I played an RGA7 on Wednesday

I'm impressed. Sure, it's still a lower-end instrument so it's not up to the standard of my old KXK, but it's great for the money. Which at the local store I used to work at is £375, the cheapest I've seen it anywhere. Even at the £450 most places have it it's good value.

Mohogany arched body, fixed bridge and a slim Ibanez neck, which is pretty much what I've looking for right now. The neck is the flat D profile of the RG7321, which is ok. Personally I like the thinness, but I'd prefer more of a C shape. Fit & finish was good. The frets could've been finished a little more, but I really can't gripe for the price. The active Ibanez pickups are surprisingly good, better than the usual stock crap by far. I was playing through a Mesa Express 50 and got an extremely nice clean sound on both pickups, which gritted up for a bit of just overdriven blues with the onboard active EQ engaged. I couldn't get the kind of metal grind I like on the distortion channel, but then again the Express isn't a metal amp. Certainly I could get a usuable metal sound with the EQ on.

All in I can see one in my future if things pan out with the new job, especially if I can swing a discount from my mates in the store. While I could live with the stock pickups, long term I think some Blackouts or EMG's would find their way in there. Certainly I think the EQ isn't quite what I'd want. It's useful for a bit more grind on rhythms, but stops the clean getting as clean as I like. As I don't fancy having to flip that each time I change channel I think I'd replace the EQ switch with a killswitch.

Anyway, if you like your Ibanez 7's and want a mahogany bodied fixed bridge guitar on a budget, it's a great buy.