RG550DX

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Author Message   Jdsony Username: Jdsony Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Wednesday, March 08, 2006 - 1:10 pm:    I found someone selling an RG550BK locally and I'm wondering if it would be a good purchase. It looks like it's probably an '87 but it's hard to tell without seeing it in person. From what I can tell '87 was the only earlier year model with a rosewood fingerboard. My current guitar is a 2001 JEM 555 which I know is not well liked by a lot of people but I had wanted a JEM for a while and found it for a decent price used. I wouldn't mind picking up a second guitar and even though I wanted something a lot different from what I have, I've become more and more interested with older Ibanez RG's. I've played my bandmates new Prestige RG2550 and although it says it's made in Japan I didn't notice much difference in quality over my Korean JEM Jr. Are the older RG550's better quality than the newer higher end RG's? Lastly if it ends up being a 90's model is it just as good. Thanks, James   Brentm Username: Brentm Registered: 03-2005 Posted on Wednesday, March 08, 2006 - 10:06 pm:    Serial number will reveal the year. You might research the differences between the wizard and the wizard II necks. The older RGs has the original wizard, which is the thinner neck (arguably better). You might also check to see if it has a heelplate or an all access neck joint (AANJ). Those are the major differences.   Kozyyik Username: Kozyyik Registered: 01-2005 Posted on Thursday, March 09, 2006 - 12:38 am:    Also keep in mind the reason why Jem 555 isn't popular is the trem, it got loTRS-II which is not great campare to the Edge or lopro-edge, big difference there, 550 and higher got a Edge or least the Lopro-edge in the 90's. The newer prestige got EdgeII which is ok. I'm a big fan of 550, 570, 770, 750 so they are highly recommended.   Jdsony Username: Jdsony Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 4:34 pm:    Thanks for the advice. The guitar turned out to be a 1987 RG550BK. I ended up buying a brand new RGT42DXFM instead. I saw it in a shop the other day and loved how it looked so I gave it a play and loved it some more. I'm very happy with this guitar and it plays and sounds far better than my JEM 555 which I will probably sell. After I talked to him last the guy upped the price of his RG550 from $540(cad) (was going to offer him less) to $590 and has a more detailed description of the guitar. I don't think he knew much about it and now he thinks he can get a lot more for it. When I'm ready for another guitar I still might look into an early RG series as a second guitar but for now I'm satisfied.

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