Ibanez RG550MXX-DY 20th Anniversary Reissue
Features:
• 5-piece Wizard neck with original 1987 “Slim Profile”
• Maple fretboard
• Jumbo frets
• Basswood body
• Original Edge Tremolo
• Black hardware
• V series pickups. (V1, V2, and S1)
• Desert Yellow finish
• Yellow hardshell case with RG20th case candy
The RG550MXX-DY is a reissue of the popular 80’s metal guitar, the 550.
Neck:
I’m going to start with the neck because it was the part of this guitar that immediately called to my attention when I first pulled it out of the case. I have a lot of Ibanez guitars; and we all know that Ibanez is known for neck comfort (relatively) and thinness, but this has to be one of the easiest playing necks I’ve played. Of course, as with any guitar, you’ll need to set it up the way you like it to get the love you need from it.
Here are the dimensions:
Scale Length: 648mm/25.5"
Width At Nut: 43mm
Width At Last Fret: 56mm
Thickness At 1st Fret: 18mm
Thickness At 12th Fret: 20mm
Radius: 430
The neck has a maple fretboard, with a little bit of flame in it. One cool part about the work they did on the frets of this guitar is instead of the usual J-Craft fret-ends, they went with the original late-80’s-90’s fret work. Here’s an example:
J-Craft current fret ends:
J-Craft 20th Reissue fret-ends:
Fujigen fret work on an RG:
There are a few other aspects of the neck that have been slightly modified to make it up-to-par with more recent breakthroughs in guitar technology. For example, the neck is a five-piece maple now, with two one-millimeter bubinga wafers for the added strength that the original RG550’s could have benefitted from. All while maintaining the super-thin wizard profile.
The overall feel of the neck is so damned smooth and soft, your hand can’t help flying up the neck to the higher registers. No wonder the 80’s had so many shreddin-ass solos.
Hardware:
This is the next area I want to focus on. The RG 20th comes with black hardware. They broke out the original Edge tremolo system for this one.
Its zero point is a little bit more high-profile than the lo-pro series, but it adds a nostalgic charm to the guitar. So far it has proven to be a very sturdy trem and very comfy on the palm. (It also features the stud-lock system, to keep the bridge height from slipping).
The tuners are delux Gotohs with Rock-Solid™ String Posts. They have a 16:1 ratio and washers galore for tuning ease. The same you’d see on any higher end Ibanez such as a UV or Jem.
UV Tuners:
RG 20th Tuners:
Pickups and Electronics:
Now I was a bit worried about the pickups when I first ordered this guitar. Ibanez isn’t exactly known for the best stock pickups. The RG20th comes equipped with V1 and V2 humbuckers with an S1 single coil in the middle. I have been jamming them and honestly, I would say they aren’t too bad. I would definitely change them out for an EVO set or some EMGs (if I wanted to chance fucking up a numbered, limited edition guitar). But they have some nice qualities to them.
The tone is very sensitive. If you throw some gain on your sound and roll it from 0 to 10 it’ll even give you a wah effect.
This guitar is capable of a variety of sounds. But mainly it produces some killer metal tones, and is tailored to do so. Which makes Ryan a happy boy.
Dist Clip:
Clean Clip:
Construction and quality:
This guitar was made with fine attention to detail; or at least, mine was. The smallest details of the neck and body were taken care of. Instead of trying to explain these areas, here are some pics of what I’m trying to say:
Finish:
RG550’s had many different color choices back in the day. But lately, Ibanez hasn’t been hooking up the colors like they should be. The 550 reissues com in Road Flare Red, Black, and Desert Yellow.
Desert Yellow is a hard color to photograph to get it’s true shade. The best way to imagine it, if you haven’t already seen one up close and personal, is to imagine a brand new neon yellow highlighter pen, mixed with a hot yellow Lamborghini. It’s a really fun color, and it inspires you to play and write differently when you’re holding one.
It definitely stands out
:
Overall:
I’m super happy with this guitar. The way it plays, the way it sounds, and the way it looks. It can definitely hold it’s own against other top-shelf Ibbys. I’m going to give it a nine out of ten for all the reasons listed above. It could have had some extras, of course, to blow it over the top, but it is, after all, a production guitar. After getting it, playing it, and noodling around with for a while now, I’m still satisfied paying nine-hundred bones for it too.
Linear Mode
