iBAneZ
25TH ANNIVERSARY RG
BY JoRdAn WAgneR
Ibanez had been selling top-quality gui- tars in the United States for more than
a decade when the RG was introduced in
the late ’80s. Its infamous “lawsuit” Gibson
and Fender copies were already well
regarded for their playability and tones,
and the company had won high-profile
converts like George Benson and Bob Weir
with their original instruments. But the
RG cemented the notion among the then-burgeoning metal market that Ibanez could
craft a great instrument of its own design.
And it would be the understatement of the
century to say that the perception was a
boon to Ibanez’s fortunes.
The RG’s ascent to legendary status was
helped along, of course, by its association
with Steve Vai, who was on his way to
becoming a legend himself around the
same time. The ongoing association has
since resulted in numerous iterations and
special editions, but the RG1XXV 25th
Anniversary model reviewed here could be
the ultimate evolution of the form, not to
mention a cool reminder of what made that
instrument such a groundbreaker in the
golden age of hair metal.
A Silver-and-Yellow Jubilee
The RG1XXV’s body is shaped from
American basswood and weighs in at a
comfortable 7. 85 pounds, which fits the
RG series’ reputation for being lightweight. Our review guitar was finished in
to hear audio clips of the guitar at
premierguitar.com/jul2012
CLICKHere…
a decidedly ’80s iridescent yellow, but it’s
also offered in iridescent pink, just in case
you need to really assert your hair-metal
bona fides. The black pickguard surrounds
a ceramic-magnet-driven trio of DiMarzios,
including medium-hot IBZ-N and IBZ-B
humbuckers in the neck and bridge positions, and a spunky IBZ-S single-coil in the
middle. A 5-way switch and volume and
tone knobs round out the electronics.
Ibanez went with a super-fast Wizard
Premium profile for the guitar’s 5-piece,
unfinished maple-and-walnut neck, which
Basswood body
DiMarzio IBZ pickups
Edge-Zero II Tremolo
