Gear Spotlight - Ibanez RGR7 Custom


Since the first day I signed my contract with Ibanez, I always wanted a white RG with a maple board. The aesthetic of that combination is absolutely perfect in my eyes. Classy as fuck. Thats why when I had the opportunity to get one, I jumped. In 2016, We were on tour with Thy Art Is Murder and I had one prestige left on my contract. My original plan was to get Black RG752 from my contract then buy a Wenge topped RG752 and swap the necks. The Black RG would be painted white and boom, Id have a White 752 with a maple board. Mike didn’t want me to go through the hassle of having to buy a guitar and whatnot so he asked why don’t they just order a replacement neck for the black 752 and paint it. Sounds way easier but unfortunately it wasn't. 

Fast forward to early 2017, there had been no progress on the guitar because RG752s were back ordered. Little did we know, they weren’t just backordered, they were discontinued. I was starting to get a little impatient because I thought the guitar would have been in my hands by then since It was just a refinish and not a custom build. Towards the end of the year, a black 752 popped up online in my area for a cool $550. That price right there was insane for such an awesome guitar. I immediately contacted the owner and told him that id love to buy it but id have to wait until I got home from tour. We hit LA a couple days later on tour with Trivium and I mentioned to Mike that I found a dude that had one. Mike agreed that if I got the body to him, he would have the boys at the custom shop build me a neck with a maple board. 

We were off to the races with this one and I knew I had to make it special. I asked for a Pearl White body with matching reverse headstock. Maple board with a 5 piece Maple/Wenge board. For the electronics, we jammed a 3 way blade, single volume with the Speed Knob, and a coil tap replacing the volume knob. When the guitar finally got to me, I was completely blown away. The neck shape is wildly thin, the pearl white was perfect, and the black hardware rounded out the classy tuxedo look. Seymour Duncan killed it with a 59/Distortion custom set with white bobbins and the Old English logo. 

Recently, Ive retired this guitar since its always been temperamental with weather changes. I'll probably end up bringing it out for the occasional show but its taken such a beating that I don’t want to over do it. Its given me a lot of love over the last few years but I don’t want to absolutely destroy it since it was my first custom from Ibanez.