RG520QS Review

Basic RG shape, 24 jumbo frets, mahogany, transparent blue with a green under coat, Floyd Rose licenced dual locking tremolo, 1 volume and 1 tone control, passive humbuckers, V7 in neck and V8 in bridge, 3-way selector switch and a wizard neck.

Price paid: $ 500

Purchased from: ebay

Features: Original edge tremelo and locking nut, 24 jumbo fret, wizard neck(maple with a stripe of bubinga? wood), mahogany body, quilt sapele top (blue on mine). Standard rg body. 5-way selector 1 volume and 1 tone, gotoh tuners. Pickup config: HH normally v8 and v7 I think, but mine has DiMarzio evolution and paf pro. Came with hardshell case and trem arm. // 10
Sound: I play mostly rock including metal, classic rock, and instrumental rock and some jazz. The pickups are both very defined and punchy. The neck pickup (paf pro satriani's old neck pu) is not muddy at all and is great for clean and keeping articulate under distortion. The evolution of course is one of Vai's pickups. It is very hot and is great for leads as well as crunchy stuff. I play through a 6505 combo; it has huge and fantastic distortion. Though that amp is much too loud so I usually play my little 30w Behringer. The pickups and electronics are fairly quite for passives. I can get uber distorted rhythem on the bridge pu. It is hot but not sort of screechy. Chords on the neck pu are very fat and open. note that these are aftermarket dimarzios, not stock and I don't really know what the stock pickups sound like so caveat emptor.

Action, Fit & Finish: The action was ridiculously low compared to my old prs SE Custom. Of course the floyd style trem requires a fairly large amount of maintenance and adjustment as per usual. The previous owner had left some buzz on the low e string which I had to fix. The neck was basically as straight as I wanted it. Of course a lot of set up is personal choice. The wizard neck feels like butter compared to my relatively fat and sticky prs SE Custom's neck. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I think the guitar will stand Live playing. My old prs se was like a rock in this regard and I played on stage on several occasions. This new guitar feels slightly less solid I'll admit. Maybe it's just a feeling though and I will definite take it on stage(with my old guitar backup of course) soon. All the hardware feels solid. it's already an 8 year old guitar and the finish still looks great so I hope that's a sign of it's durability. With proper set up the Edge tremelo can go crazy and come back in tune much much better than I even had anticipated. With my Prs se's(trem version) crappy tuning stability I am much relieved at this new guitars trem system. // 8

Impression: I tried a bunch of guitars at guitar center and my local shop and I really liked the Ibanez ones. So like my 6505, I went to ebay to try find a nice deal on a made in japan Ibanez et voila I found this masterpiece. This guitar matches my lead playing style fantastically. Unfortunately, as with all Floyd Rose guitars, you have to go through lots of time and anguish to change the tuning and strings as well I guess. So I'll keep my prs se permanently downtuned for metal songs. If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely get this guitar or a similar made in japan Ibanez, perhaps a rgt or s series prestige if I had the money. I wish it had more a tiny bit more sustain and the Floyd Rose style trem were easier to deal with. Many of the flaws are inherent to all Floyd Rose style trem guitars so you can't really blame this guitar for it. But the freedom and tuning stability offered by the floyd are worth it imo. Of course not floyd style trems are made equal so watch out. There are a lot of online resources in addition to your local luthier to help with the trem system which can be difficult for people new to it. My favorite thing about it is the playability, which is of utmost importance to me. Despite it's shortcomings, the edge tremelo offers amazing feel and sounds, with the various tricks that can be performed on it. This is a no gimmicks or super special features, player's guitar.