Project Guitar of The Month - May 2010 - DIY Repairs and Modds Focus

[junkiemanxl]

Finally completed my retro rg. here it is.
Ibanez RG350MYE
Dimarzio Breed pups
Redone and Rewired all the electronics.
Mid pup cover painted.

Before:

After:

Nostalgia? " \m/ "
hehehe

 

[van_halen]

junkmanxl bro, somehow i find that the green knobs and red pickups don't match the colour scheme of the guitar. but nice guitar nonetheless.

 

[relinquish69]

its not anout matching in such a case. it's about the mojo!

 

[junkiemanxl]

relinquish69:
My exact sentiments

It's love it or hate it.
My kids love it for the "orbiang - ness" though
hehe

 

[eieio]

Power! Jman! I want one too, a hardtail version.. in hot.. luminous.. fluorescent.. pink?

Interesting vdo about the 80's, big hair, gig at the stadium &, a short clip on wood at Ibz factory...

go ahead hear it from PG himself:

 

[eieio]

we want more.. we want more...
post your guitar diy/mods/repair projects ok

 

[fgl]

ok bros .. will try to post my frankenstein ibby by this week ...

by the way anyone knows if the ibanez mirror pkgrds (meant for jems) woukld fit an rg 1570 body?

 

[middleman]

guys...
ive got 4 problems



<u>Prob1:</u>
i've wired a humbucker,tone & vol pots to my pickguard
used the wiring guide from seymour duncan
but my PU is squier california humbucker
it doesnt come with green or white wire
it only comes with blue and red
correct me if my wirings are wrong
pardon me for my lousy wiring (only dnt soldering skills)

<u>Prob2:</u>
after sanding my headstock to remove decal as i wanted a plain headstock
i realised that the balance of the wood color was different
how do i solve that?

<u>Prob3:</u>
after spray painting my guitar...
i want to have a satin finish on the guitar?
how do i do that
do i use 0000 steel wool or wet sanding it?
i have no ideas where to buy those steel wool and wet sanding paper



<u>Prob4:</u>
any softies got good quality guitar strap like "levy" to offload
im looking for a guitar strap in white
sms me at 98488180

doing this cos the classified arent helping me in anyways

pls help out
thks

 

[dodgethis]

The humbucker does not look like it has been hooked up to the ground. I will assume that the blue wire is a two-core wire because I can barely make out some red and green insulation. It looks as though the two cores are shorted together on the volume pot because you did not leave enough insulation to prevent them from touching each other. When stripping insulation from multi cored wires, it should look like:

Where to buy steel wool and wet sanding paper? Have you been to a hardware store to check out if they carry it? Those items are very common, not specialized tools, as some would lead others to believe.

Satin finish can be obtained by using dull lacquer, no need to sand down the paint. Also a common hardware store item.

 

[middleman]

The humbucker does not look like it has been hooked up to the ground. I will assume that the blue wire is a two-core wire because I can barely make out some red and green insulation. It looks as though the two cores are shorted together because you did not leave enough insulation to prevent them from touching each other. When stripping insulation from multi cored wires, it should look like:

Where to buy steel wool and wet sanding paper? Have you been to a hardware store to check out if they carry it? Those items are very common, not specialized tools, as some would lead others to believe.

Satin finish can be obtained by using dull lacquer, no need to sand down the paint. Also a common hardware store item.

ive been to hardware shop
they only have emery paper which is how many grit?

thanks for the dull lacquer reccomendation. ill try look out for it

just wonding why my PU has ol 2 wires

 

[dodgethis]

The grit rating is written on the sheet itself. The higher the number, the finer the grit. I have been doing scale modeling for years, and to me, there is no difference in the outcome of either sandpaper and emery paper, they both serve the same purpose. It's all in how you use it, to what effect

What's wrong with having only two wires on a pickup? My Gibson humbucker only has two, like yours. Nothing wrong with that. A four-conducter humbucker has each pair connected to the individual coils of the humbucker. If you want a four-conducter pickup, you can redo your current one to be like that.

And like fgl said, if you don't know what you are doing, get someone to do it for you.

 

[eieio]

Let me try, me not a pro but me try ok.. hehe

You almost got it, see the short wire(from pup) sticking out?
Try grounding it straight to the back of pot, some of my stock pups wired like that..

For jack output here got 2 separate wires, you know right?
I can see the jack to ground but the one to the mid pot in photo is kind of blocked
Also it'll be good if you can clean up the wires here a bit, look abit like maggie mee la..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



As for the headstock, Squier neck? nice..

It looks good to me, your frets look so so shiny and new! hehe
Try use light color wood dye? Have you sanded everything or only just the decal area?

I just 'satined' one of my body using a normal sandpaper grid 2000 bought frm hardware shop.
Also bought matt laquer but havent use yet, for now it looks nice without coat maybe I try it at a later stage..

​

 

[relinquish69]

ok bros .. will try to post my frankenstein ibby by this week ...

by the way anyone knows if the ibanez mirror pkgrds (meant for jems) woukld fit an rg 1570 body?

most of those replacement pickguards usually a little off here and there but can be dealt with minimal filiing. should be "safe". the holes would most definitely be wrong though.

 

[middleman]

Let me try, me not a pro but me try ok.. hehe

You almost got it, see the short wire(from pup) sticking out?
Try grounding it straight to the back of pot, some of my stock pups wired like that..

For jack output here got 2 separate wires, you know right?
I can see the jack to ground but the one to the mid pot in photo is kind of blocked
Also it'll be good if you can clean up the wires here a bit, look abit like maggie mee la..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



As for the headstock, Squier neck? nice..

It looks good to me, your frets look so so shiny and new! hehe
Try use light color wood dye? Have you sanded everything or only just the decal area?

I just 'satined' one of my body using a normal sandpaper grid 2000 bought frm hardware shop.
Also bought matt laquer but havent use yet, for now it looks nice without coat maybe I try it at a later stage..

​

wa...u zai sia...
ok...
what i do is i desolder everything
i change the tip of wire..
now solder again
looks neat and the most impt is..
it works..
i think is the wiring nt firm enuf...

the neck i sanded the headstock le...
but the fretboard is maple the headstock is darn white
frets i used planet wave to polish mah...
^^
sms me @ 98488180 where you buy the lacquer and 2000grid sandpaper and tell me how make a satin finish on your guitar.
pls ty^^

 

[junkiemanxl]

Power! Jman! I want one too, a hardtail version.. in hot.. luminous.. fluorescent.. pink?

Interesting vdo about the 80's, big hair, gig at the stadium &, a short clip on wood at Ibz factory...

HOT PINK is the bomb!
the louder the colors the more mojo. haha

 

[superpotato_30]

Sorry do any of you paint gurus know how to do swirls? I have the stuff to do but my paints dont float on the water. One type is oil based the other is acrylic. Neither float. any alternative to swirling or anything like borex to break the water surface?

 

[junkiemanxl]

Sorry do any of you paint gurus know how to do swirls? I have the stuff to do but my paints dont float on the water. One type is oil based the other is acrylic. Neither float. any alternative to swirling or anything like borex to break the water surface?

i remember watching a couple of videos on the tube about swiring. U sure its just water alone bro? I thought they had some chemical mixed in the water as well. i think its called “Borax”.

here's an article i have read before about swirls.
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/swirled.htm

I would like to know as well. have been thinking about doing a swirl project as well.
let me know how it works out for you

 

[eieio]

where you buy the lacquer and 2000grid sandpaper and tell me how make a satin finish on your guitar.
pls ty^^

How can I have missed this.. ooops
Ok correction, I got sand paper at a paint shop and not hardware shop as mentioned previously
I cant recall exact location for now, its somewhere at Hougang(not Hougang Central) near MacDonalds

As for lacquer they come in either gloss or matte, just go check out any paint shops I'm sure most have 'em.

Also not really satin finish more to matte, 2000 is still quite rough but just nice to get rid of the existing gloss lacquer
But can do la if you not a perfectionist, good for that bit of relic feel too and best without that yucky sticky gloss feel to it

As for the headstock, its quite difficult to get same darker tone as your seasoned fretboard but can try blend acrylic mix with water & wipe off excess to your liking before lacquering.

Of course let me repeat me no pro, no guarantee it'll work 100% fool proof..
I am merely just suggesting, same as I would do on me project Squier guitars! hehe

 

[eieio]

HOT PINK is the bomb!
the louder the colors the more mojo. haha

You know when I write this "your frets look so so shiny and new!"
I was actually humming to Madonna's tune... Like a virgin.. oooh... haha

 

[superpotato_30]

Hmm yea apparently in Singapore you need to have a license to own or purchase borax..?

Due to some guys putting Borax in their noodles and rice to sell making it 'shine'

I asked around at certain art shops if there was anything that could 'break' the water surface in order to allow the paints to float and hence able to swirl them without mixing them

Unfortunately 90% had no idea wad i was talking about the remaining 10% had no idea where such an item could be found.

Well.

Anyone can give any options to swirl? Any substances that allows paint to float on water? :S

Found some answers here but i have no idea where to get carageenan or methylcellulose :[