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Building An Rg270


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I am building an rg270 and I need a couple question answered first

1. What neck do I purchase with this guitar?

2. What pickups come stock in this guitar and what is a good upgrade? (thinking about emg 85)

or if i wanna go the cheap route. where can i get some decent humbuckers for this guitar for pretty cheap?

I've searched the forum for rg270 and These were the 2 questions I couldn't answer. I have already decided to go with the schaller trem. since the guitar is going to be burnt orange and yellow I am going to use black nobs(tuners too) and a black trem. I appreciate your help

Steve

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I am building an rg270 and I need a couple question answered first

1. What neck do I purchase with this guitar?

2. What pickups come stock in this guitar and what is a good upgrade? (thinking about emg 85)

or if i wanna go the cheap route. where can i get some decent humbuckers for this guitar for pretty cheap?

I've searched the forum for rg270 and These were the 2 questions I couldn't answer. I have already decided to go with the schaller trem. since the guitar is going to be burnt orange and yellow I am going to use black nobs(tuners too) and a black trem. I appreciate your help

Steve

Try looking for info on RG's in general. As far as I know, the number after the RG designation is purely an indicator of quality - the higher the number, the higher the quality of the instrument. Lots of folks have made RG copies on here, just not ones modelled after the very low-end models.

The RG series guitars come with Ibanez INF branded pickups, which are not particularly good. I imagine this is particularly true of the 270 guitars, since they are a budget line. Essentially, any branded pickup willbe a step up, which one you choose depends entirely on your personal preference.

Finally, if you are aiming for the RG 270 because you like this particular instrument, I'd buy one. I very much doubt you'll be able to get all the hardware and parts for less than a used 270, or even a higher model like a 470. That way you'll have an RG neck, a body to use as a model to build your own, and all the hardware. You could upgrade anything you're unhappy with, and sell of the body on eBay too.

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RG 270 is piece of crap guitar. Sorry to put it so blundly, but it simply is.

Try finding RG550/570 on the internet (ebay, et al), they should be had for prices you can't beat building you own.

If you want you own custom RG type design, go for good quality Edge or Lo Pro Edge tremolo and hardware and BYO.

Still pays to buy the second hand RG 550 and gut the original, using neck and hardware in custom copy.

Again.......go to www.jemsite.com/forums and start reading up on the Ibanez RG type guitars.

Edited by RGGR
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Well Im a newb and I don't have any of the hardware the only part of the guitar that I have right now is the body.. so i can build whatever i want on to it .... in the cases of the bodies do they differ from the rg's that ibanez makes. For the Ibanez's does it have to be an ibanez neck or can i use another type of neck. I appreciate all the help

Steve

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It has its own style neck pocket, which gives the screws a unique configuration. So don't go buying a telecaster replacement from warmoth or something. :D

Here is someone selling the neck from a 370DX at ebay. The pics don't show the screw config, but I'd be confident that they are the same because the 570 has the same as the 270 and i doubt that they changed them and then went back.

RG Neck

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Well Im a newb and I don't have any of the hardware the only part of the guitar that I have right now is the body..

If you only have an RG270 body.....i would suggest opening your fire place, get some gasoline and with the strike of a match you can enjoy the flames.

Why do I say this.....becaus ethe RG270 body is routed for the lower quality TRS tremolo. Building custom guitar, so simply don't want this crappy tremolo on your guitar. You could re-route it for the Edge or Lo Pro Edge tremolo.....but why would you bother.

so i can build whatever i want on to it .... in the cases of the bodies do they differ from the rg's that ibanez makes.

An Ibanez RG is and Ibanez RG......lower quality RG's or higher quality RG's pretty much all have the similar shape. The quality of the wood, and the routing of the tremolo/controls/electronics do differ.

For the Ibanez's does it have to be an ibanez neck or can i use another type of neck. I appreciate all the help

The route your taking is a complicated and difficult one. Yes, you could use any type neck you want....unless it fits the neck pocket, and if the scale of the neck......24 frets, 25.5" scale - matches the guitar.

Still as you don't have the proper hardware...and just a body....I would suggest deciding what you want.

Do you want Ibanez RG.....then buy a second hand RG550 and take it from there. Then you have neck, body, electronics, the lot.

If you just want guitar you have build yourself.......and don't care for quality of end result.....and don't care for Ibanez style neck.....then you could do anything you want.

Decide what you want.....and take it from there.

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i would suggest opening your fire place, get some gasoline and with the strike of a match you can enjoy the flames.

:D

We interrupt this program for a special Safety Note For The Humor Impaired: DO NOT start a fire anywhere indoors with gasoline, even in a fireplace. Thank you.

We now return you to regular programming, already in progress.

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RGGR, I don't see anywhere in this post where Venom300 asked his choice of build to be lambasted and I really don't see any need to criticize so harshly.

Anyway,

You don't have to use an Ibanez neck (although it would be easier if you could find a cheap replacement on ebay) but what you do need to make sure of is the correct scale length, unless you want an overhaul.

The pocket size and neck screw configuration can always be adjusted, although this isn't always straightforward, but as long as you're confident you can do the work...

If the neck pocket is too large for the heel of the neck you purchase you can fill the pocket with a block of wood cut to the dimensions, similar to installing a set-neck but without the neck, then you can re-route the pocket to the dimensions of your neck heel.

(I must emphasise, accurate measurement is the order of the day here, measure again and again until you're double sure)

You could also glue shims made of wood into the pocket, you see this more commonly with acoustics that have had neck re-sets.

A quick google brought up this link, although personally I wouldn't use this technique

http://www.angelfire.com/music2/construct/page1EOM.html

Also, take a look over at Frets

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/pagelist.html#Luthier

You'll find plenty of good advice there, aswell as here on the site and forum.

If the difference is extremely minimal (which is more likely) then a few coats of lacquer on the neck heel or thin veneer shims may do the trick.

If the pocket is too small then simply route it bigger, again measure, measure, measure and make sure you're fully aware of your centre line.

If the neck has pre-drilled screw holes in it you can open these up a little more by using a larger drill bit then glue in dowels and trim/sand flush then re-drill your holes to the required placement.

I'm not 100% if the 270 has the AANJ neck joint, if it does you can shape the heel of your replacement neck accordingly (providing there is enough material to work with) by using tools such as a rasp (and rifflers), surform and sandpaper.

The best advice though is don't be put off.

If you want to have a go at it then have a go, just make sure you understand the steps involved, take your time and get a few practice runs on scrap wood under your belt.

There's plenty of reading material on the net that can help you with your venture.

All this is academic though if the neck fits snug! :D

As for the pickups, it's a lengthy debate.

It all hinges on what sound you want to achieve but I would suggest worrying about the pickups later on, they're not important at this stage.

Best of luck

wwood

Edited by wwood
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RGGR, I don't see anywhere in this post where Venom300 asked his choice of build to be lambasted and I really don't see any need to criticize so harshly.

Just giving my $0.02. And if you don't want you choices to be critizised don't post here. Lambasted or not.

Yes, it could be that builder in question has found himself a very nice RG 270 body and wants to have go with in. Still leaves the fact that RG270 is very cheap beginner guitar. It's one of the cheapest (leaving cheap chinese copies out of the picture for now) out of the Ibanez range. A whole RG270 could be had for $50 on the fleamarket.

Just wouldn't be my choice to start working with.

Again it depends what builder is after. If he just wants a go at building his own guitar......then that's fine. Although guitar build from parts is still much more expensive compared to buying one whole guitar and customizing it.

If he want quality guitar........(read: good quality hardware, good quality Warmoth type neck (leaving fitting process out of the picture) it simply doesn't make sense starting with RG270 type body.

And this is not to flame his project. It's just solid advice.

If he had RG550/570 etc body it would have been different matter. Now he has the wrong body to start with to get solid guitar.

Burn body.....get yourself a RG550 from the bay.

Edited by RGGR
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I appreciate all the advice. The reason actually that I picked this guitar is because I am practicing custom finishes and this is one of my project guitars. Not actually important that I finish the guitar. Since i'll be airbrushing artwork on all my bodies there no need to burn it, It'll make a good practice guitar.. I'll probably finish the guitar because because I like the body style. The Mechanics of it don't make it look any less beautiful when I'm done. Since this def isn't going to be my last guitar I can work on the rg550 later.

Thanks Again

Venom

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