The EX series is a line of solid body electric guitars produced by Hoshino Gakki and sold under the Ibanez brand. The EX series was first introduced in 1988. The EX (short for EXperimental) models were RG-bodied guitars produced in Korea instead of Japan as a more affordable alternative. The guitars featured the RG shape, but with rounded edges, as opposed to the squared edges of the RG line. They presumably were named differently to prevent them from possibly hurting the reputation of the RG name, although some markets already did have some Korean made RG models.