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New RG project build

3K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  AlaskaBat 
#1 ·
Hi, ive just started my first guitar build and wanted to ask questions, share my thoughts and get feedback etc..

Well firstly heres a mock up of what i hope it will look like,



The humbucker will be a dimarzio super distortion
Fixed gotoh bridge
Left handed rg550 neck, so it will look like reverse headstock, maple fretboard
Volume knob only, no tone
Fluorescent Orange colour!

Now heres the thing which is a little different, im going to use american oak for the body. Basically i got a free slab of oak and thought ' i wonder if oak would make a cool guitar body lol'. Ive looked over the net and not seen many people make oak guitars so i thought i would give it a go. I know its heavy and dense so its hard to work with and the body may be a little heavy, but im fine with that. Just interested to see how it will turn out, and if its horrible it was free anyway haha.

So share your thought on what you think of this project, any ideas/feedback would be cool,

cheers
 
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#4 ·
whtwlf: Yea i love orange guitars too haha. I was thinking about an edge pro, but ive allready got an ibanez with one and just fancied a fixed bridge, who knows i may put a edge in later on..

ikosaed: Yep the logo will be upside down, not to bothered, adds a touch of something different

So at the moment i have the neck and iam ready to rout the body, just got to make a template first.
One thing iam unsure about is the scale length, i know its 25.5, so its 12.25 inches from the nut to the middle of the 12th fret, but when i measure the next 12.25 inches to the bridge whixh part of the bridge do i measure to? Just need to know so i can posistion the bridge correctly,

cheers
 
#5 ·
From the nut to the middle of you sadles,your sadles have to be in the middle of the baseplate,meaning;you can adjust your intonation aswel as up and down.




i wouldnt recomend oak as a bodywood, its a verry poor tonewood.
If you want heavy and dense wood go for mahoganie instead.
Try to get a good piece from a luthier.
GOOD TONEWOODS MAKE YOUR SOUND.
Unless ofcourse you like active pickups and loads of effects.
 
#6 ·
Ok thanks for the tip.

Im interested to see what the oak will be like so im going to use it, it was free so i cant go wrong lol.

I have another question, how thick should the neck heel be? I want to have a heel like this one,

http://static.keebali.com/jemsite.com/jem/detail/f_njo1.jpg

This should give eaiser fret access then the normal rg heel, looks nicer too haha. Info would be appreciated,

Cheers
 
#10 ·
Looks like a great project, and why not try the oak?

I would definately put it together and try it before you paint it though, just in case it isn't a great sounding piece, unless of course you want to practice painting.

Why do you want the old style heel? With an AANJ neck/heel you get a great deal of reach to the upper frets. If you have an old style neck then it is a no brainer.

Putting a lefty neck on a righty guitar is dead easy. You just need to do a little re-profiling.

Good luck, I am sure it will be a great guitar.
 
#11 ·
Yea i might try it out before i paint it actually, thanks for the tip.


Well i have a AANJ on my other ibanez and agree its great for upper fret access, but i wanted to try the old style, also the neck ive got is the old style too lol.

Whats the re-profiling i need to do to make the lefty neck fit? im about to make the templates so dont want to get them wrong haha,

cheers!
 
#13 ·
Quick update, got the neck and made the body template, next thing is to rout the body shape in the oak,



Just need to get the rest of the bits, thee are the bit i nedd,

- Black Gotoh fixed bridge
- Black Locking nut
- Neck plate
- String tree

Posted in the classifieds section but no ones replied, anyone have any of these bits they want to sell?

Quick question, whats the best way to do the body contours?

cheers
 
#15 ·
Yea, im a carpenter so i use routers on a daily basis, amazing tools but dangerous like you say. Its good being a carpenter because ive got all the tools i need so i wont have to go and buy any.

I heard using a grinder with a rough pad on is a good way to do contours, is this correct or are there better ways?

thanks
 
#17 ·
Ok im about to order the bridge and ferrules, just wanted to check with you guys that they are correct and will work with the neck string spacing wise,

this is the bridge, was hoping to get black but apparently they dont do solid black anymore, is this true? can i get a solid black one from somewhere?

http://cgi.****.co.uk/Gotoh-Electri...ccessories?hash=item2305f61142#ht_1681wt_1082

these are the ferrules, there are 2 types so not sure which to get,

http://cgi.****.co.uk/Electric-guit...Accessories?hash=item5ad6917f6a#ht_2243wt_732

or

http://cgi.****.co.uk/STRING-FERRUL...Accessories?hash=item3c9f2bac6d#ht_2789wt_759

Which ones should i get?

Would be great to get confirmation im buying the right stuff lol,

cheers!
 
#19 ·
oh sorry, try replace the stars with the word 'e bay' without the space,

bridge

http://cgi.****.co.uk/Gotoh-Electri...ccessories?hash=item1e5b11cc5d#ht_1681wt_1082

and i think i will go with these ferrules,

http://cgi.****.co.uk/BLACK-GOTOH-G..._Accessories?hash=item563a314f9b#ht_592wt_732

Also i need a neck plate, will this one do?

http://cgi.****.co.uk/BLACK-GUITAR-...Accessories?hash=item5ad2c1a7f6#ht_4562wt_958

Thanks for the help, i hope to order these later if they are correct!

EDIT: to see the links replace this part of the link when it opens with the word e bay without the space

%2A%2A%2A%2A
 
#20 ·
The bridge looks ok to me but i cant say forsure cause i dont know about the messurments.(al my ibi's are floyds)
Have you thought of a "tight end bridge" found on the FR series?
They look pretty solid to me!

String ferrules are okay!

Your using a ibanez neck wright??
Whitch one?
Ive got a neckplate of an RG 550 left (square heel)
 
#21 ·
I did a bit of research on the bridge and it looks like they are used on most of the fixed bridge pgm models, so i think it will work with the neck i have, also this makes me think its a good quality bridge. Never heard of the tight end bridge.

Ok il get those ferrules, thanks!

Im using a rg550 neck so the neck plate you have would be perfect, does it have the gasket and screws? Could i see some photos?

thanks again
 
#22 ·
Yep!

Neckplate,gasket,screws its al there.
Send me your email adress threu a pm so i can send you pictures.

I'm doing a project on a rg550 at the moment.
Burnt and oiled an old body and giving it a leftys neck(same as you) trowing in a clear pickguard with green singlecoil in the neck and hum at the bridge.
Everything thats left is yours if your interested. just shout!!
I even have a new Dimarzio super distortion (but its F spaced) in creame color.
 
#24 ·
"I heard using a grinder with a rough pad on is a good way to do contours, is this correct or are there better ways?"

Seems like a grinder with a rough pad would work, but it also seems like it might be more tool than you need. I just finished contouring an RG body using a cheap Black & Decker 5" orbital sander - which is lighter and easier to handle than the grinder I have. I did the rough contours with 80 grit discs, which worked very well and quickly, smoothed them up with 220 then 320, and the contours turned out as smooth as a baby's butt.
 
#26 ·
The neck profiling is really relevant on an aanj neck where the sides have a different profile. Not necessary on a square heel, but you wil obviously lose the side dots, which you might consider replacing.

As far as body profiling goes I use a combination of belt sander and "Robosander" which is effectively a sanding spindle that fits into a drill chuck. Combined with a pillar drill it is a pretty good combination.
 
#27 ·
Thanks for the help guys.

Yea a sander sounds good for the contours, ive got various sanders so il use those.

I did think about the side dots, il see how it is when i play so i may add them later.

Il try out the super distortion to see how that sounds, ive heard they are a hot pickup so im hoping it will be loud! lol

Ive come up against a problem though. I received the locking nut and attached it to the neck. There is a slight gap between the edge of the nut and the end of the fretboard, roughly 1mm, maybe less. The neck is off a 550 and the nut came directly from a 770 so it is compatible. I thought maybe somebody sanded a bit off the end of the fretboard but it doesnt look asif its been tampered with.

What could the problem be? Could this effect the scale length and intonation?

Appreciate the help,

thanks
 
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