Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte vs Ibanez RGMS7
Reasons to Get
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte over Ibanez RGMS7
Reasons to Get
Ibanez RGMS7 over Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte
Other Key Differences
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte vs Ibanez RGMS7
Shared Features
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte vs Ibanez RGMS7
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Weight Relief
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Luminescent Sidedots
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Table of Contents
Price History Comparison
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Which One is Better Overall?
After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte is probably the better product overall with its final score of 70 compared to the Ibanez RGMS7's 66 score, although not by a lot.
The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte wins when it comes to sound, build quality. On the other hand, the Ibanez RGMS7 has the upper hand when it comes to playability, value for the money.
If you got small hands, you'll probably feel more comfortable playing the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.
Which One is Better for Beginners?
If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Ibanez RGMS7 is the better choice.
The Ibanez RGMS7 meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte meets only 3. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte- Comfortable shape
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
- Easy-to-use bridge
New Player Friendliness
Ibanez RGMS7- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte Overview
- From Washburn's 2016 Nuno Bettencourt series
- Nuno Bettencourt Signature
- Made in Indonesia
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 12" Fretboard Radius
- Agathis body
- Maple neck
- Rosewood fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Bill Lawrence L-500 (Humbucker/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Washburn Humbucker (Humbucker/Passive)
- 1 volume and 0 tone Dome knobs
- 3-way Switch
- Floyd Rose Special bridge
- Washburn Nuno Bettencourt Bolt-On neck
- 22 Medium frets
- Grover Exclusive 18:1 Chrome tuners
- Compare Specs >
Ibanez RGMS7 Overview
- From Ibanez's 2018 RG series
- Made in Indonesia
- 7 strings
- 27" to 25.5"'' scale
- 16" Fretboard Radius
- Nyatoh body
- Maple/Walnut neck
- Jatoba fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Array-7 MS (Humbucker/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Array-7 MS (Humbucker/Passive)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
- 5-way Switch
- Mono-rail bridge
- Wizard III-7 for Multi Scale Bolt-On neck
- 24 Jumbo frets
- Ibanez tuners
- Compare Specs >
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Woods Used in the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Agathis is a softwood similar to Mahogany. It's more affordable, which makes it popular as a way to reduce production costs. People believe it to produce a warm tone with good punch and sustain.
Woods Used in the Ibanez RGMS7
Jatoba is a hard and dense wood that emphasizes the mid-lows, giving a fuller, more round sound than, for example, Mahogany. However, it also has a lot of clarity in the top end. Find out more about Jatoba.
Nyatoh has been replacing Mahogany for guitar building. It's fairly hard, durable, more sustentable and common than Mahogany. Find out more about Nyatoh.
Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.
Pickup Configuration
Both pickup configurations are HH. Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
Pickups Quality
The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has pickups from a more specialized brand than the Ibanez RGMS7. Its pickups should simply give you a better, fuller sound, although it all depends on what type of music you're going to play. We recommend these pickups for Hard Rock and similar genres.
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
The Ibanez RGMS7 gives you 5 switch options while the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte gives you 3. This means that the Ibanez RGMS7 gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Only the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte comes with some kind of pickup modification: Coil Tap.
Coil Tap is similar to Coil Split but it works a bit differently. Instead of completely cancelling one of the coils of the humbucker, it only cuts part of the output once activated. Some people believe this gives the split pickups a more real single-coil sound.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte compares to the Ibanez RGMS7.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in Indonesia.
Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has a Locking nut. Instead of a regular nut, this guitar has a locking system that will lock down the strings at the nut, preventing it from getting out of tune. It removes one of the disadvantages of tremolo bridges, tune stability.
On the other hand, the Ibanez RGMS7 comes with a Plastic nut. This is a low-quality nut that you might want to consider upgrading soon. Bone and TUSQ nuts are the best for guitars with a fixed or simple tremolo bridge.
Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's brige is a Floyd Rose. This is a double-locking bridge system that allows you to perform techniques like dive bombs and pinch harmonics. The locking nut allows your guitar to stay in tune even after the most intense tremolo usage. The disadvantage is that it takes more work to change the strings and set up everything correctly.
On the other hand, the Ibanez RGMS7's is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.
Tuners
Both come with regular tuners. The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's are Grover Exclusive 18:1 Chrome while the Ibanez RGMS7's are Ibanez
Winner: Tie.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
Both have a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Coil Tap Pickups
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Indonesia
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Retainer Bar
- No Strap Lock
Ibanez RGMS7
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Indonesia
- No Expensive Woods
- No High-Quality Nut
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Ibanez RGMS7 has the wider nut with 48mm (1.89'') vs 43mm (1.693''). This is a 5mm (0.197'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Ibanez RGMS7, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
In this case, the Ibanez RGMS7 features a multi-scale of 27" to 25.5" while the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has a regular scale of 25.5".
A multi-scale fingerboard incorporates two scale lengths at the same time. This is present in some instruments with long scale to give a different tension to the lower strings than the higher strings. The thickest strings need more tension to avoid fret buzz (especially when tuned low), so the scale is longer for these strings, while the thinnest strings will need less tension (because they have a lower gauge), so they have a shorter scale to reduce stiffness for bends.
It can feel awkward if you've never played a multi-scale because the frets will have more separation for the higher strings, but a lot of people love their versatility.
On the other hand, the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's 25.5" regular scale means it has a fixed scale for all the strings.This is the scale used in most Stratocasters. It's slightly longer than the typical 24.75'' size found in Les Pauls, and it's one of the main reasons why Stratocasters have such a bright sound in general. A longer scale also means that the strings will have higher tension. This will help you get lower action without suffering fret buzz, which will also be helpful when playing in lower tunings without having to increase your string gauge.
However, this also means that there will be more separation between frets, which can make it more difficult to play. Also, bending the strings will require more strengths due to the increased tension, but remember that a tremolo guitar will offset this difficulty.
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
In this case, both have different neck shapes:
The Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte has a C type of neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
The Ibanez RGMS7, on the other hand, has a Wizard neck. This is thinner than most C-type necks. It won't get in your way if you want to play fast solos. It's not as slim as 'Super Wizard' necks, so it might fit you better if you don't like ultra-thin necks.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Ibanez RGMS7's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Ibanez RGMS7.
Still, both tend to favor soloing over chords, so if you're looking for a guitar for playing rhythm, you might want something else with a radius closer to a Stratocaster's 9.5''.
Hand Size Comfortability
Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Ibanez RGMS7 favors large hands more than the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte.
Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte:
Ibanez RGMS7:
Fret Size
The Ibanez RGMS7 has Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Washburn N24-Nuno Vintage Matte's Medium frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.
