Ibanez hasalways washed an incredible chore at serving the modern guitarist over the years. Calculation amazing innovations, unique features, and awesome wood options that y'all wouldn't commonly come across on a product line guitar are some of the things that Ibanez does bang-up! Even more amazing, Ibanez manages to throw insane features on really affordable guitars, for guitarists looking for something unique without breaking the bank. What we're going to look at today is the RG421PB, which offers a ton of great stuff and keeps it around $400!

Without further ado, permit's accept a look and see if it's worth it!

Features:

– Mahogany

– Burled Poplar Top

– 24 Fret Rosewood Fretboard

– Wizard III Maple Neck

– Quantum Pickups

– Ibanez Fixed Bridge

– 5-Way Pickup Switch/1xVol/1xTone

The RG421PB'due south first standout feature is the finish. For a $400 guitar, information technology's really just super nice. The 'Sapphire Blue' is a nice light blue burst that accents the figuring on the poplar really well. The tiptop lone makes the guitar look like it's worth more than $400.

Instead of using a cheap-o crappy bolt-on plate, Ibanez manages to include their signature AANJ bolt-on way that you'd find on the higher end prestiges. While information technology's obviously not as shine as the Japanese Ibanez guitars, it's a actually comfy neck articulation with great upper-fret access.

The bridge doesn't look like anything keen, it's basically simply a inexpensive Hipshot-style factory bridge from Ibanez. It does expect sort of cheap in person, but it's quite comfortable for what information technology is. I had no real bug playing with it.

Tone:

You tin can basically retrieve of this guitar as a solid Mahogany body and maple neck. The top is actually too thin to make whatsoever sort of big tonal bear on.

Overall, the mahogany offers a nice, healthy sustain for being on a cheaper, bolt-on guitar. It also resonates quite well and manages to give off a fatty depression end.

The pickups included are the Ibanez Quantum pickups. I'll be totally honest. I'k kind of a gear snob and pretty much would accept ripped these right out earlier trying them if this was my guitar. With that being said, trying the Quantum pickups was quite center-opening. As mentioned in our article, "Do Your Pickups Suck?", Ibanez manages to become some really usable pickups on some of these guitars now.

The Quantums accept a really mid-heavy sound with a bunch of high end articulation. I found that they held on to clarity very well, fifty-fifty in lower tunings like drop C, for powerchord-style riffing and atomic number 82 playing. They weren't spectacular for jazzy chords and the like, simply that'south okay because they do other things quite well.

Clean tones are really crystal clear and brilliant, I prefer a fiddling bit of warmth for chordy clean sounds, but these were really adept for those sparkly lead styles.

Overall, these would probably fare best in a Rock environment, merely would be decently suited for Metal. I don't call back I would go along them for anything too extreme. I think Driblet Z and the similar would get quite muddy, and these probably wouldn't concur upward super well for Death Metal or Djent styles.

Build Quality:

Like I said before, I can be a bit of a snob, and I more often than not don't expect too much from a $400 guitar.

This i was proven to be built quite well for the most part!

No obvious stop flaws on the front and all of the hardware was quite sound. There was actually a decent-sized scratch on the bridge, and I found a ding on the eighth fret. It didn't crusade any fizz or issues like that, merely it looked quite nasty.

All of the electronics were actually clean and had no bug with buzzy pots or annihilation!

I think the well-nigh heady feature hither is the super make clean cervix articulation. I've played guitars that cost twice this price with far worse cervix joints.

Final Verdict:

All-in-all, the RG421PB offers a really solid guitar with some unique appointments for the price. You don't often come across a Poplar Bulge (with a gorgeous finish), a Hipshot-mode bridge, and actually really decent pickups for $400.

This guitar would be really well served as a live workhorse and with a pickup swap, may even deserve a spot in some studio environments.

(Check out our new guide on replacing pickups if you are looking to practice this!)

It wasn't perfect, simply it was farmore than I'd look from a guitar in this price range. If you are looking for something affordable that offers a lot of the same bang-up features of a guitar that'due south double it's cost, the RG421PB is definitely a swell choice.

8-7-10

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This article was written by Zac Buras, our editor located in Louisiana.