Ibanez Rocket Roll II RR 400

……or how I learned to love a Flying V

I hadn’t paid any attention to a Flying V before, I always saw it as a pure metal guitar and with one exception, I never had one in my hand.

It was several years ago… One day, for whatever reason, I played the RR 400 at a dealer. What left a lasting impression on me was the neck and the feel. This short experience remained for a long time, but as the saying goes… you always meet twice in your life.

The Ibanez RR 400 comes from the Rocket Roll II series. After some Flying V models from the 1970s that were very similar to the original, it could be seen as a slightly more independent version, if at all possible.

Manufactured by Fuji Gen, the RR 400 features a basswood body with a flamed maple top. The set neck is made of maple, it has a rosewood fingerboard with pearl/abalone block inlays. I would describe the neck profile as medium C-shaped.
The gold-colored hardware consists of a Quick Change II Stoptail, a Gibraltar Bridge and second generation Smooth Tuner.
A covered Super 58 humbucker in the neck position and an open V2 with cream-colored bobbins on the bridge, each of which can be separately adjusted in volume, ensure a good tone. A master tone potentiometer serves as tone control.
This model was only built for a short period of one year.

Here it was, my second encounter and it was supposed to change a lot. It started when I accidentally discovered it in an advertisement, original and remarkably well preserved. The offer was so good that I couldn’t resist and it almost seemed as if the guitar was looking for me and not I for it. So I decided to give this Flying V a chance.

The first impression after holding it in my hands brought back the memory that I had not been deceived. The neck feels wonderful, it is very similar to those of my artists and is easy to play – while standing… 🙂

I had another aha moment when I played it on my amp in the rehearsal room for the first time. The sound can be described as wooden, growling, clear and defined, with absolutely clean intonation. The neck pickup sounds fantastic, depth and clarity of a quality that hardly any of my other guitars offer. The bridge pickup also sounds very good in this guitar. Although praised as a high gain humbucker, it sounds dynamic, open and very harmonious. Far away from what is associated with high gain pickups today. Overall, this RR 400 is a very resonant and, if you will, good-natured instrument. Clean or distorted, it just sounds really good and effortless. What it lacks ergonomically, it makes up for in sound quality.
I only made a small cosmetic adjustment, the bridge pickup got a gold-colored cover to make the guitar visually more harmonious to my eyes.

The RR 400 is a great guitar, it offers qualities, especially in terms of sound, but also playability, that can hardly be found. It managed to sneak into my heart.