Ibanez RG8-WH 4-stars Reviews

Good 8 string guitar, but it has some minor flaws

I bought this as my first 8 string guitar.

To start off I want to say that it is a great guitar for home practice. It has good playability and it is very comfortable, though it is not achieved right from the box. This guitar needed a good setup: the action was high, the intonation was way off from perfection and the frets were not polished.

First, when I unboxed it I immediately fell in love with its looks, the fretboard is very beautiful and has nice wood grain to it. The white color of the deck and kind of brownish fretboard definitely complement each other. The surface of the deck isn't so glossy though it is so pleasant to touch it with your hands. It is the same with the neck of the guitar, there are no rough spots so your hand is flying there and back around the neck.

The great thing about this guitar is the sound of it. The IBZ-8 pickups are really great. They are not high output yet they are powerful and well balanced. And it came with a new set of strings, though the .065 on the low F# is a little floppy.

But like every other low/mid-budget guitar that I held in my hands, it has some quality control issues. Specifically for this instrument, it has many paint scratches near the pickups and bridge, the frets have round ends but they are poorly polished. For example, when you bend the string you can hear a small swish sound coming from the fret which not so good.

The tuning machine heads are okay, they stay in tune well. The nut isn't that good, to be honest. Just replace it with the bone nut or TUSQ nut.

Summing up I would like to define the pros and cons of this guitar.

Pros:

- Great sounding pickups plus the guitar arrived with fresh strings

- Very comfortable, smooth and thin neck with easy access to higher frets

- The wood grain on the fretboard is lovely

- The guitar has beautiful looks

- Tuning machines are smooth and they are doing their job very good

- Comfortable bridge

- Electronics are okay, the wires are soldered very well

Cons:

- Bad quality control

- Some paint scratches

- Frets will need some minor leveling

- The guitar came with a bad setup

- The nut is not that good, you will likely change it

Overall this is a great sounding and great looking guitar for its price. I would definitely recommend it if you are not afraid of some minor issues that it has.