As much a I love Ibanez, their prices are kinda ridiculous as of late. Same goes for a lot of brands. At this point it's getting cheaper to just get a Balaguer or a Kiesel where you can get exactly what you want. I'm saving for my Aristides.
I can't really agree about their prices being ridiculous. Out of all of the bigger name brands, Ibanez is absolutely unbeatable in the low-to-mid range guitars ($250-$1,000) market. The prices are fair, but they tend to be much better "bang for your buck" guitars when compared to the comparably priced competition. But, I will agree that once you get over that price range, their prices start to become hard to justify. I've played a few of their $1500-$2,000 guitars recently, and even though they absolutely _are_ objectively better, they aren't "double the price" better. And also, while those prices are uncalled for as it is, oddly, they're usually still notably cheaper than a lot of the comparably equipped offerings from brands like ESP, Jackson, Schecter, etc.
There's an RGD of similar price with a Floyd rose that I half thought of getting but in the end didn't try as I wanted something with an Evertune Bridge. This looks like a great guitar and this was an excellent revue again from you pal, quality video again!
I know the one you mean, slightly different stain on the wood but same Richlite top. I'm not much of a tremolo guy so would have chosen the same. Funnily enough the next guitar I'm currently reviewing has an Evertune 👀. Thanks so much for the kind words and for watching!
I had a 2127z Prestige like ten years ago and it was the most impressive guitar I ever played. The edge zero trem was flawless from what I can tell and I'm sad I traded it in. Best damn guitar for me ever. I've had 40 and it was my top pick and I've had a good few USA made fenders and the Iibanez blew them away ;)
I bought the RGDR4327-NTF in early 2020 which is basically the trem-version of this guitar at the recommended price. I did so because I am familiar with Ibanez's Wizard necks and in terms of playabilty and feel, there is just nothing that can beat this for me personally and as a classically trained musician, I can not tolerate poor workmanship in an instrument. A big bonus is that the hardware case is also included. When I was looking for a 7-string during the mentioned time, all the shops where closed due to C and I was willing to pay more for an instrument which I feel comfortable buying "blind" and would have a lower probability to be sent back... However - after unpacking - I actually almost did feel to send it back - although the craftsmanship was perfect as expected - the setup that the instrument left the factory was a disgracing disappointment for an Ibanez in the Prestige category. Also the 7th string had a lot of fret-buzz - like most of the cheap guitars have - although factory-tuned down to A Standard - it was actually set up for Standard B - but that is not what I aimed for as I wanted this guitar to cover everything including Baritone range. So I did use the tool to adjust the truss rod and managed to eliminate most of the buzz - but the string hight adversly affected playability. Also the bridge was not properly set up - needed to retune all of the octaves on the Lo Pro. I found the 7-th to be extremely pitch sensitive. So even with the quality components - this actually felt compromised and sucked - I would have expected differently - a guitar such as this should leave the factory perfectly set up for the tuning advertised! I incremently started increasing the string gauge of the 7-String and did find improvement - and finally ended up getting a light/heavy six string set (10/13/17/32/42/52) plus ended up with a 72 for the 7th after things started to drasticly improve after testing a 64. With this string gauge, I was able to adjust the truss rod back to about default state and had increased the tension in the trem spings accordingly - this was only possible, by actually buying shorter screws for the spring claw. The string hight was now back to where it should be with buzz eliminated and the guitar now plays perfectly in-tune with a 7th string that behaves and sounds consistent like the rest - now it finally feels balanced and sounds amazing and I am now really happy with this guitar. The stock pickups actually sounded fine for now - I bought a new pot and added a coil spilt for more sound versatility - pickup selector in the center and splitting both the coils makes a very nice airy tone for cleans while still eliminating hum. Changing those pickups however is still a future option - probably other DiMarzios or BareKnuckle.
Tbh the only time I ever get a brand new guitar with a good setup is if an Independent shop/retailer has checked it over first before shipping it to me. Even with the titanium rods in the neck on these Prestiges there is so much enviromental shifting that can happen in storage and transit with a wooden product that even leaving the factory well setup is no guarantee it will arrive to you in that same state. Funny you mention about the bareknuckles as I have just reviewed the more affordable version of this guitar on my channel (RGD71ALPA) which came with BK Aftermaths and they were wild! Crazy headroom and midrange push.
Thanks for all this. I have the exact same guitar, completely stock except for the setup and also a re-tune to standard, by a pro. Absolutely love it, including for the Fusion Edge pickups it came with.
This is my first brand new, high end guitar I got back in June 2021. I payed a few 100 dollars less than the full price but I plan on keeping it forever anyway. I might change the Fusion Edges out soon, definitely looking forward to see what Ibanez does with the 5000 Series RGD7s. I hope it's another RGDR7.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial Was gonna get EMG 57-7Hs but I really like how these Jeff Loomis Blackouts sound more, so I'll probably end up going with the Blackouts.
@@k5elevencinc0 Love the 57/66 set! Such a nicely balanced set of pickups. I have them in my Legator N6X. The Loomis bridge is absolutely insanely high output like more so than any EMG so just be prepared to manage that with gating/attenuation. Great pickups otherwise though and the Neck clean sound is extremely unique almost single coil like.
I look at this, then I look at the Q547, and then back to this, and then I look on reverb for used gear 🥲. If a guitar had music in it though, there's no price on that. It is weird though that some offering cheaper in ibanezs' line up have stainless steel or evo gold frets, or better appointments when the more expensive ones get left in the dust, great vid as always!
I've had my RGD4427FX for just over week now. it has rendered other 7 string guitars almost irrelevant for me to be completely honest. I've installed the passive mount Seymour Duncan Retributions in mine. They drop straight into the cavities no worries btw, just needed to fill in and re-drill screw holes for them. This guitar is truly outstanding. Cheers from Australia!
Ah, a man after my own heart! The Retributions are my favourite 7 String pickup of all time. I'm actually thinking about swapping a Bridge pickup version into this guitar but keeping the Loomis neck pickup. Just need to investigate if there could be any wiring issues but I'm hoping it's just plug and play?
Just check that the pin layout on the connectors are the same on both pickups. It should be no trouble mate. I'd recommend putting the Retribution set in because as a set they have lower output as a whole than the Loomis blackouts. being lower output active pickups is something that makes the retributions unique.
Great review man, told you so about the Ibanez prestige line over the last 5 ish years. I have excactly the same opinion about those fusion edge pickups btw....nothing special thats why I always yank a set of Fishmans in it.
Yeah dude I reviewed the affordable equivalent of this (Axion label) on the channel a couple weeks later and the Bare Knuckles in that blew these away!
Incredible review man! I’ve got the exact same guitar and dig it! I am wanting to swap the stock pickups for Bareknuckle Impulses. Would they be compatible with the particular routing of this guitar? Cheers 🙏🏽🤘🏾
Thanks man! Even though I have taken measurements etc in the past I have never been able to directly swap to different makes of Soapbar type pickups without having to do at least a tiny bit of extra routing. You may well be fine but unfortunately it's a bit of a lottery!
I just found your channel bro and subscribed. it is a very informative channel regarding gear and guitar review especially. I like the way you spend time on details to create very informative long video which I personally like. please keep up the fantastic work brother.
Very kind comments mate thank you very much! I do my best to create videos "my way" which is more like I'm making a short film of 15/20mins escapism into the world of music. Glad you enjoy!
Dude I love the look and simplicity yet elegant style of that guitar I'm just not into 7 strings. I will say these tones you had though with the Loomis set may be the best I've heard on your channel. Awesome playing 🤘 enjoy the 🎸
Thank you mate! Have you owned a 7 String out of interest? I spent a while with one and was a little indifferent then I tried alternative tunings and absolutely love 7 now and play it more than anything else. I tune AEADGbBB low to high.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial no I have not but the models I seeing you try is getting me interested in 7 strings to be honest lol.... So yes the 7 thing is growing on me. James is influencing me..... James 🤘🤣I really appreciate all your reviews especially lately.... Tried the headrush prime and loved the operation of it etc just like the rest... But had many bugs n glitches .. the guitar input was being weird. Had two units. Had one returned for another. Bugs and glitches on both.. they will iron out the bugs soon I hope so I went to the dark side and bought a Helix. Works perfectly. Especially with the new cab engine . Have a blessed day mate I owe you a beer 🍻 one day brother 😎👊
@@JamesFlorio-ti8gc I started with my 7 String journey with a £300 second hand Jackson so you dont have to blow a wedge to dip your toe in the water :-D. That sucks about the HR Prime its definitely a flawed gem at the moment. Checkout my Ambient Devin Townsed Clean patch for Helix Video on the channel theres a free download for it included. Thanks so much for the support!!
Another great video dude!! That Loomis set sounds fantastic clean, but couldn't hear much of a difference under high gain. I still need to check out the headrush review haha. Anyways, keep it up! Really glad to see you're making regular uploads again :D
Thank you mate grateful to have your ongoing support good to see your name in comments again! I'm working to a schedule of releasing a video every other week at the moment.
Thank you for watching! Do you mean the Richlite top? It's bonded to the body so likely a right bugger to replace. I'm going to try touching in the dent I've made with a navy blue permanent marker.... bad idea? 🤣
Honestly I feel its 2k cuz they saw that Adam from Lorna Shore uses a modified one live/studio and since they've been on the rise ever since Will Ramos joined in so it was easy to capitalize on the gain.
Great demo! Tried out the Floyd version yesterday (it came home with me!) but I was shocked at how much more meat the neck has than the super wizards which I’ve not gone on with in the past. In fact the Charvel DK24-7 Nova is much more Ibanez wizard than this guitar!
I got this guitar last year and paid the full price for it and i have absolutely no regrets with it. I have exactly the same opinion as you mentioned in the review except for the fact you didn't give enough credit to the original Pickups. If I understood correctly you got this guitar with a different set of pickups, maybe you didn't gave enough time to enjoy the Fusion Edge 7. They are not in the same league as EMG 81, FF or SM active pickups, the Fusion Edge 7 are passive pickups, but my guess is that they were designed for Ibanez as a kind of a neutral/balanced PU for different sort of players. They are not the typical Metalcore style active PUs but imo they do a good job. Still i agree with you it's the only negative thing I have to say about this guitar. Everything else, as you mentioned, the touch, the feel and the frets are top of the line. It way better than any Fender or Gibson i've tried so far. The guitar unplugged has an amazing sustain and acoustic that it's represented when you plug into a real amp. This Ibanez is the best guitar I own and it's for sure a keeper. I might replace the pickups, because im mostly a Metal guy and i really like active PUs but everything else i will leave it as it is. Great honest review, great playing, keep it going... :)
True I didn't keep the Dimarzios in long but that's mainly because I have owned 2 other Ibanez models with them in so have a lot of experience with them. For anything other than Metal they do a decent enough job like you said just nothing special. Had I not had the Loomis set I would have likely stuck with passives and gone with an SD Pegasus/Sentient set. Totally agree about the resonance and acoustic quality of this guitar. It's addictive! Glad you enjoy the videos thank you for the kind comments. New review dropping tomorrow 😁🎸
It sounds like you've compared pickups with stock strings, while Dimarzio were installed, and fresh set of strings while SD's. Fusion Edges with a fresh set of strings are nothing like that, they're way brighter. I have them in my RGDIX7 and they're lotsa saturated, screamy and clear than even Lundgren M8 in my other guitar.
I bought the version with the Lo pro and have to say I am very happy with it. It took a little while to set up and the action was a little high but I found myself liking it a little keeping it down it drop g. The stock pickups sucked but I EQ'd it a bit and made it sound a lot better. The build quality was fantastic and the feel of playing it is phenomenal. I do definitely think that the hardware should be better, though.
Thank you so much for this thorough review! I have the version with the FusionEdge pickups, so actually will swap the pickups for SD Pegasus/Sentient today! This is an expensive guitar indeed, and there are a few things I don't like, mostly the position of the pickup selector. I am not a particularly agressive type of player, but it happened that I accidentally changed pickup by getting into the selector. Otherwise, it's a fine, light and IMHO nice-looking 7-string guitar! Thanks again for the review, very insightful
I hear you and I think the issue could also be that the travel on the pickup selector switch is ultra short so can move without you realising. The SD Pegasus set would incidentally have been my choice too had I not had the Loomis set on hand. Such a nicely balanced sounding set of pickups. Thanks for watching!
I could definitely I could definitely tell the difference and I could see why you switched those original ones out for the ones that you had there's a definite difference I mean you could tell if you really have a trained ear and a train sound and you've been playing guitars for a long time or you just have that Knack you could if you really close your eyes and just really focus you can hear the different tone and the different things and the setup is a little bit different in both of them they both have their own little unique sound but if you really have to have to really focus on it and and you can actually hear it if I had this guitar I would do the same thing and change out the pickups
I recently paid 1400€ for a 5-string Ibanez fan-fret bass. That was the last money Ibanez are ever getting from me. The frets are so sharp they cut my skin. The finish is "holy", meaning not the entire surface is smooth but there are holes where no filler was applied. There are blemishes from building like scratches around the fretboard inlays or over-rounded edges. There are 2 or 3 deep scratches on the back of the neck. (Brand new instrument, never before opened.) Also one of the knobs is scratchy. All this fun would be OK in a 300€ bass, but not in on that costs nearly 5x that. It's ridiculous. They'll never see another cent from me.
im actually looking at getting th model with the floating bridge, mahogany body and black richlite top, for about $3500 cad lol. kinda pricey, but something i’ve saved for for a year and a half at least
The Loomis neck pickup is voiced in an extremely unique way it sounds unlike any other humbucker i've ever used! closer to a Strat/Single Coil type sound if anything.
My Ibanez PS10 (Prestige) is in the same price range; great guitar but not worth 3x the price of my Ibanez PS120; the PS120 is worth 3x the price of my PS60's. Very pleased with my Ibanez guitars, and Jackson guitars; around the US $1000 price, many very good guitars from both companies. IMO. edit: to be clear, the PS10 is impeccable; you really can see the craftsmanship and attention to detail, but when playing the guitar vs my PS120, those fine details aren't noticeable, to me. None of my PS guitars, or Jackson X series, will leave my possession any time soon. That said, I think if you find an Ibanez model that works for you, it's well worth considering the Prestige model. I have an Ibanez Q52, if they make a Prestige version with a trem, I will buy one. Cheers!
Weird how the lower spec Axion has way, way better pickups and at half the price. Love the look of this guitar and pretty much everything about it, except for those damn pickups. So when you take into consideration the price of this thing, then add the price of pickups on top of that, the only reasonable conclusion is to get the Ormsby Dino Cazares signature instead lol.
Could well be. Honestly I'm not bothered about stainless frets as I mentioned in the video however they seem to be becoming an industry standard expectation from buyers at a certain price point.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial ya I was just a little late on this one. The uppercut rgd is another that was killer! And it did have ss frets, BK pups, it was spec’d out
I love these but man.... reason I never bought them is because I hate dimarzio fusion edge pickups. Give it to me for 1400 and let me throw lundgren m7s in it. I went with the schecter TAO 7 for just over 1k US pickups are so good I didn't swap them like I do everything else. Imo I'd take that new black jackson pro modern plus over this because I know I can get that for like 1k and actually take it out of the house. But seriously I still absolutely love this and the blue one
Definitely want to review the new TAO, the pickups in it sound very close to Bareknuckles from video clips ive watched. I have just reviewed the more affordable version of this guitar on my channel (RGD71ALPA) which came with BK Aftermaths and they were wild! Crazy headroom and midrange push.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial unfortunately when a reverb guitar is imported to Mexico, I have to pay the taxes as it was new and the final price tag increase too much
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial Cort are made in south Korea....don't know it you would see ibanez coming from that assembly line, but you would see strandbergs coming out of there... another overpriced guitar;
@@davidp6007 I believe Cort are also made in Indonesia which is the same factory the Indo Ibanez models are made in. I reviewed the Indonesian made KX300 on this channel and it was great!
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial you are right, sorry mate! I forgot that one ...indo is basically putting out most of 'normal' and very decent guitars - l have a few! -...unless one pays absurd money for European made stuff. I personally think that Korean made - I have a few of those too - are the best quality. Thanks and apologies for wrong info 👽🤘
Ibanez's design choices sometimes make absolutely no sense. They're still making guitars in the $1000 mark with a plastic nut. It's a $10 part, if that. Give me a fucking break. And at least for me the Fusion Edge pickups sound like butt. Not the worst pickup in the world but at that price point, just..no. Especially on a Prestige. And this is coming from an Ibanez fan. I have / had several. Love how they play but sometimes I wanna slap whoever comes up with some of their specs. Some of their Prestige models fortunately are starting to come with Stainless Steel frets but yeah nickel is a dealbreaker for me at that price point.
I'll let you in on a secret, the next video after tomorrow's is a follow-up to this review looking at an £1100 Axion Label and seeing how they stack up in comparison. It STILL has a plastic nut 🙈
there are also several spots of wax absence on the head of my Ibanez Prestige rgdr4427FX and several knots on the neck. bad job ibanez - never more. shity pick-ups, bad finish on your high end guitar - so sad... they used to make apex superb guitars and now they are manufacturing this shit(((
"WHY IS THIS GUITAR 2K?" Oh that's simple.. Because guitar players; are Stupid Enough to pay it; So there ya go. No need to thank me.. Answering this was my pleasure
In today's climate 2k isn't that bad, but knowing that there were brand new prestige 7s for under 1500 not long ago really puts it all in perspective.
hi! could you tell me someinthst price range to take a look at them? thanks
just get them second hand ;)
@@W4rriorOfLight here in Mexico are about 2.5k second hand, and 3-3.5k brand new. F&ck taxes
@@roccanto86 not just the taxes the economy in South American countries are fvcked that's why the prices are so high + inflation etc.
That was such a high quality review! Great job, you earned a new subscriber :)
Thank you so much welcome to the channel!
As much a I love Ibanez, their prices are kinda ridiculous as of late. Same goes for a lot of brands. At this point it's getting cheaper to just get a Balaguer or a Kiesel where you can get exactly what you want. I'm saving for my Aristides.
Aristides paint finishes have me absolutely drooling, just not overly keen on their body shapes.
I can't really agree about their prices being ridiculous. Out of all of the bigger name brands, Ibanez is absolutely unbeatable in the low-to-mid range guitars ($250-$1,000) market. The prices are fair, but they tend to be much better "bang for your buck" guitars when compared to the comparably priced competition.
But, I will agree that once you get over that price range, their prices start to become hard to justify. I've played a few of their $1500-$2,000 guitars recently, and even though they absolutely _are_ objectively better, they aren't "double the price" better. And also, while those prices are uncalled for as it is, oddly, they're usually still notably cheaper than a lot of the comparably equipped offerings from brands like ESP, Jackson, Schecter, etc.
There's an RGD of similar price with a Floyd rose that I half thought of getting but in the end didn't try as I wanted something with an Evertune Bridge. This looks like a great guitar and this was an excellent revue again from you pal, quality video again!
I know the one you mean, slightly different stain on the wood but same Richlite top. I'm not much of a tremolo guy so would have chosen the same. Funnily enough the next guitar I'm currently reviewing has an Evertune 👀. Thanks so much for the kind words and for watching!
just look on to new rgdr4527 - Evertune + fishmans
I had a 2127z Prestige like ten years ago and it was the most impressive guitar I ever played. The edge zero trem was flawless from what I can tell and I'm sad I traded it in. Best damn guitar for me ever. I've had 40 and it was my top pick and I've had a good few USA made fenders and the Iibanez blew them away ;)
We all have that one that got away! For me it was a matte purple LTD Stefan Carpenter signature.
I did the same mistake and i sold It. Impressive Guitar. I'm going now to order an RG 2027xl
The pickup change was a good choice, especially in clean. But it's over priced, there are better options in that case! Rock on James!🤘🔥
The Loomis set is so unique! The Neck pickup is unlike anything i've ever used, like a full bodied single coil almost. Thanks for watching!
I would still pick that ibanez over those other "options". That ibanez guitar is a beast.I would only choose a J custom over it.
I went with Schecter Evil Twin 7. Stainless steel frets, Fishman pickups, and the open pore neck is amazing. Best $1400 I've ever spent
Great guitars! I've owned a 6 string of that same model. I do prefer the neck profile of the Ibanez but still a killer guitar.
@ChilledGuitarReviews I agree 100%. The neck is a little more c shape than I'm used to, but it's really easy to play.
I bought the RGDR4327-NTF in early 2020 which is basically the trem-version of this guitar at the recommended price. I did so because I am familiar with Ibanez's Wizard necks and in terms of playabilty and feel, there is just nothing that can beat this for me personally and as a classically trained musician, I can not tolerate poor workmanship in an instrument. A big bonus is that the hardware case is also included. When I was looking for a 7-string during the mentioned time, all the shops where closed due to C and I was willing to pay more for an instrument which I feel comfortable buying "blind" and would have a lower probability to be sent back...
However - after unpacking - I actually almost did feel to send it back - although the craftsmanship was perfect as expected - the setup that the instrument left the factory was a disgracing disappointment for an Ibanez in the Prestige category. Also the 7th string had a lot of fret-buzz - like most of the cheap guitars have - although factory-tuned down to A Standard - it was actually set up for Standard B - but that is not what I aimed for as I wanted this guitar to cover everything including Baritone range. So I did use the tool to adjust the truss rod and managed to eliminate most of the buzz - but the string hight adversly affected playability. Also the bridge was not properly set up - needed to retune all of the octaves on the Lo Pro. I found the 7-th to be extremely pitch sensitive. So even with the quality components - this actually felt compromised and sucked - I would have expected differently - a guitar such as this should leave the factory perfectly set up for the tuning advertised!
I incremently started increasing the string gauge of the 7-String and did find improvement - and finally ended up getting a light/heavy six string set (10/13/17/32/42/52) plus ended up with a 72 for the 7th after things started to drasticly improve after testing a 64. With this string gauge, I was able to adjust the truss rod back to about default state and had increased the tension in the trem spings accordingly - this was only possible, by actually buying shorter screws for the spring claw. The string hight was now back to where it should be with buzz eliminated and the guitar now plays perfectly in-tune with a 7th string that behaves and sounds consistent like the rest - now it finally feels balanced and sounds amazing and I am now really happy with this guitar.
The stock pickups actually sounded fine for now - I bought a new pot and added a coil spilt for more sound versatility - pickup selector in the center and splitting both the coils makes a very nice airy tone for cleans while still eliminating hum. Changing those pickups however is still a future option - probably other DiMarzios or BareKnuckle.
Tbh the only time I ever get a brand new guitar with a good setup is if an Independent shop/retailer has checked it over first before shipping it to me. Even with the titanium rods in the neck on these Prestiges there is so much enviromental shifting that can happen in storage and transit with a wooden product that even leaving the factory well setup is no guarantee it will arrive to you in that same state. Funny you mention about the bareknuckles as I have just reviewed the more affordable version of this guitar on my channel (RGD71ALPA) which came with BK Aftermaths and they were wild! Crazy headroom and midrange push.
Thanks for all this. I have the exact same guitar, completely stock except for the setup and also a re-tune to standard, by a pro. Absolutely love it, including for the Fusion Edge pickups it came with.
Always here for the guitar reviews! Nice one!
Appreciate it thank you for watching!
Beautiful guitar. I wish i could afford one and play it
They are surprisingly affordable second hand!
This is my first brand new, high end guitar I got back in June 2021. I payed a few 100 dollars less than the full price but I plan on keeping it forever anyway. I might change the Fusion Edges out soon, definitely looking forward to see what Ibanez does with the 5000 Series RGD7s. I hope it's another RGDR7.
What pickups would you consider swapping them with?
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial Was gonna get EMG 57-7Hs but I really like how these Jeff Loomis Blackouts sound more, so I'll probably end up going with the Blackouts.
@@k5elevencinc0 Love the 57/66 set! Such a nicely balanced set of pickups. I have them in my Legator N6X. The Loomis bridge is absolutely insanely high output like more so than any EMG so just be prepared to manage that with gating/attenuation. Great pickups otherwise though and the Neck clean sound is extremely unique almost single coil like.
i just saw that this guitar is available now with an evertune bridge and fishman modern pickups. i might get one now
I look at this, then I look at the Q547, and then back to this, and then I look on reverb for used gear 🥲. If a guitar had music in it though, there's no price on that. It is weird though that some offering cheaper in ibanezs' line up have stainless steel or evo gold frets, or better appointments when the more expensive ones get left in the dust, great vid as always!
I've had my RGD4427FX for just over week now. it has rendered other 7 string guitars almost irrelevant for me to be completely honest. I've installed the passive mount Seymour Duncan Retributions in mine. They drop straight into the cavities no worries btw, just needed to fill in and re-drill screw holes for them. This guitar is truly outstanding. Cheers from Australia!
Ah, a man after my own heart! The Retributions are my favourite 7 String pickup of all time. I'm actually thinking about swapping a Bridge pickup version into this guitar but keeping the Loomis neck pickup. Just need to investigate if there could be any wiring issues but I'm hoping it's just plug and play?
Just check that the pin layout on the connectors are the same on both pickups. It should be no trouble mate. I'd recommend putting the Retribution set in because as a set they have lower output as a whole than the Loomis blackouts. being lower output active pickups is something that makes the retributions unique.
Great review man, told you so about the Ibanez prestige line over the last 5 ish years. I have excactly the same opinion about those fusion edge pickups btw....nothing special thats why I always yank a set of Fishmans in it.
Yeah dude I reviewed the affordable equivalent of this (Axion label) on the channel a couple weeks later and the Bare Knuckles in that blew these away!
Incredible review man! I’ve got the exact same guitar and dig it! I am wanting to swap the stock pickups for Bareknuckle Impulses. Would they be compatible with the particular routing of this guitar?
Cheers 🙏🏽🤘🏾
Thanks man! Even though I have taken measurements etc in the past I have never been able to directly swap to different makes of Soapbar type pickups without having to do at least a tiny bit of extra routing. You may well be fine but unfortunately it's a bit of a lottery!
I just found your channel bro and subscribed. it is a very informative channel regarding gear and guitar review especially. I like the way you spend time on details to create very informative long video which I personally like. please keep up the fantastic work brother.
Very kind comments mate thank you very much! I do my best to create videos "my way" which is more like I'm making a short film of 15/20mins escapism into the world of music. Glad you enjoy!
Dude I love the look and simplicity yet elegant style of that guitar I'm just not into 7 strings. I will say these tones you had though with the Loomis set may be the best I've heard on your channel. Awesome playing 🤘 enjoy the 🎸
Thank you mate! Have you owned a 7 String out of interest? I spent a while with one and was a little indifferent then I tried alternative tunings and absolutely love 7 now and play it more than anything else. I tune AEADGbBB low to high.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial no I have not but the models I seeing you try is getting me interested in 7 strings to be honest lol.... So yes the 7 thing is growing on me. James is influencing me..... James 🤘🤣I really appreciate all your reviews especially lately.... Tried the headrush prime and loved the operation of it etc just like the rest... But had many bugs n glitches .. the guitar input was being weird. Had two units. Had one returned for another. Bugs and glitches on both.. they will iron out the bugs soon I hope so I went to the dark side and bought a Helix. Works perfectly. Especially with the new cab engine . Have a blessed day mate I owe you a beer 🍻 one day brother 😎👊
@@JamesFlorio-ti8gc I started with my 7 String journey with a £300 second hand Jackson so you dont have to blow a wedge to dip your toe in the water :-D. That sucks about the HR Prime its definitely a flawed gem at the moment. Checkout my Ambient Devin Townsed Clean patch for Helix Video on the channel theres a free download for it included. Thanks so much for the support!!
Another great video dude!! That Loomis set sounds fantastic clean, but couldn't hear much of a difference under high gain. I still need to check out the headrush review haha. Anyways, keep it up! Really glad to see you're making regular uploads again :D
Thank you mate grateful to have your ongoing support good to see your name in comments again! I'm working to a schedule of releasing a video every other week at the moment.
Thanks for another thorough and honest review.
How much is it for a top that fits the body?
Thank you for watching! Do you mean the Richlite top? It's bonded to the body so likely a right bugger to replace. I'm going to try touching in the dent I've made with a navy blue permanent marker.... bad idea? 🤣
Honestly I feel its 2k cuz they saw that Adam from Lorna Shore uses a modified one live/studio and since they've been on the rise ever since Will Ramos joined in so it was easy to capitalize on the gain.
I just googled him and you're right! He's using a slight variation of this model with a Floyd, the RGDR427-NTF.
Another amazing video!👏🏽
Thank you for watching!
Great demo! Tried out the Floyd version yesterday (it came home with me!) but I was shocked at how much more meat the neck has than the super wizards which I’ve not gone on with in the past. In fact the Charvel DK24-7 Nova is much more Ibanez wizard than this guitar!
I got this guitar last year and paid the full price for it and i have absolutely no regrets with it. I have exactly the same opinion as you mentioned in the review except for the fact you didn't give enough credit to the original Pickups. If I understood correctly you got this guitar with a different set of pickups, maybe you didn't gave enough time to enjoy the Fusion Edge 7. They are not in the same league as EMG 81, FF or SM active pickups, the Fusion Edge 7 are passive pickups, but my guess is that they were designed for Ibanez as a kind of a neutral/balanced PU for different sort of players. They are not the typical Metalcore style active PUs but imo they do a good job. Still i agree with you it's the only negative thing I have to say about this guitar.
Everything else, as you mentioned, the touch, the feel and the frets are top of the line. It way better than any Fender or Gibson i've tried so far. The guitar unplugged has an amazing sustain and acoustic that it's represented when you plug into a real amp. This Ibanez is the best guitar I own and it's for sure a keeper.
I might replace the pickups, because im mostly a Metal guy and i really like active PUs but everything else i will leave it as it is.
Great honest review, great playing, keep it going... :)
True I didn't keep the Dimarzios in long but that's mainly because I have owned 2 other Ibanez models with them in so have a lot of experience with them. For anything other than Metal they do a decent enough job like you said just nothing special. Had I not had the Loomis set I would have likely stuck with passives and gone with an SD Pegasus/Sentient set. Totally agree about the resonance and acoustic quality of this guitar. It's addictive! Glad you enjoy the videos thank you for the kind comments. New review dropping tomorrow 😁🎸
nice guitar!! nice vid but i think your posture while playing could be better though !
You should see my posture when I'm not playing,
It sounds like you've compared pickups with stock strings, while Dimarzio were installed, and fresh set of strings while SD's. Fusion Edges with a fresh set of strings are nothing like that, they're way brighter. I have them in my RGDIX7 and they're lotsa saturated, screamy and clear than even Lundgren M8 in my other guitar.
I bought the version with the Lo pro and have to say I am very happy with it. It took a little while to set up and the action was a little high but I found myself liking it a little keeping it down it drop g. The stock pickups sucked but I EQ'd it a bit and made it sound a lot better. The build quality was fantastic and the feel of playing it is phenomenal. I do definitely think that the hardware should be better, though.
Drop G! 😳😳😳 Did you have to do much work getting the Floyd to sit right?
Thank you so much for this thorough review! I have the version with the FusionEdge pickups, so actually will swap the pickups for SD Pegasus/Sentient today! This is an expensive guitar indeed, and there are a few things I don't like, mostly the position of the pickup selector. I am not a particularly agressive type of player, but it happened that I accidentally changed pickup by getting into the selector. Otherwise, it's a fine, light and IMHO nice-looking 7-string guitar! Thanks again for the review, very insightful
I hear you and I think the issue could also be that the travel on the pickup selector switch is ultra short so can move without you realising. The SD Pegasus set would incidentally have been my choice too had I not had the Loomis set on hand. Such a nicely balanced sounding set of pickups. Thanks for watching!
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial so happy I swapped the stock pickups for Pegasus! Really nice and articulate! I'm rediscovering this guitar!
I could definitely I could definitely tell the difference and I could see why you switched those original ones out for the ones that you had there's a definite difference I mean you could tell if you really have a trained ear and a train sound and you've been playing guitars for a long time or you just have that Knack you could if you really close your eyes and just really focus you can hear the different tone and the different things and the setup is a little bit different in both of them they both have their own little unique sound but if you really have to have to really focus on it and and you can actually hear it if I had this guitar I would do the same thing and change out the pickups
Have played any of the Prestige RG5000 series guitars. I would like to hear your thoughts.
More Ibanez videos on the way! 😉
What camera slider do you use?
I use a GVM GR80QD at around 80% speed with a 24mm lens.
I recently paid 1400€ for a 5-string Ibanez fan-fret bass. That was the last money Ibanez are ever getting from me. The frets are so sharp they cut my skin. The finish is "holy", meaning not the entire surface is smooth but there are holes where no filler was applied. There are blemishes from building like scratches around the fretboard inlays or over-rounded edges. There are 2 or 3 deep scratches on the back of the neck. (Brand new instrument, never before opened.) Also one of the knobs is scratchy. All this fun would be OK in a 300€ bass, but not in on that costs nearly 5x that. It's ridiculous. They'll never see another cent from me.
Jeeeez! Who was the retailer? Hope you were able to return it.
Beautiful tone..makes you play better...😮
Need all the help I can get in that department!
im actually looking at getting th model with the floating bridge, mahogany body and black richlite top, for about $3500 cad lol. kinda pricey, but something i’ve saved for for a year and a half at least
I prefer the black top to this tbf. Keep an eye out for B Stock/Used as these come up quite regularly for a fraction of the RRP
The difference between the pickups in clean are huge, but distorted the difference is minimal
The Loomis neck pickup is voiced in an extremely unique way it sounds unlike any other humbucker i've ever used! closer to a Strat/Single Coil type sound if anything.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial yeah I thought so.
yeah I thought the same
My Ibanez PS10 (Prestige) is in the same price range; great guitar but not worth 3x the price of my Ibanez PS120; the PS120 is worth 3x the price of my PS60's.
Very pleased with my Ibanez guitars, and Jackson guitars; around the US $1000 price, many very good guitars from both companies.
IMO.
edit: to be clear, the PS10 is impeccable; you really can see the craftsmanship and attention to detail, but when playing the guitar vs my PS120, those fine details aren't noticeable, to me. None of my PS guitars, or Jackson X series, will leave my possession any time soon.
That said, I think if you find an Ibanez model that works for you, it's well worth considering the Prestige model. I have an Ibanez Q52, if they make a Prestige version with a trem, I will buy one.
Cheers!
Weird how the lower spec Axion has way, way better pickups and at half the price. Love the look of this guitar and pretty much everything about it, except for those damn pickups. So when you take into consideration the price of this thing, then add the price of pickups on top of that, the only reasonable conclusion is to get the Ormsby Dino Cazares signature instead lol.
On clean i like SD more. But on high gain i don't like bouth.
E-IIs didn't have stainless frets either until very recently. I think Japanese luthiers just don't like working with them.
They take longer for me to crown after leveling so I wouldn't blame them.
Could well be. Honestly I'm not bothered about stainless frets as I mentioned in the video however they seem to be becoming an industry standard expectation from buyers at a certain price point.
Sux they stopped making this model. I have 3 rgds 2 are prestige and it’s my favorite guitar they make. Really wish they still made this model
Indeed I had read on the Ibanez Wiki that they discontinued this model for 2023 but there still seems to be lots of brand new stock available.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial ya I was just a little late on this one. The uppercut rgd is another that was killer! And it did have ss frets, BK pups, it was spec’d out
I love these but man.... reason I never bought them is because I hate dimarzio fusion edge pickups. Give it to me for 1400 and let me throw lundgren m7s in it. I went with the schecter TAO 7 for just over 1k US pickups are so good I didn't swap them like I do everything else. Imo I'd take that new black jackson pro modern plus over this because I know I can get that for like 1k and actually take it out of the house. But seriously I still absolutely love this and the blue one
Definitely want to review the new TAO, the pickups in it sound very close to Bareknuckles from video clips ive watched. I have just reviewed the more affordable version of this guitar on my channel (RGD71ALPA) which came with BK Aftermaths and they were wild! Crazy headroom and midrange push.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial pickups sound amazing, the neck just puts everything else to shame!
maybe some post apocalyptic corona price mayhem also happened here 🙄
Some of the price increases I'm seeing are absolutely bonkers!
Nazguhl and Sentient make this guitar rip!
Good shout if you're into that gnarley honkey bridge sound!
That is my dream ibanez guitar, too expensive unfortunately
Keep an eye out on Reverb etc for used/ex display models. I see them regularly come up massively discounted from the retail price.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial unfortunately when a reverb guitar is imported to Mexico, I have to pay the taxes as it was new and the final price tag increase too much
I've got a very similar Cort to this that cost me under £700 new. I bet they were both made on the same assembly line.
Unlikely as these are made in Japan by Fujigen I believe! The Indo Ibanez stuff however more than likely will be the same assembly line.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial Cort are made in south Korea....don't know it you would see ibanez coming from that assembly line, but you would see strandbergs coming out of there... another overpriced guitar;
@@davidp6007 I believe Cort are also made in Indonesia which is the same factory the Indo Ibanez models are made in. I reviewed the Indonesian made KX300 on this channel and it was great!
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial you are right, sorry mate! I forgot that one ...indo is basically putting out most of 'normal' and very decent guitars - l have a few! -...unless one pays absurd money for European made stuff. I personally think that Korean made - I have a few of those too - are the best quality.
Thanks and apologies for wrong info 👽🤘
Because it’s Ibanez?
Ibanez's design choices sometimes make absolutely no sense. They're still making guitars in the $1000 mark with a plastic nut. It's a $10 part, if that. Give me a fucking break. And at least for me the Fusion Edge pickups sound like butt. Not the worst pickup in the world but at that price point, just..no. Especially on a Prestige.
And this is coming from an Ibanez fan. I have / had several. Love how they play but sometimes I wanna slap whoever comes up with some of their specs. Some of their Prestige models fortunately are starting to come with Stainless Steel frets but yeah nickel is a dealbreaker for me at that price point.
I'll let you in on a secret, the next video after tomorrow's is a follow-up to this review looking at an £1100 Axion Label and seeing how they stack up in comparison. It STILL has a plastic nut 🙈
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial -facepalm- LOL I thought those had graphite or tusq?! Lawd
there are also several spots of wax absence on the head of my Ibanez Prestige rgdr4427FX and several knots on the neck.
bad job ibanez - never more.
shity pick-ups, bad finish on your high end guitar - so sad...
they used to make apex superb guitars and now they are manufacturing this shit(((
By wax do you mean there's Lacquer missing? 😬
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial yes
"WHY IS THIS GUITAR 2K?"
Oh that's simple..
Because guitar players; are Stupid Enough to pay it;
So there ya go. No need to thank me..
Answering this was my pleasure
Because it’s Ibanez? I think Ibanez in general is highly overrated
Depends which model i bought rg550 for 1000$ and it is great and tremolo stays in tune even after hard abuse
Yea According To a nobody on the Internet with no talent. Steve Vai Paul Gilbert and George Benson think otherwise.
I think your comment is ass and not a nice one
Ibanez has guitars in every price range. Seriously, do some research before you comment.
Overrated? Is that why the best players use it?