it sounds pretty good. when you hear people talk about basswood they always say bad things but thats because theyre comparing it to alder, which is a hih end, bright wood. Basswood, however, has lots of low end and is very dark and rich and warm. i personally like basswood over mahogany, but its a very close win. as for the pickups, theyre ok. but theyre stock from the dealer, what do you expect? if you honestly care about your sound both recorded and live then youll put some dimarzios in there. DO NOT EVER EVER EVER EVER PUT EMG's IN THIS GUITAR OR ANY HIGH END IBANEZ!!!!! YOU WILL TEAR UP THE BODY JUST TO PUT THEM IN AND THEY SOUND TERRIBLE IN THESE THINGS!! and once you put them in and get rid of the wood your done. theres no going back. the wood cant be put back.

Body: Basswood body: beautiful, rich, dark, full sounding tone wood. very light and easy to dent however and paint does not stick to it very well. Neck: 5 pc Maple/wenge neck (very strong and wont crack or warp easily). Wizard 7 prestige neck profile. very thin, wide and fast. perfect for shredding, riffing, or technical playing. the neck isnt sticky at all either. and rosewood fretboard with pearl dot inlays on all 24 jumbo frets. Bridge: Edge Pro 7 trem. one of the best trems on earth. people always think that ibanez trems are cheap floyd rose rip-offs and theyre NOT. theyre way better than any floyd rose ever made. more stable, easier to set and use, look nicer and last longer. ibanez's worst edge trem (the edge III) it STILL better than an OFR. i put an edge III in a usa jackson where the original floyd rose (OFR) was and now it stays in tune amazing! Pickups: V87 (bridge), V77 (neck). theyre decent, and theyll last but theyre just stock pickups that you should change out of any guitar you get. a pair of dimarzios will work 100% perfectly for this guitar. DiMarzio and ibanez pretty much go together like peas and carrots! Put in some dimarzio PAF 7's and itll sound jest like a J. custom and itll be the same quality, just without all the flash. Finish: Royal Blue (just a dark blue with lots of shiny specs in it) much darker than in the display picture). finish flakes easily but only around a spot thats alreadt cracked. everything will work out fine if your careful with the guitar. and if you dont like the finish, dont let that stop you from buying this thing! you can always repaint. Hardware: Cosmo Black hardware finish (also slightly darker and nicer than in the display picture), which is perfect on this guitar. Gotoh tuners, which doesnt matter, it has a locking nut because of the trem. 5-way blade switch, 1 vol, 1 tone. Trem cover doesnt ever need to be removed! you can reach the claw screws with it on because it's slotted.

The trem is SUPER easy to set and use. i went from .10 gage strings in standard tuning to .11 gage in ADGCFAD in only about 20 min. if this is your first trem then you might have a little trouble but youll easily get used to it. TIP: this trem IS set with everything parallel to the body, unlike the lo-pro edge trem or the original edge trem which are set at an angle. you can get lots of sounds from this guitar and its VERY versatile. i can be playing some korn, then change a couple settings on the guitar and amp to play some jazz and blues then change them again to play some suicide silence. it will play everything. the manual is very clear, although it starts in japanese (the guitar is MIJ!!!! which is very good if you dont know) but english comes next. the only learning curve is the trem, but if youve owned some before then youll be ok. if you havnt then you might need to take it somewhere to get set up the first time. after that you have to do it yourself so you can learn. and its so amazingly playable, everyone says it blows their universes away!!!

it is made VERY well, japanese quality!!! ive stated the finish problems twice now. no loose parts, comes in perfect condition. very reliable and will last you as long as you need; very dependable. will be great on the road, just be careful, $1200 isnt cheap ;) there really is no problems with it. and it should easily last forever, maybe long enough to be a family heir loom? oh and it comes with tools to unlock the top locks, string locks, raise/lower action, etc.

never had to deal with ibanez customer support but ive only heard bad things so i just gave it a 5

definately worth it. all quality stuff accept for the boring finish but you can change that any time, just sand the paint off and make it your own favorite color.

the only thing thats appealing is the mother of pearl prestige logo. truth is this guitar was made to be a player, not a looker. if you want it to be both than paint it, get colored pickups, etc. but youll never be unhappy with this thing. even though it is pretty boring, its still VERY beautiful and eye catching.

overall i give it a 9.5/10. i still look at it and smile like its the first day i got it. you can use it for any music style, it asts long, sounds great, works great, the tuning is stable and its easy to use. what more could you want? id recommend this to everyone i know in a heartbeat. if your looking at this and "rg7321" is in your head then listen to this. the rg7321 sucks horribly. save up your money and get this. itll take you 4 times as long to be able to afford this but itll last you 1000 times as long. so your still getting more time with a better quality guitar. buy it, buy it, buy it!!!!