Need help on decision!

[Noobster]

Ibanez do produce some really great guitars out there. Seriously, u have to try the guitars out and compare them side to side. I was in the same situation as you. I wanted a 24 fret guitar with a floyd rose bridge and also HSS configuration plus alder body. Closest thing I find from ibanez catalogue is a JEM7WH and that cost like 2K USD. I tried a few RGs and they are good for shred but some how they don't have the mojo.

I prefer Jackson's soloist neck and also the nice alder body that resonates very nice acoustically. I ended up with a Jackson SL3.

Just to let u know that the AANJ for ibanez high end models are good and give great access to upper frets. But then again, nothing can beat neck-through...

Hope u can finalise your decision. If I were you, I'll get the guitar rather than the amp. Cos you will outlive the amp quite fast and want full stacks and cabs.

Cheers,
Matt

[petedz]

I agree with everything MM2002 said.

Neck-through vs bolt-on does make a pretty big difference. One's not better than the other, but they're decidedly different flavors. You want to be sure which you like better before laying down a fat wad of bills.

IMO, if you're trying to conserve $$, you can't do better than a US built bolt-on Hamer Chaparral. You might have to wait a while, but they're worth keeping an eye out for. Thin 24 fret neck with great workmanship and playability. They're great workhorse guitars. Mine is an '89, and I got it for $400 some years back. I think asking prices have gone up a bit since.