Details & History
These are NOT official Ibanez/Hoshino designations. Ibanez/Hoshino said they didn't have official designations for these models when I inquired, so those were done by myself for easy recognition of the three guitars.
You'll notice that the blue portion of the flag on the USA-1 and USA-2 are in opposite directions, and the "waves" of the flag are also different. Those are the only differences between the USA-1 and the USA-2. All other specs are the same.
The RG-USA-3 is (from what I hear) also hand-painted. If you look close, you can see the "rivets" or "screws" that "attach" each stripe and star. It looks kinda like it's assembled. For the record, I've not seen the USA-2 nor the USA-3 in person, but I do know that the specs for USA-1 and USA-2 are the same, courtesy of sources at Ibanez/Hoshino.
Kevan J. Geier
The body on this one is airbrushed- all sides, cavities and the covers are painted to match. The finish is a VERY thick satin finish. It's not the normal few coats of clear; this is more like a shell over the body. I really like the finish; it would be cool to see it on a production guitar.
The hardware is chrome (not the new 'vintage silver'). The knobs are the types usually found on the FGM's or S-series. A nice change of pace; the rubber ring + metal knob combo makes them grip nicely when your hands are all sweaty from that 20-minute solo break. :-P
The pickups are indeed chrome (a la the JEM10's) in an H-S-H setup From looking at the screw heads on the tops of the pickups, they do not appear to be the familiar ToneZone/AirNorton setup as found in most J-Customs.
The RG-USA-1 has a set of Evolutions in it, with the matched single coil (exact same pickups that went in the JEM10's. A BIG thanks to Eric at DiMarzio for the information.)
The neck seems to be a typical Wizard 2 with the volute. The headstock is airbrushed to match the body and has that same satin/shell finish. 24 frets on a nice and tasty ebony board, with a sole inlay of offset abalone double-dots at the 12th fret. No truss rod cover.
Here's the kooky part: on each of the cavity covers, and inside the neck joint, is Japanese writing. Now, my Japanese is about as good as a North Korean chef's judgement at the Westminster Dog Show...so I can't read it,
but- it's like nothing I've ever seen. Sources tell me that it's the luthiers "notes" on what finish/hardware/neck that this guitar is going to become. It's pretty cool. Many folks thought that this was a special "9.11.01" guitar from Ibanez. It's not. The serial number on the back of the headstock (F9754823) tells us so.
