89 540S Project

eruji · #1 05-30-2008, 02:31 PM

Hello All,

Im new to this forum but have been playing guitar for almost twenty years now. This is my first Ibanez. I got this in 1990 when i was in the 8th grade and its been my primary guitar since then. Its been neglected over the years but still plays great. I got the idea that i would like to refinish this guitar and fix some of the neglect and problems that have accumulated over the years. It has the black cherry finish but has quite a few chips and nicks on the surface and corners.. the headstock is pretty beat up. It has a fairly deep crack on the neck joint. Actually i didnt realize it had so many blemishes until i looked at these photos.

I would like it to look similar to this: (from the current 2008 ibanez website)

List of Items that i need to address:
Fix crack in neck joint
Fix crack in fretboard (might be hard to see but ive added the photo below)
New pots and 5 way switch
Shield paint the cavities and coverplates

Im going to post to this forum as a worklog and to hopefully get some advice along the way. This is my first guitar refinishing project.

**STEP 1** Before Photos

crack on the neck joint

the neck looks like it seated a bit crooked to me

Its hard to see but there is an inch long crack running down from the nut. any ideas on how to fix this, i was thinking just forcing some glue in the joint and clamping it tight.

stopped at the home depot and picked up some supplies.
paint stripper, steel wool, sand paper, sanding sponges, glue and a paint stripper tool. all for about 40$

**STEP 2** Remove all hardware
...coming soon...

frankfalbo · #2 05-30-2008, 07:47 PM

The neck is seated "crooked" on purpose. There may be a shim in there, but I've seen Sabers with angled neck pockets, and I've seen Saber necks (although admittedly they were sharktooth inlay) that had an angle in the bottom of the neck. So don't consider the neck angle a flaw or a negative, and by all means don't route or sand it flat.

Good luck, but if it were me, I wouldn't strip it. There are a lot of Sabers (and Saber bodies) out there in way worse condition that could would be very suitable for a refin. But I'm extremely partial to Black Cherry Sabers, and I have two myself. So I could be biased.

It's likely that the wood underneath will be very good looking Mahogany. It is possible that there will be an abundance of filler around the output jack, as sometimes the wood chunked out around there when it was being drilled on that angle.

Do not use that Gorilla Glue I see there on the fretboard crack at the 1st fret. That fretboard crack is likely there in conjunction with the crack behind the nut. It is also right where the truss rod is. My recommendation would be to fix the top crack first with the thinnest CA (ultra thin superglue) available, and then follow that up with the repair of the back crack. You will want the fretboard locked in place before trying to repair the back.

eruji · #3 06-02-2008, 01:55 AM

**STEP 2*** Completed
Hardware removed, wiring diagrams drawn, getting neck ready to repair

all the pieces in ziplock bags

**Neck Repair**
Thanks Frank! i followed your advice and used some thin CA to saturate the crack on the fretboard surface and then C clamped it tight. I let that set for half the day then glued the crack behind the neck. I wrapped the neck with wax paper and then a cloth, then used a pair of vise grips to clamp it down.

this is the neck after the repair and some 150 grit sanding. The crack is still very obvious in this photo but i could barely see it with my naked eye. I took the sanding to 400 grit and then polished in some tung oil. I know some of you guys get crazy with 800+ grit, but this feels nice and smooth to me, much better than the lacquered neck it used to have.

front of the neck before the tung oil finish.
Now i need the Ibanez decal.. where can i order one of these?

eruji · #4 06-02-2008, 02:12 AM

**STEP 3** Remove Paint (Completed)

So now time to remove the old finish. I used some trash bags and a paint stripper. Basically, put the guitar in the bag, pour on the stripper, flip the guitar over and pour on some more and let sit overnight.

Well.. the results were not as good as i hoped for. The next pictures are not for the faint of heart...

this is how it looked in the morning after i took the scrubber to it.

for some reason the front of the guitar was more resilient than the back.

Since the stripper didnt work so well i cleaned as much of that nasty gel off as possible with some mineral spirits. Then busted out the palm sander.

This is after about one hour of 100 grit on the palm sander, it came off really easily.

backside
the wet look is from wiping it down with mineral spirits and drying half way while i was taking the photo.

Another two hours on the palm sander and hand sanding yielded this:

This is at 400 grit paper

any ideas on how to make this look shiny and new?

alecmm61 · #5 06-02-2008, 02:13 AM

for the ibanez logo check the bay there always floating around there
get some cleat coat poly coating stuff (easy to find at home depot)
and get any kind of wood sealer
and get some polishing solution(have no idea on the brand)

eruji · #6 06-02-2008, 02:17 AM

Quote:

It is possible that there will be an abundance of filler around the output jack

guess i lucked out.. this appears to be the only filler on it. small little bit on the backside next to a blemish in the wood.

eruji · #7 06-02-2008, 02:23 AM

Im thinking about routing out the rear coverplates so they lay flush with the body. I have a dremel so maybe just getting the router base adapter and a bit to take out the depth of the plate.

not sure if this will give me enough clearance for the items below the plates...

just a thought.

Nick 6 · #8 06-02-2008, 02:42 AM

Nice work so far. Ironically I spent the weekend s-tripping my '93 heart and Soul s-540 and am also finishing in dark woodgrain. Its good to see I aint the only one.
btw-I just sold 7 Ibanez Logos on the bay, I'll see if I have any left kicking around.

jazzedout · #9 06-02-2008, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eruji

Im thinking about routing out the rear coverplates so they lay flush with the body. I have a dremel so maybe just getting the router base adapter and a bit to take out the depth of the plate.

not sure if this will give me enough clearance for the items below the plates...

just a thought.

You could have the bottom of the trem touching the plate... Leave it as is...

eruji · #10 06-02-2008, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Nice work so far. Ironically I spent the weekend s-tripping my '93 heart and Soul s-540 and am also finishing in dark woodgrain. Its good to see I aint the only one.
btw-I just sold 7 Ibanez Logos on the bay, I'll see if I have any left kicking around.

awesome, let us know how it turns out.. or better yet post some photos. Im thinking about just using a tung oil finish on the body. The mahogany is dark enough. I want it to be finished but i dont want the smooth lacquered feel, i want to feel the grain.

Let me know about the decals. im not sure if i just want black or a silver metal.. maybe in cosmo black metal to match the hardware.

Here is one from RudeRaptors Thread:

that looks pretty slick too

frankfalbo · #11 06-02-2008, 01:10 PM

I've recessed the plates on a Saber before, and there are a few consequences. The tremolo is likely to rub against the cover. I used a grinding wheel to grind small notches in the tremolo block in front of the spring holes. That way the springs sat flush with the bottom of the trem block. I wouldn't plan on using one of those spring locking bars either. The 5-way switch will rub the electronics cavity as well. Mighty Mite makes a 5-way switch that's very shallow. It also has tabs across the bottom that come up and out, and are attached by rivets. You can snip those off, and solder directly to the rivets, using them as through-hole mounts.

The body looks great by the way. A mahogany veneer over the headstock would look really cool.

Getting the input jack cup to look shiny and new is going to take a lot of hand sanding and buffing. I would recommend sanding it to a uniform 600 grit sheen and leaving it satiny. Or if you had a sandblaster...

Also don't stain it. There's a sparkle to that mahogany that will come out naturally, and a darker brown stain will mute it a little. If it were a plain, one-dimensional piece of mahogany then I would stain it. But that's going to look really beautiful under an uncolored oil finish. If you finish off with paste wax it'll get even more "dimensional".

eruji · #12 06-02-2008, 01:34 PM

Thanks for all the excellent advice! keep the comments coming... im getting great ideas for this project.

As for the recessed plates, not sure its worth the effort, but also doesnt sound that difficult to deal with the springs and the 5 way switch. I took a look at the MightyMite website. I could only find one 5 way switch MM503, is that the switch?
http://www.mightymite.com/e_parts/index.html

I like the idea of the mahogany veneer on the headstock, is this something i can pick up at home depot? probably a kitchen cabinet builder would have a scrap of it for free.

marianozz · #13 06-02-2008, 02:47 PM

Congrats man... now, how on earth did you do the cavities? they look so damn clean and sanded... ive sanded a couple bodies, and i cant fit a palm sander in there to save my life

Tubarão Guitars · #14 06-02-2008, 03:20 PM

looks really nice.
keep it up.

eruji · #15 06-02-2008, 03:22 PM

Quote:

how on earth did you do the cavities? they look so damn clean and sanded

yup, pain in the ass.. the paint stripper helped get rid of the clear coat. had to just fold up some sand paper and do it by hand. Fold the paper 2 or 3 times and use the sharp edge to get into the nooks and crannies. It still needs some cleaning up in the edges, but its close.

One thing i need to do is fix the inner curves on the horns. They turned out a bit polygonal. I was wrapping the sand paper on the outside of my sons foam baseball bat to get a pretty close curvature to sand those areas. It needs some refinement...

Im trying to figure out what to get electronics wise now...

planning on getting the stewmac shielding paint, not sure about the replacement vol/tone pots or the 5 way switch. Not even sure if i want to get something that will offer me more wiring configurations too... plus im unsure on what 5 way switch will fit this narrow body.

Is there a benefit to shield paint the trem cavity on the front of the guitar too? because i think id rather just leave that stained wood.