# NGD - Ibanez RG2EX2



## Mr. Big Noodles (Jan 18, 2010)

I was looking for a cheap fixed bridge six recently and stumbled upon this thing on Craigslist. I picked it up, plus a Peavey Rage 158 (awesome, I know ), Boss DS-1, and Roadrunner gig bag, for $215. Granted, it's not the best guitar ever, but it is by no means a bad guitar. I might consider refinishing it at some point, maybe put a top on it, if I can justify the expense.

It's been raining, so these pics were taken with cloud cover. I'll take better pics when it's sunny out.











































The stock EMG designed pickups are ass, but those can be switched out. My gripe is the bridge. The RG2 EX2 was a Guitar Center limited edition, so I can only assume that it was not set up at GC, and that the guy I bought it from never did a setup himself. The action was way high when I brought it home, so I toyed around with the bridge and tweaked the neck relief. I got the bridge saddles low enough that it was playable, but the screws are way high and dig into my palm when I mute. I tried adjusting them to correct this, but decided that I'd better lay off until I get some more information on the hipshot style bridges, so the string heights look really mismatched right now. Anybody know how to sort this out?


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## Customisbetter (Jan 18, 2010)

AWESOME DEAL YO!

first things first, shim that neck so your saddles set higher, or file down the adjustment screws (thats what i did).


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## Cheesebuiscut (Jan 18, 2010)

Customisbetter said:


> file down the adjustment screws.



.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jan 18, 2010)

Customisbetter said:


> or file down the adjustment screws (thats what i did).



Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'm going to wait until I know the guitar a little better before I decide to shim the neck, though. Thanks!


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## Customisbetter (Jan 18, 2010)

Cheesebuiscut said:


> .



did you mean to write something and forgot?


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## potatohead (Jan 19, 2010)

That's super weird, I have an RGR421 with the same bridge and none of my saddles poke out even a little bit, let alone like that. In fact if I put the action quite high some of them might even come out the bottom. Both E strings also have a groove cut in the base plate of the bridge so they sit even lower. Maybe they redesigned the bridge or something, mine is a 2008 model. You could also find a fastener shop in town and I bet they would have those same allen screws, but shorter.

BTW, with some pickups, these things are great, especially for the dollar.


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## Apophis (Jan 19, 2010)

Congrats !!!!


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## Lethe (Jan 19, 2010)

Cool guitar, but you might want to check the intonation. The way the saddles are set, it's not very likely that the intonation is correct.

Check if the natural harmonic on the 12th fret is at the same pitch as the fretted note on the 12th fret.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jan 19, 2010)

Lethe said:


> Cool guitar, but you might want to check the intonation. The way the saddles are set, it's not very likely that the intonation is correct.
> 
> Check if the natural harmonic on the 12th fret is at the same pitch as the fretted note on the 12th fret.



It's actually spot on. I'm not using a strobe tuner or anything, but the intonation looks and sounds fine. Too bad I'll have to redo it when I change those screws.



potatohead said:


> That's super weird, I have an RGR421 with the same bridge and none of my saddles poke out even a little bit, let alone like that. In fact if I put the action quite high some of them might even come out the bottom. Both E strings also have a groove cut in the base plate of the bridge so they sit even lower. Maybe they redesigned the bridge or something, mine is a 2008 model. You could also find a fastener shop in town and I bet they would have those same allen screws, but shorter.
> 
> BTW, with some pickups, these things are great, especially for the dollar.



My theory is that Ibanez put extra long screws on this model so that they could weasel out of actually having to set up the guitar. 

I think these were made somewhere in the neighborhood of 2005-2007. The RG2EX2 is my first hipshot style guitar, so when I saw that, I went, "Woah, is this normal?" Considering how many users on this forum have 7321's and play metal, it seems like an appropriate place to ask about getting low action on a Hipshot without this screw problem.


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## Vletrmx (Jan 19, 2010)

Yeah, your best bets are to file down the saddle screws or shim the neck. A good check is to see if the extending portion (after the point where the neck joins the body) of the fretboard is parallel to the surface of the body. I had a similar problem to this on my Aria that was sorted out by inserting a shim at the neck joint. Good luck and congrats on the new purchase.


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## potatohead (Jan 19, 2010)

How high is the action with it like that? 

I said how my bridge is earlier, but I should point out my action is about 1.6 mm low E to 1.1 mm high e at the 12th fret. I guess if yours was super low that might explain some of the difference in the way the saddles are. I know with these 10 - 46 fixed guitars Ibanez factory specs are 2.3 - 1.7 mm (!!!) at the 14th.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jan 20, 2010)

potatohead said:


> How high is the action with it like that?
> 
> I said how my bridge is earlier, but I should point out my action is about 1.6 mm low E to 1.1 mm high e at the 12th fret. I guess if yours was super low that might explain some of the difference in the way the saddles are. I know with these 10 - 46 fixed guitars Ibanez factory specs are 2.3 - 1.7 mm (!!!) at the 14th.



To be honest, I have no clue what the action on any of my guitars is. I sort of eyeball it and adjust it according to feel. The low E at the twelfth fret right now is about 3mm, and the high E at the twelfth is a little under 2mm. Keep in mind that I raised the low E to compensate for the saddle screws; when I have time to work on this sucker, they'll both be about 2mm, probably a little lower on the unwound strings.


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## ShadyDavey (Jan 20, 2010)

Nice score dude - you could stick another bridge on there if you're after real comfort..the Schaller Hannes springs to mind  

Or you could file the screws, shim the neck, do a complete set-up...it's all good.


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## Harry (Jan 20, 2010)

Congrats, love that white finish man


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jan 20, 2010)

ShadyDavey said:


> Nice score dude - you could stick another bridge on there if you're after real comfort..the Schaller Hannes springs to mind
> 
> Or you could file the screws, shim the neck, do a complete set-up...it's all good.



I considered swapping the bridge. The reason I bought this guitar was to teach (I don't think new students would appreciate the wonders of extended range while trying to wrap their heads around six strings), and I might make it into a sort of project guitar. Just toying with ideas at the moment.


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## hypermagic (Jan 22, 2010)

Not sure of your opinions of actives but those new EMG X series cases look pretty awesome.


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## Rhoadkiller (Jan 22, 2010)

i have the same guitar, I changed pick ups, tuners and i did a whole set up on it. next thing im going to change is the bridge but idk which one


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jan 22, 2010)

hypermagic said:


> Not sure of your opinions of actives but those new EMG X series cases look pretty awesome.



I'm not going to put actives in this guitar, but those EMG's look nice. I'm thinking an X2N in the bridge, and an Evo in the neck, or I might look into BKP's.



Rhoadkiller said:


> i have the same guitar, I changed pick ups, tuners and i did a whole set up on it. next thing im going to change is the bridge but idk which one



Which pickups did you put in? I'm highly interested, as the stock ones really do suck.


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## lefty robb (Jan 22, 2010)

SchecterWhore said:


> To be honest, I have no clue what the action on any of my guitars is. I sort of eyeball it and adjust it according to feel. The low E at the twelfth fret right now is about 3mm, and the high E at the twelfth is a little under 2mm. Keep in mind that I raised the low E to compensate for the saddle screws; when I have time to work on this sucker, they'll both be about 2mm, probably a little lower on the unwound strings.




Wow, that's high, both of my Jem's are under 1mm @ 12 both strings.


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## jam3v (Jan 22, 2010)

lefty robb said:


> Wow, that's high, both of my Jem's are under 1mm @ 12 both strings.



2mm isn't high at all. 1mm is very very low. Of course it's all preference, but you'll run into issues with sustain and fretting out during bends with really low action on some guitars.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Jan 22, 2010)

lefty robb said:


> Wow, that's high, both of my Jem's are under 1mm @ 12 both strings.



Yeah high for you maybe, thats pretty average. Your the first person I've ever seen claim to have under 1mm. Most people with low action are over 1mm by a few cents.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jan 22, 2010)

I don't know if I could get it at 1mm without having to do a serious setup. Like I said, I normally don't measure my action. I get it where it is comfortable. Any lower, and I usually have fret buzz; any higher, and it feels like I'm playing slide.


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## potatohead (Jan 22, 2010)

Obviously on some higher end guitars I do think 1mm is definately possible, but even mine at 1.6 or so (low E) I get quite a bit of buzzing acoustically but it sounds ok through the amp. I moved it up to 2.2 or so and it sounded great but wasn't as nice to play, so it's sort of a give and take thing. Ibanez stock specs are pretty high, I played an RG1570 in the store the other day and you could fly a jet between the board and the strings. It also matters obviously how hard you pick.


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## lefty robb (Jan 22, 2010)

I was lucky enough to have Rich Harris set up my guitar


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## Shawn (Jan 25, 2010)

White guitars =  Nice score.


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## budda (Jan 25, 2010)

Shawn said:


> White guitars =  Nice score.



I agree.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jan 25, 2010)

Would it be really cheesy if I redid the white finish and put gold hardware in?


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## IbanezAllTheWay (Jun 1, 2012)

I bought the same guitar for like 350 dollars and it has the actual stock ibanez V7 neck pickup and ibanez V8 bridge pickup. I have all my string heights set the same not sure how high and all the screws in the back lined up. I also am getting ready to start using heavier gauge strings since I play mostly heavy metal and hard rock, but my setup works for me cause if i go any lower i would get tons of fret buzz and i have absolutely none.


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