I Dub Thee, Power Jem

[courtney2018]

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you, for the first time, The Power Jem. All rise for the honorable Power Jem!

Ahhh, catch title huh?

So I was thinking. I'd really like one of the old 540Ps, but so very few are on the bay. And the ones that are end up going for alot of money. I really didn't want to spend that much money on it, so I decided to make my own instead.

This is really just an experiment, but will end up being a working prototype. I got some wood - poplar and cedar - cut them into strips and laminated them. I had a friend of mine plane off both sides, but it's pretty much flat at this point, but will definitely need sanding before it can be finished.

I have some RG templates so I used them as my guide. I went online and got a picture of a 540P and a RG and overlaid the two to see the differences. There was some resizing of one, but got the trems lined up and used that to eyeball the curves for the 540P body.

I laid down the lines from the RG templates that I have and then went over them in freehand to draw out the curves for the 540P. I had to add in a Jem handle as well.

I ran out of daylight so this is where I'm at right now. The sides are sanded for the most part, but I need to do some more sanding work on the horns. Tomorrow I'll be routing out all the cavities, and if things go good I'll seal this puppy up and next week I'll be able to paint it.

If you notice on the old 540P it's a different scale than an RG. I'm not doing a 22 fret. This one is going to be a 24 fret, same as an RG, and will accomodate the Edge Pro trem as well as a new Wizard neck.

I'll also be putting a pickguard on it. I'm getting alittle tired of the Ibanez pickguard shape. It's been unchanged for more than 20 years now....it's time for a shape change, so I've designed a new shape. I don't have a pic of it just yet. I'll put one up later on. I don't want anyone stealing my idea.

I could use your help though. The old 540P has the single coil straight/in-line. I'm considering installing at an angle. You can see I've got them both drawn on there. Which do you think I should do?

Also, as I'm going to be working on this tomorrow, what would you have done to this body if it were yours?

So as I said, I could really use some input on this project. Any comments are welcome....especially suggestions.

[courtney2018]

[F.P.R.O.]

Nice over-aggressive lower horn, its my style

I like what you've got there, pretty awesome. Unfortunately can't think of any ideas now, sorry. But awesome start.

[barbarelaxe]

nice wood grain you got there. Are you going to paint over it or just stain/clearcoat and leave it visible?

[Distantshore]

I like the angled single coil look. Are you going with a clear or colored pickguard. I would almost prefer to see it without a guard.

[Ploki]

verynice, i like the old power shape
so i guess maxxas jem is next ?

[JJEMMER777]

Cool Courtney

that's gonna look great!!

You may want to be careful with the monkey grip. It seems a bit close to the top of the body.

Thanks for sharing your projects

Jeeze......I wonder if maybe someday you'll be a rocket scientist??

[courtney2018]

Originally Posted by F.P.R.O.

Nice over-aggressive lower horn, its my style

If you haven't already, look up pics for the Ibanez 540P. Some S series guitars will show up, but it's not an S. This body style is commonly thought as Alex Skolnick's guitar. Personally, I always loved the aggressive look of the body. I wish they still made them. I think they'd look awesome in todays metal guitars.

Originally Posted by barbarelaxe

nice wood grain you got there. Are you going to paint over it or just stain/clearcoat and leave it visible?

I was going to paint over it. I've never been into natural wood looking guitars. If I was going to do that I'd use a selection of exotic woods like Bloodwood, Purple heart, Zebra Maple, Koa....something that's strikenly different.

This one will get painted...I just don't know what color yet. The original Power models were either white, black, or yellow. I don't know what I'll do. What color would you like to see on here?

Originally Posted by Distantshore

I like the angled single coil look. Are you going with a clear or colored pickguard. I would almost prefer to see it without a guard.

Yea, I was thinking about it after I posted...I think I'm going to go with the angled single coil.

The pickguard will be clear in spots. The pickups will be mounted to the body. Part of the pickguard won't be clear though. I have to say it's a ver aggressive looking pickguard - sharp look, lots of straight edges, very little curves. I think you'll like it. I'll take some pics of it without the pickguard too once it's finished.

Originally Posted by Ploki

verynice, i like the old power shape
so i guess maxxas jem is next?

Well, I've never really been into the Maxxas. I thought the body shape was just plain ugly. But, for the right price I could probably whip you up one.

Originally Posted by JJEMMER777

Cool Courtney

that's gonna look great!!

You may want to be careful with the monkey grip. It seems a bit close to the top of the body.

Yea, I was looking at it last night and I'm going to move it. I think I'm going to put it at an angle. Basically I'm going to move it left just left of being centered up between the two pickups. And I'll drop it down slightly to give more wood between the grip and the edge of the body.

Originally Posted by JJEMMER777

Thanks for sharing your projects

Jeeze......I wonder if maybe someday you'll be a rocket scientist??

I think it was you that said that once before. I actually am a "rocket scientist", a mechanical engineer to be more exact. You've probably heard of the Aurora Project from years ago. It's an old, closed project that was going to be the first hypersonic aircraft. Well, that's what I do...it's just not Aurora. I work on most of the experimental aircraft (vehicles) that come out of NASA and other companies. Everything these days is a joint effort by several companies. Right now I'm working on a newer version of the X43A, which you can google and get some info on it. We broke a speed record for the 43 a couple of years ago. It's pretty exciting stuff.

I do the aerodynamics for the external vehicle as well as the engine design. These engines are either ramjets or scramjets. Sometimes they also have a couple of turbine engines as well making it a dual-mode vehicle.

So, you could have something like the old SR71 with turbine engines lifting off from a runway, accellerate up to Mach 3.5 or 4 where the ramjets light and take over, then accellerate up to Mach 6 to 15 several miles above the earth. Would you care to spy on another country or just fly halfway across the world for a meeting? Or it could be a missile rather than a "plane" carrying a payload rather than a flight crew. The payload is something big and heavy typically. So when it hits the ground traveling Mach 5 or so there's alot of destruction.

Don't worry though. You won't see men in black at your door step. These are all "what if" scenerios. In the end, I help make the technology, the person that hired us will decide it's end function. Did I mention the government is the one hiring us.

All joking aside, getting back to this project, I've been considering making bodies for people that wanted them. Nothing large scale, and nothing at all similar to Legacy One Guitars. I just would be doing bodies and I'd be doing them one at a time in my spare time.

Making them is actually the easy part. The hard part, at least right now, is the painting part....actually the clear coat part. The humidity is so high this time of year. It's really not a good idea to clear when it's that high.

Do you think, or would, anybody be interested in a custom body? Choose your wood and body style, that sort of thing.

[JJEMMER777]

Originally Posted by courtney2018

Yea, I was looking at it last night and I'm going to move it. I think I'm going to put it at an angle. Basically I'm going to move it left just left of being centered up between the two pickups. And I'll drop it down slightly to give more wood between the grip and the edge of the body.

Perfect

Originally Posted by courtney2018

Do you think, or would, anybody be interested in a custom body? Choose your wood and body style, that sort of thing.

No thinking about that!!!!

If you have a good product and good communication with your customers, it's a guarantee




Now lemmie hide my Black Suit and Shades before the others see!!

BTW - how's your memory these days???

[supermau]

Wicked.

[courtney2018]

Originally Posted by JJEMMER777

BTW - how's your memory these days???

Apparently it ain't worth a damn. What do you mean?

[JJEMMER777]

Originally Posted by courtney2018

Apparently it ain't worth a damn. What do you mean?

Think about it

thinking helps the memory....sometimes

[courtney2018]

I moved the mokey grip in photoshop.

[courtney2018]

Originally Posted by JJEMMER777

Think about it

thinking helps the memory....sometimes

Somethings coming up, but I can't quite remember. You're in a related field, but that's all I can recall.

[supermau]

Originally Posted by courtney2018

I moved the mokey grip in photoshop.

I think I'd split the difference. But that's just me.