Ibanez RG8550MZ 2016 - Royal Blue Sapphire

The RG8550MZ is an RG series solid body electric guitar model introduced by Ibanez in 2015. It was made in Japan by FujiGen as part of the high end J Custom line.

The RG8550MZ features a flamed maple top with binding and a clear pickguard on an African mahogany body bolted to a maple and walnut Super Wizard neck with titanium reinforcing rods and Velvet ouch finish and a maple fingerboard with binding an Tree of Life vine inlays. Components include DiMarzio pickups with two humbuckers flanking a single-coil, an Edge Zero double locking tremolo bridge with a locking nut and a removable zero-point system tuning stabilizer, recessed Easy Access control knobs and Gotoh tuning machines.

The RG8570Z is a similar model with a rosewood fingerboard and no pickguard.

The RG8550MZ was initially a limited production spot model with as few as 20 examples produced, but it seems that the production run was later extended. Although it was originally available exclusively in Japan, it appeared on Ibanez's EU website in late 2016.

The RG8550MZ was discontinued after 2018.

Specifications :

Year(s) offered                : 2015–2018

Sold in                              : China 2018 / Europe 2016 / Japan 2015–2017

Made in                           : Japan

Finish(es)                        : Bright Brown Rutile (BBE) 2015–2017 / Royal Blue Sapphire (RBS) 2016 / Red

                                           Spinel (RS)

Body type                       : Solid body

Body material                : African mahogany w/ AAA flamed maple top w/ binding

Neck joint                       : AANJ

Bridge                             : Edge Zero tremolo w/ ZPS3 stabilizer

Pickguard                       : Clear

Knob style                      : Knurled metal dome

Hardware color             : Gold

Neck type                      : RG J Custom Super Wizard

Neck material               : 5-piece maple/ walnut w/ KTS titanium rods

Scale length                  : 648mm/ 25½"

Fingerboard material : Selected maple w/ binding

Fingerboard inlays      : Tree of life

Frets                              : 24 / jumbo (J. Custom edge treatment)

Nut                                : Barless Top-Lok

Machine heads           : Gotoh SG381

Pickup configuration  : HSH

Bridge pickup               : Di Marzio Tone Zone (H) passive/ alnico

Middle pickup              : Di Marzio True Velvet (S) passive/ alnico

Neck pickup                  : Di Marzio Air Norton (H) passive/ alnico

Controls                         : Master volume / master tone / 5-way lever pickup selector