Project subtraction (4)

Got my S570 body back with two filled up cavities & a great paint job. The colour was inspired by Tosin Abasi's signature model; a fusion of blue & grey. Off to Beez's soon :-) Wishing everyone a good September ahead.

The un-blackening (5)

My Ibanez S470 isn't a new guitar, it's used. In fact, I am its 3rd owner. I'm particular when it comes to guitar purchase I do not believe in buying used items because, chances are, the instruments would fall short of my standards & forking out money for them would mean eternal unhappiness. 

However, I am not an elitist in this light & would therefore consider owning a good instrument even if it means buying a used product; I view the guitar in its entirety & wouldn't let the issue of subsequent ownership cloud my judgment.

This S470 in question belongs to a friend who had been playing a Fender Strat all the while. There was this sudden itch to own a guitar of a different pedigree for the sake of variety. This is s 50-50 plunge because things may not work out as intended for a simple reason- we are humans & we have this quirky embrace for the familiar. Anyway, the friend would want another 22-fret guitar which moves away from the Strat profile & the S470 here would be a perfect addition. However, due to personal preferences, the S470 became an outcome of a hasty, compulsive purchase & it was chucked aside virtually days after its purchase. It was in quite a sorry condition, some parts were corroded & the whammy bar was stuck in its shaft. This was compounded by the fact that one of the action adjustment bolt had its tip broken so access to this was impossible.

I agreed to purchase this guitar only because I see a potential in bringing it back to life (plus it was offered for less than $200...), if the chances were remote, I wouldn't have bothered so here it is now, after countless parts replacements & a total body re-finish, an instrument which could match something fresh out of the box. I'm happy with it. 

Moral of the story- just because it's another 22-fret guitar, it doesn't equal a Strat replacement.

The un-blackening (4)

The final few touches for my Ibanez S470 happened yesterday. The ZPS system was restored as depicted above. When I bought the guitar, the previous owner had one of those screws (1) missing, the surviving one was terribly corroded. The whammy bar was also stuck in the bridge shaft. I had to work the mechanism from the rear, broke some very fragile, plastic parts along the way (2) but managed to get the bar out. I placed orders at Eillek Oet & it took a while to come. The entire back plate was oxidized & threatened to decay but that was taken care of by some chrome polish which worked wonders.

Before heading over to Beez's, it was re-strung with a set of Pyramid strings (.009).

Moving over to the headstock, the entire nut locking assembly was replaced; one of the locking studs was missing, one was rusty & the final one was rounded. The chassis was removed as well, I'm very happy with the Gotoh replacement unit- fits to a tee. The string retainer bar was also replaced & I had a hard time finding a direct replacement. The ones in the shops now are conforming to Fender/ Floyd Rose measurements so they are a little narrow. The one here was another Eillek Oet order. Chrome screws- a little out of place, I know. They will be replaced in time to come.

Finally, a new set of tuners as the previous set was half-dead with corrosion threatening to take over. They were on sale at Eillek Oet anyway so it was a good catch.

Electronics makeover done by the Beez master himself. Can you see the orange cap in there?

All done.Glorious restoration, I'm terribly satisfied. Played with it till late last night while watching Batman.

The yellow fellow (2)

This was what happened to my Jackson DKMGT- cracks aplenty. It started with the ferrules at the tune-o-matic type bridge which contained the action adjustment studs. I couldn't raise the studs there due to extreme corrosion so out came a pair of pliers. The idea was to yank the studs out but it snapped, the pliers fell onto the body & dented it. Damage done, so I went for broke & chiseled out the bridge studs ferrules & that resulted in cracks similar to the ones you see above. However, the ones shown here are the string ball-end ferrules located at the body's flip-side. Those were showing signs of corrosion as well so out they went. I would've shown the broken stud piece here but that was thrown out of the window out of sheer frustration.

But everything's cured as seen above; all cracks were filled, leveled & the surface finished professionally.

Ditto the front side- restored to its glorious state. I had this done at a car garage- yes, you read that right, car garage. All the instrument shops & chaps doing air-brush restoration gave me unappealing quotes, the winner came from a friend who showed me his refinished guitar body & I was impressed with the workmanship- beyond my expectations for a non-instrument business entity but if you are professional, the subject doesn't matter.

Bro Fabian- kudos!

The yellow fellow (1)

This isn't a fresh catch, it's my Jackson DKMGT.

This isn't a new guitar either, it's the above DKMGT now in yellow. It was re-finished last year, towards the close of 2012 but was missing some spares. It's now completely revived a deserve a shot. What made me re-finish this one? To be cont'd...