I expect to keep this for years. Until I can justify spending over a thousand dollars for another, this will be my only electric guitar. If it was stolen, I would definately buy another. One of the major problems to buying a lefty guitar is that you can't actually try many of them in person. Not to worry, you will be very happy with this one. If you're on the fence, pick the RG. More features, good quality, and better design than the nearest alternatives.

Sound
Even though this looks like a metal guitar, I can assure you it will play anything you can throw at it. In all honesty, a modeling amp will take you most of the way to getting a great sound in a variety of genres. While I can't say I have a recording contract or label, I can say that this guitar isn't holding me back.

Features
As an accessible guitar for those who can't afford a month's wages on equipment, this has great features. In this range, you aren't going to find a guitar with more features. The strings are locked down so you can bend the notes all day with less retuning than comparable guitars. I like the neck, as it's not too thin or too thick. You can adjust the tremolo bar to stay put or swing freely, a nice touch. My only gripe is that mine did not come with the actual bar...

Ease of Use
You can really just pick it up and play, and it's pretty simple to get it to sound like you want it with a good amp.… read more Tuning is easy. Once everything's locked down you really only mess with the fine tuners. You can do it on stage even. But don't expect to do major tone changes without an allen wrench - which unless you're in only into a niche sound you won't even change it from the factory setting.

Quality
Built very well, nothing seems like a cheap shortcut in construction. Everything seems to be well engineered, capable of holding up to travel, and pretty solid. Nothing has broken, and the finish was nice and even.

Value
You aren't going to get a better left handed guitar than the RG unless you're getting closer to the 1000.00 price range. One of the main problems with lefty guitars is that many companies uses a lot of righty parts. Thankfully Ibanez gave us all flipped parts, even down to the shark tooth inlay on the frets being correct. It would have been easy to do little circles like other manufacturers and be done with it. It's a nice touch that they took the time to give us a mirror-image guitar like southpaws actually deserve.

The Wow Factor
You can't go wrong with all black. It's going to fit into any look you've got going, because it's versatile. Although it does look like a metal guitar, you can work with what's essentially a blank canvas. The sharktooth inlays look really good.

Musical Background:
hobbyist

Musical Style:
grunge, progressive, metal, blues, industrial read less