Ibanez RG550 is making a comeback for 2018 – 1980s shred, anyone? Road Flare Red and Desert Yellow RG550s!

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Ibanez RG550 2018 · Source: Ibanez/Digimart Previous Next

Not only is the legendary Japanese Ibanez RG550 is making a comeback for 2018, it also looks like the much sought-after original colours of Road Flare Red and Desert Yellow will finally both be available once more!

RG550 2018

The Ibanez RG550 is one of the best loved guitars by the Japanese guitar giant. The announcement of new versions of this guitar – which originally came out in 1987 – has a lot of players (myself included) getting very excited.

I own a couple of the original 1980s ones myself and love the way they play and feel. They are much more than just shred guitars and are well suited to many playing styles. But yes, they do play fast if you want to.

These new versions are looking to ship sometime around the end of November and so expect to see them listed at Ibanez dealers very soon.

Specifications appear to be very similar to the original guitars from the ’80s and include the colours that everyone wants from that era.

Super Wizard

We know that hese new models will have the Super Wizard 5-piece maple and walnut necks as featured on more modern guitars. They will also have Prestige fretwork finishing on their jumbo frets, as well.

The pickups look likely to be a set of Ibanez V7 neck and V8 bridge humbuckers paired with an Ibanez S1 single coil in the middle of the HSH layout. All are controlled by a single Volume and master Tone control, using a position blade switch for pickup selection.

Edge

They are all loaded with an Ibanez Edge full locking floating tremolo system, which in my opinion is one of the best bridges that Ibanez ever made. The basswood bodies come finished in either Desert Yellow, Road Flare Red, Purple or Black.

At the time of writing, they aren’t officially listed on the main Ibanez website, but many Japanese guitar sites and eBay sites have them listed already, so watch this space. For me, these Made In Japan reissues are a great thing, as I reckon everyone should own an RG550 at some point during their lifetime, as they are such fun guitars to play!

RRP – USD 1,456.51

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