Watch It First
Hear it before you read me going on about neck profiles for a thousand words.
The RG550 came out in 1987 and basically invented the modern superstrat as we know it. Thin neck, 24 frets, HSH, locking trem, screaming colours.
Ibanez killed it, brought it back, killed it again, brought it back again as part of the Genesis Collection. At this point I assume it is immortal.
The current one is made in Japan, and after time with it I understand why people keep demanding its return.
That Neck Is the Entire Reason
Five-piece maple and walnut, Super Wizard profile. It is thin in a way that feels almost silly the first time you pick it up.
43 mm at the nut, 648 mm scale, 24 jumbo frets. The Prestige fret edge treatment means the fret ends are rolled and smooth, so your hand slides rather than catches.
This is the detail that separates the Japanese RG550 from the cheaper Indonesian RGs. You feel it in about four seconds.
Is It Too Thin?
For some people, yes. If you have big hands or you play a lot of thumb-over blues, this neck will feel like a butter knife.
If you shred, or you play anything that involves stretches above the 12th fret, it is close to perfect. Your call.
The five-piece construction also means it stays put. Seasonal truss rod fiddling is minimal compared to a one-piece maple neck.
Pickups: The Bit People Argue About
V7 humbucker at the neck, S1 single coil in the middle, V8 humbucker at the bridge. This is the original 1987 configuration and Ibanez kept it deliberately.
The V8 is hot and slightly midrangey. It is not a modern high-output ceramic monster and it does not want to be.
The middle single coil is the secret weapon. Position 2 and 4 give you genuinely usable funk and clean tones, which most metal guitars simply cannot do.
The Honest Criticism
By 2020s standards the stock pickups are a bit polite. If you play modern djent-adjacent stuff you will probably swap the bridge unit within a year.
That is fine. This guitar is a platform. The wood, the neck and the hardware are what you are really paying for.
If you want more aggression straight out of the box without modding, the ESP LTD TE-1000ET or the Schecter C-1 Hellraiser arrive angrier.
The Edge Tremolo
A real Ibanez Edge, not a licensed knockoff. This matters enormously.
It returns to pitch after abuse in a way that budget double-locking trems just do not. Dive, pull up, do the silly Vai flutter, and it comes back.
Setup still takes patience. Floyd-style bridges always do. But once it is dialled in it stays dialled in.
Under serious gain, a noise gate helps – the Boss NS-2 is the boring, correct answer.
Build Quality and the Made-in-Japan Thing
Fit and finish is where the Genesis RG550 justifies itself. Fret work is excellent, the nut is cut properly, the finish is even.
Basswood body, which people love to sneer at. In practice it is light, resonant enough, and it is what the original used. The colours – Purple Neon, Desert Sun Yellow, Road Flare Red – only look right on a flat, opaque body anyway.
It is a loud, unsubtle guitar to look at. That was the point in 1987 and it is still the point.
Who Should Actually Buy One?
Players moving up from a budget superstrat who want the real version. If you learned on something like the Harley Benton Amarok-6 and you are ready to spend properly, this is the natural next step.
Also anyone who wants one guitar that does 80s rock, metal, and clean funk without swapping instruments. The HSH layout earns its keep.
If you want that era of tone but with a hardtail and less faff, the Sterling S.U.B. Axis AX3 covers similar ground. And for a completely different flavour of Japanese-adjacent build quality, the Yamaha Revstar Element RSE20 is worth a look.
Living With It: Six Weeks In
The thing nobody tells you about a Super Wizard neck is how much it changes your practice habits.
Stretches that felt like work on a chunky neck suddenly do not. You end up playing things you had quietly given up on.
The flip side is that sloppy technique gets exposed. Thin necks and jumbo frets punish heavy-handed fretting with sharp notes.
Weight and Balance
Basswood keeps it light – noticeably lighter than a Les Paul-style guitar. Long rehearsals stop being a shoulder problem.
It hangs level on a strap with no neck dive. The upper horn cutaway means fret 24 is genuinely reachable, not theoretically reachable.
Setup Notes Worth Knowing
Change strings one at a time and block the trem while you do it. Otherwise you will spend an evening chasing the floating bridge back to level.
Stay in one gauge. The floating Edge is happiest when you are not constantly changing tension on it.
If you want drop tunings, get a second guitar. That is not an RG550 complaint, that is a floating trem complaint in general.
Small Complaints, Stated Honestly
- The neck pickup can get a bit woolly with a lot of gain
- Basswood does not have the acoustic bloom of alder or mahogany
- Floating trem means no drop tuning without a lot of faff
- The neon finishes are not for everyone, and the range is deliberately limited
- Japanese build quality comes at a Japanese price – this is not a budget guitar
None of that changed my opinion of it. It is just the stuff you should know before you hand over money.
The Spec Sheet
- Genesis Collection series
- Body: Basswood
- Neck: 5-piece Super Wizard, maple and walnut
- Fretboard: Maple
- Nut width: 43 mm
- Scale: 648 mm
- 24 jumbo frets with Prestige fret edge treatment
- Bridge: Ibanez Edge double-locking tremolo
- Pickups: V7 humbucker (neck), S1 single coil (middle), V8 humbucker (bridge)
- Black hardware
- Finish: Purple Neon (and other period colours)
- Made in Japan
Final Verdict
The RG550 is not the most modern superstrat you can buy. It is the one every modern superstrat is copying.
The neck and fretwork are worth the money on their own. The Edge trem is the real thing. The build is Japanese-tidy throughout.
Stock pickups are the only genuine weak point, and they are a cheap fix if you care. IMO that is a very acceptable trade for a guitar this well made.
It refuses to die because it does not deserve to. Simple as that.
