The Ibanez RG350DX is really a top-flight guitar and one worthy of the name "Ibanez" on the headstock.
Not too long ago, the idea of great sounding and playing guitars coming from Japan was something of a joke. Now, the joke is on the detractors because companies like Takamine and Ibanez make high quality instruments, the latter being especially famous for the electric guitars. If you've got people like Steve Vai and John Scofield playing your instruments, obviously you're doing something right. Ibanez has rightly earned a solid reputation for quality instruments at prices most of us can afford.
Ibanez's high-end guitars are still made in Japan and, like many companies, they've also started outsourcing their lower-cost guitars to South Korea. Overall, these guitars have been received very well. One of the most popular of the Korean-made Ibanez guitars is the RG350DX. Why is that the case? Read and see!
Features
The RG350DX sports a basswood body, 3 piece maple Wizard II neck, and bound rosewood fretboard with jumbo frets and shark inlays. The pickups are an INF3, INFS2, and INF4, in the neck, middle, and bridge respectively. The bridge is an Ibanez Edge III tremolo. Black hardware is standard.
Performance
When you first start to play an RG350DX, you'll immediately be comfortable with the neck, assuming you've played an Ibanez before. Ibanez simply has some of the fasted "shredder-friendly" necks around, and the RG350DX is no exception. The 3-piece Wizard II neck is thin and ready to shred.
We had no problems ripping some fast runs and sweep arpeggios. The neck has 24 jumbo frets that facilitate such effortless motion.
We were impressed with the variety of sounds available for such a guitar. The pickups are by Ibanez and are an Infinity 4 humbucker in the bridge, Infinity 3 humbucker in the neck, and Infinity Single3 in the middle. To be sure, this guitar is geared for high gain shred, but you can definitely get some convincing rock, blues, and fusion sounds as well due to the versatile pickup combination.
The guitar also sports an Ibanez Edge III vibrato system that allows you to turn the strings to butter and still return to pitch-perfect tune. Like any Floyd Rose licensed tremolo, the adjustments can be a pain, but as long as you keep it in standard tuning, you should be fine.
The guitar has an attractive white finish on a basswood body. We didn't find any significant deficiencies in the finish, though we certainly tried hard to find them. In typical Ibanez fashion, the fretboard is outfitted with sharktooth inlays and black hardware.
The Bottom Line
With its low price, it's very tempting to call this a budget guitar, but to do so might make people skeptical of its quality. Honestly, we've played guitars that cost twice this much that don't play as well. It's really a top-flight guitar and one worthy of the name "Ibanez" on the headstock.
Name of Gear: Ibanez RG350DX
List Price: $533.32
Manufacturer Info: Ibanez Guitars; ibanez.com
Pros: Wonderful playability; versatile rock sounds; excellent value
Cons: None
Ibanez RG350DX
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