Striking down in awe-inspiring fashion, the Ibanez RG550 is truly a guitar to make you look twice. As part of the Ibanez Genesis Collection, this powerful instrument carries with it some real impressive character – visibly and audibly.
This model, made in Japan, starts with a basswood body shaped in a double-cutaway form. The slender cutaways on this basswood evoke the aesthetics of generations past and their high-octane sounds and visuals. A five-piece maple and walnut neck joins the basswood to establish the basis of this guitar’s physical form. This neck, shaped in a Super Wizard profile, is smooth, fast, and effortlessly playable for blistering leads. A maple fingerboard bearing twenty-four Jumbo frets enters the fray to compound upon this total equation of playability and enhance the sum even further. Along with this, the fingerboard’s ultra-modern 16.9” radius opens up the field for players to let their most fiery licks fly. Between this RG550’s basswood, maple and walnut, this guitar is an instrument of seamless riffage and playability.
Tonally, this Japanese model comes to life with the addition of a unique pickup configuration. A V7 passive/ceramic humbucker and V8 passive/alnico humbucker are found in the neck and bridge positions, respectively, for unlocking raw humbucking tones with plenty of grit and heat. In the middle position, an S1 passive/alnico single coil pickup lands to add to the overall electronic mix of this guitar and expand its sonic spectrum for players seeking a more versatile pickup configuration. Together, these three pickups offer a diverse mix of tonality that barks and bites with the best of them while allowing space for nuance and character.
Further specifications on this RG550 work to enhance the minute details and playability of the overall experience. An Edge tremolo bridge appears on this model to offer exceptional tuning stability and expressive vibrato bends in playing while a locking nut works to stabilize intonation further across the full scale length. Gotoh tuning machines land at the headstock to solidify the stringing and tuning experience for this entire instrument.
For players seeking a truly fiery musical instrument, this Genesis Collection RG550 punches that exact ticket.
