Ibanez RGA121 - Review

[Steinmetzify]

Price paid: $500> (used)

Features:
Mahogany body
Maple top
5 piece maple/walnut neck w/AANJ neck joint - bolt on
17" radius
24 jumbo frets
Small pearl dot inlays
Gibraltar Plus bridge (hardtail)
Gotoh SG381 tuner

Sound:
What does it sound like? This sounds like the smaller hammer of God.....it's not a LP, and doesn't pretend to be. However, it IS a gnarly guitar with a mahog body and maple top with some sick pickups in it. I bought this used with a DiMarzio Deactivator in the bridge and a PAF Pro in the neck. I dig the fact that it's light but sounds and sustains like a much heavier guitar. I use this with an interface and a couple go to sims....the Mercuriall U530 and their Spark, and it sounds awesome. I use this for drop tuned metal....currently it's in drop B, for slower sludgy shit, but it's capable of much faster tones and tunes, no problem.

Feel, fit and finish:
This is no honeymoon shit, this is one of the best guitars I've played, and this is coming from a guy that owns multiple LPs, including an '89 Les Paul Custom and a custom built LP from a great luthier, not to mention a couple higher end LTDs and a few ESPs. Build quality is solid as fuck....it just FEELS like a solid guitar, from the second you pick it up. There's just nothing wrong. Neck is Barry Allen fast, action low as the Mole people.

Service & Reliability:
It's an Ibanez, if I have any issues I'll hit Rich at Ibanezrules.com and get dat shit sorted quick thanks very much.

Ease of use:
It's volume and tone plus a coil split. Don't fuck this up ya'll.

Overall:
This is a seriously great guitar....I discounted them because 'Ibanez have thin necks and that sucks'...I was wrong. This is a solid guitar for anyone looking for a deal. It sounds monstrous, once you upgrade the pickups. I've had a DiMarzio Deactivator and an SD Distortion in it, and it kills....the SD sounds like Sepultura's Roots tones......just big, hairy and thick. It's badass for doom and sludge, but you can get whatever you want out of this guitar, for real.

Pictures:

Wanted to throw this in because I couldn't find any comparison shots of the neck....first is the RGA, next is an ESP thin U, last is my GT custom with a baseball bat neck for sure:

Necks by Lord Funktfied, on Flickr
Necks by Lord Funktfied, on Flickr
Necks by Lord Funktfied, on Flickr
Untitled by Lord Funktfied, on Flickr

 

[Badronald]

I had two of these. They were pretty cool.
Congrats.

 

[Steinmetzify]

I had two of these. I really, really wanted them to work for me because it was an Ibanez without a trem. I found the neck weak (like most Ibanez guitars. I've had six) They ALWAYS went out of tune.
They both sounded thin recorded.

Sorry.

Gonna cut your pics for space, but really? I've had this thing almost a week and tuned it once, sounds anything but weak and/or thin to me:

https://app.box.com/files/0/f/0/1/f_156059108640

 

[slyym]

Dude that was one of my favorite guitars! I ended up pawning it for some stupid reason. Let me know if you ever want to get rid of it.

 

[s_swanson]

Cool guitar, I like it! One of my favorite guitars I've owned was an RG1570 Prestige, and I've actually been in the market for one of these RGA121's. I really like the Ibanez guitars, but I hate tremolo systems, so this seems like a pretty good option. There's several for sale on eBay and Reverb right now, but they'll be on sale forever, or at least until inflation catches up with the stupid prices they're asking for them.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Dude that was one of my favorite guitars! I ended up pawning it for some stupid reason. Let me know if you ever want to get rid of it.

Can do man!

Cool guitar, I like it! One of my favorite guitars I've owned was an RG1570 Prestige, and I've actually been in the market for one of these RGA121's. I really like the Ibanez guitars, but I hate tremolo systems, so this seems like a pretty good option. There's several for sale on eBay and Reverb right now, but they'll be on sale forever, or at least until inflation catches up with the stupid prices they're asking for them.

Dude, I hear you. I started looking around for another, and the ones on eBay are over a grand used, PLUS shipping from Japan! No way...

 

[GuitarGuyLP]

I had an rga121 for a number of years. Only thing that isn't awesome about it was the stock pickups. I only sold it for my EVH Wolfgang but they are both killer guitars. Mine was also the natural finish. Such a clean look

 

[jsp]

I never understood why they stopped making those.

 

[garey77]

I never understood why they stopped making those.

Probably 'cause they're hard to sell @ $900+.

 

[Steinmetzify]

I never understood why they stopped making those.

Probably 'cause they're hard to sell @ $900+.

Especially because most Ibby guys tend to be trem guys. Their hardtails are somewhat of a cult following. I know hardcore Ibby guys that seriously rave about these but only if they can get them for $600 or under.

 

[cardinal]

I had two of these. I really, really wanted them to work for me because it was an Ibanez without a trem. I found the neck weak (like most Ibanez guitars. I've had six) They ALWAYS went out of tune.
They both sounded thin recorded.

Sorry.

Gonna cut your pics for space, but really? I've had this thing almost a week and tuned it once, sounds anything but weak and/or thin to me:

https://app.box.com/files/0/f/0/1/f_156059108640

I've had probably over a dozen Japanese Ibanez guitars over the years. Even the one with a broken neck still held tuning perfectly. I'll say that I've never had one that sounds as girthy as a Les Paul, but I've also never run into tone troubles that couldn't be dialed in with a few twists of the amp's knobs.

I'm a big Ibanez fan.