Did all RG550's have matching headstocks? Also, neck cracks...

PumpkinPie · #1 03-29-2009, 01:35 PM

I just bought a 1990 RG550M, serial F041439 and it has a maple neck with black headstock. The headstock has the correct serial number but I thought the white guitars had white 'stocks?

The neck looked slightly cracked when I bought it but upon further inspection has some serious crackage, numerous cracks around the nut and on either side the fretboard had lifted. The damage was not evident under string tension but when I pulled the headstock all was revealed.
I have glued it all up following the guide so I really hope it stays put because the neck is nice and it'd be hard to find another but the damage was pretty bad (I think). I have highlighted the cracked areas:

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6804/dsc00412gfw.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/852/cracks2.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6858/cracks.jpg

hall · #2 03-29-2009, 03:01 PM

That black headstock just doesn't look "right".

sambo · #3 03-29-2009, 03:19 PM

Hey Pumpkin heres the catalouge site if you weren't aware of it, http://www.ibanezrules.com/ is your neck a polished fretboard ? looks like it, sometimes a 2000 no could still be a 2001 model, the catalouge, specs particular to that year ie color, pickups/trem best way to ID heres a link to a neck repair site, thought was pretty cool http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/crack.htm hope that helps, there alot of great guys on here that will help ya find out for sure, good luck brother,, Sambo

PumpkinPie · #4 03-29-2009, 03:43 PM

I'm not sure if the fretboard was polished, it's pretty scratched up from age. The body is yellowed...when you say a 200 or 2001 model you mean the year? There's no way it could be 2000 given the aging on the paintwork...The neck has RG550 printed next to the serial number and I would say with almost absolute certainty that it isn't a fake. I just wondered why it doesn't match the body.

The last Ibanez I owned was an S540 and was verified as being genuine but the neck had the wrong decal on it (RG decal) and claw inlay on the 12th fret, so mistakes do happen.

EDIT: BTW, it has the square neck joint. What year did they get rid of those?

jb4674 · #5 03-29-2009, 04:00 PM

I have a friend who has a white 550 and the headstock is black as well.

Jimmy

PumpkinPie · #6 03-29-2009, 04:07 PM

Yeah I found this one on google search:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL124.../242532033.jpg

I was a little worried until I saw that. How much do you think the guitar is worth? Bearing in mind it has a few chips to the paintwork and the (now repaired) cracks in the neck.

brianxtr · #7 03-30-2009, 07:07 AM

the rg are with maching and black headstocks.thats no problem.i have a white with black headstock rg 550 too.looks normal for me.

rob777vdy · #8 03-30-2009, 07:27 AM

did you buy that rg off greedbay ???.it looks ok nice guitar.those neck cracks around the nut were common on early ibanez guitars,i wouldnt worry to much its not like the cracks are going to get any worse.

**jono** · #9 03-30-2009, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PumpkinPie

I just bought a 1990 RG550M, serial F041439 and it has a maple neck with black headstock. The headstock has the correct serial number but I thought the white guitars had white 'stocks?

White RGs from back then came with black headstocks, 500 and 700 series.

I have a white RG550 from 1990 too, mine's serial number is 5 away from yours

Jemmm · #10 03-30-2009, 08:54 AM

You should wash your feet though!

PumpkinPie · #11 03-30-2009, 01:00 PM

Ha, my feet are clean!

I bought the guitar from a generic auction site (are we allowed to mention sites here?), I wasn't particularly looking for an Ibanez but it caught my eye.

It was vandalised with stickers and had been painted black on some parts (I thought they were stickers too on the buyer's pics) but I managed to get all of that off with a little care and some wet sanding. The finish is a little dull in places but I'll buff it back up to shine no problem!
There are numerous dings in the paintwork but nothing too major. The cracked neck seems okay now, I've tried bending the neck back and there's no movement so the repair seems to have worked...

BTW, in case anyone was wondering why the tremolo isn't fitted to the guitar, I bought the guitar from a girl who, I assume, didn't know much about guitars because the action was more than 10mm! The trem was lopsided due to the posts not being adjusted correctly and one of the body anchors was loose. I yanked both of them out and bought this cool invention called a 'Floyd lockdown system':

Essentially, a solid steel plate with anchors fixed to it which screws into the body.

EDIT: I forgot to add, the guitar cost £268 and those pickups are Dimarzio PAF Pro's. I bet they are worth almost as much as I paid for the whole guitar.

rob777vdy · #12 03-30-2009, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PumpkinPie

Ha, my feet are clean!

I bought the guitar from a generic auction site (are we allowed to mention sites here?), I wasn't particularly looking for an Ibanez but it caught my eye.

It was vandalised with stickers and had been painted black on some parts (I thought they were stickers too on the buyer's pics) but I managed to get all of that off with a little care and some wet sanding. The finish is a little dull in places but I'll buff it back up to shine no problem!
There are numerous dings in the paintwork but nothing too major. The cracked neck seems okay now, I've tried bending the neck back and there's no movement so the repair seems to have worked...

BTW, in case anyone was wondering why the tremolo isn't fitted to the guitar, I bought the guitar from a girl who, I assume, didn't know much about guitars because the action was more than 10mm! The trem was lopsided due to the posts not being adjusted correctly and one of the body anchors was loose. I yanked both of them out and bought this cool invention called a 'Floyd lockdown system':

Essentially, a solid steel plate with anchors fixed to it which screws into the body.

EDIT: I forgot to add, the guitar cost £268 and those pickups are Dimarzio PAF Pro's. I bet they are worth almost as much as I paid for the whole guitar.

£268 thats a cracking buy,well worth it especially with the pafs in

Shark Tooth Smile · #13 04-05-2009, 11:32 PM

my 87 Rg550rfr has those same cracks, you may have ran across my threads concerning it lol, I was too bitch to attempt fixing it myself even after reading up on how. Dropped mine off at my guitar tech...Now my concern is getting it back, been over 2 weeks

morikh · #14 04-06-2009, 09:52 AM

can you show pics with cracks but without black lines?

PumpkinPie · #15 04-06-2009, 01:03 PM

I've fixed them now, I just bent the headstock back until the cracks were wide open and poured lots of wood glue in. I

also put a small wedge underneath the fretboard where it was loose to get some glue in there, I've had the guitar set up for about 4 days now with 10 gauge strings and the neck has stayed solid even with lots of upbends using the whammy.

The cracks still look terrible but I'm happy that they are not growing any more, the repair seems to be permanent:

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5091/dsc00437o.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8483/dsc00438n.jpg