Ibanez RG320 Electric Guitar

I started out playing my Ibanez after i'd been playing around a year. It was (and still is) a great guitar to play with for many styles.

Looks and Feel:

The guitar has a Basswood flamed ash top, which looks great in red. The body seems larger than most guitars in depth, but gives the guitar a more solid feel. The neck is smooth and easy to play over and Tone/Volume controls are black and go with the overall theme of ...
...on the bottom in other Ibanez models) and also fine tuning screws are positioned on the Floyyd Rose trembolo.
There are 24 frets on the neck, and also a 'Locking nut' system, to ensure the strings do not 'De-Tune' themselves after long durations of play.

Sound:

The guitar is well suited to all main styles of play, and is used by such great artists as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. The guitar sound is dynamic, as ... more

I started out playing my Ibanez after i'd been playing around a year. It was (and still is) a great guitar to play with for many styles.

Looks and Feel:

The guitar has a Basswood flamed ash top, which looks great in red. The body seems larger than most guitars in depth, but gives the guitar a more solid feel. The neck is smooth and easy to play over and Tone/Volume controls are black and go with the overall theme of the guitar. Tuning controls are present on the top of the head (Rather than on the bottom in other Ibanez models) and also fine tuning screws are positioned on the Floyyd Rose trembolo.
There are 24 frets on the neck, and also a 'Locking nut' system, to ensure the strings do not 'De-Tune' themselves after long durations of play.

Sound:

The guitar is well suited to all main styles of play, and is used by such great artists as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. The guitar sound is dynamic, as it can be changed easily through the use of effects pedals and amplifier effects: From clean tones, to heavy distortion, the range is endless.
With my guitar, I use a 30 watt Marshall Amplfier and a Toneworks effects pedal, which help improve the sound of the guitar even further.
Changing the gauge of strings will also add an extra way to enhance the guitar's sound for your style of play.

Functionality:

The guitar is slightly heavy, although this reflects the quality of material used during construction. This weight seems to produce one problem for me, which is the small metal studs for attatching the guitar strap. After 2 years of use now, they seem to be rather slack and unscrew easily. But I have found that re-enforcing them with glue fixes it right up. The guitar body fits the shape of your body and is very easy to play because of this, wether standing or sitting down.

The main problem i find with the guitar, is the fact that when changing strings, and using a different gauge of string, the guitar is very hard to tune correctly. The problem occurs with the Floyyd Rose Trembolo, and the fact that it can sink into the body of the guitar. If tuned correctly, the trembolo with lie flush with the body, but if different gauges of strings are used, this may not be the case, and the strings may seem too far away from the fretboard (making it hard to play) or too close to the fretboard (giving a twangy/ringing sound when strings are hit). To fix this, you are required to change the tension on the trembolo by adjusting the strings in the back of the guitar, which can seem un-nerving to begnniers. Once the correct tension is found, the guitar can be tuned again, and the body and trembolo should lie flush. I found many tutorials on the internet which were helpful in tuning my guitar.

The locking nuts between the neck and head of the guitar look good, and also help to keep the guitar in tune. They are closed with an allen key and press down on the strings, meaning they aren't moved when using the trembolo excessively. When the nuts are in place, the guitar can be fine tuned with the small screws located on the trembolo, which can change the note with a range of about one note either way.

Value For Money:

At £399, the guitar may seem rather pricey for beginners, but infact it is well worth forking out for. It plays well, sounds good, and lasts for a very long time. I bought mine from my local guitar supplier, which supplied most types of guitar. You'll find that you need to ask in-store to find out the types of guitar the store sells.I also had a search round the internet for a while to find the best deal. I'm sure that if i found one cheaper somewhere else, i would have considered it.

If you're looking for a decent guitar, at a decent price, this is the one for you. 

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