises in Hard Rock and Metal.

I am currently using a 15 Watt Marshall solid-state amp at home, and for gigs a hired Marshall 100 Watt All-Valve Half-Stack. I also use a Boss Reverb pedal in the FX loop of the 100 Watt Marshall.

The humbuckers and single-coil (when on Positions 2 and 4) are deadly quiet unless you crank the amp distortion all the way up, then other external factors come into play (Valve hum, Radio Frequencys etc.)

The sound on the factory pickups is very, very good. They have a thick rocky sound, without sounding overly bloated like a Les Paul (I always feel Les Paul tone is a bit TOO thick for anything but Guns n Roses). This gives the guitar a feeling of agility. The neck humbucker (V7) has a good warm rythm sound, which sounds great clean or with some strong overdrive. The Single Coil has a good twangy clean light sound, whilst still fitting in with the image of the guitar (eg. its not going to sound like a Telecaster, its more Stratocaster). The Bridge Humbucker (V8) has a superb distorted sound, great for almost any distorted rythm playing (Metallica, GnR) or for screaming solos. The allen-key pole piece adjustment is a nice touch.

For this type of guitar, the variety of sounds it can produce is quite incredible. Blues and Heavy Metal is in no way out of the question with this guitar. This is helped by the Single Coil and not overly hot humbuckers.

Also a nice touch is that the Tone and Volume pots are of very good quality, at no point does the volume pot just 'turn off', and the Tone pot really can make some interesting tones.

Its hard to fault this guitar for sound, although if you specialise in one type of music you might like to buy an after-market pickup to get that perfect sound for your genre - this guitar sounds great, but its a jack of all trades you could say.

From the factory this guitar was setup between average and good. Considering it had been shipped half way round the world in a shipping contained or in a low-pressure aircraft cabin, its not half-bad really. A few hours tweaking (with the EXCELLENT instruction manual, superb stuff), and it was just how I liked it. The shop where I bought it also offered to set it up for me professionally.

The guitar only contained one flaw, and that was the paint finish. On the entire main body of the guitar, it was superbly painted, and the Cosmic Blue colour is BEAUTIFUL (the nicest painted guitar i've ever seen). But in the tremelo cavity *below the Floyd Rose) and in the pickup cavities there are exposed bits of white primer and the paint is slightly lumpy. Ok, you have to look bluddy hard to see it, but it would be nice for it to be painted and sanded all over.

The tremelo also came coated in a VERY light oil, presumably to stop it from seizing up/rusting during transport, but this cleans off after a few wipes with a soft clean cotton rag (old well washed t-shirt does the trick).

As with all gloss-finish guitars the body will need polising with some good guitar polish every few days to keep it grease free, but this is worth it.

Apart from the paint then, superb.

This guitar has a Floyd Rose, I would never play live without taking another guitar.

The hardware looks mostly solid, the Floyd is good quality, but not up to the standard of the Lo-Pro Edge models, but this can be added relatively easily as an aftermarket add-on.

The paint finish is very nicely done, a solid looking gloss finish and a good even paint job. Doesn't look like its going to flake off any time soon. Not sure how they've done the Cosmo Black hardware chroming, it seems like a thick coating though.

The strap buttons are nice and big, I have an Ernie Ball strap and it just doesn't look like it will come off (its an arse to get the strap on :D). Saves buying strap locks I suppose.

Never dealt with Ibanez, the shop I bought it from said they would cover any problems with minimal charge however, so I doubt I'll ever have to get in touch.

I also own a Les Paul Studio and a Fender Mexican Strat, this guitar pretty much completes my tone collection (everything I'll ever need anyway).

If it were lost or stolen I would definetly buy it again, but I would get the next model up, with the Lo-Pro Edge tremelo instead (better quality).

Good guitar, I definetly recommend.

this is the ibanez rg470.Mine is an older model with the infinity pickups.It's H\S\H with a floyd rose tremolo system, 24 jumbo frets, volume,tone.A pretty good setup.

Hey, I am a metal musician and I love this music so I bought this axe to have some fun.It fits my style very well.

This guitar is made in Japan and it is surely why it has a such a great quality/price ratio. It is fully loaded with 24 jumbo frets, a Floyd Rose licensed "Lo-trs trem" bridge, a double-locking system and a H/S/H pick-up configuration. There is two knobs (volume/tone) and a 5-way pick-up selector. It is made of basswood with the New Penny finish, wich is amazing. The neck is a Wizard-II type (large, thin, fast). It is very light (compared to my old guitar) but you can have lighter axes( who cares of a so light guitar, work your muscles, get stronger and there's no problem!)
Oh I almost forget, the input jack is much better than on cheaper ibanez and when you take it, you feel it is well-made and solid. It comes with a tremolo bar.

I am a big fan of metal and this axe really fulfills my needs for the genre. But I am also into rock and classical and the guitar suits for those genre as well. The V8 (bridge) gives incredible leads and rythms. With a Boss Metal Zone, it really kicks ass. The V7 (neck) is quite usefull for brite and warm clean melody while the S1 (middle) sounds more vintage like wich is cool to play old rock distortion. I was a little bit disappointed by the combination (V8/S1)or(V7/S1).
But in general, the pick-ups are quite good and they don't buzz, except when i boost a lot the volume.

The finish is incredible, every thing is solid, the pick-ups aren't loose, the painting is awesome and I have nothing to say about the fretwork. Again, this is a great quality guitar. The finger prints does not appears on the painting, even in the light.
Don't play to much with the pick-ups selector, i don't think it could break so fast, but it floats in its hole (very little: less than 1 mm)
I opened it once and I can say say that the electronic job is perfect.

I only had it for about 3 weeks so I did not make any gig with it yet but I am sure it will give a blast. The strings almost never detune even with heavy tremolo action. When I bought it, the strings weren't exactly in-tune and I had a hard time tuning it (it is the first time I have a Floyf Rose bridge). Perhaps one thing less positive is the strap button is fixed a quite thin part of the guitar.
Even if this guitar is incredible, I would always have my old guitar for a back-up, we never know what can happen.

I did not have to deal with the company yet... hope I will never haver to... I'm optimistic on that...

I have been playing for 2 years ans a half now, almost 3. I use a Boss Metal Zone 2 MT-2 and a Samick LA6ORC 85 W.
What I would have like to do is to try a Ibanez Jem (Steve Vai's guitars) and find something cheaper that come the closest to Vai's. But I am sure mine is close enough for the price.
I also tried a LTD M-200 (i'm not sur if its 100, 150 or 200) at 550 CAN$ (it was lighter, but the neck was fat and every features where way under those of the RG470)
A great guitar that also have a great look... New Penny color makes it really sexy. This is what is the closest to a Jem.

2001
Japanese made
Basswood body
24 Frets
One Volume and One Tone 5 way selector switch
Hum/Single/Hum (a wide variety of tones, has coil tap)
Passive V series Ibanez Pickups
Maple Wizard 2 neck
Super strat RG body style
Solid Black Finish (shows finger prints)
Floyd Rose licensed double locking trem, ibanez calls it the Lo Trez 2
Non-locking Gotoh tuners
25.5 Neck scale, super fast, super thin neck
Case Incuded for $30

What more do you really need?

Sounds perfect for my metal roots style of music. The first time i plugged it in too the amp at the store i noticed it had a nice fat clean tone and a beautiful thrash distorted tone. I played it through a Marshall AVT50 at Mothers Music. My home amp is a shitty Fender Frontman amp but it still sounds great. Not as good as the Marshall of course but there is a world of difference from my old guitar. The single coil is a bit noisy but arn't all?. It has a very full sound i just love it for metal. I play some blues too and the coil taps and single coil handle that beautifully. Blues isn't this guitars genre but it still does the job. The Hum/Single/Hum gives a great variety of tones from Metal, Blues and Jazz. Overall it has a great sound on both Clean and Overdrive settings. Great variety, great pickups, i love the sound of this guitar.

The action was just to my liking, low and fast with NO FRET BUZZ. I got the guys at mothers to throw a set of 11's on the guitar instead of the stock 10's and they set it up nicely. There is a little bit of extra glue around the pickups but i scraped it off with a pick and it looks great now. The finish is a gloss finish so it shows pick straches and finger prints but that's nothing a little guitar polish can't fix. No flaws other then the extra glue around the pickups but i took care of that.

I have no doubts that this guitar will survive numerous gigs and many years of hard playing. I have already played this guitar hard and i've only had it for two weeks. I play 2-3 hours a day and this guitar has given my no problems whatsoever. The hardware will last and i don't think the paint will come off of them. (all hardware is black) The finish looks good except for the finger prints but i have already put a few light pick stratches in the guitar. The strap buttons are very solid. I got a strap without strap locks and i could barley get the strap on because the strap buttons were so big! I feel i could depend on this guitar for years to come because it was built so solidly. The craftsman ship is excellent. I wouldn't gig without a backup though because the guitar has a Floyd Rose and you never know what can happen.

I've never delt with the company. The guys at Mothers Music where I bought the guitar were very good, they threw me in a $100 dollar case for $30 and put new strings on for me. The warranty is for one year but i hope i never hafta use it. I probably wont.

I have been playing for about 3 years. I have a shitty Fender Frontman Amp, a Takamine acoustic (my dads) and a Vantage strat. This guitar blows my old one out of the water. I try to play my old guitar but it is like nails on a chalk board. If this guitar were stolen, i would beat down the fucker who stole it with my guitar, collect the insurance and buy the exact same one. I love this guitar because of the great variety of tones you can get out of it. The tone knob actually does something. I also love the floyd rose because i can whammy away to my hearts content. I'm not a big fan of the finish tho because it shows finger prints, but looks isn't the important thing, tone and playability are. I compared it to a few other guitars but this owns them all. I tried a Jackson DX10D, an Ibanez AX 7 string and a Peavey model (can't remember which) this guitar had the tone and playability the other didn't have. I love this guitar and they only way you will be able to get it out of my hands is pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

This is a 2000 model I believe, I got it right before Christmas. It has 24 frets, basswood body, 1 tone knob, 1 volume knob, passive pickups, that I think are a little to thin sounding for me. It has a the Wizard II neck which is very thin,licenced Floyd Rose, Gotoh style tuners.

I mostly play metal, the pickups are ok, I dont think they are as bad as some say but I do think they are a little thin sounding and I am planning on changing them to EMGs. I use it through a Peavey Stereo Chorus 212, and a Marshall Jackhammer distortion pedal, the distorted sounds are good with alot of gain, using the bridge humbucker. The single coil doesnt sound very good by itself for clean sounds so I usually use the 4th position.

I was very suprised with the action and setup of the guitar when I purchased it, it was just about totally perfect, at purchase everything worked fine, the finish is great, however the wood is a little soft, so little dings will go through the finish fairly easy, because the wood dents in and cracks the finish, but if you dont hit it on anything this wouldnt be a problem

I wouldnt gig this guitar without a backup, just being that it has a Floyd, it seems pretty solid but this is where my only major issues with the guitar come in, after about 2 months of having this guitar I noticed the strap buttons were coming loose, so you might want to check them and tighten them every now and again, also the neck pickup began to sink in, the volume and tone knobs began to crakle when turning them, and the finish on the hardware is starting to wear off from palm mutes, but these problems are easily fixed

Havent delt with Ibanez's Customer Support

I think this would be an excelent second guitar for someone, thats what its purpose was for me anyway, its priced very well for the quality you get. If it was lost or stolen I would probably get a high end Jackson or Gibson, which I am planning on doing anyway. I think it is a nice guitar for someone who hasnt been playing long and is on a tight budget

Mine is an older model, it has the infinity pickups (2 hum, 1 Single coi). 5 way selecter switch, tone and volume controls, double locking trem system, pretty much your standard rock guitar setup.

I play mostly melodic hard rock, with punk, funk, and alternative influences. This guitar suits my stule pretty well, although sometimes I wish I could get a little bit more of a 'vintage' sound out of it. I'm thinking of changing the bridge pickup to an EMG or a duncan. The neck pickup is very good however, perfect for that bassy thick clean sound or for a kind of smooth lead tone. The single coil
sounds are a little too thin for my taste, but I also own a strat copy If I need a better single coil sound. The bridge pickup has a sharp sound to it, but it can be a little muddy sounding if you play to loud or have the settings on your amp off. I play through a Marshall Valvestate half stack with a Boss Metal zone, a tubescreamer, dano flanger, Boss chorus, and Boss phaser. I also use a 95q crybaby wah for lead/funky rhythm stuff. All in all, a good guitar for intermediate players or advanced one if they customise it a little.

Fine. Has a little trouble staying in tune after excessive whammy bar use, but what guitar doesn't.

This is my main stage guitar, Ind I have used It without a backup before. It works great, havn't had any problems yet, but I would like to have a backup around just in case I broke a string or something. They take forever and a day to replace on this thing.

A very good guitar, and I got a good deal. I might eventually upgrade to an S series ibanez or an ESP, but it's serving me fine for now.

Built in Japan, 2000 production year.

One-piece Wizard II maple neck w/satin finish, rosewood fretboard (24 jumbo frets) with dot mother-of-pearl inlays. Neck is very thin with a wide, flat radius. Solid basswood body. Ibanez LO TRS double-locking tremolo bridge (licensed under Floyd Rose patents). The tremolo bloack lets you adjust how far in you wan to screw the arm, which is a nice way to control how loosely you want the arm to swing. Passive electronics with 5-way switching. H-S-H pickups are Ibanez-made Vintage series: V7 neck, S1 middle, and V8 neck. Ibanez used to put their Infinity pickups in this guitar, but now I think -- at least in the U.S. -- only the Paul Gilbert model comes with those pickups. I prefer the new V7, S1, and V8 pickups, which are hotter than the V1 and V2 pickups that Ibanez makes. Gotoh SG sealed tuning machines.

Finish is called Titanium Ice, which is basically a metallic light purple or lilac color. Hardware plating smokey chrome that I think Ibanez used to call Cosmo Black. It looks good with many of their finishes. Chrome-finish Ibanez logo on headstock is an improvement over 1990s models.

Guitar came with maintenance manual, a separate setup guide, screw-in tremolo arm, a truss rod wrench, and 2.5mm and 3mm Allen wrenches for adjusting the bridge saddles, locking nut, and string stopper bolts, and bridge height.

I play hard rock and power-pop with my band. On my own, I play a little bit of instrumental rock in the style of Joe Satriani. I can cover all these bases well with the RG470, which is why I now have two. They're good all-around guitars, except for country (get a Telecaster)and jazz (ESS 335 or Ibanez George Benson).

I run the guitar signal straight into an Original Crybaby wah and then directly into the input of a Laney 120-watt half-stack (TubeFusion 700). In the amp effect loop, my signal is Send --> Fender PT10 tuner pedal --> Danelectro Fish'n'Chips EQ --> Ibanez GF-7 chorus/flanger --> DOD DFX9 delay --> Return. I don't use effects too much, except the EQ pedal for a lead boost. This guitar has a full-sounding clean tone when using either humbucker full on. When using the single-coil pickup, it sounds almost acoustic. It's warm, not sterile or twangy, which is why I don't recommend this guitar for country music. The neck pickup sounds "round," while the bridge pickup has plenty of midrange bite. The same characteristics apply to the distorted tones. For distorted solos, I boost the lower mids around 800 Hz to 1 KHz with my EQ pedal to thicken the tone to where it sounds very much like a Les Paul.

No one guitar can go it all, so I give this axe a 9! I don't play country, but I'd like to get some twang out of this guitar if I needed it. So much for starting that Beach Boys tribute band!

Negative: Feedback risk! For my lead tone, I set my amp gain on 10. At my first gig with this guitar, we couldn't mike our amps, so I had to turn my amp volume up to 6, at which point I experienced low howling feedback through my 4x12 cabinet. I remedied the problem by lowering my amp gain to 7, but I lost some "edge" in my tone. I don't know if this is a shielding issue or because of how the pickups are wound. But I don't foresee playing that loud very often; we try to take a hi-fi approach and keep stage volume low so the P.A. does most of the work.

Because this is my second RG470, I wasn't too brutal to it at the music store. I strummed it and played some legato down the neck and was happy not to find a dead spot anywhere on the fretboard. The action was just right for me, low but not too low like Satriani likes. When I got it home, I was disappointed that it wouldn't stay in tune after wiggling the whammy bar like mad. Then I noticed that the locking nut wasn't tightened. I tuned her up, tightened down the internal trem springs, retuned, and let the guitar sit overnight. The next day, I locked the nut and adusted the fine-tuners, and everything's been fine. I played a gig the following night with no tuning or problems with the action.

My only complaint is that the bridge had what looks like oil on it, giving off a "rainbow" effect when the light hit it at a certain angle. I wiped it up with a polishing cloth, but I can still see it around the socket where the arm gets inserted.

If this guitar is built like my first RG470 I bought five years ago, it will be a true workhorse. After using my first RG for five years, the only service it required was a new volume pot, new tremolo arm, and a fret dressing. I can live with $100 in maintenance every five years.

When I needed a repair on my other RG, they were prompt in responding to my e-mail and made sure my dealer took care of me. But that was several years ago, and the new site isn't helpful in spit of all the bells and whistles. I hope I have no problems with this new one because I don't want to go through that again. I feel safe enough, however, because I bought the guitar from Guitar Center, where they have a 30-day refund/exchange policy if I have any problems. With the one-year Ibanez warranty, I'm sure Guitar Center will assist me with obtaining service. Ibanez USA needs to wake up and offer some REAL customer service beyond the showroom floor. My score of 2 is for Ibanez, not Guitar Center.

For an affordable, versatile rock guitar built for serious players, this guitar reigns supreme. The tremolo system is the best on the market (other than the Edge and Lo Pro Edge). If I didn't like my Jewel Blue one (1996), I wouldn't have bought the Titanium Ice one (2000). I wasn't even in the market for another guitar, but when Guitar Center said they'd match the competitor's closeout price AND give me $250 in trade for my LTD H-200, I'd have been stupid to pass on buying this guitar for $69. No regrets. If stolen or lost, I'd replace it immediately with my insurance check. Even at the street price of $500, it's still a great guitar.

Prefered features:
1. Pickup mounting rings that match the other hardware.
2. A recessed, angled output jack like on the JS models.
3. More finish options. People deserve to choose from more than two or three colors. Fender and Carvin offer five or six without charging extra, I think.