RG550BSB

[Karmann]

I am an owner of a RG550BK that i got from my parents two years ago... it was used and the finish isn't very good looking as it should be... cracked on some places... i wonder if i coud transform this guitar in a JemBSB... is it possible to have the finish stripped off and a new BSB finish on this guitar? or is the blue stain finish only available through ibanez? the torch burning part seems to be easy, but i'm worried about getting a translucente blue finish like the Jem7BSB... is it also possible to have a monkey grip cut into my RG body? This guitar would be a beautifull jem with a maple neck. Thanks for the attention.

[Doink]

A former forum regular, GE Jones, did this to an old 550 he had. He didn't cut a monkey grip into it though, he only did the finish. It is possible for non professional to do this and get a very professional result. If you have a drill, a jigsaw, and the skills to use both, it would be pretty easy to cut out a monkey grip. I'll try to dig up pics and links from GE's project.

[Doink]

http://members.nbci.com/bhx/Do/projekt1.htm

You'll also have to hope the woodgrain is good. Ibanez QC isn't exactly the greatest.
You have 2 options for removing the current finish. Sandpaper and chemical stripper. Sandpaper will take longer, but will be much more safer and easier to clean up.
Another cool thing you could do, if you're really good with the jig saw and drill, is convert your neck joint to AANJ, if it's not already one.

[RG Medic]

To bolster your confidence in the RG550 BSB project, I'm finishing up a RG750 with burnt stain purple/red. I bought the guitar w/ a broken neck for $20 for parts as it had its Edge still on it, but it seemed like a good challenge to fix it up. *

After fixing the break at the headstock, andpaper was the tool of choice to remove the old finish. *A good-old Benzomatic propane torch took care of the body and the back of the neck, and Minwax's red stain added color. *If you don't stir it up well you get a wild purple-red thing happening. *I'm working on a 1/8" brushed aluminum pickguard now to finish that "industrial" look. *All told, 5 weekends of work.

Best of luck.

[jeff l]

RG,
* * Do you (or will you) have any pics of that? *I'd love to see them.

[Jimi D]

Ditto, RG!

(lighter held high) Pics! Pics! Pics! Pics! Pics!

:biggrin:

[RG Medic]

I should add for anyone trying to do a burnt stain finish for their Ibanez, if you have a bound neck/headstock, look out! *The binding catches fire really easy

As luck would have it, mine caught fire in a reasonably inconspicuous area and was put out quickly.

I'd mentioned in a previous post which I haven't seen yet that I'll get some pics up ASAP, most likely at the end of this week.

-S

[ruby]

In the old forum there was a discussion about the BSB color and touchups and Andy said that he used a finish called Green Bayou by a company called Minswax. I went out and bought a small pint sized container of it and tried it on an old neck that I had and it looked damn close. Maybe exact but I don't have a BSB to compare it to. Apparently he used it to do touchups on his one that he sold and he said that you couldn't tell a difference.