Best Metal Guitar Riff (2024 Update)

I had played one of these in a store and liked the feel. After having one for a few weeks, I like it even more. I'm slightly taller than the average guy. Hence my fingers are a bit longer than the average guy. Maybe it is just because the neck seems to get thinner as you get up to the higher notes, but it seems like the neck is a little wider than the rest of my guitars up around the 15th to 24th frets. ("rest of my guitars" include Les Paul, Strat, Ibanez RG550, EVH Wolfgang, and others for reference). Aside from how great the paint job LOOKS, it does not have a gloss coat on it. This is a good thing since the paint job extends up the back of the neck allowing your hand to slide quite freely on the back of the neck. The bridge humbucker is fantastic. It screams the notes clearly with ZERO noise or hum when not playing. I'm not that impressed with the neck humbucker, but that's comparing it to the neck hum on my Les Paul, Carvin, and PRS Custom. AND, for about 90% of the 80s hair band songs you are never using that pickup anyway. The Floyd Rose is great! I got tired of waiting for it to need minor tuning adjustments naturally, so I'm to the point of TRYING to make it go out of tune even slightly and it STILL stays locked in tune. Overall, this guitar is now my GO TO for anything 80s (the biggest chunk of my playing preference).Steve

I was keen to find a 6 string that had a fixed bridge that I could use for covers and so I can retune to alternate tunings easily without having to get the screwdrivers and spending a lot of time retuning like a Locking Tremolo guitar. Thankfully the guitar already had Seymour Duncan pick ups in which are essential to having a aggressive tone but as well allow good expression so this meant it would be a case of getting the guitar out the box and playing rather than buying separate pick ups having to fit them in and so on. As I wanted a guitar that wasn't black or brightly colored the desert sand finish on the guitar really stood out and attracted me. Most of the SLP2's have a great selection of finish's. As for the neck and wood finish it is very smoothly and allows you to get quick access from from end of the neck to the other. Behind each the tuners on the headstock, there is this interesting circular turning device to help lock in the strings. This may help keep it in tune more but I also just attribute it staying in tune due to the general quality of the guitar. I bend the strings a lot for my lead playing and I play very aggressively with thick picks and rhythmically so once I put some heavier strings on (my preference) and configured the bridge saddles with a very small L shaped Allen/hex key the guitar stayed in tune.Tom H.

I had played one of these in a store and liked the feel. After having one for a few weeks, I like it even more. I'm slightly taller than the average guy. Hence my fingers are a bit longer than the average guy. Maybe it is just because the neck seems to get thinner as you get up to the higher notes, but it seems like the neck is a little wider than the rest of my guitars up around the 15th to 24th frets. ("rest of my guitars" include Les Paul, Strat, Ibanez RG550, EVH Wolfgang, and others for reference). Aside from how great the paint job LOOKS, it does not have a gloss coat on it. This is a good thing since the paint job extends up the back of the neck allowing your hand to slide quite freely on the back of the neck. The bridge humbucker is fantastic. It screams the notes clearly with ZERO noise or hum when not playing. I'm not that impressed with the neck humbucker, but that's comparing it to the neck hum on my Les Paul, Carvin, and PRS Custom. AND, for about 90% of the 80s hair band songs you are never using that pickup anyway. The Floyd Rose is great! I got tired of waiting for it to need minor tuning adjustments naturally, so I'm to the point of TRYING to make it go out of tune even slightly and it STILL stays locked in tune. Overall, this guitar is now my GO TO for anything 80s (the biggest chunk of my playing preference).Steve

I was keen to find a 6 string that had a fixed bridge that I could use for covers and so I can retune to alternate tunings easily without having to get the screwdrivers and spending a lot of time retuning like a Locking Tremolo guitar. Thankfully the guitar already had Seymour Duncan pick ups in which are essential to having a aggressive tone but as well allow good expression so this meant it would be a case of getting the guitar out the box and playing rather than buying separate pick ups having to fit them in and so on. As I wanted a guitar that wasn't black or brightly colored the desert sand finish on the guitar really stood out and attracted me. Most of the SLP2's have a great selection of finish's. As for the neck and wood finish it is very smoothly and allows you to get quick access from from end of the neck to the other. Behind each the tuners on the headstock, there is this interesting circular turning device to help lock in the strings. This may help keep it in tune more but I also just attribute it staying in tune due to the general quality of the guitar. I bend the strings a lot for my lead playing and I play very aggressively with thick picks and rhythmically so once I put some heavier strings on (my preference) and configured the bridge saddles with a very small L shaped Allen/hex key the guitar stayed in tune.Tom H.

I bought it for the neck thru construction and the finish which is quite stunning and very well done. The "Duncan Design" pick-ups are crappy, muddy and middy. Replaced them with "REAL" Seymour Duncan "Pearly Gates" and it sounds great now. The Floyd sits too low in the pocket (unlike my Charvel's do) poor engineering on Jackson's behalf. You can't get to the allen heads when you change strings because they sit so low in the pocket. You actually have to change one string at a time or insert the whammy bar and physically push it down to raise the rear of the Floyd so you can access the allen heads that hold the strings to the bridge. I have 17 guitars and this one is hands down the hardest guitar to change strings on I have ever owned. If Jackson would put better pick-ups in this model, and re-engineer how the Floyd Rose is mounted, it would be a lot more popular, but like most Jackson guitars priced under $1,500 they opt for the cheap electronics which in my opinion has been the case with every Jackson I have owned, you need to change the pick-ups and pots. The guitar itself is quite nicely made, balanced well and sounds awesome with real pick-ups in it.dtvamigo

This is a sweet guitar. The sustain is excellent, quite a difference from any bolt on neck guitar. I have a 1991 Ibanez 540SLTD, it is an excellent guitar. Been playing that for nearly 3 decades and its still my main guitar. This Jackson SL3X Soloist is just as playable. The neck is very comfortable from top to bottom. The Duncan designed pickups are very good too. Make no mistake, this is a shred guitar through and through. Can it do evreything else in between, like classic rock, jazz, country? Absolutely. You can dial in just about any sound needed. The pickups seem to have good output, but not insane, which i like. I also own a late model Ibanez RG350DX, with the infinity pickups. Those pickups, especially the bridge, are really loud, and overly distorted. I find that i have to roll the volume back to keep clarity. These pickups in the Jackson have good clarity. The neck and middle hot rails pickups are sweet. Artificial harmonics sing everywhere. The Floyd Rose special seems to stay in tune good as well. The fine tuners are a little gritty feeling, not anything wrong with em, but not silky smooth. They probably will get smoother as time and use allows them to break in. The hardware seems good. Solid tuning heads. Nice adjustment of knobs and pickup selector switch. The finish, neon orange, is flawless. Binding on neck and headstock is nicely done as well. The only issue i had with mine was fretbuzz on the first fret, 5th and 4th strings. Quick turn of the truss rod nut to add a little relief and reset the bridge height took care of that. This is a very fast neck to riff and shred with. Of course its great for slow playing, open chords etc… but, if Klingons are around, Warp Factor Five! Neck through Jackson Soloist, its a spaceship in disguise as an electric guitar. My Ibanez 540SLTD has an amazingly fast and thin neck, this Jackson is without a doubt on par with that, plus 2 more frets/ Jackson has better sustain and there is no sub 4 a thruneck.Freddy F

I had played one of these in a store and liked the feel. After having one for a few weeks, I like it even more. I'm slightly taller than the average guy. Hence my fingers are a bit longer than the average guy. Maybe it is just because the neck seems to get thinner as you get up to the higher notes, but it seems like the neck is a little wider than the rest of my guitars up around the 15th to 24th frets. ("rest of my guitars" include Les Paul, Strat, Ibanez RG550, EVH Wolfgang, and others for reference). Aside from how great the paint job LOOKS, it does not have a gloss coat on it. This is a good thing since the paint job extends up the back of the neck allowing your hand to slide quite freely on the back of the neck. The bridge humbucker is fantastic. It screams the notes clearly with ZERO noise or hum when not playing. I'm not that impressed with the neck humbucker, but that's comparing it to the neck hum on my Les Paul, Carvin, and PRS Custom. AND, for about 90% of the 80s hair band songs you are never using that pickup anyway. The Floyd Rose is great! I got tired of waiting for it to need minor tuning adjustments naturally, so I'm to the point of TRYING to make it go out of tune even slightly and it STILL stays locked in tune. Overall, this guitar is now my GO TO for anything 80s (the biggest chunk of my playing preference).Steve

I was keen to find a 6 string that had a fixed bridge that I could use for covers and so I can retune to alternate tunings easily without having to get the screwdrivers and spending a lot of time retuning like a Locking Tremolo guitar. Thankfully the guitar already had Seymour Duncan pick ups in which are essential to having a aggressive tone but as well allow good expression so this meant it would be a case of getting the guitar out the box and playing rather than buying separate pick ups having to fit them in and so on. As I wanted a guitar that wasn't black or brightly colored the desert sand finish on the guitar really stood out and attracted me. Most of the SLP2's have a great selection of finish's. As for the neck and wood finish it is very smoothly and allows you to get quick access from from end of the neck to the other. Behind each the tuners on the headstock, there is this interesting circular turning device to help lock in the strings. This may help keep it in tune more but I also just attribute it staying in tune due to the general quality of the guitar. I bend the strings a lot for my lead playing and I play very aggressively with thick picks and rhythmically so once I put some heavier strings on (my preference) and configured the bridge saddles with a very small L shaped Allen/hex key the guitar stayed in tune.Tom H.

I had played one of these in a store and liked the feel. After having one for a few weeks, I like it even more. I'm slightly taller than the average guy. Hence my fingers are a bit longer than the average guy. Maybe it is just because the neck seems to get thinner as you get up to the higher notes, but it seems like the neck is a little wider than the rest of my guitars up around the 15th to 24th frets. ("rest of my guitars" include Les Paul, Strat, Ibanez RG550, EVH Wolfgang, and others for reference). Aside from how great the paint job LOOKS, it does not have a gloss coat on it. This is a good thing since the paint job extends up the back of the neck allowing your hand to slide quite freely on the back of the neck. The bridge humbucker is fantastic. It screams the notes clearly with ZERO noise or hum when not playing. I'm not that impressed with the neck humbucker, but that's comparing it to the neck hum on my Les Paul, Carvin, and PRS Custom. AND, for about 90% of the 80s hair band songs you are never using that pickup anyway. The Floyd Rose is great! I got tired of waiting for it to need minor tuning adjustments naturally, so I'm to the point of TRYING to make it go out of tune even slightly and it STILL stays locked in tune. Overall, this guitar is now my GO TO for anything 80s (the biggest chunk of my playing preference).Steve

I was keen to find a 6 string that had a fixed bridge that I could use for covers and so I can retune to alternate tunings easily without having to get the screwdrivers and spending a lot of time retuning like a Locking Tremolo guitar. Thankfully the guitar already had Seymour Duncan pick ups in which are essential to having a aggressive tone but as well allow good expression so this meant it would be a case of getting the guitar out the box and playing rather than buying separate pick ups having to fit them in and so on. As I wanted a guitar that wasn't black or brightly colored the desert sand finish on the guitar really stood out and attracted me. Most of the SLP2's have a great selection of finish's. As for the neck and wood finish it is very smoothly and allows you to get quick access from from end of the neck to the other. Behind each the tuners on the headstock, there is this interesting circular turning device to help lock in the strings. This may help keep it in tune more but I also just attribute it staying in tune due to the general quality of the guitar. I bend the strings a lot for my lead playing and I play very aggressively with thick picks and rhythmically so once I put some heavier strings on (my preference) and configured the bridge saddles with a very small L shaped Allen/hex key the guitar stayed in tune.Tom H.

I bought it for the neck thru construction and the finish which is quite stunning and very well done. The "Duncan Design" pick-ups are crappy, muddy and middy. Replaced them with "REAL" Seymour Duncan "Pearly Gates" and it sounds great now. The Floyd sits too low in the pocket (unlike my Charvel's do) poor engineering on Jackson's behalf. You can't get to the allen heads when you change strings because they sit so low in the pocket. You actually have to change one string at a time or insert the whammy bar and physically push it down to raise the rear of the Floyd so you can access the allen heads that hold the strings to the bridge. I have 17 guitars and this one is hands down the hardest guitar to change strings on I have ever owned. If Jackson would put better pick-ups in this model, and re-engineer how the Floyd Rose is mounted, it would be a lot more popular, but like most Jackson guitars priced under $1,500 they opt for the cheap electronics which in my opinion has been the case with every Jackson I have owned, you need to change the pick-ups and pots. The guitar itself is quite nicely made, balanced well and sounds awesome with real pick-ups in it.dtvamigo

This is a sweet guitar. The sustain is excellent, quite a difference from any bolt on neck guitar. I have a 1991 Ibanez 540SLTD, it is an excellent guitar. Been playing that for nearly 3 decades and its still my main guitar. This Jackson SL3X Soloist is just as playable. The neck is very comfortable from top to bottom. The Duncan designed pickups are very good too. Make no mistake, this is a shred guitar through and through. Can it do evreything else in between, like classic rock, jazz, country? Absolutely. You can dial in just about any sound needed. The pickups seem to have good output, but not insane, which i like. I also own a late model Ibanez RG350DX, with the infinity pickups. Those pickups, especially the bridge, are really loud, and overly distorted. I find that i have to roll the volume back to keep clarity. These pickups in the Jackson have good clarity. The neck and middle hot rails pickups are sweet. Artificial harmonics sing everywhere. The Floyd Rose special seems to stay in tune good as well. The fine tuners are a little gritty feeling, not anything wrong with em, but not silky smooth. They probably will get smoother as time and use allows them to break in. The hardware seems good. Solid tuning heads. Nice adjustment of knobs and pickup selector switch. The finish, neon orange, is flawless. Binding on neck and headstock is nicely done as well. The only issue i had with mine was fretbuzz on the first fret, 5th and 4th strings. Quick turn of the truss rod nut to add a little relief and reset the bridge height took care of that. This is a very fast neck to riff and shred with. Of course its great for slow playing, open chords etc… but, if Klingons are around, Warp Factor Five! Neck through Jackson Soloist, its a spaceship in disguise as an electric guitar. My Ibanez 540SLTD has an amazingly fast and thin neck, this Jackson is without a doubt on par with that, plus 2 more frets/ Jackson has better sustain and there is no sub 4 a thruneck.Freddy F

I had played one of these in a store and liked the feel. After having one for a few weeks, I like it even more. I'm slightly taller than the average guy. Hence my fingers are a bit longer than the average guy. Maybe it is just because the neck seems to get thinner as you get up to the higher notes, but it seems like the neck is a little wider than the rest of my guitars up around the 15th to 24th frets. ("rest of my guitars" include Les Paul, Strat, Ibanez RG550, EVH Wolfgang, and others for reference). Aside from how great the paint job LOOKS, it does not have a gloss coat on it. This is a good thing since the paint job extends up the back of the neck allowing your hand to slide quite freely on the back of the neck. The bridge humbucker is fantastic. It screams the notes clearly with ZERO noise or hum when not playing. I'm not that impressed with the neck humbucker, but that's comparing it to the neck hum on my Les Paul, Carvin, and PRS Custom. AND, for about 90% of the 80s hair band songs you are never using that pickup anyway. The Floyd Rose is great! I got tired of waiting for it to need minor tuning adjustments naturally, so I'm to the point of TRYING to make it go out of tune even slightly and it STILL stays locked in tune. Overall, this guitar is now my GO TO for anything 80s (the biggest chunk of my playing preference).Steve

I was keen to find a 6 string that had a fixed bridge that I could use for covers and so I can retune to alternate tunings easily without having to get the screwdrivers and spending a lot of time retuning like a Locking Tremolo guitar. Thankfully the guitar already had Seymour Duncan pick ups in which are essential to having a aggressive tone but as well allow good expression so this meant it would be a case of getting the guitar out the box and playing rather than buying separate pick ups having to fit them in and so on. As I wanted a guitar that wasn't black or brightly colored the desert sand finish on the guitar really stood out and attracted me. Most of the SLP2's have a great selection of finish's. As for the neck and wood finish it is very smoothly and allows you to get quick access from from end of the neck to the other. Behind each the tuners on the headstock, there is this interesting circular turning device to help lock in the strings. This may help keep it in tune more but I also just attribute it staying in tune due to the general quality of the guitar. I bend the strings a lot for my lead playing and I play very aggressively with thick picks and rhythmically so once I put some heavier strings on (my preference) and configured the bridge saddles with a very small L shaped Allen/hex key the guitar stayed in tune.Tom H.

I had played one of these in a store and liked the feel. After having one for a few weeks, I like it even more. I'm slightly taller than the average guy. Hence my fingers are a bit longer than the average guy. Maybe it is just because the neck seems to get thinner as you get up to the higher notes, but it seems like the neck is a little wider than the rest of my guitars up around the 15th to 24th frets. ("rest of my guitars" include Les Paul, Strat, Ibanez RG550, EVH Wolfgang, and others for reference). Aside from how great the paint job LOOKS, it does not have a gloss coat on it. This is a good thing since the paint job extends up the back of the neck allowing your hand to slide quite freely on the back of the neck. The bridge humbucker is fantastic. It screams the notes clearly with ZERO noise or hum when not playing. I'm not that impressed with the neck humbucker, but that's comparing it to the neck hum on my Les Paul, Carvin, and PRS Custom. AND, for about 90% of the 80s hair band songs you are never using that pickup anyway. The Floyd Rose is great! I got tired of waiting for it to need minor tuning adjustments naturally, so I'm to the point of TRYING to make it go out of tune even slightly and it STILL stays locked in tune. Overall, this guitar is now my GO TO for anything 80s (the biggest chunk of my playing preference).Steve

I was keen to find a 6 string that had a fixed bridge that I could use for covers and so I can retune to alternate tunings easily without having to get the screwdrivers and spending a lot of time retuning like a Locking Tremolo guitar. Thankfully the guitar already had Seymour Duncan pick ups in which are essential to having a aggressive tone but as well allow good expression so this meant it would be a case of getting the guitar out the box and playing rather than buying separate pick ups having to fit them in and so on. As I wanted a guitar that wasn't black or brightly colored the desert sand finish on the guitar really stood out and attracted me. Most of the SLP2's have a great selection of finish's. As for the neck and wood finish it is very smoothly and allows you to get quick access from from end of the neck to the other. Behind each the tuners on the headstock, there is this interesting circular turning device to help lock in the strings. This may help keep it in tune more but I also just attribute it staying in tune due to the general quality of the guitar. I bend the strings a lot for my lead playing and I play very aggressively with thick picks and rhythmically so once I put some heavier strings on (my preference) and configured the bridge saddles with a very small L shaped Allen/hex key the guitar stayed in tune.Tom H.

Wasn’t a big fan of Jackson guitars until this elegantly evil lady showed up at my door step! Excellent build quality ( minus the snapped headstock from shipping – they really need to package them better from the factory ) neck through with hot sd pickups. A carved neck awfully close to a wizard 3 or even closer to an esp ell mll! Purchased 2 of these! I highly recommend!Ford

I'm a better guitar player than I thought! Love the Action on this guitar. Good right out of the box, and the tech at guitar center offered to check it out for me before leaving with it. He made a couple small adjustments, but it seemed pretty much ready to go before that. He was very impressed with my pick of the SL2.25 year beginner

Pros- Great looking paint scheme! The ebony fret board is smooth. Nice low action out of the box. The Seymour Duncan Distortion pickups sound great. The Floyd Rose tremolo keeps the guitar in tune during dive bombs! Cons- The back of the neck is glossy, would have preferred a satin finish. Would have like to see a larger inlay at the 12th fret, one that goes across the whole width of the neck. Would like the neck to be thinner too.George

There is plenty to like about this guitar, and I got it for the features I was looking for: locking tremelo, 24 frets, fast neck, 5 way pickup selector, and nice looks. My first impressions of the guitar was slight disappointment with how sloppy Ibanez was. The tops and bottoms of the frets needed to be beveled as they were pretty sharp, there was a noticeable nick on the fretboard, and there was a black smudge on the back of the neck. None of those was a huge deal. The main two issues I have with the guitar are that the middle pickup, the single coil, has such low output that the middle three positions are much quieter than the neck or bridge pickups alone. I do like the tone of the single coil in conjunction with the humbuckers, but those positions are somewhat useless considering how quiet they are, and I have ordered a humbucker to replace it. The single coil alone (middle position) has too much noise AND is too quiet. Not a big deal to replace a pickup, but why they are selling it this way, I'm not sure. The second issue is the volume control. Instead of a gradual swell, there is a sharp dropoff in volume at one point in the rotation of the dial, making it pretty much useless other than having it full on or all the way off. I am not sure if that is fixable, but if it is, I'll need to have that done as well. All that said, if the guitar had not arrived in such sloppy condition and the two problems were resolved, I'd give this guitar 5 stars.hickory spork

The Ibanez RG 450 or any of the RG's are with the exception of the factory p/u and electronic. capable of becoming one of the best performance guitars to own. The base Ibanez Floyd Rose system is fiddley but, after learning how to adjust/tune quickly becomes appreciated for holding tune no matter the severity of attacks you use with the tremolo. The Wizard(ll or lll ?) You would need to go to custom built to exceed the easy play and comfortable frets you will find on and RG. This recent RG450 I upgraded to equal the higher priced models by adding the De Marzio Tone Zone (B), Air Norton (N). And instead of going with the True Velvet. Added the Seymour Duncan Vintage Hot Stack for the middle position and added better electrics to even out the upgrades.. End result; This guitar plays and sound equal to guitars costing over $1,000.00!! Good bones! Yes this can be played well and many will find happiness with this as stock., and, will perform well against the competition dollar for dollar!ikeus

I used to own an '89 Ibanez VBK JEM that I regrettably sold to buy a gaming pc. I wanted to get a newer entry level RG so I could have a floyd,HSH superstrat in E standard. I've had this RG for long enough to know it's a keeper. This thing has the same feel and vibe of my old JEM! Minus the monkey grip and other features obviously. The neck feels fantastic and I only had to do very minor setup adjustments to my liking. I would have liked a rosewood or ebony fingerboard but of course this is the lower end model. The Jatoba feels good under the fingers, similar to rosewood but with a slightly lighter shade to it. Like most guitars you buy online mine came desperately needing some good oil and cleaning. The Jatoba fingerboard seems to require a bit more lubrication than rosewood. The neck binding is done well, not perfect but to a good standard. I do wish the trem was an Edge lo-pro… But again, this is the lower priced model. There is nothing wrong with the Edge tremolo, it stays in tune well with whammy bar abuse but it is one of the bulkier Original Floyd Rose style bridges. The stock Quantum pickups are among the best stock Ibanez pickups I've tried. They are hot but versatile. However I did swap them out with the classic Dimarzio Air Norton/Steves Special combo and a True Velvet middle. I do believe a higher end Ibanez will obviously sound better than this but for the price it really is hard to beat! Well done Ibanez and AMS!Nevin

I had played one of these in a store and liked the feel. After having one for a few weeks, I like it even more. I'm slightly taller than the average guy. Hence my fingers are a bit longer than the average guy. Maybe it is just because the neck seems to get thinner as you get up to the higher notes, but it seems like the neck is a little wider than the rest of my guitars up around the 15th to 24th frets. ("rest of my guitars" include Les Paul, Strat, Ibanez RG550, EVH Wolfgang, and others for reference). Aside from how great the paint job LOOKS, it does not have a gloss coat on it. This is a good thing since the paint job extends up the back of the neck allowing your hand to slide quite freely on the back of the neck. The bridge humbucker is fantastic. It screams the notes clearly with ZERO noise or hum when not playing. I'm not that impressed with the neck humbucker, but that's comparing it to the neck hum on my Les Paul, Carvin, and PRS Custom. AND, for about 90% of the 80s hair band songs you are never using that pickup anyway. The Floyd Rose is great! I got tired of waiting for it to need minor tuning adjustments naturally, so I'm to the point of TRYING to make it go out of tune even slightly and it STILL stays locked in tune. Overall, this guitar is now my GO TO for anything 80s (the biggest chunk of my playing preference).Steve

I was keen to find a 6 string that had a fixed bridge that I could use for covers and so I can retune to alternate tunings easily without having to get the screwdrivers and spending a lot of time retuning like a Locking Tremolo guitar. Thankfully the guitar already had Seymour Duncan pick ups in which are essential to having a aggressive tone but as well allow good expression so this meant it would be a case of getting the guitar out the box and playing rather than buying separate pick ups having to fit them in and so on. As I wanted a guitar that wasn't black or brightly colored the desert sand finish on the guitar really stood out and attracted me. Most of the SLP2's have a great selection of finish's. As for the neck and wood finish it is very smoothly and allows you to get quick access from from end of the neck to the other. Behind each the tuners on the headstock, there is this interesting circular turning device to help lock in the strings. This may help keep it in tune more but I also just attribute it staying in tune due to the general quality of the guitar. I bend the strings a lot for my lead playing and I play very aggressively with thick picks and rhythmically so once I put some heavier strings on (my preference) and configured the bridge saddles with a very small L shaped Allen/hex key the guitar stayed in tune.Tom H.

Sound: The stock pickups sound great especially with high gain. Nice crunch and break up. Features: For me the reason that I bought this model is that it is the least expensive way to get a real Edge tremolo. I can do subtle things with the Edge that I can’t do on an Original Floyd Rose. The bar is easier to position and it stays where ever you put it. As long as the torsion bushings on the bar aren’t worn out, the pop in bar is neither too tight or too sloppy. Value: This guitar is worth every penny. Manufacturer Support: I did not use Ibanez customer service and I did order half a dozen sets of torsion bushings, but had to order them from different places. The Wow Factor: I love the color of this one, Desert Sun Yellow. Overall: In the last 2 months I’ve bought 5 different Ibanez guitars, both lower and higher price. I must say that this guitar is the most bang for the buck out of any of my 21 guitars that I own.Got more than 200 bucks off on mine as it was sold as a slight blemish. When the guitar arrived, I noticed it did have a hairline crack in the paint on the bass side at the neck pocket. That was the only flaw I could find and it probably would have happened anyway if I would have got a “new” one.This is the shreddiest guitar that I have. The only thing that I had to address is that the 6th fret was a little proud. Other than that the fret job was good. All the frets were shiny and smooth and no fret sprout.This is the guitar that is at the price point where if you spend more money, you aren’t going to get much better. And the fit and finish were top notch.Scott

Overall: This guitar was a total impulse buy and I’m so glad I bought it! It’s easily worth twice the price of it. Can’t get too many mid tier guitars that are neck thru with decent pickups and a 5-way switch that has a fast and slim neck at this price. I mostly play baritone 6 strings and 7 strings but I needed a 25.5” scale for drop C and this is perfect for it with 10-54 strings. I did upgrade the nut with a Graphtech tusq nut and Hipshot locking tuners with knurled tuner buttons and looks even more badass while staying in perfect tune! I have an Ibanez rgib6 Iron Label 28” baritone and this is up there with that as far as quality and playability. The stock pickups aren’t bad at all and definitely surprised me cuz that’s usually the first thing I’ll change in an inexpensive guitar. As you can see by the other reviews people say it’s a great guitar and they’re not lying so if you’re on the fence about getting it then go for it! You won’t be disappointed at all and if for some reason you are then zZounds has a return policy within like 30-45 days so you won’t be stuck with a guitar you don’t love.Josh

Overall: I am now in my 2nd day of ownership and I decided to set this extremely light and sexy purple (blemished) have not found one …down long enuff to read reviews.and ya if I could find something about it I dont like… well havent!. What's there not to love at the reasonable price and the abilities this ax possesses. 5way and quantum is a nice pxkge.what. would one expect? At fraction of the price on those high dollar "others".. I feel pretty smart these days not emptying my wallet and can say. The wizard neck is so sweet jatoba fretboard is not only beautiful sustain harmonics….for days….VERY NICE..zZOUNDS AND IBANEZ….THANK YOU FOR. A GREAT DEAL ON A KEEPER….OH YEA AND WHY UPGRADE ANYTHING SEEMS TOVDEFEATCYHE PURPOSE AND UNNECESSARY IN MY OPINION. BUT IM A TIGHTWAD.been a member of the ibz family for awhile and they never stop making great products with reasonable pricing.Kenneth

This (and the blue with rosewood/hardtail) are my first Ibanezes. I mostly play strats and Les Pauls. As I understand it, these have been referred to as Super Strats, because of the double cutaway and the HH. The blue has a matching headstock and a five tone switch. The neck is the most comfortable I've played, the strings are evenly spaced and there's plenty of room for your fingers, even at the top. The satin finished body has the same feel as the neck and it weighs around 6 pounds. After I found the dragon eye (reverse matching headstock, maple fretboard and whammy) at the same price, I couldn't let go of the blue, so now I have two. I'm playing them through my Boss Katana, and it's a good match. Gotta say, it's a totally new guitar playing experience, and the only question is which one to pick up first. If you're thinking about an Ibanez, this would be the one (or two).Rich at the Beach

My son bought this guitar for me for Father's Day and I absolutely love it. I had been in the market for a Gretsch and played a number of the Streamliners at my local GS, but this one really did it for me. The set-up from the store was superb, low action, no fret buzz, intonation spot on. The sound both plugged in and acoustically is awesome. I love to just sit on my couch and play it unplugged. I am still adjusting to keeping it in tune with the Bigsby, and I plan on smoothing out the fret ends a bit, but overall I couldn't be happier. I can't get over how fast the neck is! Really a joy to play.Lawrence

Guitar arrived in pristine condition beautiful colour that changes in certain light absolutely stunning. Binding and paint job is top notch on here can't find any blemishes anywhere. Frets are smooth level and rounded at the edges well done. Hardware, tuners and Bigsby all work as they should no tuning issues to complain about even after some Bigsby use. Set up with nice low action no buzz. Plays and sounds great also sounds sweet unplugged nearly as loud as a concert size acoustic. Only complaint is the tort pickguard isn't to my taste, a black or white one would have suited the beautiful candy apple red colour better but this is my opinion only. Absolutely delighted with this guitar. Well done Gretsch. Thanks GAK.Drew

Schecter just dominates in this class. I always like to wait a year to give reviews but it was hard to wait with this guitar.
From the fast, satin smooth neck, to the low action and the tuning stability, it's just hard to believe the quality in this price range. It feels every bit as nice as my pricier guitars and that's NOT hyperbole, it's the truth.

If half stars were available, I might go 4.5 just because the active pickups, while honestly good, aren't "great".. But at this price point? I'm probably expecting too much because the feel and playability of the guitar keeps making me compare to higher classed categories.
That's a good problem.
I'd like to see schecter push their alternative passive pickup guitars more, just so the market would have increased availability.
I prefer passive and would love to add more Schecters to the collection.Joseph Clark

I love this guitar! It has a great sound for rock, metal and other genre music, but mainly for metal, it's so perfect. I actually traded a Ibanez Xiphos hp330, because I was tired of the floyd rose floating saddle bridge. Nothing against it, but it wasn't for me. The Ibanez had a great sound, played beautifully and definitely good metal guitar, but I wanted something with an easier bridge. I'm glad that I bought the Schecter when Guitar Center had their annual guitar a-thon sale, and I traded my Ibanez for the Schecter and didn't cost me much. For the money it's well worth it, it's a solid guitar, electronics are great, the neck is smooth and fast, the finish is awesome and a reall eye catcher. I'm very happy with the guitar overall. I also have a Schecter bass. The stiletto and I love the Schecter brand. I'll recomend it to anyone ,from the beginner to the experience player, you can't go wrong with this guitar.John

Let me start out by saying I'm a little bias towards Schecter. That being said , this is my 3rd and probably my favorite one. I currently own the demon-6 and have owned the Synyster Gates custom S , not my style so traded it in. The Omen Extremely is absolutely amazing sounding and my favorite out of the 3 I've owned , the pickups are way better than my Demon with active pickups , these can easily handle high gains without crackling or sounding muffled. I didn't really necessarily want the coil splitting option , but glad i have it. This guitar handles clean sounds very well and the splitting option gives the guitar a lot of versatility , the neck is perfect. It reminds me of my Ibanez's , very comfortable and easy to play , it's heavier than most of my other guitars but this just adds to the sustain you get out of this guitar. I got the magenta color , which looks pink to me since I'm color blind. That's all they had in stock but I don't care , it's fine and I play at home plus it throws in some color to my collection of mostly black anyway. I don't know how Schecter continues to put these out for the price , it's solidly built and feels much more expensive. The tuners also are very tight and hardly ever go out of tune , I will continue to purchase Schecter's in the future. I can buy 4 quality built guitars from this company for the price of one Gibson. I highly recommend the Omen Extreme to anyone on the fence , once again Schecter delivers!🤘Mike G.

If you play between the boundaries of Metal to Hard Rock, you will love this pedal! I've own this pedal for years and it has made some eyes pop and gotten me compliments from all sorts of Musicians to include professional ones. Its very versatile and can literally make any rig scream! Even very simple setups like a decent solid state amp and a cheap guitar.I found That really clean amps like Fenders, and Rolands can really make this baby shine due to its high gain and very distorted nature. This pedal is very responsive and has so much attack its insane. The other cool thing about this pedal is the built in noise gate which really helps clean up the hiss of the gain. it also has a mids scoop similar to the signature Dime distortion pedal. This definitely beats all pedals similar to it like the Boss Metal zone, the T-rex bloody mary, Dime Distortion and many other famous pedals. I love howthis pedal has can get many famous sounds like Randy Rhoads, Disturbed, Pantera, Early metallica, All That Remains, Ratt, Van Halen, Godsmack, and more. The only thing about it that some people may not like is that the pedal does have a little bit more controls than average ones and that its high gain maybe too much for some. However I found that if you roll the gain down and mess with the frequency knob and equilizers, you can get a more Crunchy overdrive sound. This pedal literally brings my rig to life and I can't find anything wrong with it. Definitely recommend getting it.Buckshot1894

This pedal is a one trick pony – brutal sounding heavy metal. It can run the gauntlet of thrash, modern, nu, and classic metal – everything from old school Dio and 1980s Metallica to Pantera to Trivium to Avenged Sevenfold. It can scoop the mids out entirely for the dry … And Justice for All sound with the push of a button while the push of another button can enable a nice percussive sound and prevent any bleedthrough of extraneous sound. Using mids dial on this pedal is not a bad thing … it shouldn't be turned down unless specifically needed for a certain sound. Mine is actually set around the 1 o'clock position. Where care needs to be used is actually with the low and especially the high (where it can sound like an annoying chain saw if turned up). Take time and care with dialing in the sound. It is easy to get a brutal sound if used properly and not the high pitched awful whine that you might find on demo videos on YouTube. Definitely recommend using this pedal on the clean channel. Boosting it with an overdrive pedal isn't necessary or useful.JGB

Overall: I have been using my tried and true Boss Metal Zone into a Boss 7 band EQ for a few decades. I had been looking at getting the Waza Craft Metal Zone before my old Metal Zone takes a dump on me, but I also wanted to see what else is out there. I watched a video review of the MXR Fullbore Distortion and was impressed, but not enough to buy one. Well! My fiance took care of that for me and ordered it for me as a surprise. I plugged it in right away the day it got here. I plugged it into my 7 band EQ. I kinda gave it a half ass listen and wasn't impressed. I picked it back up and figured I would exchange it for a noise gate as that is what I needed more. It sat there for a week or so and I decided to give it another chance. I plugged straight in to the front of my half stack and used a suggested setting I found online. I had to back off on my maps EQ across the board and just tweak it. What I heard was something that sounded familiar and new at the same time. I cranked it up and tried the on board noise gate and it works great! Basically it's a distortion, EQ and a noise gate in one pedal. I tried my old set up side by side with this pedal and the fact that this one pedal eliminated 2 other pedals in the chain was what finally sold me. I love this thing. It likes high gain pickups. My Strat with a Seymour Duncan TB 6 Distortion in the bridge sounds like a flame thrower! Distortion is a very personal thing. Not everybody will love it. So far everybody who has listened to me says that it sounds insane, badass, etc. For the music I play it fits. It's an all around sound I can use on everything I cover on guitar. To me that's the goal to have one sound do it all. I'm very happy that I kept it and gave it another try. One thing to remember is that with this pedal it's okay to back everything down and especially on your amp. Usually I would put everything in the middle and adjust my Distortion and EQ around that. With this pedal I have the amp's EQ, everything on 2-3. This could be the Distortion sound your looking for.Jon

My son bought this guitar for me for Father's Day and I absolutely love it. I had been in the market for a Gretsch and played a number of the Streamliners at my local GS, but this one really did it for me. The set-up from the store was superb, low action, no fret buzz, intonation spot on. The sound both plugged in and acoustically is awesome. I love to just sit on my couch and play it unplugged. I am still adjusting to keeping it in tune with the Bigsby, and I plan on smoothing out the fret ends a bit, but overall I couldn't be happier. I can't get over how fast the neck is! Really a joy to play.Lawrence

Guitar arrived in pristine condition beautiful colour that changes in certain light absolutely stunning. Binding and paint job is top notch on here can't find any blemishes anywhere. Frets are smooth level and rounded at the edges well done. Hardware, tuners and Bigsby all work as they should no tuning issues to complain about even after some Bigsby use. Set up with nice low action no buzz. Plays and sounds great also sounds sweet unplugged nearly as loud as a concert size acoustic. Only complaint is the tort pickguard isn't to my taste, a black or white one would have suited the beautiful candy apple red colour better but this is my opinion only. Absolutely delighted with this guitar. Well done Gretsch. Thanks GAK.Drew

. Now let me set the scene… I am a guitar lover (I can even play a little too) and a quality professional so My expectations are somewhat higher than most looking at this product. An absolutely beautiful instrument, this is my second SA360 and although they are no longer. Made in Japan, be assured they have not lost any of the build quality or attention to detail. The guitar was really well set up, is great to play, feels good in the hand and sounds the bee’s knee’s. If you are looking to start out in guitar playing get yourself an Ibanez Gio to start as a first upgrade from that, then the SA series is where you want to be at.Timbo

There is plenty to like about this guitar, and I got it for the features I was looking for: locking tremelo, 24 frets, fast neck, 5 way pickup selector, and nice looks. My first impressions of the guitar was slight disappointment with how sloppy Ibanez was. The tops and bottoms of the frets needed to be beveled as they were pretty sharp, there was a noticeable nick on the fretboard, and there was a black smudge on the back of the neck. None of those was a huge deal. The main two issues I have with the guitar are that the middle pickup, the single coil, has such low output that the middle three positions are much quieter than the neck or bridge pickups alone. I do like the tone of the single coil in conjunction with the humbuckers, but those positions are somewhat useless considering how quiet they are, and I have ordered a humbucker to replace it. The single coil alone (middle position) has too much noise AND is too quiet. Not a big deal to replace a pickup, but why they are selling it this way, I'm not sure. The second issue is the volume control. Instead of a gradual swell, there is a sharp dropoff in volume at one point in the rotation of the dial, making it pretty much useless other than having it full on or all the way off. I am not sure if that is fixable, but if it is, I'll need to have that done as well. All that said, if the guitar had not arrived in such sloppy condition and the two problems were resolved, I'd give this guitar 5 stars.hickory spork

The Ibanez RG 450 or any of the RG's are with the exception of the factory p/u and electronic. capable of becoming one of the best performance guitars to own. The base Ibanez Floyd Rose system is fiddley but, after learning how to adjust/tune quickly becomes appreciated for holding tune no matter the severity of attacks you use with the tremolo. The Wizard(ll or lll ?) You would need to go to custom built to exceed the easy play and comfortable frets you will find on and RG. This recent RG450 I upgraded to equal the higher priced models by adding the De Marzio Tone Zone (B), Air Norton (N). And instead of going with the True Velvet. Added the Seymour Duncan Vintage Hot Stack for the middle position and added better electrics to even out the upgrades.. End result; This guitar plays and sound equal to guitars costing over $1,000.00!! Good bones! Yes this can be played well and many will find happiness with this as stock., and, will perform well against the competition dollar for dollar!ikeus

I used to own an '89 Ibanez VBK JEM that I regrettably sold to buy a gaming pc. I wanted to get a newer entry level RG so I could have a floyd,HSH superstrat in E standard. I've had this RG for long enough to know it's a keeper. This thing has the same feel and vibe of my old JEM! Minus the monkey grip and other features obviously. The neck feels fantastic and I only had to do very minor setup adjustments to my liking. I would have liked a rosewood or ebony fingerboard but of course this is the lower end model. The Jatoba feels good under the fingers, similar to rosewood but with a slightly lighter shade to it. Like most guitars you buy online mine came desperately needing some good oil and cleaning. The Jatoba fingerboard seems to require a bit more lubrication than rosewood. The neck binding is done well, not perfect but to a good standard. I do wish the trem was an Edge lo-pro… But again, this is the lower priced model. There is nothing wrong with the Edge tremolo, it stays in tune well with whammy bar abuse but it is one of the bulkier Original Floyd Rose style bridges. The stock Quantum pickups are among the best stock Ibanez pickups I've tried. They are hot but versatile. However I did swap them out with the classic Dimarzio Air Norton/Steves Special combo and a True Velvet middle. I do believe a higher end Ibanez will obviously sound better than this but for the price it really is hard to beat! Well done Ibanez and AMS!Nevin

Overall: First the guitar is very nice for the price. The neck is fantastic feels unfinished (sealed) but is actually a satin sealer on neck and unsealed board, which should age nicely. The frets are finished nicely and it's just smooth to play. The size of the neck is somewhere between an Ibanez (wizard II & III) and a Fender Strat. I think it feels better than an LTD EC 1001, probably due to no paint and compound radius.The guitar is heavier than expected but still a light guitar, it's not a thin body as some strat style guitars are. The guard is simple black but fitted nicely. The pickups aren't bad at all, personally the single coils sound mid and bass heavy, while the humbucker is more mid to bright. All in all compared to a Fender, the guitar is darker sounding, it's not bad but something I noticed.The single coils are definitely weaker (quieter) than the humbucker and not as crisp as ones in a strat. The humbucker is hot but not extremely so, I actually like it better than the ones in a comparable strat (MIM or older AM special).There are flaws though or at least in mine. First minor sanding flaw with 17th marker, smeared on board some. There's a chip in the paint on the top side of the pocket, looks like a small line about a 1/4" long. I also have some feathered pieces on the guard, where it was cut from the sheet of plastic it was made from. These are all minor things and you really have to go over the guitar to notice. It is something I expect at this price on an import guitar, just small QC stuff.Now to the major problems. The action was way high at the bridge when I received it, just under a 1/2" from top of body to bottom of the tremelo. Looking to figure out how low I could go, I noticed the neck was sitting at an angle and there was a gap in the neck pock.I removed the neck to find a shim had been placed in it. Now if this guitar wasn't heel adjust I would have just sent it back and never known but since you have to remove the neck for adjustment, figured why not. After removing shim I was able to get the bridge down to 1/8" off the body, you'll never be able to fully deck it. I also had to adjust string tension at the head to keep the lockers from turning strings sharp, not a huge deal, that's what it's there for.The newer models also don't match the picture. there is no longer a bullet plug on the head stock (where rod usually is on a strat). There is also no longer a skunk stripe on the back of the neck either. I am assuming these are cost cutting measures.The QC is an issue on these guitars I imagine, that's the biggest flaw. They are on par with most any $500 guitar, except the neck. The neck is leaps and bounds above others in my opinion. I put the guitar on the same level as a MIM strat.In the end I think it's a keeper and a decent guitar. I'd just suggest really looking over it when buying and be ready to do a little work or pay a good tech to set it up, which is common in this price range. Don't let it having a shim scare you off, it's probably rare anyways. I figure it was done as a fast way to set it up with a low board action to give people the ability to have a push pull trem, I prefer dive only or just enough for flutter. Just remember at $500, they aren't spending hours to set up a guitar, they'd never get enough out the door. I listed manufacturer support at 2 1/2 stars as I haven't used it but even if they are great I shouldn't have to need them (if they did what they should in the first place) so half way seems fair.Waylon

I have been playing guitar for over 50 years and have enjoyed the work of Adrian Smith in Iron Maiden and especially the work he did on the Bruce Dickenson solo albums. I was in the market for a high quality bolt on guitar with a Floyd Rose and ebony fingerboard and this guitar comes with a DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup which I used to have on one of my old Jacksons, I feel this is an great high gain pickup. This guitar has an excellent build quality that you would expect from a USA made Jackson. The guitar has a nice feel but the tone is so satisfying especially for high gain solos, the notes seem to have a fuller sound compared to some of my other high end guitars (Ibanez J. Custom, ESP E-II and Kiesel JB24), it's a very satisfying guitar to play. Please note that there are two similar models here, evidently this is the new model and the only difference in the description is that this is the snow white model and it's a few hundred dollars more than the other Adrian Smith San Dimas USA model. I had bought the other model first because I couldn't see any difference in the description but when I got it I needed to adjust the truss rod and that's when I found out that in order to adjust the truss rod on the cheaper model you have to remove the neck, I mean seriously? After I called Guitar Center and their tech confirmed that information I called Guitar Center and they gladly processed the return and got me the proper model in couple days no problem. Just be sure that you are getting the model that is snow white and look closely at the picture to see it has the spoke wheel adjustment for the truss rod but yeah the Adrian Smith San Dimas USA Snow White guitar sounds awesome!Mark G

This guitar is a very good value for it's cost. I really like the neck, as it's finish is really good for a guitar in this price range. Frets are smooth and the ends were done nicely, no snags on the fingers. The Floyd Rose Special holds tune nicely. I made some minor adjustments in string action and trem height to get really low action. The pick ups sound great coming through my Marshall DSL 20 Head and Cab.I really like the Fender style headstock with the black hardware. Overall it's an amazing guitar for the price. I am a musician of 35+ years and have owned many, many guitars over the years. I purchased this for my 15 year old son as it was an upgrade from his first guitar, a Squire HSS Strat. He loves the instrument. There are reviews where there's mention of the 1st E coming off the fretboard during play, I or my Son have had no issues with this. Maybe it's a technique thing.. Best of wishes to all you shredders!!Old Guy In The Midwest.