Is the RG1570 good for metal?

You’re going to hear some pretty cool sound clips in the video below so that you can judge for yourself. And I’ll also share a metal album that was recorded with this guitar.

Now, I’m not going to cover only metal.

The Ibanez Prestige RG1570 is so much more than that. So I’m also going to talk about some of the other tones and styles you can get with this guitar (you’ll hear clips of that as well).

Oh, and at the end of this blog post, I’ll tell you the story behind this specific guitar and why I will never get rid of it!

Ibanez Prestige RG1570 Specs

Before we dive into the meat and potatoes let’s quickly go over the RG1570 specs. This will save you from having to dig for them on another site.

See how cool of a dude I am?

Important Note: The RG1570 model we’re discussing here is the 2003-2004 model. And I believe the one I own is from 2003.

I’ve also owned this guitar since 2009, which I’ll go into that story at the end of this post!

RG1570 2003-2004 Specs

• Body type: Solid body
• Body material: Basswood
• Neck joint: AANJ
• Bridge: Edge Pro tremolo
• Neck type: Super Wizard Prestige
• Neck material: 3-piece maple
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Fingerboard inlays: Pearl dot
• Frets: 24 / jumbo
• Pickup configuration: HSH
• Bridge pickup: Ibanez V8
• Middle pickup: Ibanez S1
• Neck pickup: Ibanez V7
• Controls: Master (of Puppets?), tone and 5-way switch

**You can read more specs and related details of the RG1570 on the Ibanez Wiki Fandom website.

RG1570 Tones

Let’s get into some tones! I’m going to let you hear what this guitar can do in a video below. But first, let me point out some things about each tone you’ll hear.

• Clean Tones: This is where the RG1570 really shines. It just gives you a beautiful clean tone especially when matched with a Fender amp with a touch of chorus.
• Metal Tones: Many will say that hard rock and heavy metal tones are not the guitar’s strong suite. There are some hangups here, and I’ll get into that later, below.
• Ambient Tones: The same with clean tones, this guitar works amazing for those spacy, reverb’ish ambient tones.

**Make sure you continue reading after you watch the video below. I’m going to go deeper into the pros and cons of the RG1570 being used for metal.

Video: Jason’s Ibanez Prestige RG1570 Tones and More

In the video below, you’ll hear clean, metal, lead, and ambient tones with this guitar.

Below are the ‘table of contents’ for this video if you want to skip around. You can also open the video in a new browser or tab and find these contents in the YouTube video description:

• 0:00 – 0:57: Intro and What to Expect
• 0:58 – 2:58: Ibanez Prestige RG1570 Specs
• 2:59 – 4:00: Ibanez Prestige RG1570 Metal Tone (using BIAS FX 2)
• 4:01 – 4:56: Ibanez Prestige RG1570 Lead Tone (using BIAS FX 2)
• 4:57 – 6:04: Ibanez Prestige RG1570 Clean Tone (through a Fender amp)
• 6:05 – 7:04: Ibanez Prestige RG1570 Ambient Tone (using BIAS FX 2)
• 7:05 – 7:52: Ibanez Prestige RG1570 Metal (through an EVH amp)
• 7:53 – 9:34: The Guitar’s Diversity
• 9:35 – 11:52: The Neck and Fretboard
• 11:53 – 13:51: The Floating Trem (Edge Pro)
• 13:52 – 16:26: The Ibanez Pickups (V7, S1, V8)
• 16:27 – 17:03: Finding Your Own Sound and Tone
• 17:04 – 18:35: My Story Behind this Guitar
• 18:36 – 19:33: Album I Used This Guitar On

Album Recorded with the RG1570

I mentioned earlier, and in the video, my 2nd studio album was recorded using the RG1570…

Back in 2016, I released an album called Heavy Metal Workout.

I ended up using my Ibanez Prestige RG1570 for the rhythm guitar tracks. I also used it for some of the leads (for most of the leads, I used my ESP LTD M-1000 Deluxe).

I was looking for more of a classic heavy metal tone for this album. And even though the Ibanez V8 (bridge pickup, which I primarily use for rhythms) isn’t the greatest for metal music, it gave me a distinct tone and it just hit the spot. It was perfect for that album and I wouldn’t change a thing as far as tone.

You can read the behind-the-scenes of this album here: The Making of Heavy Metal Workout

Ibanez Prestige RG1570 ‘Review’

I don’t really want to call this a review. I’m only giving you my personal perspective of this guitar, based on my own experience. And that’s going to be somewhat limited to me being primarily a metal guitarist.

On another ‘note’ (I wish I could say no pun intended, but it’s totally intended!), I also mess around with some ambient-style tones. So you’ll get that perspective as well.

Alright, I’m going to break this down by the relevant features and specs of the guitar…

Why I Love the RG1570 Neck and Fingerboard

The RG1570 neck and fingerboard are my absolute favorite features. It just seems to fit my hands perfectly. Here’s why this works so well for me…

• The neck is thin and fairly easy to maneuver
• The fingerboard is a little wider than many other guitars
• It has jumbo frets

I’m a huge fan of jumbo frets, in general (I prefer these on all guitars, not just Ibanez). Being a lead player, these really help you get more clarity from each note.

Now, I know some guitarists don’t care for basswood necks. And a lot of low to mid-grade guitars have this type of wood. I personally think it’s great for this specific guitar.

Here’s the thing about guitar necks. No guitar neck is exactly the same because there are variances in the wood, even if the wood is the same type.

Sonic variables exist not only between woods, but, in subtler degrees, between different guitars made from the “same” wood.

‘Tonewood Tutorial: Everything You Need to Know About Tonewoods’ by Dave Hunter on April 8, 2020, guitarplayer.com

TIP: What you also need to understand about necks and fingerboards is that you must find what works best for you and fits your hands best.

The RG1570 neck and fingerboard are perfect for me. But that doesn’t mean it will be best for you (or it may be!). So it’s important that you play several guitars to find out what works for you.

Ibanez RG1570 Stock V7 and V8 Pickups: Should You Replace or Keep Them?

Here’s where I have a love and somewhat complicated relationship with this guitar. The Ibanez stock pickups (V7, S2, and V8).

Clean and Ambient (Anything Non-Metal) Tones

For clean tones, I love the sounds these pickups produce! You can get some absolutely beautiful, crystal clear and sparkling clean tones.

Take it a step further and add some spacy reverb and delay with modulation and this guitar will deliver every time for ambient tones.

Here are my favorite pickup selector switch positions for clean and ambient tones:

• Bridge and middle pickup together
• Neck and middle pickup together
• For leads that cut through the mix, the neck pickup by itself

Metal Tones

Now let’s talk about hard rock and heavy metal tones…

When I first got this guitar I felt the Ibanez V8 and V7 pickups left something to be desired for high-gain tones. But I later found the issue wasn’t the pickups. The issue was the devices that I was playing through, which were mainly the Line 6 XT Live and POD HD500. I was sometimes using amp sims during but it was difficult to judge the pickups by those as there weren’t many (if any at all) desirable amp sims at that time.

There seemed to be a lack of sustain. But once I started playing my RG1570 through my EVH 5150 III amp (EL34), I fell in love with the tones coming from the V7 and V8.

Also, amp sims had come a long way by this time. At the time of updating this post (2022), I’ve been using Positive Grid’s BIAS Amp 2 and BIAS FX 2 plugins and the Ibanez stock pickups really shine.

The cool thing about the V7 and V8 pickups is that you get a distinct sound and tone for metal. The V7 has this low-end punch for rock and metal rhythm playing. It’s also easy to get those squeals (pinch harmonics) from the V7.

The V8 is great for playing fast metal guitar solos. It really pronounces your notes when speed picking those licks and playing sweep arpeggios.

***I did change the pickups out at one point. But after 3-4 weeks, I had the stock pickups put back in. You can watch the video on that below:

Edge Pro Tremolo – Take It Or Leave It

And that’s pretty much my thoughts on floating bridges, in general. I could take them or leave them. These days, I’m on the ‘edge’ of just leaving them.

With that said, the next guitar I buy will not have a floating bridge. I don’t use my whammy to the point where I really need one anyway. And as you know, this makes the string changing process a huge pain in the bunghole.

That doesn’t mean I have bad thoughts about the Ibanez Edge Pro. As I read more, this floating bridge was designed by Gotoh, who are known to make those awesome locking tuners (my ESP 7 string has them and I’m going to be putting these on all of my guitars soon).

How does the Edge Pro compare to the Floyd Rose? I honestly don’t notice that much of a difference. And that’s probably because I don’t use my whammy that much.

Speaking of floating bridges, here’s a video I created using my Ibanez Prestige RG1570 on how to subtly use your whammy bar without going overboard and sounding all crazy (this may or may not be for you)…

Jason’s Story Behind the Ibanez Prestige RG1570

It was around mid-2009 when my wife and I had just moved into our apartment. Prior to meeting my wife, which was just a year earlier, I had lost all of my guitar and recording gear except for an acoustic.

I won’t go into details on how I lost it all…let’s just chalk it up to some poor life choices with a hefty dose of bad luck! Don’t worry, I’m not going to turn this post into a Lifetime drama!

Anyway, when I met my wife, everything instantly changed, and that fire to write and record my own music was ignited!

Knowing my situation, one of my closest friends, Tom, had an extra guitar and sold it to me for dirt-cheap. I was so grateful and played the heck out of that guitar!

And that’s the core reason I’ll never part with my RG1570. It’s a ‘family guitar’ and it just plays awesome.

A Little Piece of ‘Jason History‘ with the Prior Owner of this RG1570

Tom, our close friend Eddie, and I were in a band called ‘The Guys.’ Eddie and I started The Guys a couple of years before we met Tom, which was in 1999.

Our original songs had that 80s rock sound, and we played some covers from that era. Sadly, that band was short-lived but the three of us are still super close, even though we all live in different places now.

I hope you enjoyed this post! And, hey, please do me a favor and share this!

Keep it Metal,

Jason

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