indonesia-made

The $599 RG1230FE straddles the line between the most affordable and higher-end guitars with the feel of a professional grade instrument.

With an artist roster stacked to the gills with the shred world’s elite—Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Meshuggah, and Paul Gilbert, among many, many others—Ibanez has established itself as perennial contender for the crown of the de facto metal and hard-rock axe. The company’s long-running and ultra-popular RG series is among its most recognizable and iconic offerings. It debuted in the late ’80s at the height of the shred craze, and it now comprises a broad range of instruments from entry-level models to the flagship J Custom line. The new Iron Label RGIR20FE, which is built in Indonesia and goes for $599 street, straddles the line between the most affordable and higher-end guitars—but it has the feel of a professional grade instrument that you won’t have to break the bank to buy, nor treat with kid gloves when you’re moshing onstage.

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For fans of modern blues and/or classic rock looking for a quality axe that can take them from slicing bridge-pickup leads to funkier dual-pickup sounds and gristly neck-pickup tones, the Bluesboy is well worth checking out.

When the late Leo Fender sold his cataclysmically industry-altering enterprise to CBS in 1965, it was due to health issues, not a lack of ideas or passion. A few years later, when his health had improved and he was approaching the end of his consultancy/noncompete period with Fender, he amped things up again. He went on to pioneer active basses with his Music Man StingRay design, and then he partnered with his old Fender-days friends, drafstman George Fullerton and Dale Harris, to create G&L in 1980.

G&L (named after George and Leo) has put a lot of its focus on refining the proven formulas that made Leo a god of guitardom—and they’ve mostly followed that route since Leo’s passing in 1991. The Comanche and S-500 built on the Stratocaster recipe with, among other things, tweaks to the vibrato and pickups that are intended to offer greater tonal flexibility and setup precision. The ASAT did the same for the Telecaster formula.

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Made by Squier—Fender’s budget brand—the Affinity Telecaster is an entry-level version of Leo’s iconic axe. This one has been relic’d and hot-rodded. For some strange reason, I don’t own


Made by Squier—Fender’s budget brand—the Affinity Telecaster is an entry-level version of Leo’s iconic axe. This one has been relic’d and hot-rodded.

For some strange reason, I don’t own any all-original, “normal” Fender Telecaster guitars. All mine are either Tele “inspired” or modified in some way. While looking around on Craigslist the other day, I noticed this intriguing Tele. Apparently someone had taken a fairly new butterscotch Squier Affinity Telecaster, relic’d it, removed all traces of “Squier” from it, and then stuck a Fender decal on the headstock. The seller knew it was actually a Squier and listed it as such, so there was no deception going on. The pictures of the guitar just looked way too cool for me to pass up, plus it was fairly cheap.

So I called the owner and arranged to meet him at his place of work, which was a lot closer to me than going to his home. It turned out he was in law enforcement, so I wound up in the police department parking lot. Whoa! At first I was a little nervous, but he turned out to be a really nice guy and we ended up chatting during his lunch break about music and guitars. I paid him his asking price of $150 for the guitar, which also included a very nice reissue tweed hard-shell case. I figured the guitar was worth about $100 and the case $50. That’s bottom-feeder territory for sure.


LEFT: A close-up of the body scars and distressed metal parts. The upgraded Duncan pickups are identical to those Jerry Donahue has in his signature Fender Tele. RIGHT: All references to Squier and Affinity have been banished, and a Fender decal now graces the headstock.

Although in general I like stock Squier Teles, I’m not a big fan of their neck pickups, which tend to sound a bit “wooly” and dull to me. I decided to take the guitar to my tech, Jack Dillen, and have him replace both pickups with a set of Seymour Duncans I had lying around. The Duncans I gave Jack were a Jerry Donahue model bridge pickup and an Alnico II Pro Strat pickup for the neck, the same type of pickups on Jerry’s signature model guitars. This gave me a perfect opportunity to finally test-drive the pickups (and get my buddy Jerry off my back about trying them).

Jack had the guitar ready the following week. When I played it through Jack’s Fender Pro Junior, I knew right away it was a good move to replace the pickups. I seemed to get a lot more Roy Buchanan-inspired harmonics in the bridge position, as well as modern, snappy Strat-like blues and jazz tones from the neck pickup. Yeah baby, that’s what I’m talking about!

I also like that Squier offers satin finishes on their maple fretboards and necks. It makes the neck less sticky when your hands get sweaty, and it feels better than the heavy polyurethane finishes on most maple fretboards. This guitar is most definitely a keeper now.

Bottom Feeder Tip #367: If you like the way a guitar plays, but aren’t wild about its sound, it pays to replace the stock pickups with some really good ones. Pickups are the guitar’s engine, and I feel like this one went from a Mustang to a Shelby Cobra!

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