Neck on RG2020 and sanding it down.

john1880 · #1 02-05-2006, 05:01 PM

I think that's the model. It's the all mahogany body with the piezo pickups in the lo-pro edge.
The neck on this thing is pretty chunky. there would be no harm in sanding it down to a Wizard type profile, would there?

thanks.

buddroyce · #2 02-05-2006, 05:27 PM

Nope.. just make sure you know what you're doing. I generally prefer to scrap the profile I want with a cabinet makers scraper and then sand it smooth. Working with scrapers works a lot faster than sanding to thin down a neck. Do remember to take measurements constantly to make sure you don't go too thin.

ryanb · #3 02-05-2006, 07:31 PM

Just make sure you know where the truss rod is and don't get too close to it.

john1880 · #4 02-05-2006, 10:16 PM

thanks guys. i assume the truss-rod is positioned like a normal wizard prestige neck and ibanez decided to leave more wood on the back on this model guitar. i guess the were going for more of a vintage feel or something.

buddroyce · #5 02-05-2006, 10:59 PM

It should be the same. All the MIJ Ibanez models all seem to use the same truss rod from Gotoh. I've only seen ESP use a thicker dual-action truss rod so you should be pretty safe by going to about the same measurements as the wizard.

quik · #6 02-06-2006, 12:17 AM

Great question. I have been considering doing this to one of my Ibanez guitars, also. However, mine has the "Ultra" neck, and check out the picture shown here (first picture below the table):
http://www.jemsite.com/jem/necks.htm

It seems to show a different truss rod arrangement in the Ultra neck, which appears to be mounted very close to the backside of the neck.

If you shave this neck, please let us know how it works out, as I would love to get mine shaved, but I haven't worked up the courage to do it yet.

buddroyce · #7 02-06-2006, 01:34 AM

I haven't tried shaving down an Ultra neck before, but I have done several Les Pauls and Wizard II's. Seeing that Ibanez necks don't have the truss rods inserted from the back of the neck like some old Fenders, I'm pretty confident to say that practially all of the necks including all the current 'ultra' necks all have thier trussrods directly under the fretboard. Which would mean that you would have lots of room to play with.

quik · #8 02-06-2006, 09:40 AM

Thanks, I appreciate that. I was looking at my neck last night, and judging from the location of the adjusting nut at the headstock, it looks like you're right (it also makes sense that a manufacturer would create the truss rod channel directly under the fretboard, and make it no bigger than necessary, which is good news for the neck shavers out there.

horstausmforst · #9 02-06-2006, 10:46 AM

Why not trade it for a wizard neck ? If I owned a wizard-necked RG, i'd trade the neck for yours in a heartbeat. And I think other people on these forums would too.

john1880 · #10 02-06-2006, 03:41 PM

Hmmm... Judging by that picture that quik sent(thanks quik), the trussrod looks to be closer to the back side than the wizard. now i'm not so sure about starting to shave the neck. But it also is not a good representation on that photo. The Ultra neck is much fatter than the JEM, but it looks thinner in the picture. It's also a different type of trussrod.
desicions, desicions...

jp

frankfalbo · #11 02-06-2006, 05:09 PM

I shaved an Ultra Radius neck down and it's pretty cool. The nut width on the Radius Ultra necks is narrower than the standard Wizard. So mine doesn't feel like a Wizard, rather like a custom hybrid shape. I did it for a customer and liked it so much, I had to do one for myself.

Pay no attention to that cross section photo in the old ad. Heck even in that pic you have a good 1/8" you can remove safely. But I don't know why that truss rod is in there like that. Your 2020 is going to have a truss rod like the Wizard/Jem shown in that photo. The rod in the Ultra apperars to be a traditional rod with a filler strip, but Ibanez does very little (if anything) that way.

At that time, (89-92) some Ultra necks on Radii were extra fat and round, like a fat Les Paul profile, even bulkier than old Roadstar necks. Those necks had smaller frets, too. That's not the same as the current Ultra neck, OR the original Radius necks. I think the "Ultra" name has been used on at least THREE distinctly different necks: The original Radii (42mm nut) the fatback Radii (42mm nut) and the RG's (43mm nut) I believe the RG Ultra has the same thickness dimensions as the old Radius necks. The nut width makes it feel different, and have a different profile.

Anyway carve away if you want. You should be fine, just keep measuring.