Documenting the RG550 Transformation

[Analog_Kid]

I've never been the kind of guy that could do any kind of woodwork or wiring. I can play guitars but I absolutely can't build them or do any kind of painting or finishing. And as for wiring, um, me and soldering irons don't get along well.

Fortunately, my wife,(Melinda) is great at all this stuff! Beyond that, she has become obsessed with working on guitars. In the future, she wants to put together her own shop and build her own line of custom guitars. Until that day comes though, there's plenty of work to be done on the guitars I've already got. She handles the general maintenance and string changes on everything, of course, but she has also done pickup swaps and other changes on a few of my guitars.

The BIG project, however, is the RG550. It's an '89 model that I bought about 12 years ago for $175.00. It was my first Ibanez after many years of wanting one. It had been well played and a bit abused when I bought it. The neck and middle pickups were original but the bridge had been changed out for a fairly crappy Duncan. By this point, the frets that aren't dented are practically flat across. It's pink salmon and I have aways hated that color. Here's a pic of it in it's full glory, unaltered:



Okay, so that is what I had lived with for 12 years. For a long time, it was also my only electric guitar. A couple of months ago, the modifications began on this one. I'll be documenting the process of re-doing this guitar here in this thread. This is Melinda's first full-blown repaint, refinish, and refret of a guitar. Should be fun!

[Ki swordsman]

you are a lucky man!

[satchboogeyman]

Cool project. I would also like to add that you lucky SOB.... I can't get my wife to change my guitar strings let alone repaint a guitar.

[evolvedmb]

Looks like a great project!! I just had an RG760 redone that I stripped down about 13 years ago from a local guitar shop in Lime green. I've had my brother install pups and some other stuff on my guitars in the past, as I don't trust myself with wiring and soldering too. Keep us updated!

[Analog_Kid]

The first change that I wanted done was the pickups. The guy that owned this guitar before me had put a Duncan in the bridge and it was very wimpy. Not to mention that the other pups were pretty bad as well. I'm a fiend for Dimarzio's, so we went ahead and got a Fred for the bridge, a Cruiser for the middle, and an Air Norton for the neck.

When Melinda got the pickguard off, the wiring was a mess and there was a lot of sticky residue on the inside. My guess is something was spilled on the guitar at one point. The switch was getting pretty wonky too so we decided to swap that out. Melinda doesn't like working with import switches, so we got an Oak Grigsby 5-way standard switch. We also went ahead and got new pots for it as well.

Also, since she was already into the soldering part of the process, we upgraded the tone capacitor with a Sprauge, and a new one for the volume pot as well. We also got a new pick guard that is a bit more ornate. You may have seen these on the Bay before. A guy here in Tennessee makes them and they're nice. A bit thick but nice. Here's the pick guard all wired-up:





She went ahead and did this part to get it out of the way. I've been able to play the guitar for about a month with all this in it and it sounds fantastic. Wide range of tones from it. Here's a pic of it before today:



The color scheme of the pups and knobs will make more sense when the project is finished.

[Analog_Kid]

First off, thanks for the comments! Yes, I am about as lucky as it gets in some things! It's great for our marriage too because we really share in the enjoyment of all this. Guitars are a very big part of my life, and it's great to be able to have someone to really share that with.

I am in a band, a duo actually, called Ghost Circus. We're on ProgRock Records and we're finishing our second album for the label now. Check us out at http://www.ghostcircus.com or our myspace http://www.myspace.com/ghostcircus . Melinda ALSO handles much of the business management for that. She's in law school and works in the legal field, so it's kind of second nature to her anyway.

Back to the RG:

The guitar has now, as of today, been disassembled and is in the stripping/sanding phase as I type this. She started out with a chemical stripper and it worked well enough that she can easily sand off the rest. The hard part is getting through the poly coat. Here are some more pics of the process:





It'll probably be a little while before I post again about this project. Got to get the paint, the fret wire, and some more tools for refretting. At least we know what to ask for for Christmas!

[rvai]

wow, the fact that your wife likes all that guitar stuff is really cool!!, I like the p guard, what colour will the body be?

[andy7jem]

As you have the most perfect wife EVER i think we should see pics of her

To think....my ex-wife despised me even picking up a guitar

Look forward to the updates

[ScottB]

Hey Analog, would you and your wife consider adopting me as your son?

I can see it now, as I come home from a gig...

"Hey mom, the volume pot on my Jem was a bit noisy tonight and the cable that I run from my pedalboard to the effects return just totally crapped out."

"Just put them over in the corner with your dad's broken gear and I'll get to it tomorrow after breakfast..."

[dannymills]

Originally Posted by ScottB

Hey Analog, would you and your wife consider adopting me as your son?

I can see it now, as I come home from a gig...

"Hey mom, the volume pot on my Jem was a bit noisy tonight and the cable that I run from my pedalboard to the effects return just totally crapped out."

"Just put them over in the corner with your dad's broken gear and I'll get to it tomorrow after breakfast..."

[dannymills]

Hey, Analog_Kid - I just had a listen to your stuff on MySpace. I really, really like 'Cycles' and 'Across The Line'!!! Awesome music. And I have to say, I'm very picky with bands that I do/don't like. Awesome stuff, seriously. Fantastic playing, too.

[Racerx2k]

Does your wife have a sister?

[Silver Sable]

Yes... yes I do have sisters... but none you'd want to know. LOL What can I say? I'm a bit of a freak of nature.

Working on the final sanding this evening. Nothing better than watching the Colts/Pats and working on a guitar. Well, I guess it could be better if it were hockey, but we'll just let that slide.

So this is my first big project. I'm trying to finish the sanding and fill in the defects etc. I'm hoping next weekend I'll get to work on the painting. The idea is to paint this thing in a two tone. (W00T!! Colts just scored again)

Anyone have any tips on what type of paint to use or how to make sure the seam of the two colors doesn't create a funny thickness difference? I've researched it a bit, and I want to have a really nice high gloss finish when it's done. I don't necessarily want to spend a ton of money on paints and finishes, but I don't want to have to refinish this thing either.

Tips are greatly appreciated!

[Dee]

That pickguard is ugly as hell. Sorry mate. Good old 3-ply black/white/black would have been loads better. Just my opinion, of course!

I am also fortunate enough to be with a lady who loves guitars, shares the same music taste as me and happens to be gorgeous. I feel very lucky.

Back to the RG. Good luck with it man!

[rvai]

why can´t I find that kind of woman who would enjoy talking about guitars, Vai, satch, amps lol and metal lol