My New Project - Ibanez JEM NTRL

[the.godfather]

Hiya Guys,

Well some of you may have seen the RG550 body I was doin-up. It originally had polka-dots all over it. But now it is slightly different. Well I thought to myself "If Im gonna do it, I will do it properly!"
So I decided to strip all the paint off and add a monkey grip.

So I decided to do this:-
http://uk.geocities.com/jim83100_uk/JEM_Body_01.jpg
http://uk.geocities.com/jim83100_uk/JEM_Body_02.jpg

Bearing in mind it isnt finished by a long shot. But hopefully it will be done within the next few weeks. I almost have all the bits to finish it so. Let me know your thoughts and criticisms. Just copy and paste the images into your browser to view them.

Thanks,
Gary - The.Godfather

[Jammy]

I really like it - you did a brilliant job of stripping the paint. Is it just sanded?

-better shred than dead-ANDY

[the.godfather]

Yeah its just sanded, I used a sanding disc to take all of it off. It only took about a day too. I tried paint and varnish stripper and various other chemicals, but they just wouldnt get through that clear coat!

Now I need to really sand it down, nice and smooth for finishing. I just need to go over it with finer and finer grit as I go along. Then it will probably be some sort of tung oil finish.

The neck I have for it was an RG770 neck of some sort with sharkfin inlays. I decided to scallop the frets 12-24 for something a little different!
That was slightly tricky what with it being a bound rosewood fretboard. But it came out very good and I am very impressed.

Pics of progress will follow.
Gary - The.Godfather

[nuno]

wonderful job!
how lovely that naked wood!

now, what pickups are you gonna put right there?

[the.godfather]

Well I am undecided as of yet, so any suggestions would be gratefull!
I was gonna just go for the twin EVO's, but....

Has anyonehad any good results recently with pickups???
Gary - The.Godfather

[nuno]

it depends on what kind of sound you're looking for, what gear you use and what music you play.

any help?

[the.godfather]

Well I mainly metal all the time TBH. I mainly play Metallica stuff. But I do also play Satch and Vai stuff quite often too. Pickups that are screamers and good for metal and shredding. I dont ever play quiet really.

Gary - The.Godfather

[jim777]

Originally Posted by the.godfather

Well I am undecided as of yet, so any suggestions would be gratefull!
I was gonna just go for the twin EVO's, but....

Has anyonehad any good results recently with pickups???
Gary - The.Godfather

I have a pair of Bartolinis in my 550, and I'd never change them out for Dimarzios or Duncans or anythng else. Got 'em for 40 bucks apiece at that auction site, and can't say enough about them. At this point it's just a matter of time before I change every one of my pickups for Bartolinis. If you can get them on auction, where they're typically much cheaper than from a dealer, you could do much worse.

jim

[the.godfather]

Well, I feel as though I am getting somewhere now.
In these new pics the parts are only placed on, but it wont be too long until it is all done. Its still gotta be tung-oiled yet and all that.

Here are the new pics:-
http://uk.geocities.com/jim83100_uk/IbanezJEM1.JPG
http://uk.geocities.com/jim83100_uk/IbanezJEM2.JPG
http://uk.geocities.com/jim83100_uk/Scalloping1.JPG

I think its looking pretty good so far, quite pleased.
Let me know what ya think etc...
Gary - The.Godfather

[the.godfather]

Copy and paste the link into your browser if they dont work.
The amount of people you get saying "pics dont work!" drives me mad, grr
lol
Gary - The.Godfather

[pawel]

Nice!, I like it a lot...

[Vladdrac]

It looks very Good..Are you going to do the all fretboard scallops..?

Some guitar players Like Alejandro Silva, From Chile, wich I think is one of the most amazing i had seen..just uses scallops from 12 to 24 Frets..
I wonder why donīt he do it through the all fretboard like Yngwie.

Iīm experimenting myself with a cheap guitar that iīm building and did g scallops from 12 and up..but i donīt like the "Transition"..so i'm gonna do the whole fretboard..

cheers

[the.godfather]

Well, I was thinking of doing all of it, but it was just too much hard work.
It was alot harder and time consuming than what I thought, and it gets even harder when you get to bigger frets!

But theres not much left to do now. Hopefully it wll be done within the next couple of weeks. Thanks for all your comments thus far!

Gary - The.Godfather

[Jammy]

Its looking great man! How did you do the scallops? I did 15th upwards on my kramer with a quarter round file, but I would expect the frets to be too big for this method lower down (even at the 12th). Also, what prep work are you doing on the scallops - just file, sand, lem-oil?

-better shred than dead-ANDY

[the.godfather]

Yeah all I used for my scalloping was several different round files. I have loads of them in all different sizes. And yeah all I am doing is filing them, then fine sanding and finally some lem oil. Thanks for comments.
Gary - The.Godfather