Ibanez RG Genesis guitars...

[Phantasmagoria]

Anyone have/own one? Any experience w/ them? And most importantly how do they compare w/ the originals?

I had an RG550 many moons ago & it was a fantastic guitar, but I always preferred my S540 Sabre which is all I ever played back then, despite having a couple of other guitars including the 550, so I gave it to my brother. Lately after finally picking up a few RG's again and rekindling my interest in them I've been gassing for one ....or an RG565 even more, just cuz of how sweet the specs-vs-price ratio is and how f'n good they look


Looking at this shredster specifically...

Can't play them first cuz they're all out of stock at local stores & only available online....so just wondering.

 

[Lucius Paisley]

I hope you're very familiar with a fretboard because if you play that on stage you won't be able to see f***-all.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I would say I'm 'extremely' familiar w/ the fretboard so that should'nt be an issue

 

[AdrianSD]

Haven't played any "original" one yet, but I have a 2024 RG550PN, when I got it it was the most comfortable to play and the most dull / dead sounding of all so far. I eventually got it to sound the way I like with no tone pot, a new 550Kohm-ish volume pot and with double ceramic Duncan Custom in the bridge & Dimarzio Gravity Storm in the neck. All my other guitars have this nice crunchy thing going under high gain, with the RG550 I had to work hard to find the right combo. Other bridge pickups tried:
- V8 - pretty average, very dark & no definition
- Black Winter - meh
- Distortion - very good, it'd be in the guitar now if it wasn't for the double ceramic Custom
- JB - meh
- Custom stock - meh
- Dimarzio Super Distortion - ok-ish
Now I'm very happy, it gets a lot of playing time because it feels good & it also sounds good. Beware of the Wizard neck, some love it, some hate it, I love it.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

If you're ok with the old square heel, the Genesis is probably a safer bet than an original because it has the 5pc neck with top mounted nut and volute. So many of the originals have broken headstocks, have been mucked with and are often overpriced for what they are. The pups in the Genesis are V7/8, as opposed to V1/2 in the early ones, otherwise, it's the same as it's always been. 1k is good, this is basically what they where back in the day if you calculate the inflation. Doesn't come with a case, which may be a con for some.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Haven't played any "original" one yet, but I have a 2024 RG550PN, when I got it it was the most comfortable to play and the most dull / dead sounding of all so far. I eventually got it to sound the way I like with no tone pot, a new 550Kohm-ish volume pot and with double ceramic Duncan Custom in the bridge & Dimarzio Gravity Storm in the neck. All my other guitars have this nice crunchy thing going under high gain, with the RG550 I had to work hard to find the right combo. Other bridge pickups tried:
- V8 - pretty average, very dark & no definition
- Black Winter - meh
- Distortion - very good, it'd be in the guitar now if it wasn't for the double ceramic Custom
- JB - meh
- Custom stock - meh
- Dimarzio Super Distortion - ok-ish
Now I'm very happy, it gets a lot of playing time because it feels good & it also sounds good. Beware of the Wizard neck, some love it, some hate it, I love it.

Funnily enough the one I had back in the day had a kind of "mellow" tone to it with a softer attack than my Sabre's. Not that it sounded bad per say, but I did prefer my 540's tone..

In recent years I've bought myself a few really great souning RG's ..most of them are'nt the tradtional Basswood bodied ones (my RG Prestige is Ash, and I have one that's mahogany & another that's a mahogany neck-through w/ basswood wings). Only my 30 fret RG is Basswood (and sounds great..if also slightly on the warm/mellow side). I'd like a nice traditional Basswood RG again and these Genesis models tick all the right boxes...


If things don't work out w/ the pups I have a few possible replacements on hand that I could throw in (Tone Zone, Super Distortion, Duncan Custom, JB, Distortion, a few Dean DMT pup's etc..) ...

This one sounds pretty sweet here though w/ the stock pups...

 

[Phantasmagoria]

If you're ok with the old square heel, the Genesis is probably a safer bet than an original because it has the 5pc neck with top mounted nut and volute. So many of the originals have broken headstocks, have been mucked with and are often overpriced for what they are. The pups in the Genesis are V7/8, as opposed to V1/2 in the early ones, otherwise, it's the same as it's always been. 1k is good, this is basically what they where back in the day if you calculate the inflation. Doesn't come with a case, which may be a con for some.

Yeah, the way I play high on the neck, neck-joints don't really make much of a difference/get in the way...

The top mounted locking nut is a good thing. I think my 30 fret RG has a V8 in it in the bridge & it's a pretty sweet pup..so that's fine as well...

Overall ..these do seem to be pretty solid reissues... so lets see

 

[jeremy]

i havent tried the new ones, but i loved my old '90 rg550. if the new ones are close then they are probably sweet

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I've played the RG550. They're good, as you would expect from a Japanese-built guitar, but they're not Prestige-level, IMO.

They're very stripped-down. The pickups are decent, but not awesome. The trem is good. The neck profile is awesome. The tone is alright, but I'm sure it could be great with the right pickups.

Great value when it comes to build quality, but not in specs. The trem is good, and the neck profile is FANTASTIC second to none, IMO. But everything else on the guitars is alright only.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Yeah, Like anything out of Fugijen I would expect high quality w/o saying. The old 550's were'nt up there w/ Prestige's in terms of specs either. All in all these do seem to be pretty nice for the price.

After a bit of emailing, looks like no one has the 'Emerald Green' one in stock & that's a bummer. I guess I could live w/ the Orange one or the Purple 550..but not going to lie... my enthusiasms's been dampened .:laugh2:

Think I'll just have to wait and watch to see if one pops up somewhere..

But thanks for all the input :bigthumb:

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Yeah, Like anything out of Fugijen I would expect high quality w/o saying. The old 550's were'nt up there w/ Prestige's in terms of specs either. All in all these do seem to be pretty nice for the price.

After a bit of emailing, looks like no one has the 'Emerald Green' one in stock & that's a bummer. I guess I could live w/ the Orange one or the Purple 550..but not going to lie... my enthusiasms's been dampened .:laugh2:

Think I'll just have to wait and watch to see if one pops up somewhere..

But thanks for all the input :bigthumb:

The purple one looks great in person. That's the one I tried.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

The Genesis is not a Prestige level guitar (nor were 550s in general), never marketed as such. They're the entry point for Japan made Ibanez, that's why more basic that some. There have been similar models with slightly different zip codes that were; I think around 2003 when the EP trem was brought in, the 550 was also upgraded to Prestige as the 1550, for instance.

I like the vk 565 they did a year or two ago.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I went down to a nearby store yesterday & they had just received a whole bunch of "FGN" guitar's. I'd never heard of "FGN" and kinda assumed they were a higher end Chinese brand like you hear of nowadays 'cause they looked fantastic & were'nt particularly cheap. Anyway.."FGN" is apparently " Fujigen's" own recently launched brand of Japanese/Fujigen made guitars...

This first one he's playing especially caught my eye..

...at about the same price of the Genesis guitar's it look's like a great alternative. It's a superstrat but more in the line of a Suhr or higher end Ibanez AZ or something fusion-y/'boutique' like that than an RG.

Have'nt yet tried playing them but their fit & finish was impeccable. It looked drop dead gorgeous too. Great hardware..Gotoh stuff, SD pup's & something called the "Circle fretting System" that they claim improve's intonation..

Not going to lie, I was tempted.

And while it may or may not just be a gimmic, I'm pretty damn curious to see what the "CFS" thing's all about cuz I love something different/innovation...

 

[Phantasmagoria]

...and I just got a message from a store I'd contacted earlier saying they "may" have one of the Emerald Green RG565's in their warehouse & that they will check & confirm..

Either way, I forsee a happy ending in the near future

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Oh, FGN's have been around for a while. Maybe even 10-ish years?

I bet they play great, but I'm not in love with their designs, visually. They kinda look like those budget brands like Harley Benton that look like they're just a tiny bit off visually where it's enough not to get a lawsuit. JMO, of course. I'm sure someone will think they look sick.

I'm glad you're getting one of the Geneses, though. I bet the neck is going to be incredible.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Well I sincerely hope so...dude said he definitely had one in Emerald Green, but would have it 'checked out' first before confirming (?) w/e that means.

if not it's going to be that FGN up there [:laugh2:]

Tbh ..I thought it looked sick

And just by looking at it I could tell it would shred like a mutha :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I lucked out w/the 565 Gnesis. Dude said the piece he had was 'damaged' in shipping, but he's put in an order for more & they're on the way..

Which is great and all ..I'll keep it in mind..

But the thing is ..I need a Mistress ...for Christmas :laugh2:

So I think it will be the FGN Koa top for now...lets see....I'm going to go and play it at that store one of these days. If it sings, it's coming home with me

 

[Phantasmagoria]

She's certainly a looker:

:bigthumb:

 

[Mincer]

I think it might look nicer with just a natural koa top and not a burst.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I think it might look nicer with just a natural koa top and not a burst.

I agree.