# Epiphone G400 Modifications



## Wretched

So, I bought a used Epiphone G400 (SG) for a few hundred bucks a few months for the sole purpose of practising modification and luthiery skills. Below is the list of modifications I intend to perform, along with a concept image showing how I intend it to look once done:

The mods pictured include:
* - Reshaping the headstock (I hate the Epi shape) to something like the Gibson shape (no logo)
- Remove pick guard
- Remove the two lower pots and fill the holes, running two volumes with no tone pots
- Remove and fill in the input jack, moving it to a side-mounted one
- Upgrade the tuners to Sperzels
- Upgrade the pickups
- Changing all the hardware and screws to black
- Thinning out the sides of the neck and bit, leaving the back in case I go through to the truss rod (anyone have any idea how much meat exists between the channel and the outside of the neck?)
- Painting most of it satin black, leaving some of the original gold for a set of racing stripes (if the paint doesn't get damaged during the woodwork phase)*







It was in good condition, but this is how it looked after I spent a night cleaning it up, polishing the frets etc...






Since then I've been buying the new parts and researching the processes and tools I'm going to need to get all the little parts of the project completed to my satisfaction. I'm a perfectionist, so even though it'll be my first time doing any significant woodwork since high school over 15 years ago, I'll be a little pissed if I screw anything up too badly.

Last night I finally got stuck in and stripped the thing down to its undies...






Nothing remarkable to announce with the dissassmbly process. (You can see the three holes I've marked for filling) I've torn down a few over the years and done some wiring work. 

Although I did confirm something odd that I thought I'd noticed: it seems like the body was originally routed for the three humbucker 'special' version of the model. 

You can just faintly see the outline of the middle rout under the paint (can't get it to show in photos). Once the pickups were removed, I found that probably through rough manufacture, the thin walls of wood between the routs had broken through to reveal a block of something or other filling the hole. Dodgy!






No biggie... onward and upward and all that.

I bought all the new parts through GFS after a pretty strong recommendation from one of the moderators over on Project Guitar who'd recently used a bunch of stuff on a new V he was building. The list of parts includes locking tuners and a roller bridge as well as one of their Crunchy Pat neck pickups and a Power Rails for the bridge - all in black.
















So, with a reamer for opening up the tuner holes sitting here ready to go; a template for a Les Paul head stock ready to be outlined onto the head stock and some timber plugs coming for the tone pot holes and some Forstner bits on the way for drilling the new jack hole... I'm almost ready to start.

Any suggestions?


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## Hemi-Powered Drone

Maybe try to dig out that filler block, nothing's cooler than a triple humbucker SG.


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## Wretched

If I were to do anything like that, I think I'd fill the neck pickup hole and go single! heheh


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## Wretched

Some early progress with an easy win. I grabbed the reamer and opened up the tuner holes a touch (they were already pretty close to the right diameter) to fit the new locking tuners from GFS.

Here you can see the original hole (note all the old mounting screws from the old tuners that will need to be filled before final finishing. I didn't consider the impact filling these holes would have on the gold paint when first conjuring up my ideas and don't intend to repaint any of the gold if I can help it. Any ideas?):





Twist the reamer in there a dozen times with gentle, moderate pressure - cleaning out the dust every few turns - like this:





And you get nice, clean holes that are larger and will accommodate the new tuners:





...which look like this when fitted loosely. Much nicer!


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## Wretched

OK, so things immediately slowed down, as I expected. I've been collecting tools, drill bits and other stuff I think I'm going to need to get all the different things done.

One aspect I've been focusing on is drilling the new output jack into the side. Having read a number of different opinions on what type of bit to use for the cleanest hole, I thought I'd try them all and make up my own mind. The following is the results, which may help some of you out there in the future...

I'll go through the three different types of drill bits I tried, and also show you the quality of hole they drilled:

First up is the Forstner bits. I bought a full set of Carba-Tec bits in metric. Sadly they only had 19mm and 22mm bits, which turned out to be a little too small on one hand and a little too big on the other. But the holes were smooth on the inside.






They're made for cutting nice flat bottomed holes, if that's what you need. You often see people using them to remove the bulk of material out of pickup routs before routing the edges clean with the plunge router.






As you can see, the hole is smooth on the inside and there's no tear-out at the start of the cut.






However, both Forstner bits caused some chipping at the end of the cut, as pictured above. This is avoidable if you drill through the workpiece into a piece of scrap. However, in the scnario of drilling an output jack, that's not easily practicable and a little chipping on the inside of the control cavity isn't going to bring me to tears.






This is what Irwin Tools markets as a 'Speedbor' bit, which is a close derivative of a spade bit. It actually made a cleaner cut than I was expecting and only caused minimal damage on exit. Again, this is avoidable by drilling through and into a scrap piece.






This is the hole made by the Speedbor or spade bit. As you can see, it's a little rougher. It was much faster than the Forstner bits, though.

Last up is the brad-point or auger bit. I'm not sure if there's a difference between the two as they look the same to me. It drilled aggressively into the timber, but cut clean. It did cause some chipping on the exit. It wanted to dig into the timber so fast the cordless drill I was using almost wasn't powerful enough to cope!












This is the hole the brad/auger bit made. Clean enough and at 21mm, just the right size for my jack (see below).






For all you luthiers out there, what size output jack hole do you normally drill for a conventional mono jack and what type of bit do you use for the job?

Next step will be to clamp the G400 to the workbench and drill the new jack hole.


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## Wretched

Well, I found myself with some spare time this afternoon, so I grabbed the new Makita 5in random orbital sander and hit the G400 hard. I took the top right through to the bare timber, through the poly coating.

As I suspected, staring me in the face was a resin-filled middle humbucker route. Dodgy buggers. In fact, there was more dodginess going on under that gold paint, with the other pickup routes showing signs of resin filling and re-routing, chip-out filling etc...











Your eyes do not deceive you. Those are cracks in the resin that fill the third cavity. Hopefully they stay stable when I apply the new finish later on down the track.

Here's a close, close up:





I also reamed out the three holes that are to be filled and smoothed over. I found a seller on eBay selling 10mm oak tapered plugs and bought their minimum (100 plugs!). Here are the holes opened up to accept the plugs:






Here are the three holes (two tone pot holes and the hole for the original output jack) with the oak plugs jammed gently in them. The plan is to glue them in place, gently chisel the tops flat and sand smooth.






I figured the oak plugs were a smart move as I could orient the grain to match the rest of the body and the taper would leave a zero gap on top. Anyone have any suggestions on the best glue to use? I was thinking just Titebond Original, but I want to ensure the glue will be stable under sanding and the final finish. Any comments or suggestions would be great.


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## scherzo1928

Yeah man, titebond should be perfect.


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## Pikka Bird

Good progress so far. I love that you're redoing the headstock because I really can't live with the Epiphone 3+3 headstock either. So what about the racing stripes now that you went through the gold?


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## Darkstar124

great work! I admire how thorough you were, testing all the bits and all. This is a helpful thread!


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## Wretched

Pikka Bird said:


> Good progress so far. I love that you're redoing the headstock because I really can't live with the Epiphone 3+3 headstock either. So what about the racing stripes now that you went through the gold?



I realised I would have to go through the gold on the back of the headstock to fill in the little screw holes from the old tuners, AND the back of the neck for the reshaping I plan. So, I figured it'd get a more consistent colour result if I just redid the lot. I'll try filling the grain on the fully sanded through places like the top, prime it etc and repaint the entire guitar in satin black and paint fresh gold racing stripes.


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## Wretched

I drilled the new output jack hole yesterday. I tried buying a 20mm Forstener bit off feeBay, but the first one turned up bent. From what I could tell it was made that way, so while the seller told me he'd send a replacement, I haven't seen it and don't put much faith in getting anything better in return.

So, I grabbed the 20mm spade bit and measured up for the cut. Finding centre, I started by making an indent with the sharp middle of the drill bit, then began the hole by hand with the bit, scoring through the paint finish to try and minimise any chipping.

While the resultant hole wasn't that nice on the inside, the opening into the body was round and neat enough and it fits the jack, so all good!

Here's the hole:





Keen eyes may be able to see the hairline crack right under the hole. This was caused by the guitar being clamped down to the bench. When the hole went almost right through, the timber gave way to the clamping pressure and split that small portion of wood along the grain. Lesson learned. Some glue into the crack when I'm gluing the tapered wood plugs should fix it. When not under pressure you can't see the crack at all.

Here's the new jack plate mounted onto the body. It'll be much nicer than the original face-mounted jack when it's all back together:





I also sanded both faces of the head stock so I could fill the old screw holes left by the original tuners and start marking out the cut line for the reshaping of the headstock:





Any suggestions on the type of filler for filling up little screw holes before painting? Don't really see the need to go filling each of them with a plug if it isn't going to be wearing a transparent finish later. need something not prone to sinking or swelling.


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## ZXIIIT

I FUCKING love that you changed the output jack position!


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## supercolio

You mentioned something about changing the headstock, how are you going to do that? D: Do you just sand the name away? Really nice thread. Keep it coming


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## Wretched

I plan to reshape the top of the headstock. Original plan has been to use a Les Paul template to shape the top of it like a usual Les Paul. The lower part of the head stock fans out wider than a Les, but it'll still look better than the horrid Epiphone headstock.

I'll use a coping saw and a lot of patience to do the cutting.


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## supercolio

Good luck with that


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## AwakenNoMore

for the headstock you could just glue small portions onto the corners that are lopped off and re-shape to classic Gibson style?


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## Wretched

Actually, the Epiphone headstock has wider sections than the Gibson and without going the trouble of filling the original tuner holes and drilling new ones, it would cause problems to remove too much material from the sides as the tuners follow the radius of the existing sides.


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## AwakenNoMore

your not following me, i'm not talking about reshaping the WHOLE headstock i'm saying just glue on new tips at the top of the headstock on each side where its different from the gibson model






LOL ms paint.

do it no one will ever know, lol


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## Pikka Bird

^That'll make the "crown" way taller and wider than a standard Gibson stock. Cutting into it will look lots sleaker, IMO.


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## AwakenNoMore

meh just a suggestion


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## HaMMerHeD

For filling the headstock screw holes, I'd drill them out to 1/8" (~3mm) and fill with dowel, then sand smooth and so on.


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## Wretched

Yeah, the shape would be OK, but the overall length much longer than the Gibson. Cutting MAY end in tears, but I'd rather it be shorter in the long run.


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## gunch

Awesome work so far man.


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## s_k_mullins

This is looking like a very cool project! Can't wait to see the end result


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## Wretched

Not much to report at this point. I ordered some Titebond original and am waiting for that to arrive so I can glue the plugs in and fix the crack around the control cavity. I suppose I could have been concentrating on the head stock or the neck or even sanding in the mean time, but it's summer here and the shed has been an oven.


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## Wretched

Got the Titebond yesterday so should be able to find some time to glue the plugs and crack this week. Any suggestions on gluing the crack? Should the gap just be opened a little and glue forced in or should the glue be thinned in some way???


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## HaMMerHeD

I would use a liquid superglue in the cracks. Open them up a tiny bit and then drip super glue in, and it should 'wick' its way in. Let it cure for an hour or so and you should be good to go.

You are repainting this thing, yes?


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## Wretched

Yeah, it'll be repainted. Hate to sound like the noob I am, but any suggestions on brands of superglue that would be best for the job?


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## Pikka Bird

Superglue is superglue, basically... As long as it's just cyanoacrylate.


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## HaMMerHeD

In this case, you'll want it to be very...liquid. So no gel or anything labeled as medim viscosity. Krazy Glue (1.79 USD for 2 tubes around these parts) is a good way to go for liquid ca, as is Loctite.

The reason I asked if it is going to be repainted is that superglue tends to create dark splotches where it cures on wood. Repainting means it's not a big deal. Trans or natural finish means some extra sanding.


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## Wretched

Thanks for the info, guys. I'll pick some up ASAP and get de-cracking.


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## Ironbird

Impressive work, all the best! I will be following this very closely...


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## Wretched

Finally found some time to get back into doing this. Work has been busy! Not that what I got done today was earth shattering.

I got some Titebond Original for the timber plugs for filling the old tone pot and output jack holes and some thin CA glue to fix a hairline crack in the body where it split drilling the new output jack hole.

Today, I finally got around to gluing the plugs in place and I also glued the Les Paul headstock template in place, as the photos show. It's interesting to see the difference in headstock shape between the two. The top most shoulders line up perfectly, which is where the cuts will start to reshape the top of it, taking over half an inch off the overall length of the Epi headstock. All the tuner holes are in different locations, otherwise I'd be tempted to shape the edges down on the bottom shoulders, too. I can't be bothered filling all the tuner holes and re-drilling - least not because I don't yet have a drill press.

The CA glue. It looks almost like water when you move the bottle, which I'm told will better help repair the crack.
















Closer:





From the other side:





My work area with a now-flat work surface and solidly footed bench (it was rickety and warped before, from top to bottom):


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## Pikka Bird

I've drilled tuner holes with a hand drill without much ado. I really think you'll be more pleased with your project in the long run if you plug, redrill and reshape.

Did you already say what you were going to do for the headstock logo? Can you peel off the plastic headplate with the Epiphone inlay and all and reuse that?

edit: Just realized your first post said "no logo"... Damn.


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## Wretched

I might change my mind down the track and use some kind of logo that reminds me of something retro and race inspired, like the racing stripes imply. But I won't bother using any existing guitar brand logo.


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## Artifacts in Motion

Really tight build so far. Talk about taking a guitar and really turning it around! The filler plug idea was quite clever!


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## Razzy

Put a Jackson logo on it. It'll fuck with people hardcore.


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## Wretched

Haha nice one, Razzy. I was thinking I might be able to ghost on some kind of racing stripe motif that fans out at the top. I guess I can imagine it, but not explain it well. Might try a photochop...


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## Wretched

Maybe I could do something like the image below, but I'm not sure that stripes not exactly matching the width of the ones on the body will look right...

They would be ghosted onto the black so they wouldn't be too overbearing visually. Would make the headstock look too heavy in my mind.


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## Artifacts in Motion

Wretched said:


> Maybe I could do something like the image below, but I'm not sure that stripes not exactly matching the width of the ones on the body will look right...
> 
> They would be ghosted onto the black so they wouldn't be too overbearing visually. Would make the headstock look too heavy in my mind.


I think with a white pinstripe border around the edges of the headstock, that would look very fitting. By itself though, it is somewhat lackluster by the rendering.


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## Wretched

Perhaps. Whatever is done though, it's need to be in keeping with the style of the body, IMHO.


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## Wretched

Got stuck in the arvo and spent 30mins carefully chiseling down the top of the plugs flush with the body and then giving it a once over with the random orbital sander. This is the result...

I'm impressed by the almost total lack of gaps around the edges of the plugs due to the tapered shape of the plugs. I'd definitely recommend this process for filling holes. Again, they're 10mm plugs and I reamed out the holes to suit.


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## sojorel

Is your workbench made from pallet wood?

Either way, put a few sheets of MDF on top and it will be super solid and smooth for working.


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## Wretched

Made from 4x2s actually. I'll either recover it with a few sheets of thick MDF or ply down the track, but for what I'm doing right now, it's not really necessary and has actually been planed and sanded pretty flat.


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## BlackMastodon

Those plugs came out very well! I like that you even lined up the grain. And I think that headstock design that you shopped up there would look really cool.


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## Wretched

Thanks BlackMastodon. 

Out in the shed today taking the sandpaper to the rest of the gold paint. Just flattening out the surface and keying it more than anything. No need to go past the poly layer as it'll be refinished in colour. However, I'm still contemplating thinning the shoulders of the neck out, so I will probably go through to the bare timber on that.


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## Wretched

Well that's enough for one day. Been sanding on and off all day and have everything keyed back, but will go over it all again when it comes time to paint. Also glued the crack in the grain at the new output jack hole. Will bring you some photos of that fascinating (insert sarcasm) procedure another time. Still hungover... time to rest.


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## bob123

great progress man  very cool.


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## Wretched

I've changed my mind on the shape of the headstock. I think I'll go for something closer to the shape in the original mock-up, with a simple hump in the middle. I'll try and alter the paper template today and post a pic of the new shape later on when I get a chance.

This way, there's no recourse for people to accuse me of trying to make it look like a Gibson, plus it'll be easier to cut and make it look a little more unique.


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## Wretched

Here's a pic of the new design I came up with for the top of the headstock. Nothing earth shattering and pretty close to the original mock-up design... Just used an egg ring for a radius template to create the middle hump and to accentuate the outer 'horn' bits:






Here's a couple pics of the sanded body. Just hit it with the random orbital sander on the back and a small sanding block for the bevels and just by hand for the smaller details and neck. I think I'll continue sanding down the shoulders of the neck with some coarse paper to reduce the heft, but it doesn't feel too bad as-is and would hate to rub through to the truss rod at this point:











Here is a bunch of tooth picks and food skewers. On their own they're unremarkable, but I'll be using them to fill the holes left by the old tuners and by the pick guard. I'll post pics of the process during next week if I get a chance:











Oh, and I fixed the crack, too. The water thin CA glue was sucked straight into the crack and an hour later it wouldn't budge even with some decent force. I'll just sand the area down again before paint:


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## eddiewarlock

looking good mate!!

What i do with holes like that is filling them with car body repair filler.

Doesn´t shrink or crack if it's less than 1/4" thick...


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## HaMMerHeD

Good work, and really great photos.


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## Wretched

eddiewarlock said:


> looking good mate!!
> 
> What i do with holes like that is filling them with car body repair filler.
> 
> Doesn´t shrink or crack if it's less than 1/4" thick...



Thanks for the tip, Eddie.


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## BlackMastodon

Look good so far! I like your new headstock idea too, makes it look more original and makes the guitar more yours.


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## ZXIIIT

I really like the mods


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## Wretched

Just bought a nice Bosch jigsaw on eBay. So I'm going to wait for that to get here before cutting the headstock. In the meantime I'll try and get the little holes filled and drill some pilot holes for the new tuners as well as continuing to sand the neck.


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## HaMMerHeD

Be careful with the jigsaw. If you push too hard or try to go too fast, the blade will wander and you won't get straight up and down cuts.


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## Wretched

I'm also buying some better blades for it in varying grades, including 'clean' and 'fine' etc. I'll definitely be sure to go slow. I was going to use a coping saw I bought, but in all the test cuts I was doing on scrap, I sucked pretty hard! The mahogany of the G400 seems really soft, so it should go pretty smoothly.


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## ASoC

HaMMerHeD said:


> Be careful with the jigsaw. If you push too hard or try to go too fast, the blade will wander and you won't get straight up and down cuts.


 
This times a million. 

All the hardships in my life come from jigsaws 

If you're only using it to do the headstock, then it shouldn't be too bad. Jigsaws become a huge problem on thick pieces of wood (i.e. body woods)


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## HaMMerHeD

Wretched said:


> I'm also buying some better blades for it in varying grades, including 'clean' and 'fine' etc. I'll definitely be sure to go slow. I was going to use a coping saw I bought, but in all the test cuts I was doing on scrap, I sucked pretty hard! The mahogany of the G400 seems really soft, so it should go pretty smoothly.



For what you are doing, think of it as being more like a very aggressive sandpaper. Put enough pressure on it to make a cut, but as you push harder, the blade will bend sideways, and you will get angled cuts, no matter what kind of blade you have in the thing.


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## Wretched

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm planning on cutting about 1mm or so outside of the cut line to allow for some error and I'll be sure to go slow... when the jigsaw arrives and I've had a chance to do a couple test runs on scrap.


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## Wretched

Haven't got much on for today so I thought I'd get some more work done on the G400. Trimmed and sanded down the first holes I filled using the food skewer method I mentioned earlier. Here's a couple photos of the results. I first chiseled each plug as flat as possible before using a small sanding block:












Here's the back of the headstock with 12 smaller holes to be filled from the old tuning machines. You can see I have just used a dab of Titebond original, made sure there was a little in the hole and turned the plug a little to try and evenly get the glue in there:


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## eddiewarlock

That toothpick wood doesn´t dense at all. I recommend you to fill them with something else.

Be it epoxi mixed with wood dust, or even CA glue. Otherwise those plugged holes might still show after you´ve painted the guitar...


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## bob123

eddiewarlock said:


> That toothpick wood doesn´t dense at all. I recommend you to fill them with something else.
> 
> Be it epoxi mixed with wood dust, or even CA glue. Otherwise those plugged holes might still show after you´ve painted the guitar...



Nah, a good coat or 2 of sanding sealer will prevent this from happening. Pretty much mandatory to use if you want a smooth finish on mahogany anyway. 

If anything, throw some superglue on them now and let them soak in for a while.


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## Wretched

Thanks for the advice. I went out and bought grain filler today as well as some primer and paint that I'm going to test out on some scrap first. I haven't painted anything in years, so some practice will do me good.

Will the grain filler over the areas that I've gone through the poly layer suffice, or is the sanding sealer a different product?


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## bob123

Wretched said:


> Will the grain filler over the areas that I've gone through the poly layer suffice, or is the sanding sealer a different product?



Same stuff, different name. 

However, you get what you pay for. If you have some 6$/gal cheapo stuff, its not gonna work very well 


What did you buy? Deft makes some kickass grain sealer. 

Worse comes to absolute worse, a lot of luthiers use epoxy to seal large opened grained woods like mahogany.


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## Wretched

I got it at Bunnings (think Home Depot) brand. Brand name was Timber Mate. Was AUS$9 for a little 250-gram tub. They say it is 'no shrinkage'. 

I also got some epoxy filler for the two pickguard screw holes and cracking in the middle pickup route which has been filled with resin. I figured it'd need something very hard like epoxy to go with the resin in the cavity.


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## bob123

Wretched said:


> I got it at Bunnings (think Home Depot) brand. Brand name was Timber Mate. Was AUS$9 for a little 250-gram tub. They say it is 'no shrinkage'.
> 
> I also got some epoxy filler for the two pickguard screw holes and cracking in the middle pickup route which has been filled with resin. I figured it'd need something very hard like epoxy to go with the resin in the cavity.



oh you're an aussie!  

Hmm, Im not sure about that brand, but any should work as long as you dont get some cut rate stuff. A couple brands are just "thinned out" and will simply require more coats. 


It will be obvious when you have "enough" on. you'll sand it flat and it will still be visible.


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## Wretched

Cool cool. It recommended 5-10% mix with water for simple grain filling, as did the other two options on the shelf.


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## Wretched

OK, so I took some advice from this forum and used some thin CA glue to harden up the little dowels I glued into each pickguard and tuner screw hole. I'll sand it all smooth again tomorrow, hopefully. See the pics below:











I also got my jigsaw blades in the mail this afternoon and tested out my new jigsaw. I was impressed with the results, in terms of the cleanliness of the cut. These pics are straight cuts... no sanding has been done on the test pieces. I'll practice a little more before attempting the cut on the headstock. I'm going to have to figure out a way to rig things up at the right angle while supporting the body, anyway.


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## Wretched

Got back to sanding today and sanded some meat off the shoulders of the neck. It feels a bit more V-shaped now, with a flat-ish spot in the middle still under the clear layer where I was keen NOT to sand through to the truss rod cavity as I've seen happen to another guy on this forum. I started off with 80-grit paper on a block to do the bulk of the work, then hand handed the edges all smoother and to round over any noticeable ridges etc. It's probably a subtle change, but it wasn't too bad to begin with.
















I also spent some more time practising with the jigsaw and am feeling relatively confident. The clean cut blade I've got in it seems to have decent manners and has provided an exceptionally clean cut every time, no matter the radius I tried to cut.


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## Pikka Bird

Wise move to leave the sealer on the middle alone.


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## Wretched

OK, so I've been a total slack arse about this project over the last month. I can blame work, but it's also been my new Reaper, Superior Drummer and MIDI controller setup! I've been learning about how to pay down tracks and all that stuff which has chewed up most of my spare time...

Anyway, I bought a wood rasp over the weekend and spontaneously grabbed some 1x2in pine scrap and carved a mini test neck out of it. It really helped me learn how a rasp feels and all that jazz. I'm pretty stoked with the result, which included working up to 400-grit before laying on a few coats of oil to seal it and making it shinier.

Not really related to this project, but I felt I had to share anyway. Hopefully it'll be followed up by some updates on the G400 sooner rather than later!


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## Wretched

So I finally got around to doing more on this project. I'd been busy, but really couldn't blame my lack of progress entirely on work...

Anyway, I tackled the reshaping of the headstock over the weekend, using a jigsaw with fine-cut blade, some dowel and sandpaper and a couple hours. I'm pretty happy with the result. It's based on a '50s LP headstock, but modified so it was something more unique. 

As you can see, the thin pearloid rose in the middle sanded through and chipped out, meaning I'll have to fill that.


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## ZXIIIT

Yay!


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## Blue1970Cutlass

Looking good so far! I like your changes & the overall look/concept


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## ZXIIIT

Updates pls?


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## Wretched

Sorry man, I could give you all the excuses in the world but it just hasn't been a priority for me lately. Your request will hopefully light a fire under my butt so I can get back into it.

I think the next stop will be pore filling the front as well as some bog to level out the front surface nicely.


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## ZXIIIT

Wretched said:


> Sorry man, I could give you all the excuses in the world but it just hasn't been a priority for me lately. Your request will hopefully light a fire under by butt so I can get back into it.
> 
> I think the next stop will be pore filling the front as well as some bog to level out the front surface nicely.



No rush  just wondering !


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## Wretched

Was a nice Sunday today. Great weather. The missus had to go out. Perfect time to get out into the shed and do some work on the G400.

I finally got around to filling the grain on the front side where I'd sanded through the poly layer. I also had to fill the remains of the original MOP figure on the head stock and a couple of screw holes in the resin block where the middle humbucker rout once was. I used an epoxy filler for those last two things.

Here are the results:

Grain filled on neck





End grain filled where head stock reshaped





MOP inlay rout filled with epoxy filler





Screw holes from old pickguard in resin filled with epoxy as well





Grain pretty well filled on top of body. Not absolutely perfect, but I thought it was pretty good for a first attempt and it will be a solid colour, not natural, so the undercoat should fill whatever is left.


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## Wretched

OK, got some more done yesterday and today: laid down the first coats of undercoat and sanded those smooth. It immediately made the unfilled grain more apparent and apparently I missed more than I thought. 

I'm not sure whether to use more grain filler now the undercoat is on, or use something else like spray putty or auto filler. Any recommendations?

I like how I can now see better the shape of the head stock and the filled tone holes and output jack hole. I think it's going to look pretty good once done. Really tempted to give it a 'Truckster' style finish with sanded-through primer though!

















A close up of the open grain... advice would be appreciated!


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## Kapee

You could use filler or just spray more primer


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## Wretched

Thanks Kapee. I just laid down a layer of spray putty, which is really not much thicker than the primer, as it turns out. Will wait for it to dry and sand it down and again and see how it looks before either going for another layer of the putty or just go back to using primer.


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## Wretched

About done with the primer coats. I laid down a layer of spray putty, which turned out to be little more than primer and did very little to fill the remaining grain. So, I sanded a fair amount of the top surface down and went over it with grain filler again and it seems to have done the trick. With another two coats of primer down now with sanding between coats, I'm about satisfied and ready to go onto the matte black.

Before that, I thought I'd show you what it's like now with a solid coat of primer, as well as a mock-up with the parts. What do you think so far?

There's no evidence of the old holes left now, so I can really see it as it's meant to be. Nice.


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## Swyse

I'd be temped to leave it in primer, because that looks really good as it is. 

Whats the deal with that stop piece? I've never seen one that didn't hook onto the posts, where as yours looks like you put the posts in through it.


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## Wretched

I sourced all the hardware through GFS. It's a nice, heavy solid brass item. Feels really solid and looks well machined.


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## The Only Factor

I'm liking how this is coming out man! Very cool to see how it was, the steps in between and what it will be when finished. Keep up the awesome work! 

And I can definitely say this much: This is NOT helping my GAS for an SG-bodied 7-string!!!


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## Wretched

Hey all, hoping for some quick advice. With regard to the paint line along the edge of the fretboard due to the masking tape... what do you guys normally do to minimise the edge? Would you remove the tape and feather the primer and re-mask before the colour coats, or leave it and paint the colour coats?


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## eddiewarlock

I always sand my primer...


I usually sand heavy along the fretboard, to not have that line, all you need is to fill the pore with the primer, so if a little bit of the neck shows, don't worry.

Then, shoot your color. 

Use 3M fine line for that, and it'll look real slick.

Then, clear.


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## Wretched

Thanks Eddie. 

So you're saying, yes, remove the tape from the primer stage, sand down the edge and re-tape?

I'll be shooting matte black with no clean, meaning final sand before buffing is not possible. Any advice for that?


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## Wretched

Anyone??? I've got it all sanded down and ready for the matte black, but would love some advice on the paint edge on the fretboard... should I remove the existing tape and feather the primer, then re-tape and hit it with black, or leave it?


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## blaaargh

I'd be somewhat leery of untaping and retaping in case my second taping exposed areas that were covered before or vice versa. I'd just try to sand as close as I could without moving the tape. Get in there with a corner of the sandpaper or something like that. Looking really good so far man!


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## bob123

blaaargh said:


> I'd be somewhat leery of untaping and retaping in case my second taping exposed areas that were covered before or vice versa. I'd just try to sand as close as I could without moving the tape. Get in there with a corner of the sandpaper or something like that. Looking really good so far man!



^


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## Wretched

Thanks guys. I was starting to head in that direction, I think. For similar reasons. Going to get out there and give it one last hit with the sandpaper today and lay down at least one thin coat of the matte black.


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## Wretched

Laid down the first coats of matte black yesterday and was happy to see this particular brand of matte black was actually more satin, which I'd hoped. It'll show off those SG carves nicely when the light hits it from different angles like it does in the initial mock-up.

Will need to find somewhere less dusty to paint though... first coats got more dust in them than I'd like, which is OK for the first coats where I'll be sanding between, but the last coat will have to be as dust free as possible as wet sanding and clear coating isn't on the cards for this one.

Any suggestions?


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## Wretched

Got the second coat of black laid down after an hour or two of sanding the first one smooth. Looks great and as I wet sanded the body down and got water everywhere, it seems to have kept the dust down, with very little noticeable on the guitar.

Another two coats and sanding sessions and I reckon it'll be time for the gold stripes.


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## Kapee

_Most_ of the dust you see after painting is already on the guitars surface, use those sticky dust cloths (i dont know what i should call it in english, lol) to make sure that the guitar is clean.
Otherwise gold stripes sound sexy on satin black  Im excited to see how this baby will come up


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## Wretched

Microfibre cloths? Or is there an actual adhesive in them?


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## Kapee

I looked it up for you, its called Tak-Rag or Tack Cloth.


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## Wretched

Cheers Kapee. Will check it out.

Laid down a third coat today that I think is a keeper. Only, literally, one or two dust spots in the entire coat. I feel if I try for another, fate will see me copping more dust or making a mistake or something. So, considering it's all nicely covered and it's as smooth as I could have hoped for, I'll leave it and let it cure for a couple of days before masking up the stripes.

Bought some gold paint today for lay down the stripes. Getting close! I'm going to have to lay the coats down pretty think to try and minimise paint thickness, I think. Don't want a huge edge to the stripes.

Check out how it looks now. Anything you see now that looks like dust is just dust sitting on the surface and isn't in the paint... thankfully!











Mind the thumb print... Sadly they'll be very common and for the most part, probably not removable. I'm expecting this axe to build up some good patina quick quickly.


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## Empryrean

Makin me want an sg bro xD


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## Swyse

God damn that looks awesome. Legit amazed at how flat and dust free you got that.


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## Wretched

Me too... well, at least on the dust part. The key to the smoothness is sanding between coats.


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## Majkel

The amount of satin (if that's the correct way to phrase it) in that black is just fantastic. If it could be left just like that, and stay just like that after being played, with no need for additional clear coats etc it would be just perfect.

Anyways, amazing project. This is what an SG should look like.


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## Wretched

Thanks man, very nice of you to say.

My Ibz Talman TC420 wears a satin I think you'd like. Can't remember the damned brand name though. But you can clean finger prints right off of it. Even after five years of playing, the forearm bevel hasn't gone shiny from constant rubbing... It was called Hot Rod Black, but damned if I can remember the manufacturer.

I guess these days with the number of satin and matte clear coat options (albeit for proper paint gun-type applications), anything is possible.


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## Wretched

Pretty sure this is it: HR010 HOT ROD BLACK


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## Majkel

Wretched said:


> Pretty sure this is it: HR010 HOT ROD BLACK



Cheers! Thanks a lot mate


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## Wretched

Got the body masked up today for the stripes and have just laid down the first few thin coats to get the coverage. It covers remarkably well over the black.

I scuffed the surface with some 0000 steel wool after masking it all up. Blew it all out and wiped it down. First few coats DID get a little dust in them regardless, which I'll try to knock off with some more steel wool before one final thicker coat.

Here's the body masked up. Hoping the A4 paper I used to mask the wings of the body seals OK. If the solvents get through, it may mark the black underneath. If it does, I'll sand through parts of it and make it look like a worn, patina'd body. If not, then hooray.


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## Swyse

I'd be worried about a thicker coat soaking through the paper, but I don't think a lighter coat will be a problem. a light coat might seal the paper and prevent the thicker coat from soaking thru.


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## Wretched

As I thought, the paint seemed to create some reaction with parts of the satin black. No colour seeped through, it just seemed to cause some hazing or something. However, the paint lines are nice and sharp, which is good. 

So, that leaves me with three options. Only two of which I think are really viable:

1) Leave the gold a few days and mask the outer gold stripes, putting another coat of black down on the body wings. However, that risks lifting the gold.

2) Hitting the entire guitar with 0000 steel wool and obtaining a very matte finish.
QUESTION - Has anyone done this on a dark finish? Will the scratches be visible if you scour the surface long enough? What would you recommend?

3) Giving the guitar the aged look, sanding through parts to the undercoat and old gold finish etc, highlighting areas like the forearm contact surface and areas normally hit by the pick and fingers... I figure if option 2 doesn't look right, I can still use option 3. Which may also remove the slightly raised paint line you always get when you're not sanding the edges down.

What do you think? Which would you choose?


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## CrushingAnvil

Man, I hope you like the way this is turning out but that colour scheme bums me out big time


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## Wretched

It's looking just like the original concept sketch on page one at this point. Aside from the problem with the black, I'm digging it. Didn't want a red or blue or some other primary colour or typical colour scheme look to it and thought silver might be a bit boring as well. The gold is kind of like an ode, or homage to the original colour of the guitar.


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## BlackMastodon

Wretched said:


> As I thought, the paint seemed to create some reaction with parts of the satin black. No colour seeped through, it just seemed to cause some hazing or something. However, the paint lines are nice and sharp, which is good.
> 
> So, that leaves me with three options. Only two of which I think are really viable:
> 
> 1) Leave the gold a few days and mask the outer gold stripes, putting another coat of black down on the body wings. However, that risks lifting the gold.
> 
> 2) Hitting the entire guitar with 0000 steel wool and obtaining a very matte finish.
> QUESTION - Has anyone done this on a dark finish? Will the scratches be visible if you scour the surface long enough? What would you recommend?
> 
> 3) Giving the guitar the aged look, sanding through parts to the undercoat and old gold finish etc, highlighting areas like the forearm contact surface and areas normally hit by the pick and fingers... I figure if option 2 doesn't look right, I can still use option 3. Which may also remove the slightly raised paint line you always get when you're not sanding the edges down.
> 
> What do you think? Which would you choose?



2) YES! 0000 steel wool will leave scratches that are pretty visible on a dark finished body. I just did this to my RG350 and am now using sandpaper to smooth it out. If you want to go this route high grit sandpaper (probably 1500+ would be your best bet).

3)I really hate the aged look so I'm gonna vote no to this option.

Honestly, I'm really liking how this is looking right now. Looks very classy. Maybe option 1 is a good way to go? Whatever you choose, I hope it turns out well for you!


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## Wretched

Might go for the fine grit paper approach. Could have the added benefit of smoothing out the stripes, too. The edges, I mean.

I also noticed (slaps forehead) that the stripes actually slant a little upward at the bridge end of the body. I used the strip button hole as a location for the centreline instead of using the bridge holes... As it turned out, the strap button hole was a few milimetres higher than the actual body centreline... I think once the hardware is attached, it'll be more noticeable, too. Oh well, I suppose it was never going to be perfect.


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## Wretched

Update: Well, after a few days I feel like the effects of the solvents on the satin black surfaces have reduced. So, I'm going ahead and assembling it as-is. I figure one of three things will happen: I'll like it and leave it, I'll damage it enough during assembly that I'll say "Fudge it, let's sand this fugger down or I'll get sick of the solvent damage and choose option two above.

At the end of the day, I guess the satin black is going to get damaged through regular use anyway...

Will post some pics when the thing is back together.


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## blaaargh

I think it looks awesome like it is. Well done dude


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## Wretched

Here's the assembled G400. Just needs wiring, strings and setup. Also waiting on an RGA truss rod cover and control cavity cover.

I think it turned out really well. There's no hint of the old tone pot holes and output jack hole and the markings on the black paint are barely noticeable against the stripes and hardware. In a dark venue or where ever, no one will really notice it but me (perhaps that's the worst person to notice).

Anyway, what do you think? (...and yes, I fit the tuners upside down on purpose so the pegs would look right on the head stock)


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## Majkel

Man, that finish looks great! 
If I _had_ to have an opinion I'd say that perhaps something gold on the truss-rod cover to tie it together would be nice, and I'd really like to see that fretboard dyed darker as it kind of sticks out with a completely different color scheme than the rest of the guitar at the moment.

But I'll say it again: that black is TASTY.


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## Wretched

Thanks man. Fretboard will be cleaned and re-oiled before fresh strings go on. That'll make it darker. Not black, but darker. It actually has a little masking tape adhesive on the upper frets at the moment that makes it look dirty and a little lighter than it is.


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## BlackMastodon

That turned out really well! I'm glad you left it as is.


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## bob123

Came out pretty sweet dude! Nicely done. 

good thing you didn't put a clear coat on haha :d


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## Wretched

Thanks guys! Looking forward to wiring it up and testing it out!


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## HaMMerHeD




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## Wretched

Citizen Kane?


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## Wretched

Just got the RG/RGA truss rod cover from Rich at Ibanezrules.com. Nice fast shipping considering it came from the USA.

Makes the headstock look nicer, no? I felt the angular look of the RG cover would be better than the old traditional Gibson type.


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## Kapee

Wow! That's super sexy!


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## iRaiseTheDead

Wow. Amazing job!


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## Wretched

I've now got my hands on the black control cavity plate (just needs a light sand on one corner to fit) and some shielding paint from StewMac. I started off with the control cavity covered in copper tape, but it just wouldn't stick to the fresh satin paint, so I'm tearing it out and all out and will be painting that and the pickup routs in the shielding paint before wiring it up and seeing how it plays...


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## Jason Spell

Great job in getting the conceptualized look nailed.


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## Wretched

Thanks, man! Despite the small issues with the paint, which now with the hardware on seem even less obvious, I'm pretty chuffed with the result.


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