my new RG story

sawzall · #1 02-10-2001, 03:54 PM

Heh, I went to pay off the closeout RG570 I put on layaway last month at a local Guitar Center.
The guy brings out of the back, I give it the once-over. Its got a hell of a paint chip on the bottom edge it didn't have before, all the way to the wood.
I point it out to the guy and he starts looking for others he could have sent over. Discontinued color so not going to happen and I don't feel like waiting. I told him he could do that or give me a great deal on this here SKB case.
I ended up walking out of there with a new RG570 (with a nice character-enhancing paint chip) and SKB HSC at cost plus tax. Probably saved about $350 in already-marked-down prices. Not a bad haul for the day.
Now, I just need to tell my wife I bought it.

js

kirk · #2 02-10-2001, 04:38 PM

Congrats, what color didja get?

sawzall · #3 02-10-2001, 04:47 PM

Sour Apple Sparkle. Not a bad color.
I do like that New Penny finish on the 470 too.
I guess I'll have to put some kind of hardened coat over the chip so it doesn't get any worse. Know of anything I could use?

Doink · #4 02-11-2001, 04:29 AM

The chip would give me a good excuse to strip it down and do some finish experiments. I never liked Sour Sparkle.

sawzall · #5 02-11-2001, 04:56 AM

Yeah, I did get some ideas today. I had to hit a salvage/repair yard today for a car part. I was talking to the guy about painting a fender to match the rest of the car when he told me about his facilities. I'd probably get him to paint the RG whatever color for $100-$150. Should I decide to do it. He seemed pretty easy to deal with.

kirk · #6 02-11-2001, 07:01 AM

I like the SA finish. *It grew on me, I didn't like it at first.

Concerning the refinishing of the new guitar, I'd go back to GC and use their 30/30 return policy. *Order a new guitar. *You'll be sitting without a guitar while it's getting finished, and man it's a new guitar! *Kind of sucks that you've got to get a new guitar refinished.

That being said, two of my local friends do autobody work, and one of them has an oven in which the finish gets baked on. *He does some really impressive stuff with guitars, but doesn't like to do all of the prep work on the wood body, and usually paints over the existing pain job (fills in dent dings and chips though, for a smooth finish.) *Some will contest that the paint job on top of a paint job will affect the tone of the guitar.

Good luck.

jeff l · #7 02-11-2001, 11:35 AM

I have a Sour Apple Sparkle 570. I like the finish...Although I would rather have had one of the heavy-flaked green ones from '97 (?) *Oh yeah congrats on the killer deal.

DD · #8 02-13-2001, 08:11 PM

I am about to refinish my RG and i was advised by members of this forum NOT to sand all the way down to the wood and to paint over the existing colour (I am going to use a primer first as well)
In what way does refinishing affect sound?

tagg 7 · #9 02-13-2001, 10:45 PM

I've never heard someone say not to sand down a guitar. That sounds like re-roofing a house over the old shingles. It may do the trick for now, but you cut the life of it in half. Anyway im sure that it would be fine once you get it all finished. You will probably have to ruff up the existing paint first so the primer will hold though.

buzz

oooo · #10 02-13-2001, 11:42 PM

I made a great deal on an old RG560 a while back. *It was this dark purpleish red... I used "stripper" from Wal-mart to get the paint off, then tung oiled it.... the whole guitar. * After slapping an Evolution in the bridge, the guitar just kills. *It has a great sound, an increadable feel and looks pretty cool also. *

sawzall · #11 02-14-2001, 01:31 AM

Post a pic if you can.

Doink · #12 02-14-2001, 03:33 AM

I understand that you don't need to sand all the way down to the body when refinishing, but you should definatly get rid of the clearcoat. Now, if you're going to do a natural finish, then a chemical stripper would probly be the quickest. Sanding would be safest, but it would take much longer.

DD · #13 02-14-2001, 03:37 AM

Yes...I will sand off the clearcoat, but I would like to know what would be the difference if I sanded down all the way to the wood?
In what way does this affect tone?

Thank you.

tagg 7 · #14 02-14-2001, 06:02 AM

having extra paint on the body of your guitar would have a similar effect of having a harder wood. The way it vibrates would be different. Which i actually like the heavyer woods on my guitars. So it would probably make your axe killer sounding.
When i refinished my RG I sanded with a palm sander Heavy grain till you get to the primer.
From what i understand that is the best way to do it.
buzz

Coolstu · #15 02-14-2001, 11:07 PM

I've got a black RG550 and this is the best guitar I have ever owned. It plays like an absolute dream. The wizard neck has got to be one of the best guitar necks out there today.