Is the Ibanez RG470 a good guitar?Yes — the RG470 is a solid, very playable guitar, especially the older Japanese-made ones. The community verdict Japan-made models shine. IceCreamMan and Malkav note the older RG470s were made in Japan and are "on par or even better" than the Prestige RG1570, which one member bought second-hand for R3000 in 2011 (about R6,700 in today's money) 3. Great for fast playing. NorioDS found his RG470 "super-easy to play" for legato, tapping and trills — more so than his other RG 1. Beginner-friendly too. Alan Ratcliffe, our Guitar Doctor, calls it "a great beginners' guitar" — very versatile from blues to metal. His only gripes are personal: a neck humbucker limits clean tones, and the 24-fret neck squeezes the pickups together 5. Things to check when buying Which year/origin? Ask if it's MIJ (Japan) or later Indonesian/Korean production — the MIJ ones are the ones worth hunting for 3. Floyd Rose setup. The double-locking trem makes string changes and tuning trickier — factor that in, especially as a first guitar 5. Stock pickups are average. Members suggest budgeting for a pickup/wiring upgrade if tone matters to you; the middle S1 single coil in particular gets little love 2. Second-hand pricing Expect roughly half of new. flatfourfan worked on a stock used RG470 going for around R2300-R2500 in 2013 (about R4,600-R5,000 in today's money) (new was about R3800 in 2013 (about R7,600 in today's money)), with upgraded pickups adding a bit more 8. No hands-on reviews of specific recent reissues in the threads — worth asking the community which year model you're looking at. From these forum threadsHelp Me: RG470 vs RG42-DX (2010): How a bad setup made an RG feel hard to playMy new RG470 (2010): Owner's take on the RG470's stock pickups and finishAdivce needed: Ibanez Prestice RG1570 (2011): RG470 vs Prestige RG1570 — which Ibanez is worth moreThe right guitar for me? (2008): Alan Ratcliffe on the RG470 as a beginner's guitarGauging a price of secondhand guitars (2013): How to price a used RG470 in rands
