JEM Converting - Is it worth it? Can I do it?

[MrNiceguy87]

I have a RG550EX in Silversand finish...which I find to be as good as a JEM except pu's fret scalloping, Monkey Grip and Lion Claw..... I wouldnt need the Lion Claw but I would want to change the u's to DiMarzios and if not to hard scallop the 21-24 frets and/or add a monkey grip...
The problem is I'm only 14 years old and never been too good with wood....
But I believe I would be able to do the best I can on this and of course try it out on a piece of wood first or something... I've seen some tutorials at univeraljems.com....
Do you think I can do it??? Would adding a Monkey grip mean I have to refinish the guitar? Cause then I'm not doing it... Should I forget about it? It's not that important but I think I would love the guitar even more... Since this is an EX model it has a Lo-Pro Edge and a AANJ All-Access neck joint =)

[Vai the god of Sound]

The scalloping isn't too hard, you just need a 1/4" round file.
You'd have to get the DiMarzio Evolution neck and bridge pickup, and try to find the jem single coil on ebay or something.

If it's a basswood body, it'll sound like an older jem model, like the 77s and 777s.
If the neck is too beefy, you could attempt to just sand it down a bit and possible make it flat a bit on the back (for that Jem neck feel), if it's a Wizard II neck...don't worry about it...no need to get picky

About the monkey grip... you can find how to do this, and all of the above, plus lion's claw at Brian's site http://www.universaljems.com under Tutorial.

[littlegreenman]

well, if you do the monkey grip, or any woodworking, you will need to refinish unless you don't care about bare wood showing. *As said above, the scalloping is easy to do, but the other work, if you aren't comfortable, I wouldn't recommend trying it on a guitar you really like first, but maybe try it on a few other things. *

[MrNiceguy87]

I don't want it to be exactly as a Jem... I want Bridge: DiMarzio Tone Zone Mid(hs2?) Neck: PAF Pro/Humbucker from hell