Ibanez RG570

All stock 1991, Japanese made, 24 frets on the original wizard maple neck w/ 17mm(1st fret)-20mm(12th fret) neck thickness and rosewood fretboard, solid basewood body, H/S/H w/ 5-way selector. Stock V3/S1/V2 passive Pickups. Edge double locking trem system. Superstrat style body with deep cutaways and recessed neck joint. Ibanez case.

I've been playing for 20 years on and off and have picked up a few styles and preferences. I have played through processors, tube- and solid-state amps. I have also played through various types of guitars from Fender Strats to Les Pauls, Jackson to Schector. This guitar really impressed me. I picked it up for under $200 as a beat up castaway. I cleaned it up and set it up and it blew my mind.
??? The stock pickups are very airy with a lot of definition in the lower end. If you like tight overdriven distortion, the V2 is for you. Great harmonics (I do a ton of pinch harmonics and this one screams at ease).
??? The S1 and V3 work well for more mellow and bassier tones, but I'll admit I'm more into the overdrive and harmonics of the bridge pickup.
??? The Edge trem holds tune under the most abuse and does all the flutter trem tricks at ease.

*Just a note here... I have purchased quite a few of these Ibanez models w/ varied DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan replacement Pickups... and I have to disagree with many of the other reviews... these stock pups are awesome... and in my opinion... better for a more rich tone. If you're not trying to sound like one of your idols and are looking for a more cutting edge feel... leave it stock.

I got this used, so I don't know the original action. But, I adjusted my action as low as possible and the pickups as high as possible to bring out the most tone and ease of play. Results? The guitar holds nice low action without buzzing and the pickups sound sweet. Like I mentioned before, the trem is very solid... definitely the best and most stable I have ever played on. Even though the guitar was beat up when I bought it, the finish and wood held up well where it wasn't chipped or gouged. The neck is cracked at the nut, but it plays like nothing ever happened and holds tune like a champ.

I'd say, with the way this guitar plays and the abuse it appears to have gone through.. I would not worry about it lasting another 17 years.

The web site is helpful in supplying part#s and archived catalog info. But, you can't order parts or get pricing online. Probably have to call 'em.

I'm an Ibanez man now. This guitar sounds nothing like the chewed up piece of garbage it looks like. I am sold. Like I said before, the stock pups are awesome... so awesome I replaced a Tone Zone in an RG565 I just got with an Ibanez V8... and it sounds (to me) much more complex, tight, and harmonic.
If I payed original sticker price, I couldn't complain... though I am still debating whether I should get one of those reissue RG770s for a grand +.

Japanese, made in 1989 with the Edge bridge. The neck is wide, thin with fat frets and a bubinga stripe. Originally came with v8,v7, and s1. I bought it used. I used it for a year and a half and just recently changed out the pickups. Gave it a 9 because the pickups were just ok.

Pickups suck. You will have to tweak to high heaven for any decent tone. I switched out recently to a fred/neck and 500xl/bridge. Huge difference. I should have done it before. I gave my brother an older japanese made 550 with emgs and it sounds awsome for metal. We both think the necks on these things are the best. The fred has thick creamy tone. The 500xl is at the other end with more bite, and very trebly. Beg, borrow, or steal... change out the pickups. You will never want for another shredder style again.

The kid I bought this from didn't have the knowledge to adjust this guitar. When I bought it the action was low, no buzzing frets, and intonated well. So, I guess factory set up was good (especially considering the guitar body showed he didn't take care of it). Electronics were sound. I give it a ten because it has no dead frets or buzzing with low action and the intonation is great dispite the condition of the body.

This guitar looks like it has been through some abuse and it plays like new. My guitar is solid. I would not use any guitar at a gig without a backup especially one with a floating trem. You can drop this guitar without any worry of effecting playability.

The website seems pretty helpful.

Been playing for 22 years off and on. I would definitely buy another if it were lost or stolen. The neck and bridge are the definite standouts. I would love to see this in a korina or mahogany body. Maybe they do? I have a japanese fender strat and a strat style s/s/hb guitar with an old boogie body neck (charvel) which is super flat with jumbo frets, and an old japanese les paul set neck. They each have their place as far as style. Only the les paul copy is in danger of being replaced. My 570 is a keeper.

The Rg i have purchased was a 2002, Japanese rg570. It has 24 frets, a solid top, the standard HSH 5 way switch. Im not giving it a 10 because of the stock pick ups. There not bad but im sure a Dimarzio switch can make a huge improvement. Its in a silver candy finish meaning there is alot of sparkels perfect for playing 80s hair metal. Mine has the better quality lo-pro not the crappy TRS bridge, and Gotoh tuners. It also came with a hard-shell. Not bad for 300 without a scratch for dent.

The neck is amazing for shred, but the pick ups dont say the same. The pick ups arent bad for basic rock and classic rock. But there isnt much gain to them or sustain. The single coil tho has alot of twang making the guitar very versatile allowing you to play blues and what not. The guitar dosnt get noisy on me using a pod xt live into a marshal solid state. Its a warm sounding guitar.

The neck is astounding. I believe it plays as good as a jem.

Yes im sure this guitar can withstand any playing. But if you were to brake a string on stage with this youd be fed in the A since thr bridge is a floater. Ive seen these type of finishes crack and wear but im sure if you treated it with care it will look like new for ever. Besides the bridge scare if I had to play a stadium this guitar would be with me for the whole set.

Bought it Used

Ive been playing for 3 years. I own a American strat with the s1 switch S-S-H. And a 80s custom guitar i found at a show that has 2 emg and a floyd rose. I believe this guitar is way better. It were stolen or lost i would go emo and cut my self. I love that its an Ibanez and i feel like im playing with the best. If anything I wish it had new pick ups.

I didn't buy this guitar for it's looks. I don't dislike the way it looks but it isn't my favorite style either. I bought it because it performs.

I have a 2001, Japanese made Ibanez RG570 in grew nickel. The finish is fine, nothing spectacular. The body style is that of the super strat and is made of basswood. Basswood is very good for mid frequency tones. A down side is that it is a bit soft and dents comparatively easily. 25.5 inch scale length There is one volume and one tone control. This guitar is equiped with a licensed Floyd Rose tremelo and a locking nut. The pickup configuration is H/S/H and the neck has twenty four fat frets.

More on the neck. The neck on these guitars is amazing. In fact, I bought this guitar for the neck. My RG has the Super Wizard neck which is made of maple with a brown bubinga stripe down the back. This neck has a very flat fretboard, relatively wide string spacing and it is very thin. What I mean by that is that there isn't much wood between the fretboard and the back of the neck. This makes soloing much easier for me and many other. The neck finish is very thin and smooth, facilitating fast playing. These guitars were designed with the shredder in mind but they allow anyone to play any style of guitar lead more quickly. That is, if you find thin necks to be comfortable. Some don't. I do.

I will start with the bad. I am not particularly impressed with the stock pickups on this guitar. It has the Ibanez V7 humbucker in the neck, the S1 single coil in the middle and the V8 humbucker in the bridge.

This is a very resonant guitar when played unplugged. These pickups just don't seem to pick up the subtle overtones that this guitar produces.

With the right pickups, I think that this guitar could be outstanding. The tone is there, I just need to figure out which pickups are best for capturing it.

I bought this guitar used. I can't comment on how the action is on them from the factory but I can set the action how ever I want it on this guitar. In fact, I can set it ridiculously low without fret buzz. This is a very well designed guitar, indeed.

The workman ship is very impressive all round. The neck pocket is a perfect fit. This guitar is a good example of high quality Japanese workmanship.

This guitar is solid. With the locking nut, it never goes out of tune.

I would not play this guitar without a backup because it has a floating trem. With this style of bridge, if one sting breaks, the rest go out of tune. This is not a design flaw. Again, this guitar is designed with shredders in mind and they tend to use the trem a lot while playing.

As an aside, this isn't the easiest style of guitar to tune. I would not recommend a guitar with a floating trem to a beginner.

I bought it used.

I am very happy with the purchase of this guitar. I think that these Japanese RGs are under valued. Some might say that the looks of them are outdated. I would agree with that to some extent. But, for me and many others, they are just about the easiest guitars that I know of to play. The wide string spacing makes for relatively easy alternate picking. The smooth neck allows me to traverse it effortlessly. The thinness of the neck allows my fingers to walk with ease from fret to fret.

There is a reason why so many of the fast players including Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani, Steve Via play Ibanez guitars with necks similar to this one. The reason is that they are easier guitars to play for many of this and the ease in playing results from the great Ibanez guitar necks.

I bought this used off Ebay, it is a white Ibanez RG570, made in Japan, Lo-Pro Edge Tremolo, V7-V1-V8 pickups, you know the rest...

I've been playing Jacksons forever, until I played an RG570 at a local music shop through an Uberschall - I almost liked the guitar better than the amp!

I just got mine a few days ago, I love the white finish - it just looks so badass! I always have DiMarzios put into my guitars, this one has a PAF-Pro at the neck, an Evolution single coil in the middle, and a Tone Zone on the bridge. Of course, this makes a tremendous difference. With those pickups in this guitar I feel like I have the ultimate metal/shred machine!

Sounds killer!

The stock pickups are all right, definitely harsher than the DiMarzios with not as much sustain or contrast between the neck/bridge pickup. Terrific split coil sound on clean tone though!

Even better now with the DiMarzios!!!

Got it used.

I am in love with the Lo-Pro Edge trem system - the bar feels just right and man, does it stay in tune. The action is quite low, little to no buzzing.

Again, I bought it used so this setup was done to my preference.

The trem is one of the best in the biz' - you'll stay in tune and the intonation is solid.

I always replace the pickups and the straplocks (Ernie Ball locking) on all my guitars, so I can't speak for the stock version.

But I will put it this way - it put my beloved Jackson last in line at my shows! This baby's number one!

I couldn't be happier with this guitar - it sounds great, plays great, stays in tune and the trem system is top notch (looks killer too! The DiMarzios are all flourescent green as well as the volume/tone knobs and p/up selector switch).

I will most likely buy a few more in the future, and why not!

Wonderful guitar, particularly for metal and shred! Rock on!

H-S-H "SuperStrat" guitar, with double locking Edge (Floyd Rose) tremolo, basswood body, 24-fret bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, 5-way switch, volume, and tone control. This is a circa 2002 model, made in Japan. It has the bubinga strip down the back of the neck for stability, and has a beautiful silver-nickle finish on the body (not the cheesy sparkle finish).

Stock, this is a good shredder axe, especially for 80's metal sounds. I replaced the pickups & this baby has really come alive. I went with DiMarzios, and I am extremely satisfied with the versatility of this guitar now. Pickups are as follows:
Neck = PAF Pro
Middle = Area '61
Bridge = Norton

I also replaced the pickup selector with a special 5-way, 4-pole switch, so I get hum-cancelling in all 5 positions. DiMarzio has a wiring diagram available upon request. The resulting pickup selections are as follows...
1. PAF Pro series humbucking
2. PAF Pro tapped, in parallel with Area '61 tapped
3. Area '61 series humbucking
4. Norton tapped, in parallel with Area '61 tapped
5. Norton series humbucking

Now this guitar has authentic sounding vintage Strat sounds in positions 2-4, and great humbucking sounds at the neck & bridge positions. I can cover anything from Stevie Ray & Hendrix to Petrucci, Vai, and beyond.

The neck is wonderful, and it plays like a dream. You can set the action ultra-low if you want.

Seems like it will last a long time with proper care. The finish is tough. I replaced the strap buttons with straplocks, so I can easily remove the strap to put it in its case. The hardware is showing some signs of wear on the cosmo black paint, but it looks cool.

Great guitar, even in stock form. Replace the pickups & you have a world class instrument. Satriani, Vai, and many other guitar gods have signature models that are virtually identical to the RG570. The only difference is paint color & pickups.

Nuf said on this, so I won't say much. It is what people back in the day called a superstrat.

These are one of the most versatile guitars you can buy. I guess it could be argued that if you can only have one guitar, this would be a guitar to consider. I usually play Strats. But the RG570 keeps winning a place on stage as my backup and gets a workout when I need a meatier tone. It usually is the one I practice with. Since I play strats I have grown fond of low output pu's so I switched the V7 and V8 out with what some may find a surprising choose. I choose Carvin H22N and H22B. The neck measures about the same as the V7 on my meter, but the bridge pick reads lower like a PAF humbucker. I like to have a clean signal then boost it. The neck and the neck/bridge sound very good in the clean and distortion setting of my amps and the bridge stays define when your rocking. Even with the stock pu's it is a good pro guitar. It doesn't spank like a strat, nor punch like a Les Paul. It has it's own tone not bright or to dark.

Simple put. No other guitar I have played plays better

Thing stays in tune and is durable and a true road warrior.

Don't know never dealt with them

I bought my fist Rg570 in 91 and played it as my main guitar in clubs till 2001. I bought a used one just last year. It was at a music store. So I picked it up and it felt like an old friend and bought it on the spot. Fender Strats and the Ibanez RG570 are the only guitars I have bought multiple times. I have been gigging 30 yrs and have played TexMex, Classic Rock, Country, R&B and a bit of Jazz with this guitar. It got me through every gig I played without breaking a string. Heck I played some gigs and didn't have to retune the whole night. I can't say that for any other guitar I have owned. It doesn't sound lke a strat or Les Paul, but has it's own voice and at their used sale price it is a steal!

It has a locking nut and tremelo which is great for extreme bends. I play rock, blues, metal, and jazz, it can play anything. H-S-H pickups.

Almost no feed back. Can get great twang sound and deep full sound but if you have the money change the pickups.

This guitar can stand tons of dinks and beats and still keeps very good tone. Strap buttons are very solid.

I have benn playing for 4 year and i have a strat but this is much better. No dinks on it except the ones it came with, almost bever goes out of tune

I think everyone's covered it by now, V7-S1-V8 pickups, Edge Trem, Locking nut. Basswood. The only thing I would have liked more would be if they had seperate volumes for the humbuckers. I'll give it a 9.

With this guitar I play mostly Neoclassical, Prog, and just plain Shred. Here's my setup

Guitar > Bad Horsie 1 > Boss TU-2 Tuner > Boss DS-1 Distortion > Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive (on occasion swapped out for a Metal Zone) > Peavey Triumph 120 PAG (great amp, if you ever see an old one pop up on ebay, grab it) <Effects Loop> Through a Boss GT-3 Multi effects (mostly use for EQ and Chorus type stuff) > Line 6 Delay Modeler <End Effects Loop>

I love the sound of the bridge pickup through that mess, with the amp on the "Ultra" channel (with the pre gain dimed, of course). The bridge pickup is a little too dark fortaste, not enough bite, but it does jazz quite well, and can get a very nice bluesy tone, and a decent violin tone for the neolassical stuff. The "in between" positions offer great funky stuff, really spanky. The bridge pickup is the only thing I would fault it for, so I'll give it a 9.

It was in okay shape when I got it, but then I set it up and lowered the action, plays like a dream with almost no buzz whatsoever, but I'm not qualified to comment, really, I got it used.

The trem is one of the most stable double lockers I've seen in a while, so no problems there, but one of the strap buttons was loose when I got it, an easy fix. I've only had it for two days though, so I really can't tell yet.

Haven't had any reason to contact them.

With the price I paid for it, which was a steal, I give it a ten. I had paid closer to a grand, it would still be a ten. This guitar plays and sounds very good, and it stands up to my Parker and my S Custom with extra attitude.

MIJ, I bought this guitar when they were fairly new many years ago. Grey Pewter finish on this one with hardware that has something of a gunmetal finish. Very sleek and sexy guitar that always looks good to me. Exaggerated cutouts allow for full access to the upper neck. This neck is as fast as anything I've ever played, maybe the fastest and most comfortable I've known. I thrive on low action, and this one gets so low it just about plays itself. Buttery fast action, if you can't shred on this, you can't shred on anything. Basswood is always a pleasure to sling up due to the light weight, but it's not the best of tone woods. I'd rather this was a fixed bridge guitar too not that I've had it so long, but sall good. Stays in tune well due to the locking nut. So long as you do the right things when slapping new strings on, you'll have no problems. I credit Ibanez for cramming lots of features into this axe. Taking off a point for the single coil pickup, it's superfluous and crappy...

The pickups are easily the weakest point, even still, I've heard *much* worse from stock pups. The single coil is terrible, they should have just made this a double hum configuration. There are other guitars out there which excel at the single coil twang, and this guitar finds it's home in hard rock and metal anyway imo. The neck pickup lacks far too much clarity for my tastes, and I never put the single coil in line. I always play this axe with the tone full on and the bridge pickup soloed. With some tasteful EQ and compression, this guitar settles into a thick sustain-laden crunch. This axe gets some ringing overtones at times when a chord is allowed to bloom too, which adds character to one's sound imo. Using my default tone/pickup config and some reasonably fresh strings, chord work will maintain respectable note definition. Decent lead tone, but could cut better imo. I dig sizzling lead tones that make the hair on my neck stand up, so I'd prefer the birdge pup were a tad hotter actually. The clean sound is generic and just ok, but much improved when fresh strings are kept in rotation.

My favorite thing about this guitar is the action. It gets low and FAST with no buzz, a real pleasure to play. If it were fixed bridge instead of the stock trem, it would be the perfect player. That's easily fixed with a well placed wedge though, so no big deal. The neck is thin though, and once in a while I've bent notes or chords just a hair off pitch by exerting too much force when fretting. Once again, not an issue with the guitar, but rather me needing to be conscious of technique. I play bass a lot too, so I tend to exert more force on a guitar neck than someone who plays only guitar. The finish is easily chipped, so take good care of it. Basswood is notoriously soft too, so it doesn't take much to ding it.

At least 6 years old and still going strong, only a couple small dings or chips to speak of. This guitar can gig night after night, but be sure to bring a backup. Why? Cause if you break a string, you are SOL unless you have another axe at the ready. This is NOT an axe you want to restring on a gig if you kept the stock bridge. The bridge requires a tedious retuning process after you bust one, so be warned. I personally find the bridge overengineered for my tastes, but I can appreciate that Ibanez was trying to offer versatily.

Never needed

I'll award a 9 for overall versatility and value within the given price range. Yes there are some superfluous features (sc pickup and overengineered bridge), but Ibanez gives you bang for the buck with this one. I don't know if they still make this guitar or what the model # would be, but I'd say this one's a keeper based on the playability alone. I don't want to feel like I'm fighting the instrument when playing challenging material. This guitar really plays itself, always been a pleasure to pick up this axe.