RAI6

I will be buying a neck, but I haven't decided if I'm going bolt-on, or neck-thru.

If it's neck-thru, the contour on the back will taken down completely.

And I can see the similarities to the Gecko...

The lower horn is really small.

I've always thought "why keep all that wood there? It will just be in the way..."

So, there it is.

Thanks guys!

The contours are standard.

Arm in the front, belly in the back, and slight contour for the neck heel...

A combo of the old and new JEMs....

And then the jack will be like Hamer used on their Californian series.

A standard Strat jack, but on the side (below the strap pin).

Do you see anything that would need changing?

So, this is my plywood template for my first project.

Don't know when I'll get around to it, as I need to find someone with the right tools that I could borrow...

Let me know what you think of the design.

There are some rough placements of neck pocket and such, but they're not even close to accurate....

You do realize that without recessing the Floyd, you need to angle the neck....

If these are just the inserts in the body, why do you need to remove them?

If it's a question of paint, just stick some rolled up tape in there, and that will block the paint from building up....

Or you could just get a Roland VG system, and as you're switching tunings, it could also switch from sounding like a guitar, to sounding like a banjo....

And it won't cost you 4 grand.

That looks like the "right" model, but......

I've seen the "Catfish" one, and it had some MAJOR inlay work done.

As a matter of fact, almost the whole body was covered in various woods (and possibly other materials) to create the stunning inlay of a fish swimming under the lily pads in a pond.

Something Clavin could do, maybe...?

It is a very nice foot indeed!

And I love the fact that it appears he climbed up on his workbench to take the pic, when he could have just placed the gun on the floor instead...

But excercise is a good thing.

Next time, I'll do the same thing!

Most "black" inks/colors aren't really black.

They are a really dark, dark purple.

Just take a black Sharpie and stick it in a jar of some light solvent.

It will turn purple......

I've always wanted to have a crack at making one of these guitars... However reading throught he vai website it says they got the effect for the body by burning mineral salts on the body... does anybody know what type of mineral salts? Or which would owrk best to achieve this effect???

Any info would be appreciated! Many thanks!

They used mineral SPIRITS, not salt...

And, yes, Steve had seen Jimi's Monterey strat (FZ had it in his collection), and always wanted a guitar just like it.

The guitar doesn't work, as all the electronics were completely "toasted" in the BBQ.

But some new parts, and that baby would rock!

I cannot remember the company (Larrivee, Martin, Washburn...I don't know), but I saw the ad in Guitar Player...

Someting about pulling out an old log from a lake, and making guitars out of it.

The wood was a couple of hundred years old, and had just been in the perfect situation to be preserved while in the water.

Needless to say, they were only making a limited number of guitars.

And in case you were wondering, they weren't cheap...

http://www.carvin.com/products/guitar.php?ItemNumber=H2

Go for the "full view"....

And to clarify the scale length, it's from the INSIDE of the nut (the fingerboard side, not the headstock side) that you measure.

Basically, the strings free range of vibration.

So, from where it leaves the bridge (Top of the saddle) to the inside of the nut.

On my RG (which has a Lo-TRS), the high E (being properly intonated) gives the exact scale length measurement.

I would have to agree...

The stuff sucks.

If you step back and look at the guitar, it looks "nice", but up-close you can tell.

And ultimately, when you play it, there's no getting around how horrible they feel on the neck...

And that's all that really matters, right?

why on earth did you papier mache your guitar?

I guess it would be a variation on the Ibanez "Noodles" geetar...

Covered in duct tape.

For what it's worth, vector-format logos can be found at:

http://www.logotypes.ru

and

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com

Please respect the proper use of companies' trademarks!

Isn't it interesting that both of those companies are located in Russia?

I checked on my RG, and the high E is exactly at the scale length.

(From inside of nut, to where the string bends over the saddle on the bridge...)

That Black Guard will set it off

What "black guard"?

Jackson also a built a few for Gene.

Basically, Gene owns the shape, so he can have whoever build one.

Kramer wouldn't be able to build them again, unless they had persmission from him...

Which makes you wonder about something like the JEM...

Does Steve own the shape, or did he sell it to Ibanez?

If he owns it, and then pulls out of his contract, the whole JEM and RG line goes...

Interesting!

i took out the background and added the little "censor" bar on the back of the guitar. hehe

Looks good.

But now we need to see it WITHOUT the "censor bar"...

We cannot truly judge your work unless we can see it completely.

And a nice close-up too, if possible.

How old is the axe?

If it's rather new, the trem could still be in good shape, but the older it is, the more of a chance that it's past it's prime.

Also to consider is this...How much would you spend on parts, just to find out if it's any good?

The guy may have been a trem "abuser" (like you said), so that's another thing to take into consideration.

The 5 springs don't necessarily mean anything.

They could just be worn out, so he added more to maintain the same tension as when it was new...

You should be able to get a replacement for under $200...

Party on, Garth!

First and foremost, if you are going to do LED's and a custom inlay, get used to the fact that you may have to build the neck from scratch.

You could get the neck from Carvin, but you would have to remove the fingerboard to do the LED's. And if you decide to skip that and just do the vine, you would have to remove the frets.

And possibly replace the fingerboard anyway...

While it's absolutely possible to do, the time and money you have to put into it, may not be worth it.

But that just my opinion...

OK, now you need to take the move to the next level....

....the next logical progression.....

...think "hula hoop"....

Well, Vai has "been there, done that"....

Instead of around his hips, he took the guitar and was "hula hooping" it around his neck.

Must have hurt like hell!

can you say "Whiplash"?

If you dont use a mounting rig then you won't be able to adjust the PU height after installing them.

Why can't you adjust height on direct-mount pu's?

Simply place the spring under the tab...

I would have to agree with that last post....