Ibanez RG350M YE

This just in from the good folks at BGW Guitars! Excellent service as always. Thanks Brendon!

• Basswood body

• Maple Wizard II neck

• Maple fingerboard

• 24 jumbo frets

• Black dot inlays

• INF3 humbucker neck pickup

• INF4 humbucker bridge pickup

• INFS3 single middle pickup

• Edge III tremolo

• Black hardware

Recently i have been gasing for a RG. Many non modern guitars have passed through me or maybe i just wanted to feel young again. It crossed my mind to purchase a higher end MIJ Ibanez models but ended up choosing this affordable MII piece instead. Before commiting to a purchase, I googled for info on this guitar and some sites claim that these RG350MYE's are limited edition but i'm seriously not too sure about that claim.

The big selling point for me here is the maple fretboard and neon yellow finish. I wanted something that screams big hairy 80's and found this as the perfect candidate without having to dry my pockets for that moment of G.A.S that might fade overnight.

Ibanez have a huge array of RG's and i have to admit that it can get rather complicated if one does not keep track. There is just too many RG models in the market! Most RG's come with a basswood body. Many will cry "cheap wood" or "soft wood" but basswood bodies does have it's own advantages it more ways than one.

Factory Setup

Straight out from the factory setup with the standard 9's, It was not bad and the electronics were wired quite well. Action and setup were pretty decent and playable straight from the box.

The Indonesian QC Department

According to the QC hang tag. My RG350 was inspected by Salim & Haris. I closely scrutinized the make of the guitar and i was not too impressed at all with the QC. The back of the neck was not sanded down well (fixed with some ultra fine sanding), The painjob was scratchy at the heel of the neck where the 4 bolts go. Besides these factors, The make was pretty decent. No major manufactuing flaws were found.

The Edge III Bridge

Many owners have complained about the Edge III bridge. Most users mentioned that the Edge III would not stay in tune, it causes string breakage and it's unstable. I only have one thing to say about that... SETUP YOUR GUITAR CORRECTLY!!! I do not have any problems with my Edge III but if one is to compare it to a Edge Pro then do fork out the extra moola for those upgrades. As the saying goes in hokkien " Want Cheap, Want Fresh, Want Big Titties ". You pay for what you get. And the Edge III is not a bad bridge if setup correctly and that applies to all guitars.

Tone

The pickups are rather ok for a stock set of pups. I have heard worst stock pups but these infinity pups are on the ok side for stock pups. This is one department that this RG can do better.

What's Inside?

I took the guitar apart to have orange caps installed and also to check for any cold joints that needed my attention. The stock wiring was done neatly. No complaints there but i think i will see an upgrade to better quality electronics in this guitar. I was surprised to find that the cavities have been insulated with shielding paint. Not bad... This is something the guys at Fender need to add to their to do list in production.

Summary

This guitar does have it's pro's and con's and players who intend to buy the RG350 series can also think about saving up some money for upgrades to make this guitar a killer possesion. If you are into 80's big hair nostalgia and don't mind forking out some extra money to have the pups swapped, This is one good rekindled trip down memory lane that got murdered by teenage pop music.

New electronics, Neon pink dimarzio pups & neon green plastic knobs will be in the works sometime soon.

Rock n Roll!

More detailed pics can be found in the "Guitar Porn Gallery"