1993 Ibanez Roadstar RG470 (Fujigen-made) Electric Guitar

November 07, 2020

1993 Ibanez Roadstar RG470 (Fujigen-made) Electric Guitar

I set this guitar up for its owner some time ago, but it's just arrived here on consignment this time around, so I went over it again.

It's exactly what it looks like -- a '90s shredder guitar made in Japan with a Floyd-a-like whammy. I've blocked said whammy (effectively hard-tailing it) because it kept drifting out of spec over the last week and a half and I just found that irritating. Yes -- I've setup Floyds before, no problem. Some of them are just not as happy as others!

At any rate, it's a quality-built guitar and has the Ibanez "wizard" neck which is extremely thin and fast and has a flatter board radius. It reminds me of an '80s Peavey, really. You feel like a superhero playing lead on it. The pickups are H-S-H configuration but the middle pickup sounds a bit like a "noiseless" dual-coil/single-coil thingy. The neck and bridge pickups are pure SuperStrat -- gutsy and thick with that '80s burr to the sound.

The controls are basic -- 3-way and volume/tone. The finish is cool, though -- a metallic teal/"emerald" green, though with a few chips and nicks here and there.

Repairs included: a setup and blocking of the trem. The frets are nearly-unplayed and in good order.

Setup notes: action is 1/16" overall at the 12th fret and it's strung with what feel like 46w-10 gauges. The neck is straight and the truss rod works.

Scale length: 25 1/2"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/2"

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/8"

Body length: 18"

Lower bout width: 12"

Side depth at endpin: 1 3/4"

Body wood: unknown

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: Ibanez Floyd-like trem

Neck feel: super-slim D-shape, ~14" board radius

Neck wood: maple