Ibanez RG470

Pawnshop special. I was looking for an inexpensive but good starter electric guitar, and I think I got one (with a few caveats).
Made in Japan (1992).Humbucker/single-coil/humbucker pickups (V7/S1/V8), with 5-way switch. Floyd Rose-type tremolo. Locking tuners at neck. Dual cutaway body. Gotoh tuners. One volume knob, one tone knob. Passive electronics. Basswood body, bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, 24 frets with dot inlays. Neck is very comfortable. Had an experienced guitar-playing friend (but with no Ibanez axes) try it out before purchasing. He was favorably impressed with the features and playability.

I wanted a clean sound. My daughter has an Ibanez RG270DX that sounds and feels great. I especially like the smooth "jazz" tone it has with the neck pickup. So I naively thought, "Hey, this RG470 will be even better! Its a more expensive model (new), and it has better "vintage" pickups (V7/V8)." I got it home, cleaned it up, wiped dust from it, oiled the screws, attempted to tune it. I got the local luthier to change strings, check the setup, etc. I couldn't get it tuned afterwards, so I took it back to him, and he installed a fourth tremolo spring. I took it home to play, and was sorely disappointed by the tones. Yeah, I know this is a "hard-rock/heavy-metal" guitar (which is NOT what I want to play, or to listen to), but I thought it was versatile enough to give me a smooth sound from the neck pickup, like the RG270 does. I think it would have been great for rock-lead, or distorted sounds, but that is not what I wanted. I did some research, then had the luthier replace the neck humbucker with a Seymour Duncan Jazz pickup, and the single-coil with an Alnico Pro 2. Now it has the the sound I want. Smooth melodies from the neck pickup, nice rhythm/blues tones from the middle pickup (or combined pickups), and rock tones from the bridge pickup. Like other reviewers, I figured new pickups are justifiable, since the price of the guitar was so low. The bridge pickup is very loud compared to the Seymour Duncans, especially the single-coil. Maybe adjusting the pickups' heights can normalize their volumes. Turning the tone knob "down" makes the tones "muddy" or muffled, in my opinion. I expected to get a dark, but still resonant sound. No dice. That's the only serious complaint I have with the sound now. I just keep the tone knob turned toward the "bright" end.

I don't know what this guitar has been doing for the last 8 years. It seems very sound, but in need of some TLC. It has a couple of nicks in the headpiece, so I touched up the paint job with black fingernail polish. The pickups did not seem adjusted correctly, but they are now replaced. The metallic blue finish is missing three small chips along the edges; I'll use touch-up paint on the light-colored wood, once I find a near-match, to make it easy to ignore. All the metal hardware seems sound. I replaced the lock-down screws (on the nut), since their heads were getting stripped. Bottom line: I believe the original fit/action was good, since it still is; the chipped shell on the body makes me think that it was not such good quality. The tremolo, which plugs-in, flops loosely. Until I find way to tighten it, I'll leave it off. With the back plates off, it is evident that an additional grounding wire was soldered on, so it probably had a hum problem at one time.

I expect the reliability/durability to be good. Only time will tell. Strap buttons are solid.

Purchased used. No warranty.

I have not been playing very long. My previous guitar playing was limited to acoustics (steel-string and classical), and I've been away from it for a few years. This is my first foray into electrics. I chose it because I liked the body style, and it felt and sounded good, and was inexpensive (the dealer had a higher price marked, but accepted my offer). Since I didn't have much money to spend, it was either a pawn shop special, or a beginner electric guitar at the music store. I'm very fond of this guitar, after setup and new pickups. Since I intentionally bought it as a cheap-but-good learning guitar, I'm satisfied. I've already gained a lot of experience and knowledge, and I enjoy playing it. I've been told that Ibanez guitars are very good values on the used market (for the buyer), since they don't tend to hold their resale value as well as many other brands (that's obviously not true for their high-end models). That worked to my advantage this time, as long as I don't wish to sell it. Now that I'm wiser (I hope), I intend to be much more discriminating in the future. When that time comes, this puppy can be my backup guitar. If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably replace it with a jazz-style or a nice acoustic/electric, since I've found that my playing interests lie mainly in the jazz/blues/folk directions. I'm also not crazy about the Floyd Rose-style tremolo, or the lock-down nut. I'll look for other styles next time, or do without tremolo. I recently purchased a gorgeous korean-made semi-hollow-body guitar (ES335 style), so, along with my old steel-string acoustic, I've got an excellent and economical selection of instruments.

made in korea i believe, 24 frets, one vol one tone h/s/h pickup config. pickups are v7/s1/emg81? floyd rose tremelo

well it took me a while to adjust my fender princetone chorus to sound good with this guitar but now that i've got it it's pretty solid. the emg sounds great with distortion but on clean it's not really to my liking. i plan on putting in a new neck humbucker because i just can't get the sound i like out of the stock one. sounds great for hard rock.

i got it used so i need to take it in to get adjusted cause i know nothing about floyd rose so i don't want to break it.

it has withstanded playing live and worked quite nicely i had no backup or anything and i had no problems

i got it used so i don't know

i've been playing for five years now and this has been my third electric and i must say i am quite satisfied with it. i've also had a strat and an epiphone sg and that guitar sucks never buy one. i really am used to the strat feel so this guitar fit me nicely. if it were stolen i think i'd save up and buy an american strat instead just because ilove the feel and sound of strats but i would miss this one. i love the colour on this guitar and have never seen one this colour so that makes it rise above your avereage rg470. it's a nice dark blue that i love. overall i'm satified for the low price.

The guitar is just total bad ass. The dimazio pick ups are a dream. The warm sound it gives off is excellent and so clean. The wizard neck is sooooooo easy to play as well. This guitar is truly awsome!

I play all sorts of music from funk to metal and my ibanez keeps up all the way. Also with the 24 frets it adds a little extra notes for solos etc. Notes are also clear as a bell at the top end of the guitar as well as at the bottom.

The action is just a dream. The pick ups are very powerful and deliever an excellent sound even through the worst of amps. The guitar come straight out of the box perfectly. I have owned it for 6 months now and have never had a problem with it.

I have giged this guitar and it lived up to the performance. This guitar could withstand an atom bomb. The strap buttons have to be removed by screw driver. No need for strap locks here baby.

Ever since i have picked up this guitar there has never been another guitar for me. My guitar is just un-touchable.

mine was made in 1999, ordered 2 of them from ibanez, brand new. black and violet. 24 frets, 5 way selector, h/s/h. basswood body, jumbo frets, perfect neck for me. i hate fat tree trunk necks and prefer the jackson feel of a really thin neck. this one is perfect! it's thin, and yet, enough to hold onto. it's so easy to play fast on this neck. i have owned a lot of guitars and this one is awesome! nothing really flashy about it. it just looks like your typical metal guitar, what a metal guitar should look like. body style is killer. nice shape.

sounds very good turned up loud with a good tube amp! very tight bottom end pickups. metallica or thrash metal sound is easy to get! not really noisy. very rich full sound with a punchy bottom end with the stock pickups. this is good for jazz, rock, but mainly metal. the only thing is that i wish the body was routed out a little more like a jem so pulling back on the bar wouldn't be such a hassle. a deeper routed cavity would have been nice.

guitar was setup ok at the factory. had to lower the strings a bit.

all i can say is that i have owned a lot of guitars and for me this guitar is perfect. it's like it was made for me. i loved it so much when i tried it out that i had to buy/order 2 of them right there. it's great for me. remember the most important thing; no guitar is perfect! and also, buy what is right for you. if you just love the feel of a $300 guitar when everyone else says you must buy a $5000 PRS...SCREW THAT! I have bought guitars that were $$$ cuz i thought they would sound cool or whatever and guess where they are now....someone else's house being played...all sold. buy what you love and what feels right.

ibanez is a mystery...they can't be contacted unless you're steve vai.

been playing 15 years now. own all ibanez and a jackson and a peavey guitar. have had jem guitars and now i'm down to one jem... the jem77dbk, which i highly highly highly recommend as well. this RG is awesome and i can play very well on it. it's just perfect for me.

2000 Japan made Rosewood board. Picked it up as a Blem model on line. In the mid 80's I had a Roadstar and loved that thing to death. SO I had to go back to an Ibanez for the neck and low locking floyd rose trem. I still Love the thin neck but after 4 months of play the trem droped or some thing and I'm getting som fret buzz.

It dose not fit my musical style it is more a heavy guitar, sort of cold sound. Not the bright warm Psycadelic stuff i attempt to create. Because of the longer neck "24 frets" the lower e string gets alot of rumble when picked open and if playing a clean chanel is is realy anoying becuse it sustains more that the higher strings. I'm using it with a simple Pevey blazer. But when I add my big muff I do get a great smashing pumpkins sound from it. After playiung it for 4-5 monts without using the trem. I'm now getting alot of fret buzz also.

Out o fthe box it was tuned and good to go. since I did not use the Trem I did not have to adjust it at all for 2 months. I bought it as a blem so I got a good deal but it had a dent next to the guitar strap hook on the bottem.

I plan on keeping this guitar I think it would be a good live guitar for some more over driven music. It sems solid but I've added a few dings to it already. But I know that it will hold a tune. I think it would sound beter with 250 Ohm pots and a different campasitor bridging to the tone pot to cut down on the bass sound.

N/A

I've been Playing for 7-8 yesrs on and off and only resently got serious again and decided to buy a new guitar as I was geting sick of the HUge neck on the 60's silver tone holow body guitar I had. I previously had a roadstar and I remembered I liked it for the thin neck. I did not remember that most Ibanez RG / roadstar guitars are more metal driven set ups. I'ld problably not buy this guitar if it was stolen I'd take the Insurance cash and go shopping for something else.

It's 2000 Japan made modelwith 24 frets.
it has h/s/h pickup configuration(v7,s1,v8).
basswood body,body style is kinda pointy viking style strat very cool
actually.floyd rose and locking tuners are included.
I believe that these jumbo frets.I think that this is more than
enough.

Well, I listen to DIO,JUDAS PRIEST,BLACK SABBATH,BLIND GUARDIAN and I
play that stuff in a band. I can compare my lead style to van halen and randy rhoads and I think does pretty descent job.
I am using it thru Marshall JCM 2000 I'm not very happy with the sound of my amp
but it'll sound better when I get some effects. however clean tones are great, excellent for jazz,blues...
but in overall this is a metal lead guitar

The guitar was set properly only that I screwed it up when I replaced the strings. That floyd rose is really fucked up.
finish is shiny but the paint on nuts and tremolo keeps falling off that is my biggest dislike on this guitar.

I allready played three times with it and it generally stays in tune.
finish is ok but it really gets dirty very fast.
I dont need a backup for this guitar neither i have it.

never dealt them

I've been playing long enough to tell what's a good guitar and what's a bad guitar and trust me this is a very good guitar especially for the money. I owned before an Ibanez Blazer and comparing to RG470
it sounds like a peace of junk. I wish it had just a bit better pickups but you can always replace them it's no problem these days.

I bought it last year. It is black model, made in Korea, with
Infinity pickups.

It sounds fairly nice, but the pickups don't have enough definition.
That problem can be solved with new pickups. Changing pickup positions
can change the sound dramaticly. The 2nd and 4th postions are great strat imitations, cool if you want some nice clean sounds.

Action: excelent.

Finish: When I bought it, it looked amazing but after a warm
summer the finish on Floyd started to wear off. Now the screws on
Floyd are silver instead of black. I have no idea why. That is
really big fault because guitar looks like it's 3 years old.

Would go without backup.

I play guitar for 4 years now, and this is my second electic. The
first one was a cheap strat copy. RG470 is a 3 light years away from it. A excelent instrument for the money. Floyd is very stabile. But that problem with the finish is annoying, maybe it's because it is
made in Korea. The Japanese model is certanly better, but what the hell.

I bought it last year. It is black model, made in Korea, with
Infinity pickups.

It sounds fairly nice, but the pickups don't have enough definition.
That problem can be solved with new pickups. Changing pickup positions
can change the sound dramaticly. The 2nd and 4th postions are great strat imitations, cool if you want some nice clean sounds.

Action: excelent.

Finish: When I bought it, it looked amazing but after a warm
summer the finish on Floyd started to wear off. Now the screws on
Floyd are silver instead of black. I have no idea why. That is
really big fault because guitar looks like it's 3 years old.

Would go without backup.

I play guitar for 4 years now, and this is my second electic. The
first one was a cheap strat copy. RG470 is a 3 light years away from it. A excelent instrument for the money. Floyd is very stabile. But that problem with the finish is annoying, maybe it's because it is
made in Korea. The Japanese model is certanly better, but what the hell.

I bought it in new in 99' but it was made in 98 in korea. It came with inf pickups (stock) floyd rose fender styl bridges suck it is green every chick that has seen it fell in love. HSH pickup config, 5 way switch volume and tone.

I play the good stuff ozzy, motley crue yngwie malmsteen and steve vai. The stock pickups are good for what they are good overall tone. I dont dislike any thing about it except that its not a jackson. it is made of the same wood as any other high end guitar the only difference is the pickups. replace them with seymour duncans and you'll have a very very good guitar.

No guitar is well setup in the factory except custom shop guitars, but you cab lower the action close to the fretboard without buzz. My guitar contained no flaws. it is very tight.

I have had no problems with it, it can stand live playing it is a good quality guitar.

Never had to consult them. dont know about the warranty.

I have been playing for four years now, I play it through a marshall stack it can kick ass. if it were stolen I would buy a jackson, when i was shopping for a guitar I was originally looking for a jackson but this incredibly hot chick i was with loved she thought it was sexy thats why i bought it didnt get me laid but im glad i did.

This is the year 2000 model, born in japan and raised in the uk. Its a 24-fret, rosewood fretboard and maple necked guitar, strapped to a basswood body.

Mine is in black and came installed with a PAF Pro (neck) and Evolution (bridge) pickup. Anyway, since you are obviously interested in this guitar (otherwise you wouldnt be reading it, right?), im sure you know all this :o)

Personally, I think its the requirement for a metal guitar to have
a. 24 frets
b. a floyd rose trem (or tunomatic for riff guitars)
c. at least two humbuckers
d. decent pickups
e. A pointy body (to any extreme)

This guitar has all of the above, so top marks!

I bought this guitar so I could get some really smooth leads and rhythms, while having really sweet clean sounds. The PAF Pro and Evolution manage this VERY well. Im not a Steve Vai nut, but I know this sound is top class. The evolution provides very high end screaming solos and really coherant rhythms. Couple that with shimmering clean sounds and you're there.

The PAF Pro i use if I want dirtier rhythms, darker cleans or lower end solos (eg backround solos, or harmonies with a second guitarist).

The hardware is not noisy at all, but then again it is on 6 months old...

The single coil in the middle I rarely use as it is still stock. However as the sc is significantly lower output than the humbuckers, it gives interesting results when mixed! Although, some adjustment is requred on your amp volume as there is a sharp drop. All positions sound very good clean.

If anyone can reccommend a decent single coil to replace this with, i would really like to hear from you!

Gets a 9 for the pants single coil

NB: I cannot comment on the original humbuckers as i never even played them. They came straight out as soon as i got the guitar!

The finish seems quite rugged. Thats one thing about all ibanez i've found is that the finish doesnt come off easily.

The pickups were installed by me, but the single coil only had slight adjustments.

The tremolo came bang out of tune and the strings used were total shit! I basically ripped them off, reset the trem and slapped on some new ernie ball 9's. The truss rod needed no work and the trem stays in tune very well. It didnt need a total overhaul, but some attention to string height was required.

The trem, as i said, survives even the most vai'ist of maniac solos and still returns in tune!

A - 1

This guitar loves live playing. The tone pot is coming a little loose sometimes, but its no biggy! The hardware seems like it will stand the test of time and i actually see it still in use years down the line.

Strap button seem good, but I always fix straplock on to all my guitars - its just common sense. No use crying after the shocking meeting between guitar and hard stage.

Customer what?

This is the uk!

I've been playing for going on 10 years and I have owned many guitars. This is one of the best ive owned and used. Its your stereotypical metal guitar, and thats all it should be! If you hate strat shapes, then go away. If you wanna be like vai, trey azagthoth (i know for a _FACT_ he uses this setup on his rg) then try one of these babies out!

Have fun BYE

1992? something like that I bought it new with zero percent financing...a musicians dream! 24 fret, 1 tone, 1 volume. The pickups are stock for now, but I'm going to replace them with some Duncans. Deep red finish with black hardware and looks nice. Very nice thin neck with good low action. It is pretty versitile sounding but the pickups are a little noisey on a tube amp, ok with solid state.

It suits my style ok. I bought a PRS Swamp ash special so this is my backup now. I leave it drop tuned when not giging and it plays metal well, I still think the pickups are noisey, definately not good for the studio, but fine to crank and shread! I play a crate gx-40c for practice amp adn gig with a mesa heartbreaker. MESA ROCKS!

Good action and easy to play thin neck. I really noticed how nice the neck was after going to the SAS because that guitar has the fattest neck I've ever pleayed.

In the early days of it's existance it giged w/o a backup. Probably not a good idea cause if you bust a string it takes a while to get your axe in tune again. Lucky for me it never happened that way.

N/A

I've been playing since the late 80's. I wish I would have bought an american made axe but this one was cheaper. It really is a good beginner guitar, and they will probably laugh when I bring it to the open jam this week cause my PRS is in the shop getting siome TLC!

Japanese-made, 1998 model in Cherry Fudge finish (dark reddish-purple metal-flake color, looks nice!) Neck looks like a multi-piece maple, with a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard. Basswood body is very light and very resonant. One volume, one tone, 5-way selector. H/S/H Ibanez pickups: neck is a V8, middle is a single coil S1, bridge is a V7. Rose-licensed Lo-TRS double-locking trem system. Gotoh tuners. Thin, fast Wizard II neck. Bought it used and very cheap, so I didn't mind not getting the tools with it.

Sounds pretty good clean, which is how I usually play it. This is a rockin' guitar, which I have pressed into service as a praise and worship band instrument. It fits the bill surprisingly well. The neck pup is a little higher output than the others, and works great for fingerstyle playing; the sound is full and noiseless. The single coil is a little hummy, but sounds good for strumming. The bridge pup really quacks, and reminds me of a Tele playing with both singles on. My favorite setting combines the single with one coil from the neck. Very clean and quiet. I don't play it much with drive or distortion, but it sounded fine the times I did.

The axe was setup at the shop where I bought it used. I need to have it adjusted for some buzz when I strum hard. It came with 9 gauge Elixirs, and I would recommend those strings, as they sound great and last forever. Action is fast and low, maybe a little too low given the buzzing. The Wizard II neck is great! I love a thin neck, and this is the thinnest I've ever played. The jumbo frets are probably better for fast rock solos, but work okay for my church music. Have to be really light-fingered when playing open chords near the nut with these frets, though, as it has a tendency to go sharp really easily on the G and B strings down low. Factory fit and finish looks really clean. Haven't seen any flaws in the finish, or any loose hardware, or anything. Seems solid structurally. Stays in tune forever with the Lo-TRS trem system.

I play it live all the time, and don't use a backup. But, then, my style of play doesn't lend itself to breaking strings, or smashing guitars, so I probably don't need a backup. If you ever do break a string, you're done until you can get it replaced and re-adjust the Floyd, so if you're a shredder, you better have another axe at the gig with you. All the hardware seems really solid so far. I haven't had any trouble with the strap buttons.

My only concern is the durability of the finish. It had several chips along the edges when I got it, and I've put a couple of more in it since I've had it. I'm not hard on guitars, and it has not had any really hard knocks while in my possession, so I think maybe the finish just isn't as tough as it could be. I was surprised to read other reviews here about guys who drop their 470's and have things fall on them, with no scars or chips. That would not likely be the case with mine, based on my experience so far. Still, I'd rather have the finish chip and the hardware last, than vice versa.

Downgrades this category, though, because of the chips.

Haven't dealt with Ibanez. Pretty cool website, though

I've been playing off and on for over thirty years. This is my only electric. I own a couple of steel string acoustics, and a cheap, mile-high-action classical. If the RG went astray, I would look for something that didn't have a Floyd Rose, because I just don't need it, and it makes changing strings a real pain.

I really like the sounds it makes, though. And the basswood body is really light, so it doesn't drag me down during a long set. The color is really cool, but I wish it didn't chip so easy. I do wish it had a little more tone control. Two tone knobs would really be nice.

Before I bought it, I played Strats and Teles and LP's and clones of those. For the money (under two hundred bucks US), it was too good a deal to pass up.

Japanese-made, 1998 model in Cherry Fudge finish (dark reddish-purple metal-flake color, looks nice!) Neck looks like a multi-piece maple, with a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard. Basswood body is very light and very resonant. One volume, one tone, 5-way selector. H/S/H Ibanez pickups: neck is a V8, middle is a single coil S1, bridge is a V7. Rose-licensed Lo-TRS double-locking trem system. Gotoh tuners. Thin, fast Wizard II neck. Bought it used and very cheap, so I didn't mind not getting the tools with it.

Sounds pretty good clean, which is how I usually play it. This is a rockin' guitar, which I have pressed into service as a praise and worship band instrument. It fits the bill surprisingly well. The neck pup is a little higher output than the others, and works great for fingerstyle playing; the sound is full and noiseless. The single coil is a little hummy, but sounds good for strumming. The bridge pup really quacks, and reminds me of a Tele playing with both singles on. My favorite setting combines the single with one coil from the neck. Very clean and quiet. I don't play it much with drive or distortion, but it sounded fine the times I did.

The axe was setup at the shop where I bought it used. I need to have it adjusted for some buzz when I strum hard. It came with 9 gauge Elixirs, and I would recommend those strings, as they sound great and last forever. Action is fast and low, maybe a little too low given the buzzing. The Wizard II neck is great! I love a thin neck, and this is the thinnest I've ever played. The jumbo frets are probably better for fast rock solos, but work okay for my church music. Have to be really light-fingered when playing open chords near the nut with these frets, though, as it has a tendency to go sharp really easily on the G and B strings down low. Factory fit and finish looks really clean. Haven't seen any flaws in the finish, or any loose hardware, or anything. Seems solid structurally. Stays in tune forever with the Lo-TRS trem system.

I play it live all the time, and don't use a backup. But, then, my style of play doesn't lend itself to breaking strings, or smashing guitars, so I probably don't need a backup. If you ever do break a string, you're done until you can get it replaced and re-adjust the Floyd, so if you're a shredder, you better have another axe at the gig with you. All the hardware seems really solid so far. I haven't had any trouble with the strap buttons.

My only concern is the durability of the finish. It had several chips along the edges when I got it, and I've put a couple of more in it since I've had it. I'm not hard on guitars, and it has not had any really hard knocks while in my possession, so I think maybe the finish just isn't as tough as it could be. I was surprised to read other reviews here about guys who drop their 470's and have things fall on them, with no scars or chips. That would not likely be the case with mine, based on my experience so far. Still, I'd rather have the finish chip and the hardware last, than vice versa.

Downgrades this category, though, because of the chips.

Haven't dealt with Ibanez. Pretty cool website, though

2000 RG470, made in Japan I believe. 24 frets, 1 vol knob, 1 tone knob, 5-way selector. V7 S1 V8 pickups. Basswood body, kickass body shape (very aggressive, fits my personality perfectly). The colour is amazing, the NewPenny matches the black hardware like a dream, this is a beautiful guitar!

Since my music style has not yet been defined (because I love all sorts of music, and I have only been playing for a couple of years) this guitar is great. I find it to be very versatile. I only have a very crappy Fender Frontman 15G and I use no effects, but this guitar still sounds a hell of alot better than my old crappy Squier. I did, however, bring it to my guitar teacher's studio and used it on some re-built 1970's Fender amp and I almost killed myself. It was amazing, I was using a Danelectro Fab Tone and I couldn't believe the quality of sound and the low amounts of feedback (I am used to the feedback beeing as loud as the music with my Squier and Frontman).

Great...but only one problem, my 15th fret was set in to low so when I went to hit it the string touched the 16th fret making it impossible to hit that note...but this will easily be fixed for no charge sometime soon when I take it back where I bought it.

Since I have never played live and I have only owned the guitar for a week I can't judge very well. But everything seems great and looks like it will last.

Never dealt with them yet.

Used it for a week and I can't get enough of it...the New Penny colour is the coolest thing I have ever seen. If it were stolen I would be screwed because I can barely afford this guitar in the first place...but I would hunt him down and beat him, and take it back.

I actually use this Ibanez guitar, this is a made in Japan guitar as all the good Ibanez guitars, basswood body with a maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and V7 S1 and V8 pickups. This is a standard black finish guitar with a Lo-TRS floyd rose and Gotoh tuners. The hardware finish is kinda chrome with a light touch of nickel making it very special.

It suits my style so good cause I play Joe Satriani and Steve Vai stuff, generally. I play it with the next effects following the signal prossecing: Digitech XP300 Space Station, Boss CS-2, Digitech XP100 Whammy Wah, Boss PH-2, Boss MT-2, Boss DD-3 and a Marshall JCM 900.
This guitar is not noisy enough but I found a little bit of ground sound in the bridge (V8) pickup, a little bit of more noise than the neck pickup you know, almost like a single coil pickup, but I think that is a polarization problem in the place that I practice cause in gigs there's no problem, but I'll change the pickups one of those days anyway, cause I need better pickups to get the sound that I like, V7 and V8 are good but I found 'em good for rhythm playing and I generally use The V7 and S1 for clean sounds as well as the S1 and V8 but I'm looking for a cool Dimarzio pickups like the Evo's, cause this stock pickups doesn't help me to get the pinch harmonics so good.
Stock pickups aren't so good.

I'm using that kind of guitars since three years ago and I'm very, very fucking careful in the floyd rose adjustment principally( it need to be parallel with the body and with an apropiate height for a comfortable and fast playing).I already knew that this guitar was made with high quality materials for example the wood, but I didn't pay to much atention in that and I'm so special in the adjustment I don't use to play with disajusted guitars (when I bought this guitar I thought: Hmmmmmm well, it's so fucking pretty but it needs a lot of adjustments man) I just get home and took my screwdriver and work. Actually this guitar works the best you know, i'm in love with her.

Just play it, clean it and take it away in this way you won't have problems. Ohhhhhh I forgot, adjust is very important to a great service.
OHHHH shit!!!!! remember: Don't borrow it, IF YOU DON'T TAKE CARE OF YOUR INSTRUMENT, WHO IN THE HELL IS GONNA BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF IT.

I had some problems with them in my last buying.

I have been playing since 7 years ago and I just always identificate me with this kind of guitar and I own an RG270 too. Those body and headstock shapes looks versatile, professional and agressive. YOUR GUITAR MEANS YOUR PERSONALITY, love it like your girlfriend, it won't give you love but if you play it with love and feeling it will belong to you all your life.

Black, made in 1999, its got everything i look for in a guitar- 24 frets, 5- way selection, gourgeous look (sharp curves), you can reach any fret on the fretboard easily, the floyd rose lo- trs is great (changing strings is a nightmare though), great thin wizard II neck, easy to play. ive been playing for about 3 years and this guitar has all the greatest features (especially for such a decent price) i was looking for. keep in mind that my review is only a comparison to other guitars in the same price range. you cant really compare it to the JEM series or PRS guitars.

i play mostly blues, metal, and classical, and this guitar fits them all beautifully. i use a peavy bandit 112 with it and its got a decent sound. id change the pickups though, im not crazy about them, a little too bright and not so clear as id like. the guitar makes a wide variety of sounds, the floyd rose is great. i recommend it to anyone- ive played on a million guitars and for the price, this is the one id buy.

The guitar is set up beautifully, the pickups are adjusted great a single coil in the middle, two humbuckers on either side of it. i havent seen one flaw in the guitar yet. ive dropped it a few times when i was really tired, and the guitar plays just the same as the day i bought it. the bridge again is great, ive only had one string break on me and ive played on it for at least a few hours a day for over a year. changing strings, again, is a bitch, i did it once and totally messed up the bridge and had to bring it to the shop to get strings put on again. if you dont know how to change the stings, dont attempt to make it up as you're going along cause itll suck in the long run.

this guitar couldnt be more reliable. ive put this guitar through so much and the hardware remains perfect. i play the crap out of the thing- it will definitely withstand live playing. the strap buttons never gave me any problem (the strap never came loose, and i have a really cheap strap), and you dont need a backup at all for it, its totally dependable. the tone and volume knobs are still the same as the day i bought the guitar too, never came loose or off.

The warranty was for a year i think, but ive never had to use it and ive never dealt with the company (since ive never had a problem with the guitar) so i wouldnt know how good the customer support is.

Ive been playing for about 3 years now and this is my favorite guitar for the price range. ive had it for over a year (since april of '99) and ive never even considered buying a different guitar. if you want the big sound, all the greatest features, for a relatively low price, this is the guitar for you. if youve got the money though, id prefer one of the JEM guitars, but its hard to compare the 2 cause they are in different universes. and the tone cant match a les paul or anything, but its definitely more than decent. if it were stolen i wouldnt even think twice about buying a new one. maybe id save up to buy a more expensive model but i doubt id go with any other guitar than this one. I love pretty much everything about it, except again, id change the pickups if i could afford it. id maybe get a pair of EMG 81 pickups, but you'll definitely live fine with the V7, V8, and S1. Remember again, the 10 rating is against those guitars in the same price range, it cant be compared to the really expensive guitars.

The Ibanez RG470. 1999 version.
-24 frets on a wizard neck
-5 way selector for an HSH pickup configuration. V7, S1, V8, respectively
-basswood body, pointystrat style
-floyd rose bridge tremolo system, lo-trs.

The neck is nice and flat. Thin from top to bottom, making it very easy to play, given you have fairly big hands. Less muting and fumbling as a Fender Strat might give you. This is probably due to the rise of the 7-string, so Ibanez is investing in making flatter fretboards. I can dig it. Came with all the appropriate tools and them some. I payed separate for the case, but I'm not complaining.

Keep in mind a rating of 5 is AVERAGE for me. Your random-picked guitar shop axe. 10 is Parker kind of rating. Top o' the line. Thus, I'm giving it a 7 because It's my favorite pick-up array and I love the neck. It loses some points due to somewhat weak pickups.

This is where the Ibanez shines. I love the sound. I kick the neck humbucker all the time. It's good, high output, punchy sound. This is a very dark-sounding guitar. Not muddy, but nice and warm and dark. The bridge humbucker makes the popular quack sound. I hate it. But it loses no points because that's diversity. The single coil is a loose, bright, strumming-type pickup.

I'm using this guitar on a Fender Twin Reverb amp and a Zoom 505 pedal. The amp and guitar compliment each other very well. The combination uses its zany tag-team action to actually make the 505 sound GOOD. *gasp!*

I might add that the Floyd Rose is as much fun as a boy band caught with a kilo of cocaine. String changing is a pain in the ass, though. Oh well. Even Hendrix said we have to make sacrifices.

If I cared enough, I would change the bridge pickup to suit my style, but this is more due to personal preference. I play experimental, thick, groove, surfy sort of music. Eclectic. I like thick lows, clear highs, and scooped mids. This guitar can do that over-reverbed Dick Dale thing, but can lay out superheavy riffs like...Well, like something damn good! I give it another 7 because the sound is very good, but not perfect.

Action was perfect, haven't made any adjustments. The pickups dropped from their screwed in position. This dampened the sound, but I had a friendly guitarist pop them back into place. No problems in that area since. Thanks, Noah!

I give it an 9.

The only complaint here is the finish. I love the color, called Cherry Fudge, but it's thin as hell. Small bumps have chipped the paint. I nearly cried. But it adds character, and decreases the weight. Image is nothing.

The strap buttons come a little loose occasionly, but nothing a Phillips head won't fix with a quick twist. No demotion there. I don't think it's very wise to gig without a backup [you never ever ever know], but I could rely on this baby. Gets an 7 for the finish problem

Never talked to Ibanez, never had to. Is this a blessing or a curse? More at 11.

No opinion because there is no example to form one on.

This guitar is like a tough Chevy pickup truck. Effecient, useful, and gets the job done until you get that Cadillac convertible with fins. I've had it for about year now. It's nice, and I congratulate Ibanez for making such a kick-face guitar for as cheap as they did. You could really take this one on the road. For what it's built for, this guitar really gives in 100%.

The only thing I hate is changing strings. See above. Considering this is my main guitar, I would hire a PI to find it were it stolen. Otherwise, I'd be gigging with the Lotus L680. See that review. Overall, a happy 7. I'm very tempted to give it an 8, but considering the wonderful things that are done with guitars these days, a 7 is what it gets.

The Superstrat style RG470 appears to come preety well equipped to deal with a fairly advanced standard of playing,on my japanese manufacture standard model features include Floyd Rose locking Trem (LO-trs system),INF pick ups (s/s/h), sturdy looking tone,vol and 5way selector switch, 22frets on a reasonably thin/fluid rosewood neck and a fairly well balanced laminated top body.

I purchased the RG470 as I thought it could cope with a range of sounds/styles. The neck pickup provides fairly creamy possibilities opening up the Jazz side of things.Combo of middle and neck single coils give a brave effort on funk sounds but look preety limp and flacid next to the beef of a Stratocaster. The humbucker(bridge)pickup sans effects always makes me laugh in sick dismay. Trying to deliver an accurate tone that doesn't merge high tempo lead work into an Oasis type mess of a guitar sound is painfully frustrating. Saying that I must admit that I have got some satisfactory sounds out of the RG470's factory fit setup over the last 2yrs. In some situations it will provide. By the way I would never consider using this guitar without compression and EQ in varying amounts. It's direct sound is always on thin ice when it comes to quality. I have used this guitar through GallienKreuger, Marshall and Fender Amps. If you're a raw bluesman/woman don't consider plugging that freak of a humbucker straight into your amp. The imbalance of frequency deliverance will give you more than just the blues....

The guitar received a setup at the shop before I took it home. Action was a smooth compromise and the neck felt just fine. The two most appealing features. I didn't notice any great faults at the time of purchase , but maybe I should have been more scrutinous...(more to come)

Hah,the section I've been waiting for - Ibanez hang your head in shame you cowboys.
Reliability/durability, may I be so bold to presume?, are preeety important characteristics and if this is the crux of the guitar's rating, how dare you charge anything like #350 bucks for this thing.
Setup after setup was no panecea to my rapidly failing Ibanez. With this guitar should have come a stitched on care label saying something like,`if you're a player who likes to practice a lot, gig even a fair amount, have a reliable recording instrument, find new sounds in your guitar, hell - even if you just like playing your instrument, you must by no means use this guitar.(Oh yeah, and piXX off if you think you're getting ya money back, bastXrd)'.
After 2-3mths of use at a semi-professional level I started to notice niggling things like quickly oxidising hardware, strap buttons relaxing and unwinding, dodgy scratchy lines in the locking nuts, hairline fractures in the wood around the nut and in the laquer at the body/neck join and very cheap sounding pots. The greatest pain in the arsehole is the pseudo-biodegradable trem. system. What an unbelievable piece of shiX. No word of a lie after 3mths the System started to perish; it won't hold tune. If you dip the bar then it will return around a quarter of a tone low, raise it and it's a quarter higher. This makes recording/dubbing with this bastad a nightmare. I know this problem has afflicted other pursuers of Floyd Rose supremacy but there is no excuse, especially after 3mths for cripes sake!
If there are those who cry neglicence on my behalf let be known that I had regular setup's from tech's with the highest recommendations in London I could afford (even couldn't afford). Despite being very anal (slightly uncomfortable word)with my guitar care and listening to my guitar tech's saying, `Be right as rain in a jiffy guv'ner.Sixty-Quid' I couldn't polish over the rickety reality that is the Ibanez RG470.
No, you can't think of this guitar as dependable, heaven forbid a workhorse. Using a Floyd Rose based guitar at a gig w/out a backup is a big gamble, lose a string and your in a very slack sounding hell. Try to re-string it there w/out the proper experience/knowledge and you may never tune it before you have to pay the bar bill.
Now to use this guitar at gig has a sweet innocence stupity to it. Use this guitar at a gig w/out a backup and I expect you to be babbling something like `lifes a box of choclates...etc'

Customer support? don't make me laugh. It might just be my neck of the woods (London) but the support thing just weren't happenin'. Who?,What? and shine your shoes? are amongst the most common response given to those in search of Ibanez customer care. `Don't know nuffin' mate' is the most common.

Perhaps I expected too much from the RG470. At it's price it can still wear the hat of the Budget Guitar but, masquerades as a semi-pro possibility. I have been playing for around 9yrs now and was gigging in London pubs when I was an underage nipper. I have been slogging out as many projects as I can find and I often practice in excess of 6hrs a day. After the 470 let me down I thought I'd give a second hand, very low mileage RG570 a whirl from a friend. I refuse to review that as I've had it up to the neck with the RG's. Both RG's now sit in a very lonley corner and only get touched in those moments of insanity when I think `they can't be that bad can they, I payed a fair bit of money for them?' I suppose the abusive relationship is sustained by memory of that sweet fluid neck and the belief that,`no,no it won't do it again, it told me it's changed forever'. My prefered instrument is essentially a second hand squire stratocaster chucked together from some unknown mix of parts. It is an absolute workhorse and has never let me down in anyway. It sounds great through my GallienKreuger backline and Fender stage 185 amps. The Marshall JCM900 is a tired sound for me now but is still great with this particular squire.
I have 2 bastardised Ibanez's, a Fender Stratocaster, a Squire Stratocaster, my first guitar/love an Ariapro Mad Axe and a clutch of acoustics.
Sometimes I wish that the Ibanez's had been stolen. I can just remember the look of anxiety on the faces of musicians I gigged with when I unsheathed the RG470. They knew that when I started wailing away I would be riding the edge between guitar god and utter shit. Sometimes a bad workman blames his tools but, that's not always fair. Bad equipment can have effects on your all too precious reputation as well.

2000 Model. Great guitar. Has a very versatile H-S-H configuration. Great Floyd Rose Tremelo. Locking tuners are top-of-the-line. And finally, a damn good output jack in an under $700 guitar. Got tools with it. Body's Basswood. 24 jumbo frets. volume and tone controls.

Extremely versatile pickup configuration. At the neck, the V7 give great lead and distorted tone, and a very clean clean tone. This pickup alone would be able to satisfy most guitarists. The middle pickup is the S1. It's a decent pickup that makes strat sounds.
Makes a variety of sounds when mixed with neck or bridge pickup. The bridge pickup, the V8, is a bright lead pickup. Good for solos or trebly chording. On clean, good for fast punk-ska and anything where you don't want clean or dirty. My only problem would be you can't mix v7 and v8 together,

everythingf in these categories was top-notch, except for a crumb-sized ding on the back of the guitar (i didn't notice it until 3 weeks after I bought it, maybe it was me). AND the strap pin nearest the neck ripped out of the body during an energetic band practise (I was jumping and swinging it around, but it should've taken it). I assume it was just a bad piece of the wood that happened to be in the worst spot. However, for 2 gigs, I used duct tape for my strap, and then I took it back to victoria where it was fixed with ebony. A small, pinky-nail sized black piece of wood, not noticable, but still takes a little away from the guitar.

Again, the strap button issue. It's fine now though. I play it live without a back up, and I'm in a punk band with a shit load of downstrokes involved. Strings might break after 4 weeks of play, but you can just unwind it twice and use it again, that's another good thing about Floyd Rose trem. Very solid live. Excellent output jack.

good, Ibanez reinversed Guitars Plus to fix it, but they couldn't get the paint here within 4 weeks, so I said screw it.

I like it, I love it. I stare at it and it says play me. so i do, and I love every minute of it. I've been playing for 2.5 years and I've had a Samick pawn shop junker, an Ibanez GAX70 and this. I had a 700 dollar budget and I was choosing between this and a Fender. Fender gives you half the value for your money. This is a kickass mid-range guitar. Always shop around, but keep in mind that this a great guitar.

1997 made in Korea. basswood body, dark green. Lo-trsII floyd rose style trem. Good all around trem system I think. Good enough for all but the most demanding wammy bar users. Wizzard II neck. Some people mentioned that you could only use #9 strings with this trem. Not the case. I have used 8's, 9's, and 10's. You just have to adjust the spring tension inside the trem cavity.

Well despite everyone downing the inf series pickups that come with the guitar, I think their ok. They're not amazing, but their not crap either. Lots of dynamics, maybe a little thin sounding. They have more output than the ones in my gibson sg. They don't sound as good, but they are higher output. You can get a good variety of sounds with the 5 way selector switch.
I'm planning to change the pickups to some sort of Dimarzio probably "the breed".

The guitar was setup well from the factory. I've changed the setup somewhat to suit my playing style. No real flaws to mention

Seems like a very reliable guitar. I've had mine for about 4 years. It's like new. I have to tighten the strap buttons now and then.

Don't know about customer support

I've been playing all my life I own an old fender, an SG, a Yari-Gaki, a Simon & Patrick. Lost or stolen I would replace it with something a little different. I wonder if you can get an RG with a mahogany body and a fixed bridge? That would be cool. I've played tons of guitars, if you are into heavy metal of any kind,you'll like this guitar. Oncew you get used to the wizzard neck it's hard to back to anything else.

mine is ythe new 2000 model, 24 frets. H/S/H pickup config.
5-way pickup selector, volume and tone dials. basswood body.
double-locking nut, floyd-rose trem.

trem is great and it stays in tune for ages - very light too, maybe it could do with nother tone dial??

i play lots of different styles on it and it sounds great. blues, rock, metal
it sounds good clean too, i play through a fender princeton 60 watt amp and a zoom 707 pedal (which sucks)
the pickups arent very noisy, i'mcomparing all this to my old guitar, a squier strat so it all seems great to me!

the action was perfect, there were no flaws at all in the initial set up. pickup selector is silent, which is amazing after the moise my squier made.
finish is great, although it isnt really my colour - midnight blue i think it's called...

the finish looks fine and i dont see why it wouldnt last. the guitar as a whole seems very tough and very hard to knock out of tune, although it can be a bitch to tune in the first place. (and it wont stay in tune for long if you tune down a step etc)
strap buttons are good, very big and meaty.

n/a

i boght this guitar because i'm going to music college this year and i knew my squier start couldnt hack it. i tried lots of other guitars before i chose this one and i'm happy with my choice.

It was made in 1999. It was made in Korea. It has 24 frets. Theres 1 volume, 1 tone ,a 5 way selector, and a kill button. It came with sucky v7, v8, and s1 pickups but i put in an emg 81 and 85. Active electronics. its made out of wood. black finish. a floyd rose. locking
gotoh tuners.

it plays any music. im using a jmc2000 stack amp and tons of effects.
it has full sound and wiked heavy.

the setup was perfect on the guitar. the action is great.

its great for live play, the hardwares great

iv never needed to use customer support.but ibanez people are mean. i have a lifetime warenty

I bought a nice 2000 model, Has 2 humbuckers and a coil in the middle, A Floyd Rose bridge (which is a bitch to tune, but very smooth when you use the whammy bar)its got a neat 5-way selector, i think the body is basswood, tremolo lock (so it stays in tune very long)\

This guitar is made for thrashing. Im play Korn, Deftones, RATM, and Metallica, and HardRock sounds great on this guitar. The bridge humbucker sounds great with distortion, the single coil is ok but a little weak, and the neck humbucker is kinda crappy too, but still playable and can sound pretty good. So overall, this guitar can play clean well, but can rock GREAT.

The guitar wasn't in tune when i got it but no guitar ever is. The fretwire was almost perfect so the strings didn't rumble. The only thing i had to do was tune it, and screw in the whammy bar.

This guitar is tough, I've dropped it many times, and the thing is scratchless. Very dependable and will last a while.

I havent had to deal with them...

I've been playing for 5 years, and this is one of the best guitars I've played, although the pickups are kinda bad, you can easily solve that with new seymour duncan's. This thing sounds great in a Mesa/Boogie Rectifier and it even sounds great in my 10 year old 30 watt Fender Sidekick, this is definetly a guitar to try out.

Basswood body, hum single hum pickup configuration, volume and tone and 5 way switch. Locking lo trs trem. SUPER NECK; very thin wizzard style.on the light side as far as weight goes.

Nice sound. From Sreamin' to chimes to that woody type tone. I use it through a Marshall vs102r and a Galien-Kruger 250 ml and direct with a Shultz rockman. Live I use a Korg a4 pedal board and a crybaby. I must say the pickups are ok. Not the greates, but not the worsrt either. The weakness shoews when recording I think...but not too bad over all.

I bought it online from AIRPORT MUSIC. Service was fine. The action was a little low and there were a few buzzes. I played it for a week or so and brought to a LUTHIER, not a music store hack. Two days later
I had the best playing guitar I've ever had. It just comes alive in your hands.

This guitar seems fragile. It's no Strat in that it could fall a few stories and be fine. The neck will flex when when playing a chording style that requires your thumb. The neck is no bat, thats for shure. This I don't view as a fault.Its just its nature. The finish chiped down to the wood from a good ding along the edge.
Just take care of it and it will be fine.

I never delt with Ibanez.

Ive been playing a long time 20 years or so. Ive had a Les Paul, an SG
, 3 Strats and a few junkers and this guitar has a character that brings out somthing in my playing that none of the other ever did.I t inspires me and feels great to play. I would buy anther if it was stolen or maybe move up in the RG series, maybe a 570. Its a very good guitar for the money. Plays great, Sounds good.

Standard factory issue. Intonated prior to purchase. Single volume and tone knobs. 5-way pickup selection. Black finish. Floyd Rose tuning system. 24 frets.

Sounds beautiful on any music that feeds on distortion and harmonics. The neck and bridge pickups have a little noise during dead space when combined with rough distortion. I have never played a guitar that allows for easier pinch harmonics. When clean, the sound can be thick and mellow or bright and sharp, depending upon your preference. Wonderful sound all around for any metal or alternative enthusiast.

The action was a little low from the factory, but the saleperson fixed it free of charge. When properly set-up, plays like a dream. The narrow neck allows for easy leads on those lower strings for players with smaller fingers. The black finish still shines like new. Rating is lowered from 10 strictly because the store set it up prior to purchase.

I could play an entire set with this guitar, provided retuning isn't necessary. The guitar can get smashed against furniture or hardware and stay in tune and keep its luster. Tough as 70's Cadillac.

No opinion because of no problems.

For my five years of playing (not much by many standards), I've played different styles from classic rock to alternative/metal to jazz and musicals. I honestly feel that this guitar is capable of playing all of the above, given the correct effects unit. I fell in love with it when I started rocking out to ZZ Top in the store, complete with all of the harmonics in leads that I just couldn't get with my Strat. Metal-mongers gather 'round... this one's for you, especially for the money.

24 frets, one tone & volume. LO-Profile double locking trem. Dual Humbuckers & single coil. Black gloss finish.

The stock humbucker in the bridge was pretty good, but I wanted something meaner, so I tried a Duncan Distortion humbucker, but then went with a Bill Lawrence L-500. The humbucker in the neck is terrible, something that should definetely be changed, it didn't sound good clean or with gain. The single coil sucks, but don't they all? I will probably throw a hot-rail in there.

Unlike the action on a lot of cheaper RG models, the action doesn't chunk out on you around the 12th fret. The action is fairly nice, with some adjusting it could be great. The finish is on there well, I keep bashing it into things and it doesn't lose the paint, go figure?

Definetley a reliable guitar and brand, I am not a fan of Ibanez at all, but they always seem to produce quality instruments at a fair price.

I had to order new lock-blocks for the tremolo because I lost one, I had guitar center special order them for me, I would say they are reliable, but not fast on there feet. It took a month to get them shipped!

If you want a guitar that is versatile and reliable for a moderate price, Ibanez might be for you. There are thousands of people on ebay selling theirs, I would go there to check on one, but definitely try it first. This guitar might be great for some people, but terrible for you. Any guitar center will have them in stock, try one out.

1999 Model
24 Frets
1 volume and 1 tone knob 5 way selector
Pickups: (V7) H / (S1) S / (V8) H [ All Ibanez Brand ]
Floyd Rose Licensed (Double Locking)Tremolo

The Pickups are great, I don't see why other people are putting them down. The humbuckers can also be paired with the single coil for a 2 single coil effect.

The factor condition was great also. Perfect condition.

I've bumped it a few times and it still keeps on looking and sounding great so I think it will last

This is a great guitar especially if you play rock music. Have fun

1997 dk green, Korea
you all know what it is
I've had it for 3 years and have put Dimarzios in.
Tone Zone for the bridge and Air Norton for the neck

I play lots of styles. But mostly pettrucci, vai etc... Obviously this guitar is perfect for this and is perfect for lead in general.
I use a ADA MP-1 preamp and a Peavey Classic 50/50 poweramp, If you want something with some gain, then get a MP-1, don't get a crap marshall. The guitar suits the preamp/poweramp combo.
Factory it sounds like $%)(, this is all because of the pickups though, if you like metal and thats all you play, get EMGs if you want versatility get Dimarzios. Factory the rating would be a 5.

Factory, as per usual, it was set up crap. I've had everything adjusted and it is now set up perfectly. Don't try using 10s with this as the trem is really only designed for 9s. Yeah i agree the stap buttons suck, but that's my only complaint. Everything else is brilliant for the price. Epiphone would give you crap plastic hardware for a similarly priced guitar.

This guitar is a tank. It's been through the wars and still looks like a bought it yesterday. I have dropped a bookshelf on it and lifting the shelf off the guitar expected to see a mess. It was fine apart from a tiny ding which didn't even chip the finish. I've also left it in the boot of my car when it has rained and the boot wasn't closed properly, i rang up the insurance company ready to file a claim but took a second look at it and there was nothing wrong with it!

I've been playing for 4 years. This is my only electirc guitar but i'm gonna get something else soon, probably a les paul.
I would buy a higher model RG, I compared it with similar priced Jacksons when I bought it, Ibanez kick Jackson's butt at this price range. My favourite feature is the neck! it rocks! I wish it had better strap buttons and the pickup switch knob keeps falling off, i'm gonna have to glue it on.

Japan made. 24 frets. solid top. 1 volume 1 tone, 5 way switch selector. p/u go like h/s/h. inf# pickups in all positions. made of basswood. black finish. superstrat style body. floyd rose Lo trs II. wizard II neck. jumbo frets. no case. 9 cause of no case... but isn't that really the dealers fault??

nice, but a tad bit dead on the bridge positions both clean and distorted. really rich and full at the neck. great for a beginner gutiar tho.

Everything is beautiful on it. Quiet pickup selector. Smooth volume tone/knobs. Action was a bit low... too much buzzing. But I fixed that like 5 mins after I got home.

I think it's very reliable. Yeah. I'de go without a backup to a gig. I've been doing it. lol. One of the strap button screws got stripped, but I fixed that with a toothpick and wood glue. Finish looks thick (and I can tell cause I made a pretty deep gague in it with one of those Dunlop soloing picks... fuqin' sharp!).

never had to...

I've been playing for about 7 years. This was my first electric and I'm trying to sell it. If it got stolen, I probably would just kill the fucker and take his money as compensation, but I wouldn't go out and buy a new one. I'de look for an S series Ibanez (much higher price range but I like better). Beautiful first guitar!!!

THIS GUITAR WAS MADE IN '99 IN JAPAN. IT COMES WITH 24 EXTRA JUMBO FRETS. HAS 1 VOLUME, 1 TONE W/5-WAY SELCTOR SWITCH, WITH H-S-H PICKUP CONFIGURATION, THE PICKUPS ARE A V8 IN THE BRIDGE S1 IN THE MIDDLE AND V7 IN THE NECK/PASSIVE ELECTRONICS. I DONT PARTICULARY LIKE THESE PICKUPS CAUSE THEY DONT SEEM TO PICKUP EVERY NOTE, AND THE SUSTAIN IS NOT THAT WELL AT ALL. I WANT TO INSTALL AN ACTIVE SETUP(EMG) BUT THAT WILL ALMOST COST AS MUCH AS THE GUITAR, BUT I PROBABLY STILL DO IT. THE BODY IS MADE OF BASSWOOD (I WAS SO SUPRISED HOW LIGHT THIS THING IS BEING BASSWOOD AND ALL) THE NECK IS A SMOOTH MAPLE WHICH IS EXTREMLEY THIN, AND IT FEELS GREAT, THE FINGERBOARD ROSEWOOD WITH DOT INLAYS. THE FINISH ON MINE IS NEW PENNY, IT LOOKS PRETTY NICE ( I WANTED BLACK, BUT WITH WHAT I HEARD IT IS HORRIBLE SO IM GLAD I GOT THIS FINISH). ITS A STRAT STYLE BODY, THE BRIDGE IS A LICENSED FLOYD ROSE( WISH IT WAS AN ORIGINAL BUT IT DOES A GOOD JOB OF STAYING IN TUNE WHEN I DIVE BOMB, HEHE), TUNERS ARE DELUX GOTOH, THESE ARE NOT LOCKING!!!!! IT CAME WITH THE ALAN WRENCHES AND TRUSS ROD AJUSTMENT WRENCH.

THIS PERFECTLY FITS MY STYLE, METAL, HARD ROCK. I USE A MARSHALL MG30RCD, AND A BOSS ME-30, ITS GREAT FOR THIS PEDAL. THIS GUITAR DOES HAVE A PROBLEM SHUTTING UP WITH HEAVY DISTORTION, BUT ITS OK. LIKE I SAID EARLIER THE PICKUPS DONT CLEARLY BRING OUT THE HIGHER NOTES. I GIVE IT AN 8 CAUSE THE PICKUPS JUST DONT HAVE THAT UMPHHHH.

THIS GUITAR WAS SETUP PRETTY WELL, THE ACTION IS PERFECT,(LOW, JUST LIKE I LOVE IT) I CANT STOP TALKING ABOUT THE PICKUPS, ADJUSTED PRETTY WELL, BUT THAT ONE SMALL PROBLEM PISSES ME OFF, THE GUITAR HAD SOME SCRATCHES IN IT, BUT THAT DOESNT REALLY BOTHER ME SINCE THEY WERE SO SAMLL. EVERYTHING ELSE FITS AND WAS SETUP PERFECTLY.
ATTENTION: THE FLOYD WILL ONLY GO IN TUNE IF YOU USE 9-42 GAUGE STRINGS THE WAY IT WAS SETUP, I WASNT ABLE TO PLAY IT FOR A WEEK CAUSE I WAS USING 10-46 AND IT WOULDNT GO IN TUNE. I THINK YOU HAVE TO GET THIS ADUSTED TO USE WHAT GAUGE YOU WANT. GOOD LUCK

THIS GUITAR WOULD STANDUP PERFECTS TO LIVE PLAYING. THE HARDWARE WILL LAST LONGER THAN ME AS FAR AS IM CONSERNED. THE FINISH HAS SOME SCRATHES IN IT, AND A CHIP HERE AND THERE. THE STRAP BUTTONS LOOKED GOOD, BUT I IMMEDIATLEY SWITCHED TO LOCKING BUTTONS.

NEVER DELT WITH THEM, BUT COMES WITH A 5 YEAR WARRANTY SO THATS GREAT.

GREAT GUITAR, I WISH IT HAD BETTER PICKUPS BUT EVERYTHING CANT BE PERFECT. MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS IS THE NECK, ITS SO SMOOTH AND THEN, GOD I LOVE THAT THING, IF IT WERE STOLEN OR LOST, ID SIT IN MY MOMIES LAP AND CRY IN HER ARMS ALL NIGHT LONG, AND THEN I WOULD TELL MY UNCLE(EX NAVY SEAL) TO GO FIND THE GUY AND KICK THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF HIM, HEHE.

This is a 99 (I beleive not sure) black version RG470. The pickups are V7/S1/V8 pickups they sound fairly good, it has a REALLY liteweight basswood body, and has a Lo-TRS II tremolo. It has 1 tone and 1 volume with a 5 way selector switch. It has a very nice and thin neck with that oh so nice all access neck joint system. This guitar only came with tools I had to purchase the case seperately.

This gutar suits me well I play a variety of things but mostly metal and rock ie: KoRn (like it or not!), Metallica, Coal Chamber, Megadeth, etc. and it sounds good on all of those. It sounds very good.

The action was great but this really hurts the rating and that is the finish. There are alot of flaws, barely and I mean barely noticible but I know they are there so......Flaw #1: On the headstock a little above the nut where the headstock finsih disappears under the nut there is a flaw it is not painted or the paint was somehow chipped off in this region. Flaw #2: On the top "horn" of the guitar theres an almost hair thin line that has no paint (only shows up when positioned right) where you can see the wood. Flaw #3: ALL AROUND the guitar from the bottom across the neck join and over the top edges there are little tiny white spots that resemble dust but WILL NOT wipe off no matter what I try. Now I think if you pay over $400.00 for a guitar EVERYTHING should be in good order. So this sections rating will suffer.

This guitar would deffinately withstand live playing I've dinged this guitar on a couple things and I've yet to find so much as a scratch in the regions dinged where as the Epiphone I had would dent or scratch when barely hit by something. The finish will deffinately last that is if I don't decide to strip the paint.

Never delt with them

This guitar is a great deal if it were lost or stolen I might buy it again or I would try out an ESP/LTD hard to say. I wish they had taken better care of the black finish though. If you're looking for a good guitar I suggest this one. If it hadn't been for the finsh this would have scored a perfect 10.

It's a 98 made in Korea like most Ibanez guitars. 24 frets on a rosewood fretboard. 1 volume and 1 tone with a 5-way split coil switch thing. H/S/H. It's the newer model so it has V8-S1-V7 pickups which are hotter and sound much better than the crappy powersounds. The body is basswood which is actually pretty heavy with a maple neck. It's basically a pointed strat body and seems to be a little thicker. It has a very thick black finish. It has a Floyd Rose which is very cool. The tuners are non-locking Gotoh. The neck is very thin and has jumbo frets.

I play mostly hard rock and metal and it covers these styles excellently. The single coil sucks alone so I use one of the split coil modes for clean stuff. The pickups are pretty quiet aside form the usual computer screen hum. I play lead and its bright sound is perfect for that.

The factory setup was pretty good, not quite as low as I like though so I had it professionally setup by a friend. He also adjusted the spring placement on the tremolo block. There were no flaws I saw on the guitar except for a tiny amount of rust on the 12th fret which scraped off easily. The finish was very thick and is showing no real wear after 5 months or so.

It is very reliable. The only thing that isn't is the black finish on the hardware which is rubbing off in some spots due to lots of palm-muting. Other than that, it's solid.

N/A

It's my second guitar. My first was a Squier strat and this obviously blows it away. I love the floyd on it and the pickups also.

A '99 RG470, i believe it was made in Asia. I think it has a whopping 24 or 25 frets, with a 5 way selector, H/S/H. One tone, one volume, im not sure of the woods, floyd rose bridge. Im gonna return the guitar though because the floyd rose is a pain.

This guitar has a great sound but is too dark for me. I use a marshal vs 230 amp.

Action was in incredible shape, low action, but it buzzed, another reason i am returning it. Finish looked beautiful.

THIS GUITAR WILL NOT WITHSTAND ANYTHING!!! The stupid floyd rose and locking tune thing is anoying, the hardware was nice, but too many screws and such, im getting my self a fender.

I dont remember

Ive been playing for a year and put this guitar away after 20 minutes and picked up my squire, an annoying system this floyd rose is.

Basswood (whatever the hell that it) body Solid black (including hardware) Pretty thin Wizard 2 Neck It feels great!! (according to Ibanez the original wizard is thinner)Mine has a Seymour Duncan Distortion in the bridge and a hot rails in the middle with factory v7 neck pick up. I bought it used so I'm not sure of the year but my guess is 97 or 98. Even though I bought it used it came with the Ibanez booklet, Cheap cable (like a new guitar would!!!), and Ibanez hardshell case. It was in absolute perfect condition when I got it. Ohh yeah It has non-locking grover tuners according to the Ibanez website (My bet is that their copies or really cheap because the seem pretty jerky) Has a locking nut tho. and an Ibanez Lo-Trs II Tremelo(pretty damn cool) It is a copy of the Lo-Pro Edge which I'm sure is superior to this but This will suit the average persons needs. I play rhythem so I use the tremelo to pull up powercords and sometimes dive bomb but I like the ability the pull a chord sharp. Holds in tune pretty well. It also uses Ibanez split 5 switching which cuts a humbucker for the inbetween postions (mine is wired that way even with my duncans) A nine because there are always ways to improve features.

Well I can't really comment to much here because I have Duncan pickups I play pretty much 2 kinds of music: Hardcore Punk which is my favorite (bands like Bad Religion, Pennywise, Down by law (they are more emo and not hardcore), 59 times the pain,Anti-flag, Straight Faced) and Metal (Pantera, Vision of Disorder, Anthrax, Canable Cropse) I don't own to many metal albums tho. The neck pickup is kinda boomy for clean and pretty thin dirty I never use it. The hot rail is perfect for real metal, pantera and beyond (Canable Corpse, Sepeltura) where the tone is not real fuzzy but has lots of gain. This pickup probably won't suit you posers who say you like bullshit like KoRn and Limp Bizkit (and other bands that suck donkey dick like Slipknot and 311) besause its not fuzzy and has a "clean" palm mute sound (the kind real metal needs) The Distortion is good for punk that needs a fuzzy sound (especially palm muted) and gets a great 59 times the pain/Pennywise plam mutted sound) This is also the pickup that fag from Coal Chamber uses which makes me not like the pickup as much but a lost of punk bands use it. I never use the inbetween postions because they just cut 2 puckups and combine them.I don't play lead so I don't know how it would sound for that but The neck sure is fast, pretty good sustain also. For me the sound is an 8 because I'm sure there is better and the neck pickup sucks I'd replace it but I never use it By the way I use a peavey transtube Special 2-12

Very fast neck, Action is hella low and intonation is good. Stays in tune well also. Finish is verythick and black not much else to say Tremelo bar is pretty hard to remove (atleast it is for me maybe you know an easier way? e-mail me) I'll probably add a trem-setter, The trem bar is also pretty lose (can rock up and down with adjusting the pitch) but www.jemsite has a good tip if making it more solid. One thing weird it that when using the trem it makes weird knocking noises kinda (from the springs pulling the wood I think) Maybe it is because I had to put 4 springs on it because unless I tightned the spring holder all the way to the wood it would float to high with 3 springs. a 7 because of the small problems with the tremelo

Hella yeah it will last, after a while i'm sure the black will where off the hardware. I'll post another review on how it holds up after my band starts practising and getting gigs the case seems good to. I've had it for a week and a half and I don't see how people easily break strings playing with the floyd I pull it back as far as it goes lots of times and the strings are fine (I've never broken a string playing and I play hard, on the other hand I break plenty of strings turning the tuner the wrong way and snapping a string) For backup I have an ibanez Ex piece of crap

I have their 800 number but Its at my other house so e-mail me if you want it I'll also post it later. I'll give them a 4 because its very hard to find an e-mail address or 800 number on their website nor do they update their effects section enough (they don't even mention their tone-lok pedals yet) No warranty bought it used. The dude I bought it from was cool tho

for the price I payed and what I got Its perfect. If your looking to buy one new check out chris B's music (can't remember their web site) the sell them for about $70 less than Guitar center or musicians friend. It sounds great with the duncans and pretty good unplugged It no les paul but it has a floyd rose and 2 of my most favorite bands use rg series (Fletch from Pennywise uses a coustom Rg and 1 of the guitar players for 59 times the pain uses a 570 I think but it might even be a 470) For those of you who are confused the Rg470 is the top of the middle part of the Rg line and The Rg270 is not middle of the line it is 1 away from the bottom of the line (I hate when people say it is middle of the line) This guitar kicks ass and you all should try it If you in the market would also be good for a lead player. The only thing the sucks about it is the gay bands like orgy, korn, limp bizket play the 7 string version of this guitar. those bands suck and so do all the posers that say they like them you all suck and need to get a real life or not let Mtv tell you what type of music to listen to and get you own taste. Mtv sucks to

I got it new in 1997. It is black strat-shaped 24 fret guitar with H/S/H (passive) pickups with a 5-way switch with a Floyd Rose floater and locking tuners. I think the body is basswood and the neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. It has the INF series pickups which is its only major drawback. It came with a nice case.

I play a variety of music but most rock. It suits that style quite well except for the weak pickups. It is really too bad that the pickups are so weak since they don't sound pretty good. Then again, that might be because I play through a Peavey Classic 30 that has a very nice tone. It is a pretty versatile instrument that with some effects, I can make it sound the way I want most of the time.

The tech at the shop where I bought it set it up for me when I bought it for no charge. The action is pretty low and the wizard neck is very playable. The guitar is flawless and the finish is perfect. Even though this is an intermediate guitar, it has the fit and finish of a much higher end guitar.

This guitar should be fine for live performance before I play this one live I think I will take the advice of others and swap out the pickups. The hardware seems good and durable. The finish is excellent and hasn't worn off or chips where I have banged it on things. The strap buttons are okay but for performing, I think it would be wise to replace the buttons with strap-lok. This is a very dependable guitar but it would be foolish to gig without a backup especially with a locking tremolo guitar.

I haven't dealt with Ibanez but I had the shop fix the socket where the threads broke. I think someone put in the trem bar and didn't screw it down and broke the threads. This happened in the first week and they didn't charge me to fix it. The shop I got it from was Fat Sound. They really stand behind their stuff.

I've been playing for 11 years and this was my third guitar. The first was a early 70's Teisco and the second was a early 90's Ibanez acoustic. If it were lost or stolen, I'd be really upset. I'd have to hunt down the thief and hit them over the head with my LP (that would probably be considered deadly force though). I like all my guitars but I think this one is my favorite. I chose this one due to its playability, nice tone, and versatility. I wish it had better pickups.

Made in Korea,1996,Basswood body, Maple neck with rosewood fretboard, 24 Jumbo frets. Black finish. LO TRS II tremolo, TopLock. Passive pickups (H: inf1 /S: infs / H: inf2). 5 position pickup selector. 1 tone and one volume control.

I mostly play metal, and for this I have yet to find a better suited guitar. I run it through a Marshall Valvestate 8280E and the sound is great (rating: 8). However the standard pickups (the inf1/infs/inf2) aren't too hot (and a bit noisy), so I replaced them with an EMG 89/ EMG S/ EMG 81 setup, and trust me, this is an improvement! EMG-pick-ups rule, they blast everything away! (rating: 10) The guitar looks great too with the EMG's fitted. I saw that the RG470 now ships with V7 and V8 pick-ups, and i've heard these are a lot better. So if my RG would have come with these, the soundrating would probably be better. This guitar isn't just for metal fans (although those are the ones who will appriciate this guitar the best, especially when fitted with EMG pick-ups (yes, I know I'm babbling, but I just love these EMG's)). Pop, grunge, rock or blues can all be played on this this guitar without a comprimise in regards to sound (by the way: the standard pick-ups are good enough for these types of music ). I guess the only ones who will not appriciate this guitar are the ones who like country or mushy music(you know sickening goody,goody music), they should stick to Fender.

Since I rarely use the tremolo arm (and then only to lower the pitch), I fixed the bridge. Further: action wasn't as low as it could be, so I adjusted that as well. I've had this guitar for 3 years now and except for some small scratches the finish is still in great shape, although it took some serious bangs.

I think you could take this guitar to hell, and still come out of it pretty unscaved.

Never had to deal with 'em.

I've had this guitar for 3 years, and i think it'll probably last another 50. I love this guitar. If it were stolen I would buy another RG, maybe a more expensive one, but definatly another RG. But I would probably replace the pick-ups with EMG's. With that done I'd say for metal, rock or grunge, this IS your guitar!!

This guitar has everything that you need period! I get just about any guitar sound That I could ever want. I have an older model 470 (1993 to be exact) So, I got mine when the 470 was "new." I have played in four different bands and had more gigs than I can remember with this guitar- from Metal to jazz to funk.... and this guitar has constantly delivered that goods!

THe sound is great! The only mods that I have done have done is a a pickup swap. I put a Tone Zone in the bridge and a PAF Pro in the neck. I get any sound that I want.

I love the action on this guitar! It's LOW!!! That's how I like it. The finish is good.

Like I said, I've giged heavily with this guiatr.... and I've never had a problem.

Never had to deal with them.

This is my No. 1 guitar. I have a Les Paul that sits in the case most of the time. The only time it comes out is when I break a string at a gig. If you are looking for a pro guitar at a very not pro price.... then this is the guitar my friends!

it was made in eitre 98 or99 it was made in japan.it has 24 jumbo frets. its solid top.controls given are volume tone and 5-way selctor switch.the pickup configuration is h/s/h.the bridge pickup is stock ibanez pickup which is a v7 humbucker the middle pickup is a si single coil and the neck pickup is v8 humbucker.the body is a basswood,the neck is maple with rosewood fretboard.the guitar came with a kick ass finish the color is new penny.the body style is strat style.th bridge is a ibanez floyd rose lo-trs ii. the tuners gotoh tuners locking.the neck style is wizard 2 which is pretty thin.it is good for fast guitar solos and fast rythm.it did not come with anything i had to purchase a gig bag separetly.

I PLAY HEAVY METAL AND THIS GUITAR SEEMS TO DO ITS JOB QUITE WELL. I AM USING A PEAVEY MAX 100 PROCESSOR AMD PEAVEY STUDIO PRO 112. 65 WATT AMP. IT IS NOISY ON THE BRIDGE PICKUP WHICH IS A V7.THIS GUITAR HAS A VARIETY OF SOUNDS FROM HEAVY METAL TO BLUES AND ACOUSTIC.I HAVE NO DISLIKES ABOUT THE GUITAR EXCEPT FOR THE BRIDGE PICKUP WHICH WILL BE GETING REPLACED WITH AN EMG 81.

THE GUITAR WAS SET UP WELL WHEN I GOT IT BUT THE ASCTION WAS A LITTLE LOW FOR ME. I CAN'T REALLY SAY HOW THE PICKUPS WERE ADJUSTED BECAUSE I DONT KNOW.THE GUITAR IS GREAT NO FLAWS.

I HAVEN'T PLAYED THIS GUITAR LIVE YET BUT I THINK IT WITHSTAND THE TORTURE.THE HARDWARE IS BLACK IT SEEMS LIKE IT WILL LAST I JUST WORRY ABOUT SCRATCHING IT. THE FINISH IS LIKE INDIDSRUCTBLE.IT HAS REALLY SOLID STRAP BUTTONS.I CAN DEFENITLEY DEPEND ON THIS GUITAR.NO IT IS ALWAYS GOOOD TO HAVE A BACKUP JUST IN CASE.

NEVER DEALT WITH THEM

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR ABOUT 2 AND A HALF YAERS. I WOULD COMPARE THIS GUITAR TO ANY JACKSON MODEL. THIS GUITAR ROCKS FOR THE PRICE.

BY THE WAY METALLICA KICKS ASS!

This Strat-like Ibanez RG470 was made in Japan 98 or 99 (not really sure.) Solid blue basswoodbody, 25.5" scale 24 Jumbo Frets maple neck with a rosewood fretboard including center-dots. Passive Ibanez electronics, H/S/H configuration with Ibanez Humbucker-split wiring. Ibanez licensed Floyd-Rose lo-trs tremolosystem, locking Gotoh tuners. Gigbag, tools and manual included.

I play this guitar through a Marshall Anniversary Series Combo and it works very well. I've tried it through lots of different Marshalls, valve Fenders and Crate Blue Voodo and it works every time. The electronics are absolutely marvellous, particulary when I play the clean channel. The middlepositioned single-soil is a bit noisy when you use it alone, so use it together with a split humbucker and it sounds great. The body delivers a very bright sound, a perfect mix of middle, bass and treble. I play in a metalband, and we mix a lot of musicstyles. It works well for everything.

The action was great, I have nothing to complain about.

I've played with it live many times, no problems at all. A trustworthy guitar, definitely!!

I've never dealt with them.

I've played for eight years. I've been trying Gibsons, Fenders, Kramers, Washburns, Jacksons and many others, but this one is definitely the best one at this price. I mean, if I were rich I would probably buy the lates RG or a USA Jackson, but this one is great. My favourite is the electronics in relation to the tonesetting, it's like an extra equaliser. Compare that to the Japan Jacksons, they are worthless. When you adjust the tone, it just sounds worse.

This is an update to my previous review. I looked over my review and I realized that I had overlooked some important flaws.
I forgot to mention the fact that there are several "dead spots" higher up on the fretboard, where the string can not properly vibrate and sustain is cut off almost immediately. This is more apparent when bending at these spots. It is a subtle, but very annoying thing.
I am hoping that the guitar just needs some adjusting of the neck to fix this situation, but the folks at Guitar Center already tried set it up once. If anybody out there knows what to do, please e-mail me.
Hopefully, if this can be fixed, I can do it myself...Guitar Center will probably charge me about $50 if I have them try to set it up (and there's no guarentee they'll be able to make it any better).
Anyway, I really hope this can be fixed. It may seem like a minor thing, but it really affects the playability of the instrument. Everyone else talks about the great playability of the RGs, and I can feel it below the 12th fret. I like everything else about the guitar (except the pickups), so it would suck if it couldn't be properly adjusted. I was thinking about changing the pickups, but if it doesn't play right, it's not worth the investment, and I'll trade it in for something else later on. Anyway, for now I'll have to lower my overall rating to a 6.5.

I think this guitar was made 1997 because it doesn't have the bubinga strip or the V8, V7, and S pickups, but it looks relatively new. If you want to see the features in detail, look at the other posts below, or go to www.ibanez.com. Mine, specifically, is black, and has the lower-end INF series pickups. The 24 frets are very wide, and it takes some practice to play accurately higher up the fretboard. Guitar Center threw in a case and some picks (The case is huge. It wasn't designed for this guitar.). This guitar has basically everything you need, but it doesn't come with anything really fancy like coil tapping, or active electronics.

I have only been playing for about a year, so I don't really have a particular style yet. I play through an older Peavey Rage (15 w) w/ no effects. This guitar was meant for hard rock and shred, though. My complaint is with the INF pickups. The 2 humbuckers are both weak and kind of hollow sounding, and the single lacks character. If you turn the distortion way up, you can get a passable sound, but it doesn't sound very good clean. I think part of the problem is due to my crappy amp.
I plan on changing the pickups like this: Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge, maybe a FRED in the neck, no idea about the single...possibly an HS3. I think this guitar will sound awesome with the new pickups (and a new amp), but for now it gets a 6.

I got the guitar used, and the action was pretty bad. It was easily fixed by the staff at Guitar Center, but I had to take it back 3 or 4 times because they didn't want to recognize it. Finally, on the fourth time, the guy fixed the Floyd Rose and adjusted the truss rod correctly. At least they didn't charge me for the set up. Since then, I have readjusted the Floyd, and the action is almost down to where I want it. I think the truss rod might have to be adjusted one more time, but I'll leave it alone for now.
Everything else is fine. There was some rust on the pickups, tremelo, and nut, but I cleaned most of it off. There is a small dent in the finish, but its on the back, so nobody will ever see it.
My overall rating in this category will assume that everything has been set up properly.

This guitar seems very reliable. The finish is thick, and should last for a very long time. Despite the thinness of the neck, you can feel how durable it is. The strap buttons are small, so it would probably be a good idea to change them. I've never played live, but it seems good enough to use in that situation.

There is no warrenty from Ibanez because I got it used. I can't comment on their customer support, but they do have a cool website. The people at Guitar Center are friendly, but a little less knowledgable than places with their own repair facilities. They have better prices than most of those stores, though.

I have been playing for about a year. I also have a Crate Electra strat copy (see my review), and a Peavey Rage amp. I wanted a really cool looking guitar with 24 frets and a Floyd. I was also thinking about an ESP LTD M200, but they were like $500 (new, of course). The fact the Satriani, Vai, Petrucci, and so many other great players play Ibanez drew me to their guitars.
Before I bought this guitar, I promised myself that I would try everything in the store until I found the perfect guitar. However, it's hard to do that when you're eager to get your new guitar home and start playing, and your parents are standing around bored, complaining about their aches and pains. This turned out to be the only guitar I tried, and I wasn't thrilled with the feel. I picked it because I liked the body style, the black finish, and the price. I really wish I had spent some time trying everything out. Fortunately, everthing turned out okay, and I am happy with my purchase. Next time I buy a guitar, I'll let my parents stay home, and I'll be prepared to stay awhile so I can get exactly what I want.
As for this guitar, I love the stability of the tuning with the locking nut and the Floyd, the speed of the neck, the cool tilted back headstock, the ease of access to all 24 frets, and the black finish. I don't like the stock pickups, but that's about all. I kind of wish it had a neck-through body to increase sustain, but that would add significantly to the price. If this were stolen, I would try to find a higher end model, like a 570, or a Jem. I am giving this guitar a 9, because it has basically everything I wanted in a second guitar, for about $350. Stock pickups are made to be taken out, anyway.

This is a great guitar for its price. I got it in a Royal Blue color which I love. I havent had any problems with it so far except that its a pain to tune and change the strings. One thing about it is that you can only use 9 gauge strings unless you want to adjust the tremolo system. I love the low action for the neck. Makes good playing for lead. Great guitar if you like metal.

The guitar sounds great. I play pretty much everything except country and it sounds good with all of them. I use a Fender Strat for clean sounds and this for the heavy. I have the Infinity pickups on my guitar. But the newer Rg 470's come with the Vintage pickups which are supposedly better. The pickups give great sound but I have recently replaced them with emg 81 pickups in the bridge and neck. The emg's are awesome. They blow the stock pickups away.

I havent found any major flaws in the guitar. This guitar can withstand a beating. The paint is still great on it. Its still in one piece....

No problems so far. Ive had it for a year.

Havent dealt with them.

I would give the guitar a 10. It is a great guitar for lead and metal. I have a Fender Stratplus with it and I would say I play this guitar a considerable amount more. I wish I would have waited to get the Vintage pickups but i dont guess it matters since I replaced these pickups. If it were stolen I would probably buy a JEM but oh well.

This guitar is sweet. It has 24 frets and has a Wizard II neck.. Its really thin, so you can really thrash up and down the fretboard. The frets are jumbos, which i really like. they're good for hammering. The pickups are H/S/H. They're standard Ibanez RG pickups, V7, S1, and V8. It has the floyd tremelo which is the best feature any guitar can have, regardless of brand or make. This has alot of features for a great price.

This guitar has a great sound if you like to grind. But, if you put it on the single pickup or neck pickup, you'd be amazed at the quality of the tone that you get.

I had the guitar set up especially for my playing needs, but when I was trying it out in the store, the action was pretty good. Everything was in excellent working order except that the pickups are rough along the edges of the fretboard. If those were fixed, I'd give it a 10.

This guitar was built to take anything. It's a tank. I could drop it every night, and it would be fine.

I've been playing for 4 years, and I've never played anything that was as good as an Ibanez. They're reliable, durable, and they sound great for an affordable price. I would recomend this guitar to anyone who is a serious guitar player. If i had to replace it, I might get a 570 or a 7 string, but definately an Ibanez.

Korean made. American basswood body maple neck with rosewood fingerboard (Ibanez Wizard ii type). 24 Jumbo frets.
H/S/H Ibanez pasive INF series pickups with 5-way selector. Ibanez Lo-trs ii Floyd rose trem (locking nut obviously)
The guitar shop Threw in a hard case. Tools included
Only one tone knob could be ,limiting to some players. Tone and volume knobs need to be a little more sensitive. But don't be scared this is a great guitar.

Because of the 5 pickup positions which incorporates humbuckers as single coils in some postitions you can get a wide variety sound to suit most styles. This is a guitar for musicians who want to play accross a range of styles ON ONE GUITAR.
Middle single coil pickup is a tad noisy but put it through a descent amp (I use a Laney VC 50) and this is not really a problem. It also has a bit of a low output.
With the back pickup you can acheieve a real screachy shred kinda noise. The next selection forward mellows the shred sound out a bit. The middle single coil sports a kinda "Ren and Stimpy" theme tune sound. The last two selections go form beefy to beef city. I'v played this along side mates Les Paul I can honestly say that I can almost match the beefy crunch that it puts out.
Likes: - Versility of the guitar Dislaikes: - Could lose a bit of noise (I plan to fit DiMarzios)
I give it an eight simply because there are guitars that sound better

All the actuall production is fine acceppt that the middle P.U is a little lose in the cavity. The style of the trem where a screw down nut attached to the arm itself that screws down over a thread on the bridge means it comes lose quite quickly.
The set up was good, I lowered the action. But I like STUPID low action. Lets face it the action is so easy to adjust it dosen't matter what the factory set up was like.
I don't know what string thay were on it whan I got it but BOY WERE THE TOUGH. I mean I seriously abused that trem ala Vai btu teh bugger woulden't go. I ended up replacing when they when dead!!!

This guitar is tough, but thin neck may break easily it your being a fool with it and chucking it all over the show. Hardwear seems to be lasting well.
Strap buttons are solid enough.
I don't know if anyone reading this has seen the submit form for reviwes but is says
Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
I would NEVER use a guitar at a gig without a backup no matter what the hell it was.

Haven't delt with them

I love this guitar it is Brilliant for the price. For the price I got it for it really is top quality!!
I give it a 7 because I've recently played a JEM 7v (Vai model)
THAT WILL ROCK YOUR POTATOES

Made in Korea strat-stile guitar. It features 24 jumbo (I think) frets, Floyd Rose TRS-II bridge, non-locking tuners, gold hardware, basswood body with flamed top natural finish, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 1 volume, 1 tone, 5-way selector, H/S/H pick ups configuration, Ibanez INF1/INFS1/INF2 (from neck to bridge). The tuners are quite bad. Luckily the nut is locking.

I play this through a cry-baby, a Boss ME-30 and a solid-state Marshall VS30R, and like to play "powerful" rock (Van Halen, Satriani...). First of all I wonder why they put that useless single-coil in the middle. It's VERY weak and I can't manage to figure out its timbre because of this. I haven't experienced other pick ups, but I might say the neck one isn't bad at all. When clean it sounds good even to my single-coil-used-to ear. At high-gain distorsion I don't like the loss of personality typical, in my opinion, for any neck humbucker (except Gibsons). The bridge pu is quite trebly, yet it hasn't got much harmonics and has got almost no bottom end... yeah, quite crapy. I'm waiting to test it with a valve amp, but I believe I'll have to change it. The 2 and 4 positions are weak due to the single coil weakness.

I think this guitar lived in my guitar-shop for a long while and has been somehow manipulated. I had to make a complete set-up by myself and I still have some problems with the low E that buzzes on every fret if you don't strike it very gently (but I read about this in another submission). I had to tighten the truss-rod quite a lot. My action now isn't low because of the buzzes and also because of 22nd fret bending problems with a lower action. The look of the guitar is wonderful, it looks similar to a PRS thanks to the amber finish. I won't give a rating for this category because of the manipulation suspect.

I haven't played this guitar at live volumes yet, but I think it would be ok. I think the gold color will go away quite soon from the hardware, instead the finish looks tough.

I sent an e-mail to the company about truss-rod regulation. They first told me to ask a repair technician and then gave me the Ibanez standard action regulation. Make your own deductions!

This is not a high-quality instrument, but neither a bad-quality one. I love its look and style, and hate my problems of low E string buzzing. The TRS-II bridge does its job, but the guitar doesn't stay in tune forever.

My RG470 was completely stock Made: Japan Frets: 24 Solid Body: Basswood Pickups: H/S/H Floyd Rose tremolo Schaller tuners Rosewood fretboard
Good quailty materials for a good price

I bought an RG470 because I thought I was looking for a sound simular to some of my favorite artist (Satriani, Vai, Petrucci) Ibanez made their guitars out of quality materials and it was a great value.
I went from a Strat to this and I really started missing the neck positon single coil, these pickups have power, but they aren't very touch sensitive. Plus, I found out after about 6 months that I really dislike the Floyd Rose, the little clamp at the top of the neck seems to mute the sound a bit. Can't bend with this low action either, .009's have a thin winny sound that sucks for anything aside for metal.
It stayed in tune, but getting it in tune was always a hassel.
For what it is, it's good. But it wasn't what I wanted. If you're playing a Strat style guitar now, don't sell your old guitar till your sure you like this.

Very reliable, I've droped it a few times, banged it up. Still sounded the same.

I've been playing for about 8 years. I would not by an RG470, or any other RG style guitar again, This guitar helped me find my love for vintage tremolo's and my disgust for low string action. You can't get that SRV or Eric Johnson tone out of this, but you can do Paul Gilbert or Steve Vai
If you like low action and are into Metal/heavy rock and play a lot of lead this guitar would be a good choice.

Ibanez RG series. Basswood body, 24 frets, dot inlays, two humbuckers and one single coil. Lo-profile (lo trs 2) double locking trem. Nice purple-blue finish. I think it's what Ibanez used to call "jewel blue" before they changed it to be more blue that purple.

This guitar sounds good. I bought it used for $350. I had one before some years ago, when they first came out with this particular model, which was around 93/94. This one is the same year. Anyway, it sounds really good. I did replace the bridge pickup with a Dimarzio "Tone Zone". It's my first Dimarzio and I love it. I play metal and this guitar/pickup combo is great. The sound is versatile enough for regular rock, and some jazz, too.

Well made. I think my favorite feature is the rounded off neck heel. Very good invention. The hardware is tough and durable. Good quality wood on the neck and body. Rather quiet guitar, no noise. Only thing I don't like it that Ibanez makes the fretboard flat on the higher frets and more rounded on the lower ones. If you sight down the neck you can see the change. A flat fretboard is difficult to deal with when soloing from the 15th fret on up to the 24th. I think Ibanez needs to take a lesson from Jackson and make them rounded all the way down. I'm going to rate this section a little higher despite what I've said because I have large hands and long fingers so I don't have the same problems with the flat fretboard as my smaller friends do.

This guitar is well-built. YOu could easily play live with it. Just replace the stock pickups and you'll be set. You could get away with the stock ones, I suppose, but they definetly aren't Dimarzios or Duncans. I understand that the new Ibanez RG470s come with the V1 and V2 pickups. As I recall those pickups sounded good right out of the box. You should always have a backup no matter how good your guitar is. You never know what will happen.

Never needed any.

I've been playing for 5 years, off and on. I would buy this guitar again, even the new ones. If it were stolen, I'd be upset, but I'd just go get another one.

1996 model, made in Korea (printed on back of headstock). Strat-style solid basswood body (with sharp "horns); high gloss finish. Maple neck w/rosewood fingerboard (24 frets jumbo frets, pearl dot inlays). Ibanez calls this neck their Wizard II neck, and it has a huge radius, so it plays nothing like a traditional Stratocaster neck. Bridge is Ibanez' LO-TRS II (Floyd Rose licensed) double-locking type. Non-locking tuners. Pickups are stock Ibanez passive Infinity series: H/S/H, with Split-5 5-way selector. 1 volume and 1 tone knob (all hardware is black).

Versatile guitar! Neck INF1 pickup delivers full-bodied, fat clean tones that are great for blues and jazz playing (or Smashing Pumpkins sound w/tone control at full low with a high-gain amp; very thick distortion). The bridge INF2 humbucker produces a tight, balanced sound with moderate output. There are much hotter pickups, but these are some of the best stock pickups I've heard; much clearer and tighter than Jackson's Duncan Design. Some players may find the bridge pickup lacking in its bass response, but I think your preamp settings will give you any tone you want with this guitar. I play heavy rock mainly, with a Dunlop Cryababy wah and Boss ME-6 multieffect/preamp through a 65W solid-state Fender Eighty-Five 1 x 12" combo. Great sound for the price; even sounds good unplugged.

Action was good enough for me to fee comfortable; low, but no harsh string buzz along the neck (however, low E string is susceptible to buzzing when picked hard). Very accurate fingering of frets 12-24, which impressed me! Fine intonation, and I love the LO-TRS II bridge. It takes a beating and stays in tune really well. If not for my tuner's LEDs, I probably wouldn't know if a string was a little sharp or flat; the effect of brutal whammy bar use is THAT subtle.
The bad news: The first time I changed strings, I removed the backplate to adjust tremolo angle, and I noticed a 1-inch crack in the body. Apparently one of the backplate screws was drilled in at a sharp angle, splintering off one side of the tremolo cavity. Talk about disappointed! Unacceptible! Ibanez did right the situation (see below).

I've only gigged with my RG470 once, after having for only a week. It didn't go out of tune once in a two-hour set under very hot lights and a lot of sweat. The hardware is durable enough. No loose switches or knobs. Trem arm seems to be either full swing or completely stiff at first, but after a few months it's breaking in to where it's swings, but isn't loose. Barrel is easy to adjust. Finish is holding up fine against shirt buttons, pick scratches, and such, but I bet it wouldn't take many belt buckle scrapes to scratch the paint on the back. For this reason, I never wear a belt when I play this guitar. It's too pretty to risk it (Jewel Blue looks great under bright light; looks purple under most indoor lighting.) I know I can definitely depend on this axe and not need a backup with fresh strings.

Dealer wasn't much help at first with the crack on inside of tremolo cavity. They said if it didn't affect playabillity, it wasn't worth fixing. But it was in the back of my mind that I bought a brand new guitar that was cracked. So I took it back after e-mailing Ibanez from their cool Web site, when I was told it shouldn't have ever left the factory in that condition. The second time around, dealer was helpful. I paid $20 for shipping, but I got my guitar back in two weeks in great condition. Not only did Ibanez repair the crack, they also reinforced the tremolo cavity with a strong carbon graphite adhesive, which also shield the wires from electrical interference in the same way that foil does. My rating of 8 is for the dealer's reluctance to service the guitar the first time. If not for that, I'd have given Ibanez a 9 or 10. They need to watch their business partners carefully.

I've been playing electric guitar for 13 years, and this is my first "real" guitar. I've only owned $200 entry-level guitars prior to buying my RG470. The RG470 is everything I want in a medium-priced workhorse axe. It's not top-of-the-line by bar, but it stays in tune, has comfortable low action, offers tonal versatility, and has eye-catching good looks for strong stage appeal. These guitars list for $699 without a case. Because two music stores both wanted my business, each counter-offered the other until one couldn't reduce the price any more. I feel lucky for paying only $499, which included an Ibanez hardshell case. If lost or stolen, I'd definitely buy another (probably the RG450 or 550 only for looks -- I like the pickguards). Compaired to Yamaha RGX and Jackson DX2 and PS4, the Ibanez RG feels more solid and sounds better.

It has 22 frets, 3 seperate pickups. (Double-Single-Double). It has 2 knobs 1 volume,1 tone. I think it is maple wood. I am not sure though. It comes in black,blue,red Probably more. Its a cutaway with a medium size neck. Bridge is tremlo. It has quick tunes and nuts to hold the strings at the head. The neck is medium with medium size frets. Guitar I think was built in the US not sure though.

The sound is fairly good. It can go from clean to dirty and still sound good. This guitar in my opinion sounds really good in "Drop D" tuning. I use a mesa boogie subway rocket. Big muff distortion and a Cry Baby wah-wah. Yes it can get noisy. The sound is rich as long as you have a good amp(I guess like any guitar) The guitar can do pretty much anything from clean to dirty to country style to blues. Likes:The 2 double pickups..Selector swicth to go to different pickups. The quick tunes. Dislikes: The guitar needs repaired and setup more often then other guitars.

The guitar could have been better built. But it holds up pretty good. The guitar came with no flaws. I have had it for 2 years and all i have needed to do is set it up and replace the nuts and the head and the screws at the pickups.

Yes this guitar is played very well live. The guiitar last pretty long. The finish is awsome I play all the time and it doesn't have a scratch except if you bang it off a wall or something. It won't get scratched. The strap buttons will last pretty long. yes I can depend on it. Umm..I always use a backup at a gig so I can't say I trust any guitar...but if I had to I would.

I have never dealt with the customer service so i wouldn't know how they are. It has a 1 year warranty.

I have been playing it for 2 years. If it was stolen I would buy another guitar because..I like new things I love the guitars pickups. But I hate the guitars action. It is not too great. Maybe its me but if it's not the action sucks. Umm thats really about it with this guitar. nothing else much to say.