Hello!

I am having major problems with an Ibanez RG770. The low strings on the guitar sound dark, dull, and undifferentiated. Most importantly, the strings sound this way regardless of whether they are played unplugged or plugged in to various amps.

For comparison, I strummed the strings on my Gibson SG standard, and they sound equally loud and differentiated. Alternatively, on my Ibanez, the high strings sound as loud as the SG and equally differentiated, but the low strings are about half the volume and undifferentiated.

If anyone has any suggestions regarding what part of my guitar could be causing this problems and how I could fix it would be wonderful! Please note, I don't think the problem has anything to do with the electronics of the guitar because I have played it with different pickups (stock vs. emg85 bridge), through different setups (halfstack, versus home studio) and the problem remains.

Thanks,
Jim

is there any buzzing or are the e-a-d stings just alot quieter then they should be?

Hello tonyj, thanks for your reply! (I am the same person as above, but I had to create a new account because I couldn't log on to my original account).

There is a little bit of buzzing when I strum the E string open. However, I would characterize it as a "typical" amount of buzzing (i.e., it buzzes a little if I strike the string relatively hard).

I would also say that although the e-a-d strings all sound dull and dark, the problem is more noticeable as you move to lower strings (that is, the worst problem is with the low E).

What do you think?

Thanks for any suggestions you may have,
Jim

well im not sure what you have done already to try to fix it, but if it were me i would probably change the strings, check the truss rod, then check the nut, bridge and probably even the tuning pegs and everything at the headstock to make sure nothing is catching or rubbing up there. im just suggesting all this to eliminate any of the obvious problems before looking a little deeper at the problem.

also im guessing that has a floyd rose bridge in it so make sure to check that thoroughly so its not too loose

Thank you tonyj!

As an aside, I have to note that the "normal" amount of buzz I was referring to on the low E string, doesn't happen at all on my sg; so it's not "normal".

I'm taking this guitar to a professional tomorrow. I will tell him about the lack of volume on the E-A-D strings and about the buzzing on the E string; is there anything else you would think it would be important to tell a tech in order to properly diagnose and fix the problem?

Thanks,
Jim

nope let me know what he says though