NGD: Herc Fede swirled '87 Power PRO540P

[Takin' a Ride]

This one has been a while in the making. I bought this body back in September from eBay and had almost all the parts necessary to build it. But then I bought a house in October and the assembly just kept getting pushed back and back. With work winding down for the year, I finally had a chance to put it together over the last week! It's basically a parts guitar, so here's the specs:

Body: '88 540P that Herc redrilled for '87 style control layout
Neck: '87 PRO540S (same profile as a Power)
Wiring: '87 Radius (same as a Power)
Bridge pickup: Duncan JB custom no logo
Middle: DiMarzio Blue Velvet from a J.Custom
Neck: IBZUSA C2

The swirl is white, silver and black and is very different from my ATD swirled GMC. There's less variation in the opacity of the colors than with ATD. I liked that it was very reminiscent of my old RG2005-1 that I was forced to sell because it was starting to yellow badly. Plus the price I got it for was unbeatable. The quality of the paint work is top notch. I paid Herc an extra $100 and had him do the clearcoat as well, which is similarly flawless. Glass smooth, no sanding scratches and no orange peel. I'm extremely pleased with his work. The swirl also reminded me a lot of the UCGR "Angels Depart", so I chose white pickups and knobs.

[pink13]

thats awesome great work..i bet it screams..congrats ..happy holidays

[AlaskaBat]

Nice--looks like your RG2005.

[IbanezDaemon]

Stunning guitar. The swirl is amazing. Great job!!!!

[metalhead52]

Really well done. Perfect time to finish your "ice queen" at the start of winter. The Edge and pickup ring look new (probably are). Congrats on the finished project. You should talk to one of those car wrap companies and see if they can recreate a wrap for an old prestige deluxe hard plastic case to match the swirl. That would be awesome.

[silverctr]

Gorgeous swirl!!

[Takin' a Ride]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by metalhead52

The Edge and pickup ring look new (probably are).

Pickup ring and strap buttons are new, the Edge is used. They don't make them with the "Licensed Under Floyd Rose Patents" on the top edge any longer. It's just a really good condition used one. Neck plate I had around for some reason and all the headstock hardware came on a used neck I bought.

All I needed to buy to finish the project were the cavity covers, the bridge pickup and the electronics, which were all easy to find on eBay (there are a zillion parted out Radius's).

[RGTFanatic]

Wow......Seriously,..................WOW!!!!!

I can see that Herc did an amazing swirl, but to pass your criteria is really something. I bet its truly stunning in person (pics never do these things justice).

Love the choice of the white pups and knobs. I can see the "angels depart" thing in it too........... pretty cool. I have an '88 serial neck plate if you want it. I don't remember it being in as good of condition as the one you have though.....I'll check.

BTW........ this far out does your old 20051

[maqify]

Wow really nice swirl. Clear looks flawless to. And the edge seems as you say to be in really good condition.
Congrats of getting done with it.

[satchmo72]

that is a great one J!!!!! I thought about that body when I saw it, glad you got it!!!! When you sell, let me know, it would go great with my BMC.

Herc had the other white 540P body also but there were too many things wrong with it for me to try it.

Happy NGD!!!

[Fastmerc]

I love it also....I had my eye on that body back then as I am partial to 540p's I love the alder. I think I was waiting for something of mine to sell and couldn't get it, it looks even better than I was picturing it. Enjoy that bad boy!

[stodge]

I'm not usually a fan of swirls, but that is beautiful.

[lerxst6]

Dude that is sweeeeet! Well done!!

[Takin' a Ride]

Wow, interesting to see how many people were considering this body! It wasn't getting any love when he had it listed for $299 but I had a feeling he would drop the price so I kept my eye on it and when he dropped it to $199, I pulled the trigger. So with the extra I paid for the clear, I got a fully finished, swirled, genuine Ibanez body for $299! Can't beat that. I was on the verge of listing a lot of these parts for sale when the body came up.

Ryc, thanks for the offer on the neck plate. Technically, the correct neck plate for this is the all black one that just says Ibanez and Made in Japan below that (same one as the 500 Series). Those are very difficult to find not trashed. But I'm starting to think that nothing about the guitar is original, so why sweat that detail?

[fwd0120]

Love it!!! Reminds me how great Herc was. That has to be one of his best.

Definitely GASing for a 540P, now!