Refinishing RG 550 (570?)

[KirkHammett]

Hi,
first i want to say hello, I'm new here in this great forum
Please excuse my bad english, I'm a student from Germany
Here my idea:
I got a great offer of an RG 550, but it's not painted... Before i got that offer I wanted a JEM.
Now I got the idea to refinish the RG 550 (or RG 570 I'm not sure about this) in JEM style
I got a few ideas like this

and like this.

The paint shouldn't be that difficult to do, because that will be my first refinishing. It should be one solid color!

And I got 2 other questions:
Can I get this Poti Knobs in Neon green or Pink or something like this anywhere? I did not found a shop who sells that!

and...

I'm not sure whether it's a RG 550 or a 570.
the guitar looks like this: http://www.davehalverson.com/gtr3c.jpg but without paint and without a Pickguard!
The sellers says that the guitar is a specialedition RG 550. It got special paint and no pickguard! What do you think?


cheers

[KirkHammett]

16 visitors and no ideas?

[jemsite]

you posted at 5am in the morning over here on the east coast.
.. lol.

the 550 is a great project axe if the price is right, but just make sure it feels good and has no overt defects. these sell pretty cheap painted in great condition around here... glen

[KirkHammett]

oohhh sorry I forgot you're living in another timezone

I get Body+Neck+Locking Nut+ Gotoh Deluxe Tuners for 154 USD.
I think that is a good price, there are no other defects...

[jkahrs]

If it's a front routed body, it's an RG550. If it's rear routed, it's an RG570. Either model for that price is a good deal. I say buy it and have some fun with it. --Jason

[fettouhi]

Originally Posted by jemsite

you posted at 5am in the morning over here on the east coast.
.. lol.

the 550 is a great project axe if the price is right, but just make sure it feels good and has no overt defects. these sell pretty cheap painted in great condition around here... glen

+1

Regards

André

[Flobanez]

Welcome to the forum. I like the RG 550 DY alot and white pickups in that look hot IMO. The other one is pretty nice too, reminds me of a 450 DX WH but with a 550 neck. Nice designs and pretty cool ideas.

[KirkHammett]

Hi, Thanks

But, I'm not sure if it's really a RG Body...

http://home.arcor.de/kirk_hammett/RG%20550/

There I uploaded some pics, somebody ment that the body is from a EX370! But the seller says, that on the Neck was written : Japan (serialnumber) bla bla before he made it 1mm deeper to fit with the Neck!

[Dee]

Originally Posted by KirkHammett

I got a few ideas like this

and like this.

A White guitar with a maple board and a black headstock? Don't go there! The yellow one looks better.

I must admit, I hate it when people try to make RG's into JEM's, it's stupid. Save up for a JEM or stop pretending! 550 is a classic. Keep it that way.

Good luck though.

[KirkHammett]

I will think of that

What do you think? Is it a real RG Body? The sellers means the body has that rounded edges because it's the old series of RGs!

[djohns74]

Definitely not like any RG body that I own. The neck pocket route is quite different from both the older square heel bodies and the newer AANJs. Also, it's hard to tell since a fair amount of sanding has happened, but the edges of the body look substantially "rounder" than an RG, which has rather sharp edges. It does appear to be an EX body to my eye, which should make mounting (and more important intonating) that RG550 neck rather interesting.

[Dee]

Indeed, the body is from an old EX series. I'm not keen on the shape too much, but if you cut out a section behind the bridge you could always make it into a Reb Beach model! Heh.

[jkahrs]

I don't think it's an EX body. The tremolo cavity route looks correct for an Edge. Is there a separate control cavity for the jack on the back of the guitar? I suspect that it's a 570 body that someone has completely rounded off all the edges. A picture of the back of the body would help. --Jason

[djohns74]

Originally Posted by jkahrs

I don't think it's an EX body. The tremolo cavity route looks correct for an Edge. Is there a separate control cavity for the jack on the back of the guitar? I suspect that it's a 570 body that someone has completely rounded off all the edges. A picture of the back of the body would help. --Jason

The trem route doesn't look nearly deep enough for a typical 500-series body. But the giveaway is the neck pocket, which looks nothing like an RG.

[Dee]

Givaway is also the horns. On the EX they are much sharper, like the RBM's. I can guarantee it's an EX series body.