Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabberz
Thankyou GB for not getting the point. I can't get an RG that is of my design. I want it to be unique, my signature, if you will (not that I'm good enough to get my own signature :P). Like I said, I don't care that much about the price. I know I can source the PU's I want for $160. Can anyone direct me to an apropriate fixed bridge?
|
Thankyou for not getting the sarcasm.
You're only going to end up with a rubbish guitar that looks pretty. What you're doing is stupid unless you have some sort of unbelievably sentimental attachment to that particular guitar. (And even then, its not any less stupid, its just a little more understandable...) It'll still be a cheap guitar with cheap wood cut to bad tolerances and changing the neck isn't going to fix that, especially since its quite likely on a cheap guitar like that, that the body has been routed inexpertly and therefore whatever neck you put on it will probably need some stupid amount of shim to get it to fit correctly. Not to mention its such a cheap model, it doesn't share the mounting bolt positions with ANY of the decent wizard necks, since the japanese and Korean bolt pattern is different to the indonesian or chinese one.
For the amount you want to pour into the guitar you could be (significantly) more than halfway to building a custom (which would be just as much the guitar you want with "your design" on it, that would be twice the guitar of any Ibanez production model, and twenty times the guitar of that bag of crap you call a GRX.
Here's a list of the things that would need to be done to your guitar in order to turn it into an instrument which isn't total crap:
1 - Buy a new neck. This is roughly £200 UK, or $300 US.
2 - Have the neck pocket routed for the wider heel.
3 - Have the neck mounting holes re-drilled for the different pattern.
4 - Have the neck pocket bottom routed at the proper angle for your neck, to eliminate the need for a massive shim, and to ensure good neck-to-body contact, which your GRX will almost certainly NOT have right now, because its a crap guitar.
5 - Replace the tuning machines. This is roughly £60, or $90.
6 - Buy a new bridge. A good one will be a minimum of £50 or $80 for a fixed bridge, upwards of $100-$200 for a good tremolo depending on if you go for locking or vintage.
7 - Have the old bridge removed and the cavities filled.
8 - Have the new bridge location calculated and the mountings for that routed.
9 - Possibly re-route the bridge pickup cavity if the new location is significantly different.
10 - Have the neck modified to fit the scale length and intended number of frets on your guitar. OR if you insist on putting a 24 fret neck on, you'll have to have your luthier fill the cavities left by your old pickups, and re-route those cavities, after modifying the neck pocket to accept the 24 fret neck.
11 - At this stage you have a playable guitar, except your pickups and electronics are still a pile of crap because they're from a cheapo guitar. Off to buy som good electronics then! A set of Dimarzio's and pots will run you around £200 to $300. If you want REALLY great pickups, you're looking at Bareknuckle prices, thats around £230 or $400. Ish.
12 - Now you need to pay a guy to do all the work on the electronics, more cash there, in addition to the FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS you will have already spent on modifying the body to accept the new neck and bridge and filling the old pickup cavities...
13 - Now at this point you need to design your finish and find someone willing to paint the guitar for you. If you want a good job doing here you're looking at a MINIMUM of £300 for a finish done by someone who knows what they're doing. HUNDREDS more if you want a good finish doing with some sort of custom graphic. Especially if you want a matching headstock.
Now, adding up JUST THE THINGS I CAN PRICE UP, WHICH MEANS THIS IS NON-INCLUSIVE OF LABOUR, you're looking at $1260 or so. When you add onto that the cost of the setup, the woodwork, the miscellaneous **** that always comes up in these kind of builds, then you're talking that it could quite easily be TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS into a guitar that costs A TENTH OF THE PRICE. Especially if the Luthier you get to do the work, sees you coming. And believe me, when you' asking for something this ridiculous, you're also asking to be taken for a ride by whoever does the work. Best hope your guy is the scrupulous sort, or you might find an extra 500 on top of the figure here...
All that, for the pleasure of turning an awful guitar into a slightly less awful guitar.
And even when you PAY that much, you're still left with a body made of crappy wood. And, because you extended the fretboard into the body, even though you'll HAVE two extra frets, you won't be able to REACH them because the cutaway won't be as deep as it is on a guitar that was intended for 24 frets to start with. And the GRX cutaway is ALREADY shallow compared to the real RG, and the neck heel is huge on that guitar. You'll have next to no higher fret access. Unless you pay for the guy doing all of this work, to reshape the heel of the neck and make it playable. Which is going to cost you even more money.
Any way you slice it, if you think you're getting a great deal by sinking money into polishing a turd, you've got more money than sense, and if you're that eager to lighten your wallet for stupid reasons, I'll be glad to sell you a big bag of GuitarBizarre's patented I-Think-You're-An-Idiot for the low low price of £200. Bargain offer of a lifetime, RRP £500!
