Re: Pickup for Ibanez RG721
Hey dude,
I'm considering buying an Ibanez RG 721.
However, I'd like to have some feedback from someone who's got one.
I play a lot of metal, so I'm looking for a heavy sound. How good is this guitar for it?
thanks a lot
Hey dude! The Ibanez RG721 is pretty good the way it comes. Sure, it needs some TLC (I would recommend a new set of strings and a proper setup, and some new pickups), as you may know, the stock Ibanez pickups suck, not because the guitar sucks, but because Ibanez is really bad at designing pickups, most of them sound really muddy, especially with lower tunings. I find this with every Ibanez guitar I tried that had stock pickups.
After all this, you are good to go. The guitar itself has a really nice weight balance to it, not neck heavy or body heavy at all. The overall guitar is very lightweight, and playability is great. I've heard lots of people complain about the neck thickness of this guitar, since it has a fairly thicker neck, with a more rounded profile. I'd call it a ''Flat-C profile'' Not like the flatter/thinner Wizard-D profile at all imho. But, to me this is great, since I love to play an actual NECK instead of a STICK, hahaha!
The bridge on this guitar is actually nice! It plays a lot smoother than the ''Gibraltar'' bridges. It has a low profile, no sharp edges or annoying stuff to it, and it holds intonation really well! Though it might look a bit weird, I myself like it. The tuners on this guitar are functional, but they're not the greatest, tuning could be a bit more stable. But then again I tuned this one to Drop A# with thicker strings.
The Rosewood top is really beautiful, nothing to comment here. The binding is also nicely done, though there are some minor spots that could have been nicer, but let's be honest, we're talking about a €630,- guitar here. Also a great detail, is that the Ibanez logo on the headstock is done with an actual Maple inlay, nice!
Overall this guitar is well worth the money, because even with the pickup upgrade (which will set you back about €120,- to €300+, depending which pickups you choose), you'll still have a phenomenal guitar well beneath the €1000,- pricetag.
Pros:
- It's a looker! That Rosewood is just so damn tasty!
- It plays really smooth, great accessibility.
- The bridge is really nice.
- The sound is great and versatile (can go from Bluesy to all out Death Metal).
- Setting this guitar up is a breeze, due to it's simple layout.
Cons:
- I don't like the tuners, they are a bit unstable.
- Stock pickups are muddy. (Was a direct swap for me).
- Not neccesarily a bad thing, but the neck can be a bit too beefy for some.
Try it out for yourself! Cheers buddy!
It was a middle of the road solution to tighten up my JB. It needed some adjustment though, since it's a very powerful pup, I have set it slightly lower.
