RG = Soloist/Dinky clone?

[UCSDBoy]

I noticed recently that dinkys are very similar in shape to my rg - (yeah yeah don't laugh =p) - did ibanez basically rip off the dinky? seems like the major difference is the all access joint as opposed to a tapered neck heel. Oh, and the horns are a little more pointy =)

[Forbes]

Well the bodies are kind of the same, but they are both just an evolution of the strat shape, there are loads of guitars shaped similarly to them. I wouldn't really say ibanez ripped off the dinky(anyone know when both guitars were roginally introduced?), more like everyone took the standard strat shape and adjusted it to make thier own super-strats.

[Johtosotku]

more like everyone took the standard strat shape and adjusted it to make thier own super-strats.

This is what I think too, although some people with specific evidence are free to enlighten me. I think that it's more that people wanted to play superstrats and were asking manufacturers for improvements.

The way I've understood history, the superstrat isn't a companys development/innovation/invention/damn I don't know what to call it in english/call it what ever you like, it's a players such.

[Jeroen]

I own both a Dinky and an RG, and I don't think they're very similar. I'd have to agree with Forbes, both are evolutions of the basic Strat shape. Both Jackson/Charvel and Ibanez have been in that business for many years. The Soloist and Dinky are just slightly more angular successors to the basic Charvel Superstrat, and the RG is an evolution of the classic Roadstars from the late '70s and early '80s.

[PFDarkside]

The RG is the little brother to the JEM, right? So you have to look at what influenced the JEM, and I believe that Ibanez took Vai's Strat with all the mods and made it look "good". That was the mid 80's, right? When did the Dinky's come out, early 80's?

[D-EJ915]

According to the wikipedia the soloist shape came out in 83 and the JEM in 89...

[Davey]

they both derive from the strat (duh)
but they are diferent.. the RG is more bulky, the horn sides arent rounded off, it's more pointy, cutouts are rounder etc etc

a ripoff is where you cant keep guitars apart when looking at them, or they have very minor obvious alterations

[UCSDBoy]

According to the wikipedia the soloist shape came out in 83 and the JEM in 89...

I'm familiar with the history of superstrats in general, I just never thought that being seperate companies their strat-like shapes would be so similar. I was browsing through warmoth, trying to come up with a way to build something RG like but with a hard tail and better quality parts. I just happened to click on the soloist shape and realized it did in fact look a lot like the picture of the rg image I had open. I mean the shape of their contours, their drawn-out profile, those two pictures at least looked pretty similar - I need to grab a dinky up close to compare.

Well the JEM/RG coming out in 89, a full 6 years after the soloist(dinky too?), would only support the idea that Vai/Ibanez took what they liked from the Dinky...

Jeroen, are the bodies fairly similar or is it really a different feel altogether?

[jmh151]

Steve Vai had a few Jackson Soloists before his endorsement deal with Ibanez to make the Jem.

[Hot _Grits]

The main reason for the deeper, pointier cutaways on the Jem and subsequent RGs was Vai's desire scoop out the area in order for his large hands to have more clearance when playing on the upper frets. Previously he cut out his 'green meanie' charvel's lower horn to a very similar shape to what appeared on the Jem:



Compare to an early Jem:

[Davey]

yea.. vai had an endorsement with jackson before he went to ibanez, so you can say that the jem derived from what he liked on the soloists, plus aditional modifications.
and the jem does have more similarities body vise than the RG, which is very blocky compared to the dinky/soloist body

[PFDarkside]

Sorry, I can't help but lob this one in...

"What's the handle for?"


(And I like the JEMs...)

[Davey]

Sorry, I can't help but lob this one in...

"What's the handle for?"


(And I like the JEMs...)

easier to throw it away

[Zerberus]

I´d see it as: A Soloist / Dinky is a modified strat, originally introduced in 83.

A Jem is a tweaking of the Strat design into what Vai wanted, based partially on the Jackson soloist and his Green Meanie, originally in 89 IIRC

The RG is an "Ibanezation" of the Jem.

IMO nobody really ripped off anyone or cloned them on this one, but the Jackson influence is clear in the Ibanez models

But the old mahogany Saber 470´s still blow both the Jem and the RG away

[Davey]

exactly.. pretty much all of the double cutaway guitars like the RG's, dinkies etc etc are based on the strat shape, most of them are diferent in the final look, size etc etc, but they all look the same you know what i mean.

not like ESP that cant make their own shape to save their lives

(sorry i had to do it)

[UCSDBoy]

easier to throw it away

lol that is priceless =)

[D-EJ915]

not like ESP that cant make their own shape to save their lives

I guess yeah, lol, the F body is pretty comfortable though.