Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium Review & Prices

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Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium Review
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  • From Ibanez's 2021 RG series
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 25.5"'' scale
  • 16" Fretboard Radius
  • Koa top
  • African Mahogany body
  • 11pc Maple/Walnut/Bubinga neck
  • Rosewood fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: EMG 81 (Humbucker/Active)
  • Middle pickup: EMG SA (Single Coil/Active)
  • Neck pickup: EMG SA (Single Coil/Active)
  • 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
  • 5-way Switch
  • Edge bridge
  • Wizard Bolt-On neck
  • 24 Jumbo Gold frets
  • Gotoh machine heads tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 73
Sound 81
Build quality 70
Value for money 70
Overall Score 75
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium
  • Gold Frets
  • Expensive Wood
  • Locking Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Luminescent Inlay
  • Tremolo
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Retainer Bar
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $1000, which means that the Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium costs around 60% more than the competition. It might be due to it having additional features, but know that you can find cheaper similar alternatives. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Double Locking bridge that are made in Indonesia.

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Videos

Ibanez RG6PKAG Featuring Stefano "Sebo" Xotta
Ibanez RG6PKAG-NTF | Demo & Playthrough (new for 2021)
No Talking...Just Tones | Ibanez RG Premium | RG6PKAG - Natural Flat
IBANEZ RG6PKAG | REVIEW, SPECS and SOUNDS by RICCARDO GIOGGI
Ibanez Premium RG6PKAG-NTF featuring Lee Wrathe
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Your feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Weight

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Is it Easy to Play?

The Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium meets 3 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not recommended for complete beginners. 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 to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium
  • Comfortable shape
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Locking tuners
  • Easy-to-use bridge

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's 25.5" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium Scale Length Comparison
Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is the same scale length used in Stratocaster guitars, and it's one of the main reasons they have such a bright sound. It's considered a long scale when compared to most non-baritone guitars.

Since the distance between bridge and nut is relatively long, you'll need to give the strings more tension to get them in tune. This higher tension will allow for a couple of things. First, you can get a lower action (get the strings closer to the fretboard) because the strings won't 'wiggle' too much when pluck and won't cause fret buzz. This can allow you to use lower tunings without increasing your string gauge, and it will make it easier to press down the strings fast.

However, the frets will also have a wider separation between each other, which can make it harder to play, especially if you got small hands. The higher tension will also make the strings feel stiffer, so bending will require more strength.

More with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium Neck Profile
Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

The Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's neck thickness is approximately 0.71'' (18mm) at the first fret, and 0.79'' (20.1mm) at the twelfth.

These measurements were taken either from the official Ibanez website, or, in case this information wasn't provided, by researching multiple online marketplaces and forums where owners of this model have posted their measurements.

It has a Wizard type neck. This is a neck profile invented by Ibanez in the 90s and perfected throughout the years. It's thinner than the C profile that most people like. It's not as thin as their 'Super Wizard' version, so it's a good option if you like thin necks, but like to have a bit of thickness for resting your hand while playing.

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium has a 16" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's fretboard radius compared to others

This fretboard radius is really different than Stratocasters, but it's also a lot flatter than Les Paul fingerboards. It'll heavily favor soloing over playing chords. This doesn't mean you can't use it for chords, but it will be more comfortable to play chords without muting strings in a more curved fretboard. Bending and sliding without losing sustain will also be more likely in a flat fretboard like this one.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Playability compared to main competitors

25.5'' Scale Length
Wizard Neck Profile
1.693'' Nut Width
16'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.625'' Nut Width
Compound Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
U Neck Profile
1.654'' Nut Width
Compound Fretboard Radius
Multiscale Scale Length
U Neck Profile
1.654'' Nut Width
13.78'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.654'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium Nut Width
Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium Nut Width

The Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium has a nut width of 43mm (1.693''). This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.

Frets

The Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium has 24 frets. A lot of people mistakenly believe that having more frets will always be better because it gives you a higher octave. This is certainly an advantage, but there's also a disadvantage to this.

Since the fretboard will be longer, the neck pickup will need to be placed closer to the bridge. And as you may know, the further away the neck pickup is from the bridge, the warmer it sounds. This means you'll have a brighter-sounding neck pickup when using a 24-fret guitar, even if you use the same pickup on a 22-fret guitar.

Finally, this guitar has EVO gold frets. These sit right between nickel silver and stainless steel in terms of durability. They have the plus of looking absolutely stunning thanks to the golden finish.

Fret Size

Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium Fret Size Comparison
Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's frets are Jumbo size. This is a tall fret size that is becoming increasingly popular because it makes it easier to press down the strings cleanly. With this fret size, you won't feel the fretboard when playing, so if you press down too hard, you will get the notes out of pitch. However, this is something you can overcome by getting used to the taller size.

More with the same type of frets:

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 50
Solo Playability 90
Playability 73

Tone Analysis

Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.

Wood

Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany Body
Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Maple Neck
Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood Fretboard

Mahogany Body: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.

Maple Neck: This is one of the most popular types of wood used in all kinds of guitars. It's heavy, strong and compact, which makes it great for necks. However, it's also used for fretboards, bodies and tops due to its light color, resistance and beautiful patterns. When it comes to tone, it highlights the mid and high frequencies.

Rosewood Fretboard: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: EMG. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

These are active pickups, so you can expect a lot of output with a highly compressed signal that will give your tones more distortion while retaining a clear, defined sound, which is what many Heavy Metal players need. However, they have the disadvantage of sometimes lacking a fully clean sound when playing without distortion.

The Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's configuration is HSS. If you play a lot with humbuckers in the bridge position, but would also love to have pristine cleans, this is a great configuration to have. The bridge humbucker will give you tons of output for playing distorted rhythm parts, while the single coils will give you a lot of tone options.

More with the same pickups

24 Frets
Edge Bridge
EMG 81 Bridge Pickup
EMG SA Middle Pickup
EMG SA Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
EMG 81 Bridge Pickup
Middle Pickup
EMG 85 Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Fixed Bridge
EMG 81 Bridge Pickup
Middle Pickup
EMG 85 Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
EMG 81 Bridge Pickup
Middle Pickup
EMG 85 Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
EMG 81 Bridge Pickup
Middle Pickup
EMG 81 Neck Pickup

Versatility

It gives you a good amount of tone options with its 5-way switch. You can use it to choose at least 5 different pickup combinations.

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with more options for coil split or coil tapping. This makes it less versatile than some competitors.

Diagram

Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium pickups switch selector and push knobs diagram
Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium's switch options

What music genre is it good for?

As a 6 strings, Solid Body guitar with HSS configuration and Active pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Heavy Metal or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.

Sound Score

Pickups 85
Sustain 85
Versatility 70
Tuning Stability 85
Sound 81

Build Quality Analysis

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium is made in Indonesia. Many people prefer the quality of an Indonesian guitar over a Chinese. Respectable brands like Epiphone, Ibanez and Schecter are building in this country because of the great quality and lower price. Some people like to compare them to the ones built in Japan during the 80s, when Japanese guitar makers made a name for themselves.

Still, remember that we're taking about Ibanez here, which is a brand with good renown. They know how to use cheap labor in this country without sacrificing too much quality. So you shouldn't end up receiving a useless or ugly instrument.

Bridge

Edge: It's an improved version of the Floyd Rose bridge. It comes with a push-in arm, less bulky saddles, replaceable knife edges and with fine-tuners well positioned to avoid interfering with palm muting, and more mass for increased sustain. Like Floyd Roses, it takes more work to set up properly than simpler bridges.

More with the same type of bridge:

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium has a Locking nut. Instead of the typical nut, this nut locks the strings in place and will make them stay in tune even after heavy tremolo use. This type of nut provides the best tune stability, but they also make the guitar more expensive.

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with a retainer bar for the nut, which would be a helpful addition. Without it, the strings will change pitch once you lock down the nut, so you'll have to make more micro-adjustments at the bridge to tune it correctly.

More with the same nut material:

Neck Joint

The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.

This guitar has a Bolt-On neck joint. Even though this type of neck was looked down upon for a long time, nowadays bolt-on necks are well built and provide just as much sustain as any other join method. First of all, it's cheap to make because it consists of simply 4 bolts that attach the neck to the body. And you can travel with the guitar more easily, swap out the neck if you damage it, or upgrade to a more comfortable neck later on.

More with the same build:

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 65
Features 65
Quality Control 80
Build Quality 70

All Specs

Ibanez RG6PKAG Premium
General
Brand: Ibanez
Year: 2021
Configuration: HSS
Strings: 6
Made in: Indonesia
Series: RG
Colors: Natural
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Top: Koa
Type: Solid Body
Body Material: African Mahogany
Bridge: Edge
Neck
Neck Joint: Bolt-On
Tuners: Gotoh machine heads
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck Material: 11pc Maple/Walnut/Bubinga
Decoration: Mother of Pearl dot
Scale Size: 25.5"
Shape: Wizard
Thickness: 1st Fret: 0.71'' (18mm) - 12th Fret: 0.79'' (20.1mm)
Frets: 24 Jumbo Gold
Fretboard Radius: 16"
Nut: Locking
Nut Width: 43mm (1.693'')
Electronics
Switch: 5 Way
Knobs: Dome
Volume Controls: 1
Tone Controls: 1
Bridge Pickup: EMG 81 (Humbucker / Active)
Middle Pickup: EMG SA (Single Coil / Active)
Neck Pickup: EMG SA (Single Coil / Active)

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