The RG was originally designed as a derivative of Steve Vai's JEM series and released in 1987, when shred guitar and superstrats were in the ascendency. Manufacture of the RG model continues today and the RG series guitars are among the most popular hard rock and metal guitars ever made.

Origins

The RG series was first introduced in 1987 as a derivative to the Ibanez JEM and Universe series by Steve Vai. The RG istands for Roadstar Guitar, although these instruments differ significantly from the original Roadstar II series, introduced in the early 1980s. One of the first guitars in the RG series was the RG550 with an Edge tremolo. It was essentially the poor man's JEM, with its locking tremolo,with deep rear route, it allowed you to do all of the Steve Vai stunt guitar tricks (with a little practise of course). It became one of the most popular guitars ever made by Ibanez and made the RG name known internationally.

Features

The RG Series features a thin neck with a wide, almost flat, double octave (24 fret) fret board. The flat fingerboard and fat frets lend themselves to fast solo playing. The body of the RG Series has, offset pointed double cutaways like a Fender strat. There have been a variety of woods used, perhaps not surprisingly since the series is so large Ibanez need to differentiate the models by the use of different materials. The body is usually made of mahogany or basswood although swamp ash and alder have been occasionally used.  The fretboard is made of rosewood although maple has also been used, some of the first RG550s had a maple board.

Most RGs have humbuckers and a Floyd Rose-style tremolo. The tremolo is one piece of hardware that varies, the genuine Edge tremolos (usually on the Japanese models) are more highly regarded than the cheaper tremolos seen on the low end models.

The RG Series circa 2008

The current (2008) RG Series is split into 5 sections:

Ibanez J Custom- Highest quality RG guitars Japanese made exclusively for the Japanese market, and sometimes available retail in Europe. Not available in the USA except from non-authorized importers.

Ibanez RG Extreme-A middle range between the RG tremolo and RG prestige series guitars. All three are of non Japanese origin, have EMG pickups and Edge III tremolos. They are not available in the United States and many other countries.

RG Prestige - High quality Japanese-made RG guitars made for export. Contains the RG, RGA, and most of the RGT series.

RG Tremolo - RG series guitars of non Japanese origin (China, Korea or Indonesia) with Floyd Rose-style tremolo.

RG Fixed - RG guitars with fixed bridges of non Japanese origin.