I'm feeling the call. I'm just not happy with the Les Paul. Ibanez makes some great sounding and great playing options.

I'll probably be listing the Paul locally for sale to get some funds together. Any recommendations?

I'm not sure what 3k will buy, but here's one that has caught my eye for 2k... yes, I'll probably be wanking it hard rock/heavy metal style.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez/RG5120M-Prestige-Electric-Guitar-Frozen-Ocean-1500000235978.gc

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez/RG550DX-Genesis-Collection-Electric-Guitar.gc?rNtt=rg550dx&index=1

Decent sale price on a different Prestige model if you're not set on the RG specifically.

https://www.adorama.com/ibaz2402icm.html?emailprice=t

Those guitars scream 1986 Steve Vai to me.

What exactly about the Les Paul is not working for you?  What are you looking for in the next guitar?  Those guitars are probably one trick ponies. If all you play is metal they will work.

For metal, I personally would check out pre-owned Jacksons and ESP's.   Great deals and if you play out already pre-dinged.

I have a couple Ibanez Prestige guitars. They're nice and well made. I also have a couple Indonesian RGs. And there's one common theme they all have, they are briiiiiiiiiight sounding guitars. So keep that in mind.

And if you're spending that kind of money, you might want to have a look at some of the nicer Schecters. They're really putting out some very nice, well made guitars right now.

I really want the Lo Pro Edge tremolo.

Not true with the right pickups.  I have both LP's and Ibanez.  Hard to beat the sound of a LP but besides that they play like shit.  I have Ibanez with non metal pups and they work great for other types of music.

I agree the the pickups the typically come in them are better for Metal.

I have an RG550DX and I changed the magnets in the pickups to Alnico II and it sounds great now.

I bought a 2015 Studio Deluxe III. It has a thinner neck profile, and it just isn't comfortable to play really. The action had a lot of buzz so I took it into a local Gibson authorized warranty shop, and he improved the buzz but there is still buzz. It has that classic Gibson tone, but honestly the Gibson is a one trick pony, too. It sounds like a Les Paul - which is awesome - but that's all it sounds like. Maybe I'll keep it and just take the plunge on a new axe.

As far as other guitars, I think I prefer the Ibanez neck to the Jackson neck having owned a Dinky before. My brother does have a couple ESPs, and they're nice one of them being a Sparrowhawk which has a wonderful neck. I immediately played better on it than the Gibson the first time I picked it up. Great tone, too.

I love Steve Vai.

I'm not a songwriter anymore. I'm 41 and tired. Never gave the professional music career a go even though everyone always told me I was really good, so I didn't even amount to a failure on that front because I was too scared to try. I just want to wank now for a couple minutes at night in between getting home after picking up the kid after working a full day and making dinner and cleaning the kitchen and trying to get her a bath and me, too. Yeah.

I'm not a pro, but a professional level instrument is always nicer to play and I demand that.

I actually personally know Isaac Berumen of Berumen Guitars. I've thought about asking him to build me one for cash. It wouldn't have a Lo Pro Edge, but it would play and sound better and run circles around the Les guaranteed.

That's weird to me. I remember my first Ibanez being this old RG and recall that it sounded much more "bassy" than the Dinky I later owned. Almost like the Ibanez naturally had scooped mids. I know the wood for the guitar in the link in the OP will make for a brighter sound. All in all, I'm not opposed to that.

Save yourself $2,300 and get something in between?

It's a quirk of the Ibanez RG body shape. For some reason they tend to be bright and tight in the lows.

If you are looking for a Floyd Rose equipped guitar, I'd consider Kiesel's Jason Becker over Ibanez.  Better made.

I've been gigging with a Kiesel almost every weekend for over a year now, and it's held up far better than my other USA ones.

Came here for that ...but ive got a thing for thier artcores

Japanese made Ibanez are top shelf.

Check Reverb...
https://reverb.com/p/ibanez-rg5120m-prestige-electric-guitar

ETA though personally I'd look at a PRS Custom 24

Well, I scratched the itch with an RGEW521 that happened to be in the used section at Guitar Center in Round Rock.

Normally a $799 guitar, this was marked down to $599. I played it and it sounded great courtesy of the DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and Air Norton in the neck. Five way selector with some cool combinations.

Afterwards, the rep said they had just got it in within the last week and the guy who brought it in and he had only owned it for a couple of months. Thing looks brand new.

Congratulations! Scratched itches are the best thing!

come on, bro, do us a solid and provide pics!

I am new to guitars and want to see what people like!

I'm going to guess for Op...

I want one that makes me sound like Joe Satriani....   (as if that was ever going to happen)

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JS2410MCO--ibanez-js2410-joe-satriani-signature-muscle-car-orange

You can thank me later.

Here is a terrible potato pic in very poor lighting. Traditional GD spec quality.



I'll get a better pic tomorrow showing the grain pattern on the top. I have no delusions of what this guitar isn't. It's good enough for me right now to jam on. I'll get it set up and try to regain some of my chops. I need to actually sit down with the metronome and run through some modes to get some semblance of right-left hand coordination back in my life.

Looking at my Scarlet II and my Mac with Logic Pro and thinking I should try laying some tracks down in the near future. I've been playing with the presets on my Marshall Code25. It's a great amp and has a USB for use with a DAW.

Nice! It's beautiful, congrats!

And since you're messing around with a DAW, there's some great plugins out there these days. I've seen S-Gear mentioned here a few times. I haven't tried it yet, but it's free and I've never heard anything bad about it. Also, you can try Neural DSP plugins free for 14 days.

And ditch the metronome and get a copy of Toontrack EZDrummer2 or Superior Drummer 3. They're both flat out awesome for writing, recording, and just plain having something to jam to. The tap2find function is the shit!

Never cared for the JS models.  Even though I'm a Joe fan.

I like the Vai RG/Jems but I'm not really a Vai fan.

Tone Zone/Air Norton my favorite combo.

Classics, for sure.

Now that the honeymoon is over, I'm taking to the task of setting it up. Truss rod has been adjusted somewhat. Looking for the right balance of relief and bridge height.

You may already know this but..... don't adjust (Floyd or Ibby Edge) bridge height without loosening strings quite a bit. Knife edges will gouge the pins in a really bad way. I've heard some say just greasing them will help avoid damage but I'm not buying it.