Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

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Ventilator

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http://www.ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/model-RG321MH

I'm looking at the one with the mahogany oil finish going... well, maybe...

-Mahogany body with an oiled finish
-Maple neck
-String-thru fixed bridge
-humbuckers

Seems like it would be stiff competition for a Gibson Faded SG special, for less than half the cost.

I need more information before I decide to get one though. Has anyone ever owned one, or even played one? How does it compare to other guitars? Is it everything ibanez makes it out to be? Any help would be appreciated.
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

How do you figure it will be stiff competition? A maple neck bolt on vs a set mahogany neck? Seems kinda apples and oranges to me. I guess depends on what your really after. If your after the 24.75 scale sound the Ibanez is probably going to disappoint you. Maybe im missing where they are comparable besides being 2 humbucker non trem guitars?
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Perhaps that was the wrong term then. I was completely ignoring the differences in the necks in favor of the body wood.

I like the gibson sound and I figured that in my price range I could could try to get an epiphone, but a lot of the feedback I've read into those say its just not worth it. I could try to save up for a faded SG to get that sound, but there is something to the balance of a SG that bothers me. I started out learning on a basswood RG320dx with a floyd rose copy. There was a lot of things I liked and hated about that guitar. A lot of those things would appear to be remedied in the 321 model.

I'm looking at it like this: Its like the guitar I started on, it has more features I like, and its made out of mahogany like a gibson. I was also thinking that if all I cant afford a real gibson anyways, I might as well go whole hog and get something that I think should sound similar, but wont feel like I'm settling on some imitation.

So I guess my question is: will this guitar get me anywhere in the same ballpark as gibson tone? (with proper pickups of course)
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

Basically, no. You're far better off just saving up and getting a used Faded.
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

Ventilator said:
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Perhaps that was the wrong term then. I was completely ignoring the differences in the necks in favor of the body wood.

I like the gibson sound and I figured that in my price range I could could try to get an epiphone, but a lot of the feedback I've read into those say its just not worth it. I could try to save up for a faded SG to get that sound, but there is something to the balance of a SG that bothers me. I started out learning on a basswood RG320dx with a floyd rose copy. There was a lot of things I liked and hated about that guitar. A lot of those things would appear to be remedied in the 321 model.

I'm looking at it like this: Its like the guitar I started on, it has more features I like, and its made out of mahogany like a gibson. I was also thinking that if all I cant afford a real gibson anyways, I might as well go whole hog and get something that I think should sound similar, but wont feel like I'm settling on some imitation.

So I guess my question is: will this guitar get me anywhere in the same ballpark as gibson tone? (with proper pickups of course)
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Sounds to me a bit like going back to an ex girlfriend... sure shes changed a little but in the end you still know what your gonna get and why you left in the first place.

That being said I think it will sound closer to an Ibanez than it will to a SG.

I totally understand though the price difference being tempting when your jonesing for some strange

but if you already have an axe to jam on why not save up for what you really want?

I think in the end you will be much happier getting what you want rather than settling for something you hope you can come close with.
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

The RG321MH is a nice guitar in a Rock Strat kinda way. My example has EMG-H and SD Live Wire Classic II humbuckers through an EMG-SPC mid boost. I may eventually alter this to an EMG-HA and a passive treble roll off.
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

I have an RG321mh. Great guitar. Took a lot of work to make it into a decent player, though. Rough frets, crap for stock pickups, cheap hardware...etc.

It does not, in any way, sound like a Gibson. Much closer to a strat, despite the pickup configuration.
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

No personal experience with *that* guitar, but I do know I love the Wizard II neck. If you're used to that profile and dig it and aware that the guitar will need a little work to be awesome, then I say go for it.
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

ok that one as the V-series pickups?
and the high mass Gibralter Bridge?

I have two Ibanez RG's and the neck is what draws me to them
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

AN excellent guitar for the price point, and an even better deal used.
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

ehdwuld said:
ok that one as the V-series pickups? and the high mass Gibralter Bridge?
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The RG321MH features INF humbuckers via a special five-way selector switch. My old example has a generic hardtail bridge with through body stringing.

Having seen both Korean and Indonesian-made examples, I prefer the latter. As has already been pointed out, with a decent set-up, either version will be an excellent beginner-to-intermediate guitar that would always be worth holding onto in the long term.

As mentioned in my earlier post, even with its mahogany body, this model has a good deal of Strattiness about it. IMO, it is worth making a feature of this by installing pickups that offer the option of a single coil sound. I went active. The OP might prefer to go passive. A pair of P-Rails would be my recommendation.
 
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Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

I have one and I love it! Slap in PAF style humbuckers and you got a very good sounding guitar. It's a good guitar for the price. The finish wears off easily, since I have the black weathered finished RG321MH.


DSC05554.jpg
 
Re: Any experience with an ibanez RG321MH?

Funkfingers said:
The RG321MH features INF humbuckers via a special five-way selector switch. My old example has a generic hardtail bridge with through body stringing.

Having seen both Korean and Indonesian-made examples, I prefer the latter. As has already been pointed out, with a decent set-up, either version will be an excellent beginner-to-intermediate guitar that would always be worth holding onto in the long term.

As mentioned in my earlier post, even with its mahogany body, this model has a good deal of Strattiness about it. IMO, it is worth making a feature of this by installing pickups that offer the option of a single coil sound. I went active. The OP might prefer to go passive. A pair of P-Rails would be my recommendation.
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You're right, I would go passive if I get it. I was thinking super distortion bridge. Lots of bands have used them to get tone I like from super strats. Not sure what to pair it with in the neck though. Lots of options to worry about sounding good in that guitar: neck in parallel, both humbuckers in parallel, and both inner coils in parallel.
 
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