The Ibanez RG is one of the most recognizable Ibanez models, if not one of the most recognizable guitars ever. We’ve seen many variations of this guitar in the last 30 or so years and with the new year comes a few brand new additions to the lineup. Today, we’ll be looking at the RG6UCS, a stunningly clean-looking RG designed for aggression.

As per usual, we’ll start with the specs!

Features:

  • Basswood Body w/ White Binding
  • Bound Ebony Fretboard
  • Super Wizard HP 5Pc Maple/Walnut Neck w/ KTS Titanium Rods
  • 24  Jumbo Stainless Steel Frets w/ Prestige Fret Edge Treatment
  • Lo-Pro Edge Tremolo Bridge
  • Bare Knuckle Aftermath Pickups
  • Cosmo Black Hardware
  • 16.9” Fretboard Radius
  • 25.5” Scale Length
  • Mystic Night Metallic Flat Finish

Similarly to the Ibanez FR6UC, the RG6UCS is a member of the prestigious Uppercut series and as such, has most of the same features as the previous entries in the line. Ebony fretboard, Mystic Night Metallic finish, Bare Knuckle Pickups are a few of the signature appointments of the Uppercut models.

The flat black finish found on this guitar is subtly aggressive and really clean. I’m not usually a big fan of ‘plain black’, but the Mystic Night finish accompanied by the white binding and the blank Ebony fretboard is an attractive combination.

The guitar feels just as you’d expect if you’ve played any other modern RG Prestige models, it’s absolutely designed with the shredder in mind.

One of my favorite tremolo bridges of all time, the Lo-Pro Edge offers plenty of comfort while playing, due to its streamlined design. It holds tuning very well and the fine-tuners are happily out of the way of your picking hand. 

Not sold on the Edge Trem? Here are 5 Cool Things About the Edge Trem to get you excited!

Ibanez RG6UCS

Tone:

Basswood is such a great choice for a studio workhorse guitar because it is extremely flexible and responds well to just about any kind of pickup. Acoustically, the guitar doesn’t have very much sonic character, but when plugged in it absolutely screams.

Many people like to hate on Basswood. Let us tell you why it doesn’t suck.

The pickups used are the Bare Knuckle Aftermaths which certainly have a love/hate relationship within the metal community. Some regard them as a ‘One-Trick-Pony’, while others swear by them.

The truth is that the Aftermath set is very hot and creates some of the most aggressive metal sounds out there. They offer a really bitey, percussive tone with a fast pick attack and can be used to create super tight chuggy parts or lead sounds that cut through extremely well. The clean sounds are really bright and metallic. You do have to be careful with the presence knob on your amp as they can become quite ‘icepicky’ if you don’t compensate for their brightness.

On top of the super responsive pickups, the bolt-on Maple neck adds a nice amount of snap and attack to your tone.

There are other genres that it will successfully do, but modern metal tones are where this guitar shines the most.

Build Quality:

Ibanez pretty much never disappoints when it comes to their Japanese-built guitars. The RG6UC that we had the pleasure of playing felt incredible. From the super-smooth Ebony fretboard and well-shaped neck, all the way down to the exceptional fret access and comfortable bridge: this guitar just felt very ‘together’.

The Prestige Fret Edge Treatment is always on point, and the black finish on this guitar was ultra smooth.

No sizable complaints about build quality on this one.

Final Verdict:

Ibanez has done it again. They’ve successfully crafted a near-perfect metal workhorse that would sit very happily in a studio environment. The epic metal tones that could be achieved accompanied by one comfortably built guitar makes for a great instrument.

I’d absolutely recommend the RG6UC to any metal player looking for something very aggressive, yet simple.

8-10-8

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This article was written by Zac Buras, our editor located in Louisiana

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