Ibanez RGMS8-BK Iron Label Multi-Scale 8 String in Black

The Ibanez RG is a classic, with its sharp and elegant aesthetics catching the eyes of many hard rockers and metallers since as far back as the late 80s. The RGMS8-BK is a beast truly suited to the 21st Century however, letting you play ultra-low apocalyptic riffs with 8 strings and a modern multi-scale design.

Construction

The RG has always been a high-performance guitar, built to offer optimal playability and tone. The RGMS8-BK is formed of a Mahogany body, meaning you can expect a rich and deep sound thanks to the wood's pronounced low-end. This ensures a thunderous tone, letting the lowest string ring out with all of the bellowing bass-like resonance you'll ever need.

A bolt-on 5pc Maple/Walnut neck will provide a snappy response with plenty of mid-range projection, perfect for complex riffs or solos that need loads of cut in frantic mixes. The notoriously thin Wizard III neck profile will make fast passages a breeze to play, despite the wide width of the neck. Fitted with jumbo frets, offering an awesome feel and brilliant note control, the sleek Jatoba fretboard also lets your left hand glide up and down the fretboard super-smoothly.

Multi-Scale Design

The centrepiece of this guitar is its multi-scale design, which means that each of the string lengths are optimised and of a contrasting scale. For example, the longer scale on the lower strings ensures better intonation and tension for improved note definition, whilst a shorter and more conventional scale on the higher strings can allow you to bend strings more easily for leads.

The fanned frets are a great ergonomic feature too, following the natural shape of your fretting hand for a more comfortable playing experience. This doesn't feel completely alien when you pick it up for the first time, and you'll find yourself adapting very quickly to the fanned shape.

Electronics and Hardware

This instrument is powered by a pair of Ibanez Array-8 pickups, capable of handling high doses of gain effortlessly. Giving you lots of saturation and full-bodied clarity, these are perfect for heavier genres of music, but they're not one-trick ponies. With clean settings, these pickups offer a vibrant and articulate tone, ideal for playing chords or angelic arpeggios with.

The angled Mono-rail bridge isolates each of the strings, which means that they can ring out more naturally and not be affected by the vibrations of the other strings. This is essential on an 8 string guitar, where the hugely diverse amount of notes/octaves possible can conflict with each other and sound muddy, especially if using a more traditional bridge design. With all hardware appointments finished in cosmo black, this super-sleek looking guitar will inspire you to just pick it up and play!

Here's what Ibanez say about the RGMS8-BK Iron Label Multi-scale 8 String in Black:

The RG is the most recognizable and distinctive guitar in the Ibanez line. Three decades of metal have forged this high-performance machine, honing it for both speed and strength. Whether you favor a hardtail (fixed) bridge or our industry-leading locking tremolo system, the RG is a precision instrument.

Multi scale

Equalized tension helps to create a more "alive", open tone. But the design also improves player comfort. The multi scale construction ergonomically coordinates with the way a player's hand angles as it moves up and down the neck, facilitating quick, comfortable playing action.

Mono-rail bridge

The Mono-Rail bridge delivers the ultimate in string-to-string isolation, meaning that each string vibrates optimally without be affected by the others.

Specifications

• Neck type: Wizard III-8 for Multi Scale 5pc Maple/Walnut neck
• Body: Mahogany
• Fretboard: Jatoba w/White split off-set dot inlay
• Frets: Jumbo
• Bridge: Mono-rail
• Neck pickup: Array-8 MS (H)
• Bridge pickup: Array-8 MS (H)
• Factory tuning: 1D#,2A#,3F#,4C#,5G#,6D#,7A#,8F
• String Gauge: .009/.011/.016/.024/.032/.042/.059/.080
• Hardware colour: Cosmo black