Project concerning my RG1527

[blue_powder]

Hi everyone, it's my first post on the jemsite forums, however i've been reading you guys for something like 3 years or so...anyway.

I'm not sure the "other 7 string guitars" is the right section for my thread, if it's not maybe an admin would move my thread or else i'll trash this one and post a new one where it's appropriate.

Ok so why am i here?

I do own a RG1527, a black one, bought new somewhere around 04 or 05, i really enjoy the guitar and everything but i would like to modify it.

I'm a total sucker for the first signature guitar ibanez made for john petrucci, don't remember the exact model number but i'm sure you totally know what i'm talking about, the one with the faces that people over the internet reffer to as the "picasso alike" one.

You may not like it, however i really do, and it's becoming kind of an obsession to me.
I would like the body from my rg1527 to look exactly like this: http://www.michelelepore.com/Images/...PM100%20P1.jpg

Now, on the technical part. I am no luthier, i am not used to mod, repair, work on guitars whatsoever, so i have no idea how to achieve this.
However, both my brother and father are gifted with their hands and i think i could do this with them (my brother already turned gibson copies into bull's eye look alike and it looks really amazing).
I don't know what's the best way to achieve this and the reason i'm asking you this is because i guess some people here could advice me.

I found a set of stickers on the internet, they don't look so bad so maybe i'll go with that: http://www.universaljems.com/cart/graphic.htm
Still i don't know what to do. Do i remove the lacque and painting from the body, respray it in black, apply the stickers, etc...

I think it would be best to directly paint those shapes on the body, but i would first need those figures in high res, print them, glue them to thick paper, cut the shapes out, etc...you get the picture.

I think my post is long enough so if someone has ideas on how to proceed, if anyone already did it, if you know website i should look at...anything, i would be glad.
So thanks in advance.

[blue_powder]

I have another question:
Does the body from a 7 strings RG differs in size/shapes compared to a 6 strings RG, or is it the same (besides the place you screw the neck...)?

Maybe i should post in another section?

[judasbane]

I found a set of stickers on the internet, they don't look so bad so maybe i'll go with that: http://www.universaljems.com/cart/graphic.htm
Still i don't know what to do. Do i remove the lacque and painting from the body, respray it in black, apply the stickers, etc...

They should be decals so no need to sand the body since they ARE stickers for temporary use. Just peel and apply.

I think it would be best to directly paint those shapes on the body, but i would first need those figures in high res, print them, glue them to thick paper, cut the shapes out, etc...you get the picture.

This would be ideal except getting a proper blueprint/tracing of the actual graphic would be easier if you [or anyone you know] have an actual JPM to base the shapes from.

Does the body from a 7 strings RG differs in size/shapes compared to a 6 strings RG, or is it the same (besides the place you screw the neck...)?

correct; exterior outlines and base are similar except for neck joint area.

Reg

[blue_powder]

Well, i had some time to think the whole thing over...
I think i came to the conclusion that reproducing the jpm graphic would be nice but then, it wouldn't be original at all. Plus it seems it's gonna be a pain in the a** to achieve it flawlessly..

I'm actually considering painting the body with a plain color of my choice, easier, and i can choose from whatever fantasy crosses my mind.

So here's a new batch of questions for those who definitely know better than i do!

-I'm from france, and i don't understand some of the words you commonly use round these parts... what does "sanding" a body means?

-I'd like my rg1527 to end up with the same cavity as seen on every jems, i think the dedicated term is lion claw, claws... the "hole" right after the floyd. I mostly learned to play guitar on a jem77fp and i miss that on my rg. Can i achieve this? Or is there something with the RG bodies that will prevent me from doing it? (The question may be stupid, but when you don't know, you simply don't know..).

-I would love to have a monkey grip as well but, i'm afraid the sound of the guitar would be too different afterwards if i both do the lion claw and the monkey grip.. what do you think? Is it too much? Maybe if i change pickups in the process i won't notice the different sounding from the body?

-Do you guys know how to achieve a similar "finish" on the body, similar to what my guitar looks like for the moment. Does anyone know how to use enamel so the final thing looks good. Sorry for the use of the "enamel" term, don't know if this is the one you use, but that's the translation i could find for the "laque" french word.

-Any thoughts on pickups choice? I think i'd go for an Air Norton in neck position and Evolution in bridge...

Thanks again, don't know when i'll finally start "working" on the guitar, but i will definitely post when it's done.

[kotornut]

“Sanding,” means using an abrasive (scratchy paper) called "sand paper" to strip paint, smooth wood and with a very fine type-smooth lacquer. Here is a link to an article and pictures of what the process and materials look like: http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/sand.htm


As an ESL teacher may I say, your English is amazing! Very good indeed. I can't believe you "can't understand" some of the words we say. You've posted more eloquently than many native English speakers that frequent this site.

[JohnnyRG1527]

Hi, i recently painted this design on an RG7321 for a member on here, i filled the hole for the volume knob and relocated it to the tone position and removed the tone completely. it was a long winded process as i drew the design on free hand and had to mask each section seperatly. hard work but well worth it in the end

[blue_powder]

Kotornut, thanks for the kind words, but i insist, i just can't know the whole english vocabulary!

Johnny, are you talking about the jpm graphics?
The reason why i'm thinking about doing something else (such as a plain color for the body) is simply because of the difficulty to reproduce this graphic.
I'm no good at drawing, but i'm patient and i can easily reproduce shapes as long as i have some sort of a grid both on the original and where i want the graphic to end up.
But, couldn't find any high res pictures/properly done shots of this guitar.
There is an image on the internet that reproduces accurately those graphics, but it's something like 240*175 pixels.
I could enlarge it in photoshop, and then..."fill the stairs where the lines aren't either horizontal or vertical" but i'm afraid it would take a very, very long time to do. Plus i'm not so sure the result will be worth it.
However i would love it if someone had a solution/idea...
I'm not so sure i understand you completly. Do you mean that you drew those shapes (i mean the borders of each shapes) directly to the body, simply while looking at the original thing? Is that it? i'm impressed, without a grid it would take me weeks to have something decent.
Is there any chance you have a picture of what you did?
In any case, please let me know in details how you did this.
I might change my mind and go for my initial idea.

[JohnnyRG1527]

Yes i did just draw it directly on to the body from a picture
I'm waiting on the final finished pics after the guy has built it all up but here are some pics i took along the way(sorry about quality of pics):

[blue_powder]

Johnny, thank you so much for those pictures.
Still don't know how my 1527 will end up in the end (ton many things i love, so hard to choose from...).
I think i switch my brain on and went to the "ibanez rules" website, qhere i took some pictures from the first jpm.
I think i found some decent enough ones to achieve the pattern on my 1527 body... But still, i'll give this some time to think it over and over.
I really don't want to be disappointed with the result..
Do you happen to know wether i can, or not, do a lion claw on a 7 string body, i think i read a post somewhere, and one guy was saying that the monkey grip on a 7 string isn't a great idea tension-wise, so how about the lion claw?
I'll be looking forward to seeing the pics from this guitar once it's completed, not too found of the colors but it seems you did a nice job with the patterns.
Did you paint those pickups?? maybe it's the picture, but it looks like they were painted, maybe i'm mistaken (i'm asking this because i also happen to like weird colored pickups and you can't always find the colors you want).

Went to a music store 2 days ago and compulsively bought an Evolution 7 to replace the ibanez bridge humbucker, really nice sound, exactly what i expected, way much clearer, especially on the low B, lots of mids, nice harmonics... However i think i failed somewhere, with the ibanez pickup, i never had any "buzz" or noise/interferences in any of the five positions...
With the evolution, i think every position where the evo is used gives me slight interferences.... the more i aim the pickup toward my computer screen, the more i get those interferences...
I'm confused, my screen is an lcd, and i know they don't mess as much as a "classic" crt display...
Don't know where this could come from, it seems wired correctly... Can't believe the ibanez pickup was better "shielded".
Any thoughts?

[callen3615]

those are awesome!

[JohnnyRG1527]

As far as i know you can do a lions claw and a monkey grip, i wouldn't have thought tension would have any affect on those pats of the body? anyway i've seen a few 7 string 'Jem' bodys out there.
As for the pickups, yes i did colour code them to the body colours. they were easier to do than i was expecting, just unscrew the pole pieces all the way out and the fixed poles just push out from the back. Scuff them up with 800 wet and dry paper and make sure to prime the bare plastic with adhesion promoter first (after masking off the areas you dont want painted first) then on with the colour and finally a couple of coats of clear laquer!

Just a thought, you could use the sticker kit as masks and paint it on in a fraction of the time it would take to draw it. Here's how i'd do it:

1. Give body a rub down with Scoth Brite (kind of a fine scouring pad) or fine sandpaper (about P800 is fine) just to take the shine off the body and give the paint something to hold on to.

2. colours: lets say Black backgound, red and blue for the faces/ shapes.
I would mask the sides and spray the front of the body red all over making sure its covered, then apply the stickers (after the paints dry of course) to the areas i wanted to remain red. leaving them in place i'd spray the entire body blue then apply the stickers to the parts to remain blue. Then take the masking off the sides and spray the entire body all over black.

3. After the black has dried carefully remove all the stickers and then clearcoat to body.

4. after a few coats of laquer and the surface is even you can gently rub down with 1500 wet and dry then buff to a glass finish.

Well thats how i would have done it if i knew those stickers existed! just be extra carefull removing them afterwords so you dont damage the nice sharp lines of the image.

hope this has been of some help