Pippo
SS.org Regular
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2020
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 42
Hi everyone,
I have been reading all of your nice NGD posts and thought, I do one myself.
This beauty arrived on Saturday (a few pics before the long text starts):
Starting in 2023 I was in the hunt for a six string with a trem. I have always been an Ibanez guy, but I thought I give other brands a chance, too.
So I drove to a nearby guitar store and tried a lot of models from different manufacturers.
In the end I narrowed it down to four models:
- Charvel DK24-6 Nova Angel Vivaldi Signature
- Jackson DK2 Ash (the sandblasted green one)
- Ibanez RG5320C
- Ibanez RG652AHM
I quickly realized that I will always be the most comfortable with Ibanez' neck profile and fretboard radius.
The other models felt great, but just not as good for me as the Ibbys. The Charvel has a neck carve that comes pretty close to the Wizard, but is a little thicker and feels different due to the compound radius.
Same goes for the Jackson, which felt even more uncomfortable, because of the Floyd Rose. I always have the fine tuners stick into my arm, when playing on the higher strings.
With the Edge trem I do not have this problem due to the slight angle of the fine tuners. The Lo-Pro is even more comfy.
So it came down to the decision betwenn the two RGs. Since I neither had a guitar with an ash body nor with a maple fretboard before, I went with the RG652AHM.
I ordered it from Thomann eventually, because I had some gift cards left from my birthday and christmas.
It arrived almost perfectly set up. I only had to lower the action a bit, stretch the strings and realign the Edge afterwards. Intonation was already great out of the box.
The fret ends are a bit sharper than on my other 652, but that is mainly due to the maple board guitars not getting the Prestige fret end treatment like the ebony and rosewood ones do.
They still feel very smooth, just not that rounded.
The ash body has a nice grain. I tried to capture it in the photos, but with the gloss finish is hard to get a good angle (and my photographing skills are really bad).
The fretboard looks really nice, too. There are some knots, but not so much that it looks like it caught an STD.
Playability-wise it is a typical Prestige Ibby. Feels like it plays itself. I love the originial Edge trem on it. I was always content with the Edge Zero on my RGD, but the original Edge just feels a lot better.
It does not feel as stiff as the EZ and allows for more subtle vibrato. Also, I think it sustains a lot better. I am really happy with the guitar.
More pics:
Prestige family pic:
I have been reading all of your nice NGD posts and thought, I do one myself.
This beauty arrived on Saturday (a few pics before the long text starts):
Starting in 2023 I was in the hunt for a six string with a trem. I have always been an Ibanez guy, but I thought I give other brands a chance, too.
So I drove to a nearby guitar store and tried a lot of models from different manufacturers.
In the end I narrowed it down to four models:
- Charvel DK24-6 Nova Angel Vivaldi Signature
- Jackson DK2 Ash (the sandblasted green one)
- Ibanez RG5320C
- Ibanez RG652AHM
I quickly realized that I will always be the most comfortable with Ibanez' neck profile and fretboard radius.
The other models felt great, but just not as good for me as the Ibbys. The Charvel has a neck carve that comes pretty close to the Wizard, but is a little thicker and feels different due to the compound radius.
Same goes for the Jackson, which felt even more uncomfortable, because of the Floyd Rose. I always have the fine tuners stick into my arm, when playing on the higher strings.
With the Edge trem I do not have this problem due to the slight angle of the fine tuners. The Lo-Pro is even more comfy.
So it came down to the decision betwenn the two RGs. Since I neither had a guitar with an ash body nor with a maple fretboard before, I went with the RG652AHM.
I ordered it from Thomann eventually, because I had some gift cards left from my birthday and christmas.
It arrived almost perfectly set up. I only had to lower the action a bit, stretch the strings and realign the Edge afterwards. Intonation was already great out of the box.
The fret ends are a bit sharper than on my other 652, but that is mainly due to the maple board guitars not getting the Prestige fret end treatment like the ebony and rosewood ones do.
They still feel very smooth, just not that rounded.
The ash body has a nice grain. I tried to capture it in the photos, but with the gloss finish is hard to get a good angle (and my photographing skills are really bad).
The fretboard looks really nice, too. There are some knots, but not so much that it looks like it caught an STD.
Playability-wise it is a typical Prestige Ibby. Feels like it plays itself. I love the originial Edge trem on it. I was always content with the Edge Zero on my RGD, but the original Edge just feels a lot better.
It does not feel as stiff as the EZ and allows for more subtle vibrato. Also, I think it sustains a lot better. I am really happy with the guitar.
More pics:
Prestige family pic:
