Roo-ster Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 (edited) Greetings all. Some of you might have seen my NGD post from last November, announcing the commencement of my latest project. If not, in short, I have a habit of buying nice guitars from crackheads who have neglected them, and return them to better-than-new condition -- oh, and make them daily players again too! 270 days (8 months, 27 days) later, and this one is complete (for almost a month now)! Before the questions are asked as to why I did what I did, let me tell you up front. Two years ago, I spent an entire weekend at every guitar shop in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, looking for my ideal guitar -- the one that feels perfect. One of the first ones I grabbed was an Ibanez S-series, and I instantly fell in love... Until I struck a pick to it, that is. It felt amazing, but I kept hitting that center pickup. It drove me bat **** crazy. I even played a few H-H configured Sabers, but the spacing is so tight, I'd still occasionally hit the neck pup with my pick. The answer was a S-H configuration -- something Ibanez has yet to build in an S-series, and therefore I had to build myself. Fast forward a year, and I find this neglected beauty on Craigslist. I threw a super low-ball offer at the crackhead, and he took it! Being the emphatic George Lynch fan that I am, paint and circuit was a no brainer. Convincing my [then-pregnant] wife that this was a worthwhile project, not such a no brainer. Alas, she went along, and we both got what we wanted... A dream guitar for me, and something significant to hold over my head for her! Here's where it all started... Just purchased from said crackhead at the West Oakland BART station. Rough shape, but it's all there, and the neck is straight! I love Craigslist! I love the MoP inlays on this! I think it'll look HAWT with the paint scheme I have planned! Baby-**** brown sanded off, and all the pickup plugs shaped and fitted. Loosely sat a single-coil pickup in the cavity to ensure fit. Pickup plugs and locking dowels sanded flush. Test fit new pickups! SD Hot Stack for Strat in the neck, and an SD George Lynch Screamin' Demon Trembucker in the bridge. For the record, I ended up selling the cozmo hardware on eBay, and bought brand new black hardware. Re-worked all the frets. They had some really deep gouges in them. I sanded them out with 400 grit sandpaper, then polished them up with some 0000 grade steel wool. They're perfect once again! The fret on the right is a "before" pic, and the fret on the left is an "after". Excess component cavities filled and sanded down. Off for paint!!! Fresh paint on the headstock. The logo is a chrome JS sticker, but removed the "J". I like the script look better than the original S logo. Baking the clear coat in the sun. All complete and assembled! For those who are interested, I kept a running total of expenditures on the project. Also, there is more to this story (with more pictures) available on my project webpage. I'd post it all here, but forum rules prevent it (already tried). I think I did quite well for $710! Tell me what you think, and thanks for checking this out. Edited September 16, 2012 by Roo-ster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Souls inc. Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 you did good. don't forget to tally your hours of labor spent. Time is money,too. and IDK about getting $710 back out of it. you made it pretty, but i don't think it'll be a profitable adventure. As a player though, it looks like a good one from here. Sound clips?? Would like to hear it. I have a Blues Saraceno Trembucker that i LOVE. I'd like to hear the difference between it and the George Lynch version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 Great work! The Sabres are a personal favourite of mine also. I converted a body I snagged off eBay into a 7-string TOM bridge instrument with a custom neck. Awesome. Which rules were you referring to, by the way....? Is it just an image limit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 It's just a limit per post.You can put more pics in your next post if you want.It just keeps one page of the forum from having 1000 pics and taking forever to load Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo-ster Posted September 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 Thanks guys! Yeah, it was the images per post limit I ran up against. The sound clips is a great idea. I'll try and get to that early this week. Today is already invested in preparation to watch the Lions put a spankin' on the Niners! Oh, and watching both of my fantasy teams go 2-0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob123 Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 That looks great! haha. I LOVE the blue burst, not typical, and came out better then I would expect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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