Revived: Ibanez S320

Completed this revival today: Ibanez S320. I managed to sell off one of my headless guitars & used the funds to get this for the same amount. I bought it because it's the older S-Series sporting 22 frets. I just have a thing for S-Series with lesser frets especially this model where the fretboard is almost blank save for those dots at the 12th fret.

The body used to be black. This black stain was applied by the previous owner after sanding down the entire guitar to bare wood. I'm not too keen with black so it was re-sprayed to that blue you see in the first pic. It was not professionally done, of course. I didn't apply wood filler to level the surface so some unstained open pores could be seen. Three layers of blue was applied with a final lacquer overcoat.

Only the top surface was stained, the rear remains natural. As seen here, some black spots from the original finish still remain. I couldn't be bothered much as it's not visible from the front. 

When I received the guitar, the neck was attended to first. The fretboard was downright dirty with an awful accumulation of dirt. Evidently, this was never cleaned. The headstock was also very dusty with a missing truss rod cover. That was attended to rather easily. The owner had replacement locking pads & bolts which looked very new so these were left in as-is condition. The tuners were removed & headstock polished.

I have replacement RATIO tuners installed. The original set had one crooked peg with another missing a washer.

The original pickups had to go as well; they were scratched & the pole pieces were very rusty. I have these unused DiMarzio Humbucker from Hell lying around; they are the deserving replacements. I also have plastic covers installed so they look like active units from a distant but this was not the reason why they were there. I just wanted to make sure the pickups are well protected from sweat & dirt. If you are interested, you can get these covers at TY Music Center, less than $6 for a pair.

Of course, Beez did his magic for the electronics. A500K Alpha pots are used, together with a GOTOH 3-Way selector. The original input jack was retained as it's still in good condition. 

To be concluded...

Might be special (2)

Replacement tuners for my SG Special 2015. The robo-tuners were done away with, you are looking at a set of locking Ratio tuners. The thing about locking tuners, it's a love / hate affair. Many dislikes for locking units go to the fact that they add more weight to the neck. Be informed that Gotoh makes light-weight ones without the locking wheels you see here, it's a matter of knowing what are the available options out there before being dismissive.

Some people feel strongly against locking tuners, they feel these cumbersome contraptions take away the rigour of stringing / tuning the instrument up. If that's the case, then it's clearly missing the point. Locking units do not take away the fact that re-stringing & tuning need to happen. It's a little more convenient to re-string with locking units on board & for the novice players, it helps build confidence when dealing with non-locking ones. The locking tuners won't replace the traditional ones for sure. Traditional ones work but some of them manifest issues & we need to be patient with them. 

If you don't fancy locking tuners, it's totally your choice. Nobody is compelling you to embrace them. However, keep your opinions educated, the locking units were not invented to replace traditional tuners per se. They work for those who believe in what they offer - convenience, effectiveness. Yes, we learn much by dealing with our instruments sporting traditional hardware but we can learn from the ones featuring contemporary hardware as well. It's like driving - manual vs auto gear transmission, they co-exist.