22-fret Ibanez neck on Ibanez RG? Can I?

[Stygian]

I've got an 80s RG with the square neck joint. The frets has been giving me major buzz, and it just will not go away with truss adjustments alone. The best I can do with it is raise the action and play uncomfortably.

But, I've got a good spare Ibanez Proline neck with an ebony fretboard. It's 22 fret and I want to know if it's a problem? I've had it on the RG body once already, and it plays better than the original 24 fret neck. I did a quick measure of the scale lengths from each neck, from the nut to the center of the 12th fret, and they both are equal.

So I want to know if my intonation is going to be off balanced? Is this going to work?

[Dee]

I don't see why not. It's the same scale length, it should be fine.

[Stygian]

Originally Posted by Dee

I don't see why not. It's the same scale length, it should be fine.

Yeah, I mean it'd be great if I could. I'm playing the guitar now, and it's bad. Now, the 24 fret neck has that overhang, so I know the 22 fret Ibanez Proline neck is going to leave a space, but I honestly don't think it looked too bad this way when I tried it.

So I know it's physically possible. I just want to be sure it won't sound bad tonally.

[Ki swordsman]

whoa hold up, the scale length is correct but if it previously had a 24 fret neck, and you're putting on a 22, ie 22 will be where 24 was. then you're essentially moving the entire neck towards the guitar and you'd need the bridge to move also, to keep the scale length.

on a 22 fretter the bridge will be placed closer to the tail than on a 24(of same scale).
so in intonation terms, sorry mate it won't work.

edit just saw you have an overhang- and the 22 doesn't? if so it may be close enough to work. just remember scale length has to be correct enough between bridge saddles and nut.

[Ayrton]

With the same scale, you will be just fine.

I have swapped strat necks (21 vs 22 fret) necks in the same fashion.

[Ki swordsman]

yeah it all depends how close it is and how much room to be adjusted the saddles have..

[mike-o]

Originally Posted by Ki swordsman

whoa hold up, the scale length is correct but if it previously had a 24 fret neck, and you're putting on a 22, ie 22 will be where 24 was. then you're essentially moving the entire neck towards the guitar and you'd need the bridge to move also, to keep the scale length.

The 2 extra frets on the old school square heel 24 fret necks were fingerboard extensions.

The neck pockets and scales should be the same, and you should have no problem.

[Dee]

It'll work fine, only it'll look a bit funny.

[ibanezking]

On ANY guitar or bass etc.....

Measure from nut to middle of 12th fret

Double it - thats your scale length

on an RG its 12 3/4 inches to the 12th = 25.5inch scale

you can put any neck on any guitar

AS LONG AS : nut to 12th = 12th to bridge saddle

Then all you're left with is the cosmetic appeal - or not

Max

[Ki swordsman]

Originally Posted by mike-o

The 2 extra frets on the old school square heel 24 fret necks were fingerboard extensions.

aah cheers! well that's the key point then. in that case if they're the same length neck but with the extra 2 as fretboard hang, it'll be perfect.

[Stygian]

Thanks guys confirming that the neck switch would work. I painted the blank space black and put the Ibanez Proline 22 fret neck on it today. I think it looks pretty good (not perfect), considering it has some nicks and the pickups are far from original anymore. It's been heavily modded.

The Ibanez Proline neck has a larger logo and is straight rather than angled, so it isn't the camera playing tricks. Although, the spot I painted REALLY shows up in a photo for some reason, maybe its the flash. I'm not sure I'll keep it this way, but it's nice to play on a neck without the buzz, and an ebony fretboarded guitar is ALWAYS a plus!

[Oatman]

Originally Posted by Stygian

I've got a good spare Ibanez Proline neck with an ebony fretboard. It's 22 fret and I want to know if it's a problem?

I'm thinking of something similar. What model and year was your proline with the ebony fretboard?

I know one of the rare JS models (I think the JS90) had an ebony fretboard... what other necks/modes had ebony fret boards that would be compatible wit this neck joint or the AANJ?

thanks!

[guitvai1]

If you were to take the guitar into a decent set up tech he/she should be able to level the frets and adjust the neck to get rid of the excess buzzing. I did it with an old RG and it cost me justy $65 and it plays better than ever.

[Stygian]

Originally Posted by Oatman

I'm thinking of something similar. What model and year was your proline with the ebony fretboard?

I know one of the rare JS models (I think the JS90) had an ebony fretboard... what other necks/modes had ebony fret boards that would be compatible wit this neck joint or the AANJ?

thanks!

It was from a 1985 Pro Line. Aside from the funky look of the gap between the edge of the fretboard and neck pickup (not bad in real life), it plays well. It's definitely fatter than the original wizard neck, though! I notice I can't play quite as fast. I honestly don't know what other necks had ebony, but all the ones I've seen thus far have had the old square neck joint or were neckthru. I think they've all been Pro Line guitars too, some with different inlay or even binding.

[Stygian]

Originally Posted by guitvai1

If you were to take the guitar into a decent set up tech he/she should be able to level the frets and adjust the neck to get rid of the excess buzzing. I did it with an old RG and it cost me justy $65 and it plays better than ever.

Good idea, but I'm really cheap and don't know anybody locally that can do this work. Aside from that excuse, there may be a problem beyond the frets, because they do not look that worn down to me. Maybe my neck is out of whack beyond what a truss rod adjustment can fix? Anyways, I might play switcharoo with the necks a few times, but for now the replacement works!