Ibanez neck on custom strat body

[bigbuddy912]

Sorry if this isn't the correct forum to post under but I was wondering how hard would it be as a first ever custom guitar builder to slap an ibanez rg1451 neck(Wizard HP Prestige) on a stratocaster type body? I really like the thin neck but I would prefer a more rounded strat-esque body type and it just so happens I've really gotten interested in custom guitars as of late and have this guitar that's been going unused in my house for awhile now so I want to challenge myself.

[Bizman62]

If you're going to build the body from scratch there's no issue at all. It's just a matter of measuring the right place for the bridge. The shape of the body doesn't matter, you "only" have to carve a fitting neck pocket in a right angle which in turns depends on your choice for bridge.

Start by studying the placement of the bridge you're going to use. The basic rule is to have the 12th fret exactly halfways between the nut and the bridge and then adding 3 mm to the bass side and taking 1 mm off the treble side. That can be made by adjusting the bridge blocks so take care to position them so you can adjust both ways for fine tuning. A TuneOMatic or wraparound bridge can be slanted, hardtails and trems and others with a base plate rather not.

After having chosen the bridge, find out the neck angle. It depends on the height of the bridge. @ADFinlayson has a recent post about how he does it with simple tools: http://www.projectguitar.com/forums/topic/48888-first-full-build-from-scratch/?do=findComment&comment=577648

Building the body is the easy part, most of the errors you make can be easily fixed. Happy building!

 

[curtisa]

Are you building your own body from scratch or aiming to recycle an existing one?

[bigbuddy912]

6 minutes ago, curtisa said:

Are you building your own body from scratch or aiming to recycle an existing one?

Was planning on building my own and basing it off of the original body the neck is from and my old mim strat.

 

23 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

If you're going to build the body from scratch there's no issue at all. It's just a matter of measuring the right place for the bridge. The shape of the body doesn't matter, you "only" have to carve a fitting neck pocket in a right angle which in turns depends on your choice for bridge.

Start by studying the placement of the bridge you're going to use. The basic rule is to have the 12th fret exactly halfways between the nut and the bridge and then adding 3 mm to the bass side and taking 1 mm off the treble side. That can be made by adjusting the bridge blocks so take care to position them so you can adjust both ways for fine tuning. A TuneOMatic or wraparound bridge can be slanted, hardtails and trems and others with a base plate rather not.

After having chosen the bridge, find out the neck angle. It depends on the height of the bridge. @ADFinlayson has a recent post about how he does it with simple tools: http://www.projectguitar.com/forums/topic/48888-first-full-build-from-scratch/?do=findComment&comment=577648

Building the body is the easy part, most of the errors you make can be easily fixed. Happy building!

 

Yea I was planning on building a custom body but using the tight-end Ibanez bridge that’s already on the guitar that I’m taking the neck from. Thanks for all the info! 

[curtisa]

14 minutes ago, bigbuddy912 said:

Was planning on building my own and basing it off of the original body the neck is from and my old mim strat

The extra 3 frets on the Ibanez neck will push the position of a typical Strat neck pickup back towards the bridge by an inch or so and the treble-side cutaway may not be deep enough to alow you to comfortably reach all 24 frets, so factor that in to your design by either tweaking the standard Strat shape appropriately or living with the ergonomic limitations. Otherwise it seems like a pretty straightforward frankenstein semi-scratch build.

It sounds like you already have the bridge and neck fitted to the original Ibby RG, so base all your critical construction dimensions off that - depth of neck pocket, position of pickups and bridge relative to neck - and then shoehorn the Strat body shape around those elements.

It may even pay to initially mount the neck and bridge into the body blank before you cut it to the Strat outline - effectively build a complete guitar body that is nothing more than a big rectangle of wood and then apply the Strat outline to it after all the 'working bits' have been mounted and verified correct.

.

[Bizman62]

3 hours ago, curtisa said:

It may even pay to initially mount the neck and bridge into the body blank before you cut it to the Strat outline - effectively build a complete guitar body that is nothing more than a big rectangle of wood and then apply the Strat outline to it after all the 'working bits' have been mounted and verified correct. 

That shows the advantage of speaking English natively. Very well put, sir.

[ADFinlayson]

The neck will definately have to stick out further in order to make frets 22-24 accessible which would move your bridge forward. You could try the silver sky style carve to the lower horn if you're not desperate to make it look exactly like a strat. Whatever you do though, draw a full scale plan.

[mistermikev]

8 hours ago, bigbuddy912 said:

Sorry if this isn't the correct forum to post under but I was wondering how hard would it be as a first ever custom guitar builder to slap an ibanez rg1451 neck(Wizard HP Prestige) on a stratocaster type body? I really like the thin neck but I would prefer a more rounded strat-esque body type and it just so happens I've really gotten interested in custom guitars as of late and have this guitar that's been going unused in my house for awhile now so I want to challenge myself.

that's a nice neck.  the wizard profile is about my fav all time.  I have an 89' jem 77fp with the wizard and it is about the fastest feel of any neck I've played.

ibanez necks were designed to mount a bit differently than your typical strat... in that there is nothing against the bottom of the neck(last fret) other than the pickup... only on the sides.  something to keep in mind while you work things out. 

You also might want to take some measurements of the flat spot on the back of the neck as I'm not sure how it compares to that of a strat... so just another thing to keep in mind while you plan. 

for reference you might want to have a look at the fender heavy metal strats of the late 80s as they where designed to be pretty much that - a strat with a 24 fret neck that could compete with ibanez.  It's a great strat-like shape altho a little more square, and with great upper fret access. 

anywho, welcome to the forum - I wish you all the luck in the world on your build and look fwd to seeing it!

 

 

[bigbuddy912]

Update: I think I can settle with the shape of the ibanez S series (https://i.gyazo.com/a1c7b0baaaf4279f1bee96f7860bd4ad.png) so I'm going to try to get the measurements and plan and make my own template, then body of it. I decided keeping the exact stratocaster shape with 24 frets would be somewhat difficult for me but since the s series and my rg use almost the same wizard neck I think it should be somewhat of a breeze to fit it on. I'm excited to do a custom paint job and custom pickups for my first half-build!

[Bizman62]

1 hour ago, bigbuddy912 said:

I decided keeping the exact stratocaster shape with 24 frets would be somewhat difficult for me

Decisions are good, they clarify your goal and help with the steps needed to reach it.

However, I think you're both overcomplicating and underestimating here!

Since you'll be basically just redoing your current body, all you need is the neck pocket template for duplicating it. You don't need to study models that "almost use the same wizard neck" since you already have the exact model. Take a piece of MDF or plywood and draw the neck pocket using your neck as a guide. Make the template long enough for adjusting and attaching, and also for maintaining the center line. The most important thing is that it fits snugly around your neck heel. Then measure the depth of the original pocket at both ends to find out the potential neck break angle. If there is, simply attach the template in the same angle using wedges.

Then, as @curtisa said, route the neck pocket into the body blank before cutting the final shape.

 

[mistermikev]

11 hours ago, bigbuddy912 said:

Update: I think I can settle with the shape of the ibanez S series (https://i.gyazo.com/a1c7b0baaaf4279f1bee96f7860bd4ad.png) so I'm going to try to get the measurements and plan and make my own template, then body of it. I decided keeping the exact stratocaster shape with 24 frets would be somewhat difficult for me but since the s series and my rg use almost the same wizard neck I think it should be somewhat of a breeze to fit it on. I'm excited to do a custom paint job and custom pickups for my first half-build!

the s body is a fav, on my bucketlist of guitars to do at some point.  I don't know what you plans are for recreating the arches but look fwd to seeing what you come up with.  it's a very thin body and there might be some challenges there, for instance the 5 way switch depth.  ibanez uses a plastic riser that gives the switch just a little more room... I think you can buy them. 

there are some plans on the net... there is def a plan for the satch model but i don't think the s is out there.  might have a look around tho as the pay plans show enough to get ideas from.