[darren]

I popped by the Long & McQuade store in Burlington this afternoon, and they happened to have an RG2228 within easy reach, and a Mesa Boogie Roadster 2x12 combo sitting on the floor.

How could i resist?

The first thing that struck me was how instantly playable it was. The 27" scale and extra low string didn't faze me at all... as long as i didn't try to play familiar material on the other seven strings.

I found that the neck was super-smooth, nicely contoured, and didn't feel excessively wide, or with a "flat spot" in the middle of hte back, a common complaint i have with a lot of RG 7-strings. I felt instantly comfortable, and didn't really notice the extra width or length of the fretboard all that much.

I don't have much experience with EMGs, so i'm never quite sure how to evaluate or respond to them. I thought the 808s sounded great, whether i was playing clean, crunchy or full-on chunky-heavy-rhythm. There's a unique quality to them that i can only describe as "stringy"... i really felt that i was hearing the sound of a string. It was always clear and articulate, and i thought it sounded lively. They were loud, and i found when i really slammed the strings, it pushed the clean channel of the roadster into mild clipping. I'd love to try an 18-volt setup for greater headroom.

Appearance-wise, it was quite classy, but it's still an RG. I don't like RGs. Some have said that the strings pull straight from the nut to the tuners. Not true. There is a very slight splay from centre. I would have preferred it if Ibanez had kept the strings totally straight from the nut to the tuners, and maybe reduced the headstock size by 10%, keeping it looking a little sharper. I find the design they ended up with looks a little big and "bulbous" compared to the normal pointy Ibanez "beak". From an ergonomic standpoint, i think they perhaps should have used offset dots on the fretboard face. Players that rely on them might not see them way over in the middle of the board. And smaller dots, like they recently started using on the rest of the RG line, would have looked a bit more classy than the big plastic dots. They were a bit of a throwback.

Because it was so readily playable and sounded so good, i found it to be a very inspiring guitar to play. Within minutes, i was coming up with some really cool riffs and low-tuned melodies that took advantage of the extra string. It was a lot of fun to play, and i could easily see myself making room for an 8 in my collection. I don't think i'd pay the C$1800 they're asking for the RG, but i would love to find (or build) a more budget-minded 8-string.

Oh, and the Roadster combo? Killer amp. I loved every tone i got out of it. If i had the means, i would have one of these.

[ohio_eric]

Cool review.

I can't imagine that the Roadster helped the guitar sound any better.

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

1,800? Italmelodie here in Montreal had it for 1640 last week... oh well

I also felt the same way, I thought it was instantly playable and didn't require much adjusting!

[Dendroaspis]

Originally Posted by darren

I popped by the Long & McQuade store in Burlington this afternoon, and they happened to have an RG2228 within easy reach, and a Mesa Boogie Roadster 2x12 combo sitting on the floor.

How could i resist?

Some have said that the strings pull straight from the nut to the tuners. Not true. There is a very slight splay from centre. I would have preferred it if Ibanez had kept the strings totally straight from the nut to the tuners.

Cool, you finally got to try one Darren, although you could have gotten to try mine way earlier as I did directly offer it to you to try.

And as I also said earlier about your slightly-off string pull issue - that it is completely rendered moot when you have nut clamps, doesn't it? You just want to hate it because you don't like RG's, right?

Regardless, your assesment of those 808's is pretty much bang on. I'm actually having trouble deciding now if I like it better than the M8 I put in there or not. They definitely have their own tone that's a bit clearer than the 707, for example.

[urklvt]

Glad to hear you got to try one out man!

Coming from a guy who happens to be very particular about the details (no insult intended at all - I'm the same way) I'd say that was an almost raving review of the instrument.

I will have one of those some day. The Roadster too. My Mark IV gets lonely.

[darren]

Originally Posted by Dendroaspis

Cool, you finally got to try one Darren, although you could have gotten to try mine way earlier as I did directly offer it to you to try.

Yeah, i do appreciate the offer, and i certainly would have taken you up on it, but i'm not up in that neck of the woods very often.

Originally Posted by Dendroaspis

And as I also said earlier about your slightly-off string pull issue - that it is completely rendered moot when you have nut clamps, doesn't it? You just want to hate it because you don't like RG's, right?

Well, it's partially a functional issue, but it's also an aesthetic issue for me. I think the headstock just looks sloppy.

Originally Posted by Dendroaspis

Regardless, your assesment of those 808's is pretty much bang on. I'm actually having trouble deciding now if I like it better than the M8 I put in there or not. They definitely have their own tone that's a bit clearer than the 707, for example.

I'm glad i was able to capture it in words. I only really played on it for 15 or 20 minutes, and since i have a good idea of how Rectifiers respond, i was able to dial in some straight ahead tones on the Roadster to try the guitar (and the pickups) with different kinds of playing and different amp settings.

[Abhorred]

$1800? $1640? ... the hell? Steve's in Ottawa was quoting something like $2100+ a few weeks ago. Christ, I knew their markup was bad, but... shit.

Anyway, thanks for the review - now I really want to try one, too, which is badly timed given my current RG2027 search. Argh, too many strings, not enough money.

[Decipher]

$1800.00 is right for me as well. That's what I paid for mine @ Long & McQuade here in Calgary. Beautiful guitar. Defenitly one of the best investments I've made to date.

[yevetz]

Congratulations.............

Some pics ???

[muffgoat]

Originally Posted by Decipher

$1800.00 is right for me as well. That's what I paid for mine @ Long & McQuade here in Calgary. Beautiful guitar. Defenitly one of the best investments I've made to date.

Def the best investment i have ever made