Lead guitar virtuosos love the Ibanez RG1570 for its easy playability, low-action, deep cutouts, and slender necks. This model’s been discontinued, but you can buy a used Ibanez Prestige RG1570 at any number of online sellers, including eBay, Craig’s List, and a host of others (which we’ll talk about towards the end of this article).
If you’re a player, decades of musicians say blowing scales on these instruments is pure pleasure. If you’re a collector, the Ibanez RG1570 isn’t vintage yet, but it’s never too early to get a head start. As a quick online search reveals, Ibanez RG series prices for classics like the RG1570s often approach or equal the cost of buying a new one, a solid indicator of future value.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ibanez, they’re a Japanese company with humble beginnings now known for well-made electric guitars with innovative designs that offer a good value for the price. But as Reverb reports, their history dates back to 1908 when a company called Hoshino Gakki sold sheet music and musical products in Nagoya, Japan. Their first foray into guitars began in the late 1920’s when they started importing fine classical guitars made by the then-famed Spanish guitar maker Salvador Ibáñez. In the 1930s the company began making their own guitars and took Ibáñez’s name.
As rock and roll grew popular, Ibanez started making and exporting guitars to the U.S. that Reverb describes as “low-quality” and “entry-level” instruments that “looked odd” and sold in department stores and catalogs. But in the late 1960s and 70s, their high-quality, lower-cost knockoffs of popular designs posed a major threat to Fender, Gibson, and other big American brands. Norlin, Gibson’s parent company, sued Hoshino for trademark infringement, but they settled out of court in 1978.
Ibanez Stops Pirating and Begins Innovating.
By then, Ibanez’s guitars had ventured into original designs with famous guitarists like Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead, Paul Stanley from Kiss, and jazz legend George Benson. But it was when guitar solo-centric hard rock and heavy metal took off in the 1980s that Ibanez began to truly shine. Their new Saber and Roadstar guitars — which evolved into Ibanez’s popular S and RG series — were tricked out with the features players were begging for. These included Ibanez’s iconic thin necks for flexibility, deep cutaways for easy access to the entire fretboard, floating double-locking tremolos so guitars stay tuned, and high-output pickups for that dirty, nasty distortion prized by punkers and the hair metal crowd to this very day.
Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and other celebrated endorsers also got free reign to partner with Ibanez and innovate new designs guided by guitars players’ needs and vision. These partnerships proved fruitful, as the resulting models proved highly popular. Other well-known musical artists seen and heard with Ibanez electric guitars include Pat Metheny, Larry LaLonde from Primus, Megadeth’s Marty Friedman, Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante, Eddie Van Halen, the Sonics’ Larry Parypa, U2’s Adam Clayton, and a host of others.
The Ibanez Prestige RG1570: A Much-Loved Classic.
The Ibanez RG series is a spin-off from Steve Vai’s Jem77 signature model. It’s among the top-selling guitars for hard rock and heavy metal ever made. The Ibanez Prestige RG1570 was discontinued in 2009, but they re-emerged in 2010’s RG1570Z, and many of their features live on in current RG series models.
The Ibanez RG1570’s gone but not forgotten by their legions of fans who’ve devoted an online fandom wiki to it. As described by The Guitarist blog, it came out in 2003 as a six-string electric guitar with a solid, double-cut body fashioned from basswood, and replaced the RG570. Features included the ones described above plus 24-fret rosewood fingerboard, V7 and V8 humbucker pickups to cancel out static and the Edge Pro double-locking tremolo bridge for a low profile and higher sustain.
He enthusiastically wrote the RG1570 was an update to Ibanez’s “superstrat” style with their many changes to Fender’s iconic Stratocaster design, and waxes lyrical about the “sharp looks” and the “royal blue sparkle finish.” But what amazed him, even more, was that the Ibanez Prestige RG1570’s neck was a full “2 millimeters thinner than Ibanez’s already thin neck.” Oh, and the fret board’s flatter too. “For those who want to go from 0 to 24 in a few notes flat,” he enthuses, “this is your guitar.”
There are some flaws, however, according to this guitarist. These include, “Low output pickups, poor fret finishing, [and a] poorly designed bridge.” But despite these shortcomings, he wrote, “With a few modifications, like any guitar, it can turn out to be your perfect guitar.”
This electric guitar’s a hit with the usual heavy metal shredders, but also with guitar-players who do high-speed, intricate finger work in other genres. In the video below, Australian footballer-turned-folk-guitarist Robert Spurling plays his stunning song, “Wavering” on his Ibanez Prestige RG1570.
Robert Spurling – "Wavering" with an Ibanez RG1570
Simply Amazing!!
あやと2 https://t.co/vHMPyA17om— 上智軽音おすすめMUSIC (@NoMusic_NoKeion) June 17, 2016
And in the following video, a Twitter user who goes by the handle @alexgh2014 takes a break from his fitness routine to do some serious shredding on his RG1570.
Ibanez prestige rg1570 #shredguitar #Ibanez #guitarshred #GuitarPlaying #guitarsolo #GuitarHeroLive #ibanezrg1570 pic.twitter.com/bfdka8ZAlc
— alexer (@alexgh2014) September 11, 2016
The Ibanez RG 1570 was one of their Prestige models. Their entry-level models are well-made and a great value for what you pay, but serious musicians can swiftly detect even the most minor differences in quality and consistency. For starters, the Ibanez standard series are often made in South Korea instead of Japan, where the standards are high but not as exacting.
Where Can I Get a Used Ibanez Prestige RG1570? A Look at RG Series Prices.
If you’re thinking of shopping for a used Ibanez prestige RG1570 you’ll have plenty of choices. A quick search online will reveal that — as with Ibanez RG series prices in general — these highly playable electric guitars sell for anywhere between $450-$1500, depending on their condition. Rare models like the If you care more about playing than having a pristine collectible, there are bargains to be had. However, be warned that aa used Ibanez prestige RG1570 or standard model that’s gently-used or like new sells for close to what you’d pay for a new model. Websites that often have people selling them include eBay; Musician’s Friend; and Reverb’s online classifieds.
Featured image: Via Audio Fanzine.
I own 20 guitars (not bragging) all favourites at this point but….. I play my 2003 RG1570 everyday.