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The best electric with a quality Floyd Rose, UNDER $500 is.......?????


Dr. Scottie C

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Probably used unless someone is currently running killer deal. I know ibanez are tremendous bang for the buck.... but I really don't like the wizard neck profile at all.

 

There are a few types of wizard necks out there. There are the Prestige line of ibanez guitars that have hand finished necks (and edge trems). Each one of those is unique. They are wider then the regular wizards and the prestige guitars can be had for stupid cheap if one puts a little work into the hunt. F-ing great MIJ guitars. Depending on what year you are looking at the wizard can be a little thicker or thinner, too. There is also the wizard ii which is a little thicker then a wizard.

 

The current Indonesian RG350m are phenomenal deals on the used market, as are the RG1570 prestige guitars. But if you are not interested, I wont push it.

 

Unless you are looking at a Gibson Access most Floyded guitars are going to have a thinner flatter type necks. You can look at the Jackson DK2m pros that are out. I have one for sale actually, but I still think you are far better off with an ibby. I don't think anyone makes a modern shredder guitar that can touch ibanez. They designed the innovations to the Strat, they have developed genuinely modern guitars.

 

A last thought would be about neck width. I get that when we try something different it feels, well, different. But if you give it a week or two you find that different becomes normal. Anyway, I can only recommend what I have found to work, and in that price range it is not going to be a fender, a kramer, a charvel, a jackson, an esp, or a BC Rich that beats ibanez. The long an short of it is that Ibanez has dominated this corner of the market.

 

If you feel like taking a look, the s470 is more strat like

and the rg350m, rg550, rg570, rg560, rg1570 are all very much super strat and very solid guitars that can be had for under 5 bills.

 

If you need a thicker neck, the made in Japan Charvel So-Cal and San Dimas guitars have chunky necks. Personally I did not like the feel of those guitars or the trems (or pickups) they came with (or top mounted trems in general), but many people really like them. They also did not come with tone knobs which I think is silly, but that is another thread. They are north of $500 though.

 

Welcome to the dark side. I hope you find the guitar that really works for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Floyd,

Can you compare $400-$500 used Ibby's, Schecters, ESP, and Washburns.....super strat body style for sure.

ie: What in Ibanez lineup, compares with a Schecter Hellraiser in quality?

 

I can't compare to a hellraiser, never touched one. And have only held a few Washburns over the years (would like to try nuno bettencourt's n2). The guys on Jemsite are cool and I know that if you posted a question about comparing the used ibbys to Shcecter and Washburn that you would get fair responses on feel and build even though it is an Ibanez forum.

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Used Ibbys are criminally underpriced, you can get one with an original Edge for cheap( less than $500).

 

I think the main reason for that is that guitars with floyds are actually harder to set up. There is a learning curve with floyd rose type guitars, I think it is worth it, though. I love the stability of them, and i can do some really subtle stuff with a floyd. A lot of people buy them, spend a little bit of time trying to set them up, get frustrated (cause they are super frustrating if not set up correctly) and then they put them on the used market thinking their guitar is junk.

I also have grown to love 24 frets, but that is a different topic. Ibanez rules.

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I think the main reason for that is that guitars with floyds are actually harder to set up. There is a learning curve with floyd rose type guitars, I think it is worth it, though. I love the stability of them, and i can do some really subtle stuff with a floyd. A lot of people buy them, spend a little bit of time trying to set them up, get frustrated (cause they are super frustrating if not set up correctly) and then they put them on the used market thinking their guitar is junk.

I also have grown to love 24 frets, but that is a different topic. Ibanez rules.

 

This is exactly what has happened to me.

Whenever I play someone else's properly set up Ibanez, Jackson, Schecter, ..etc with a Floyd..... I feel like superman....I'm shredding, tapping, sweeping, diving etc... so I will get the itch and buy a locking trem equipped guitar....(God knows how many Ibby RG 550's and 570's over the years ....20 at minimum)...... I get them, and I can't get them in tune, can't get them to stay in tune.... the neck feels like thin whispy flimsy junk.....and I scratch my head and say "Now, this was the same make/model guitar that I thought was so awesome last week, what happened."

 

At first I convinced myself that I must have got a "bum one", but now this has happened 2 dozen times.....its obviously human error (me) that is not doing something right with these guitars.

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If you can stretch your budget a bit, Paul Reed Smith recently introduced an offshore produced Floyd model called the "SE Floyd Custom 24". Street price? Probably around $800. Maybe you could find a used one, but given they're newly introduced, that might be difficult. Anyway, something to consider if for no other reason than to know what's out there...

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=SE+%22Floyd%22+Custom+24&Go=Search

 

 

 

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This is exactly what has happened to me.

Whenever I play someone else's properly set up Ibanez, Jackson, Schecter, ..etc with a Floyd..... I feel like superman....I'm shredding, tapping, sweeping, diving etc... so I will get the itch and buy a locking trem equipped guitar....(God knows how many Ibby RG 550's and 570's over the years ....20 at minimum)...... I get them, and I can't get them in tune, can't get them to stay in tune.... the neck feels like thin whispy flimsy junk.....and I scratch my head and say "Now, this was the same make/model guitar that I thought was so awesome last week, what happened."

 

At first I convinced myself that I must have got a "bum one", but now this has happened 2 dozen times.....its obviously human error (me) that is not doing something right with these guitars.

 

Well, if you ever need a hand trouble shooting your new Floyded guitar, feel free to send me a PM.

There is a website called "Ibanez Rules" and in the "tech" section there is a very comprehensive guide for how to set up these guitars.

Everything you will need to know +,

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