# RG 470 Refinish



## feraledge (Nov 3, 2013)

So this is my first legit refinish. MIJ Ibanez RG 470. I wasn't a fan of the Copper Penny finish, but the guitar is awesome. 
My initial plans were more ambitious. I was planning on direct mounting the humbuckers, and blocking out the middle pickup and 5 way selector. Once I took off the humbucker rings, my ambitious ideals were out the window. The routes are massive and off center. The single coil block was looking overly complicated and I was thinking I would stick with passives, so the single coil could stick around. 
So the modified plan is a total body refinish, Seymour Duncan Black Winter in the bridge (already in my hands, thanks to Sweetwater), replace the bridge with an OFR, and sand the gloss off the neck. 
Today was day one after stripping the gear down. Had about an hour of sanding in. My first gear refinish was stripping, staining and glossing my Marshall 4x12" cab which I did by hand. That was no joke. Using a palm sander on this and it's ridiculous how much faster this process is going. I'm anticipating another 3 hours of sanding before it's done, most of that being the hand sanding.
Neck is done. That went quick. I was overly excited to see the RG550 stamp on the neck upon removal. Good news, but not as surprising as I would've initially thought. The neck was really fast, it is now the fastest neck I've played. That is saying a lot. 





Then I got some work on the body done. 








Pretty happy to get through the sealer on a chunk on the first pass. The wood is surprisingly uniform and clean. I've been tossing around the idea of painting this which seems like a huge ordeal I'm not too amped on. Seeing how clean this is I'm thinking now about just staining it. I'm much more comfortable with that process and will cost me significantly less money, time and heartbreak. 
I'm still thinking about that one and am open to thoughts on that. 

More to come. Hopefully tomorrow!


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## Daf57 (Nov 3, 2013)

Subbed for updates! This will be a fun project - I refinished an RG last year. I know that sealer is a real b*tch to get sanded off!! Good luck!!


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## feraledge (Nov 3, 2013)

Quick update. 
About another hour of sanding in. Still some sealer on the top. Made good headway on the sides. A bit more work on the back. Still a lot of sanding to go. 
Best news today was getting an awesome deal on a OFR on eBay. So all parts are here or inbound at this point. 
Looking for suggestions for sanding the pickup and trem routes.


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## feraledge (Nov 3, 2013)

The more I look at this wood, the more I'm leaning towards stains and then something different. Possibly a tea stain base and then something like this: 




And satin poly.


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## feraledge (Nov 3, 2013)

And I'm referring to the stains on the planks, not the sign/words part.


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## Randyrhoads123 (Nov 3, 2013)

I played an MIJ Ibanez 470 at guitar center a few weeks ago. It was totally beat to shit, the wiring was ....ed, there were deep scratches on the fretboard, the frets had sharp divits in them, and the hardware was rusted as hell, but I'll be damned if the neck wasn't the fastest playing neck I've EVER played. I almost bought it right there on the spot. So now I'm scouring the internet for a Japenese RG470 or 550/570. 

ANYWAY, subbed. I'm sure this will turn out cool!


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## feraledge (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks! These old ones have RG 550 necks. Totally stoked on this guitar beyond what I would've thought was a lower end Ibanez.


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## feraledge (Nov 4, 2013)

No big updates today, but I'm trying to fast track this process before it stays too cold outside hoping to have this ready to put back together in the next couple weeks. 
I did, however, buy all my stains today and a test strip of basswood to try out my ideas on. If this looks anything like I have pictured in my head it should look really sick. 
Stoked!


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## fastmerc (Nov 5, 2013)

Did you find a decent piece of basswood under the paint? I find only 1 in 10 or so is worthy of actually being stained.


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## feraledge (Nov 5, 2013)

fastmerc said:


> Did you find a decent piece of basswood under the paint? I find only 1 in 10 or so is worthy of actually being stained.



I had the stain out of mind until I sanded it down to see that the basswood is really clean and uniform. The stain won't be bringing out any really impressive grain patterns that I can see, but my stain idea should look good either way.


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## feraledge (Nov 5, 2013)

Very slight update today. Didn't have time to really work on it, but I did do a test run on my water based stains to see how they meshed on a basswood ply. Unfortunately the project basswood is about 2 steps above balsa wood, so it's not helpful enough to give a total indication or good enough to post pics of, but the results are positive. I'm really amped on where this is going. 
And if it doesn't look good? I can just resand it and go back to the painting idea.


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## dedsouth333 (Nov 6, 2013)

Man if I'm thinking what you're thinking about the signs you posted, then this is going to turn out amazing. Best of luck! I can't wait to see the finished product


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## feraledge (Nov 6, 2013)

dedsouth333 said:


> Man if I'm thinking what you're thinking about the signs you posted, then this is going to turn out amazing. Best of luck! I can't wait to see the finished product



Me too!

Also, the signs are a part of this. I'm doing a water based, distressed stain base layer that is going to be a subtle green with brown/purple/grey for the distress/dirt, the wood stain above is the final layer. 

And burst with steel wool? Yes please.


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## feraledge (Nov 6, 2013)

And adding to the list of unanswered questions here: matte poly, tung oil, or butcher block finisher to top it off?


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## dedsouth333 (Nov 6, 2013)

Yes! So friggin' subbed. I'm a huge fan of old, distressed woods. Anywhere from decorating to vehicles (I'm also a huge fan of rat rods ). It's going to be extremely interesting to see this on a guitar.


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## feraledge (Nov 6, 2013)

I'm kind of thinking "old fencepost" chic.


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## dedsouth333 (Nov 6, 2013)

feraledge said:


> I'm kind of thinking "old fencepost" chic.



 Exactly. Old, delapidated, been sitting in the sun/wind/snow/rain for 20 years. Absolutely! I love it. Like a lighter knot with strings and pups


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## Randyrhoads123 (Nov 6, 2013)

feraledge said:


> And adding to the list of unanswered questions here: matte poly, tung oil, or butcher block finisher to top it off?



Tung oil smells! Finished a guitar with it once and my house smelled like it for months!


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## feraledge (Nov 7, 2013)

Forgive the tease update. I got the OFR in the mail today. I genuinely feared that the minty $80 OFR that I got was a serious sketch invitation, so I was absolutely stoked to check it out and see that it's real deal and looks like it never even had strings in it. 
Fits in the cavity well. I might have to use the old anchors till I can replace them with black ones or expand the thread on the current sinks. It does leave a bit more room on the bass end compared to the Lo-TRS. So all hopes to leave the trem cavity as is are gone. I'm stopping at the hardware store in the morning to check out some bits to get that cleaned up. 

I'm way too excited about how this is shaping up and trying to pace myself so I don't do something stupid. Like, "I think the sealer is sanded down far enough".


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## darren (Nov 7, 2013)

Aww, I always loved the New Penny finish.


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## feraledge (Nov 10, 2013)

I have one thing to say: sealer is a motherf*cker. For real. 
Nearly all of the paint is completely gone. Most of the sides are totally done. Sealer on the top and bottom of the body are no joke. I used 80 grit paper today whereas I used 100 before. The difference is huge. I probably would be considerably further along if I started at 80. 
If you're just thinking about getting started with a refinish, this is what three hours with a power sander looks like. I'm really, really getting antsy for the staining part and then putting this back together with the new parts (OFR and Black Winter for the bridge). 
















And, add this to my "notes for the future" list. 
Don't get too antsy with making progress and using the power sander on the horns. It's *very* easy to go too far and lose some form. It's not really bad, but thankfully I'm planning on keeping this.




Also, once the sealer is removed the basswood is really sensitive. Be careful of your workspace once you get to this point.


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## feraledge (Nov 10, 2013)

Also, if you're wondering when you know you're through the sealer. The feel of the wood is totally different, but if even semi-decent light it's totally obvious.


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## dedsouth333 (Nov 10, 2013)

Looks like you're making some killer progress man. I can't wait to see it stained up and put back together


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## feraledge (Nov 14, 2013)

Not a ton of progress, but I'm so close to being ready to stain that I can taste it. Or is that just the sawdust? Two tiny spots of sealer on the front. About a half hour worth of sanding to do left on the back and some hand sanding on the horns and trem cavity. 
I got some spray electrical tape that I'm going to spray over the pickup cavities and probably the trem as well.









Wish I had more time to just get this done faster!


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## feraledge (Dec 8, 2013)

I had hoped to get this done before Thanksgiving, but that was pretty unrealistic. I have a few too many projects going on at once and not enough time. But this is definitely getting closer to the end zone. 
Some more sanding and started on hand sanding. Basically just have to finish inside the horns. I'm still not sure what I want to do about the upper trem cavity, even with a dremel tool this is going to be obnoxious. 
Here's where it's at now:





















Working on routing another guitar right now, but the battery on my crappy dremel died quickly, so I went back to this. Hopefully I'll be able to work on both tomorrow.


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## feraledge (Jan 2, 2014)

Finally got back to this, sanding done, and first round of staining done. 
BUT I'm not sure I like the direction this is going. The stains I used aren't what I was hoping for. The coloring was off and inconsistent, the difference in colors was minimal. I sanded it back to get a worn look, but I was thinking the base layer (under the distress-burst black) would be more subtle, but I'm not sure this is going to work out as planned. 
The "distress" is intentional, but I'm not sure I like it. 
I'm open to opinions on it, but I'm leaning more towards getting it painted. I'm realizing that I don't have the time and resources to do this myself. Unfortunately the cost of the painting might put this off a bit longer, but I'm on the fence. I'm not sure this is coming out as envisioned...

Bummer.

Thoughts?


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 3, 2014)

Call me weird but I actually like it haha. It's got an old Louisville Slugger look to it. Like those 50 year old ones you find in a barn somewhere


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## Neilzord (Jan 3, 2014)

Leave it like that and put a blue / green stain over it too to make the lighter bits a colour? 

Could look cool with nice gloss coat afterwards!?!


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## SoItGoesRVA (Jan 3, 2014)

Take a blow-torch to that S.O.B. Make it super-distressed


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## schwiz (Jan 3, 2014)

You can achieve a "burst" effect if you lightly sand off some of the stain then use a different color in the middle. A red, or cherry stain might make this look pretty rad.


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## Prophetable (Jan 3, 2014)

I like the effect you have on it. The spots around the single coil pickup is a bit too sanded, though. I think you should toy with it a little more. I think you're on to something nice.


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## metalmonster (Jan 3, 2014)

Oh that's so funny, i happen to have a RG470 too, and happen to refinish it as well. 

I actually did a BIG mistake when 5 years younger : sand the guitar down (which was made properly and carefully) seal the wood (was also really well done), then glue tons of stupid images printed with some crappy inkjet printer, then put lacquer onto this. 

People were always like "aaaah that's so awesome and all" but actually it was a major pain in the ass to have. It ended up looking disgusting to me. 

The good surprise was when i finally decided to strip off the finish though. For some reason, the glue under the papier pieces weakened so bad i took it off almost completely in one hour. Just a little sanding, and now i have a perfectly clean guitar body thanks to my efforts in sanding and sealing properly the wood (my sealant was awesome, but i can't remember what it was). 

Fun facts : i also happen to have a RG550 neck on mine. And yeah, this guitar is pretty awesome. 

I also tried to stain the wood, with results as disgusting as yours ... sadly ... 

... so i'm getting two cans of charcoal grey (matte finish) and i'm gonna paint it. Lazy, but i think it'll be efficient. 

And i'm putting all the metal parts in coke, then rub them with steel wool (very fine steel wool) and apply some silicone "dry" lubrificant, to get all the rust off ... and putting my SD SH6 in bridge and a SH1 in neck, and any single coil that's noiseless in middle. 

I am very curious about you swapping the bridge for an OFR : please give me feedback,i want to do exactly this. 

I hope my 2nd refinishing does not turn out as stupid as the first one (but i'm pretty sure matte paint will end up OK-looking), because i'm dying to use it. A lot. Since the neck is ... you know how it is


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## Jonisbrutal (Jan 4, 2014)

This is awesome. I'm actually in the process of refinishing my 2000 MIJ ibanez rg 470 too. Great guitar, I got mine for $170 with a hard shell case when I was 13, well now I'm 21, it's time to bring her back to life. Haha I'm going with a pick guard and black stain. Mine has an "RG 550R #2" neck, which I love to death.


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## metalmonster (Jan 4, 2014)

Just cleaned the shit out of each and every metal part on the guitar today. Good ol' WD40 (discovered the product today, super awesome, 3,44&#8364; for a small bottle, super investment), toothbrush and old rotten shirt. 

Dismantled the floyd rose down to screws and small metal parts, cleaned it all, then re-mounted it ... and it's F*** PRISTINE now ! And it makes me want to have the guitar completely rebuilt (that's what i'm doing), with brand new strings and my favorite setting in POD farm and shred like there's no tomorrow.

The tuners got their WD40 as well, and so the headstock looks a lot cleaner as well. My brother said "factory-clean". 

Turns out the coca-cola was drank  

Happens i surprised myself for doing all this work in such a fast, precise and orderly way. I think eating a lot more fish and trying to exercise does help my brain perform better on a cognitive level, and i remark my short-term memory is A LOT better. 

Anyway ... i also bought some rust-o-leum "universal" that's supposed to act as sealant and paint in the same time.

I was glad while stripping my previous refinishing (which was basically stupid pieces of papier glued to it with a ton of various furniture lacquers onto this. Crap) that the sealant was still there, almost intact. A little sanding with 100-grit and i've a smooth, hard, beautiful surface to paint on. 

I am not putting lacquer on the guitar since people who use this paint to refinish cars don't, unless they want some kind of "rare" finish.

Since i'm lazy, i chose satin white. Because my walls are white. Because i'm using a closet to make a "dexter's kill room" to paint the guitar the cleanest way possible, but don't want to have to re-paint my closet after doing my paintjob 

The wood's color is pretty light as well, so one coat will be sufficient to make the guitar white, and a few coats (i plan on 5-6) will give me a pretty decent finish. 

Tomorrow I'm painting the shit out of this guitar, and it'll nice, clean, relaxing white. I'm excited, can't wait to play it  . If i feel it's good enough (and it perfectly can be good enough, my hopes are getting a lot higher seeing i basically solved all the issues i had with the guitar ... 

Next week, if everything goes as planned, i'm getting new electronics for it. And installing the SH6 in bridge position, waiting to get a neck pickup, i'm not putting that V7 back, ever. I think a SH1 will go great.


PS : funny we all seem to really, really dig that neck


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2014)

Okay. So I walked away from this for a bit to get some perspective and I really appreciate all the feedback. 
First off, the photo I posted probably didn't really reflect what it looked like, just how I saw it at the moment. It wasn't quite as high contrast in the "distress" areas as it looks in the pic. 
Either way, I just was judging preemptively. Had a 1 AM decision to stay the course and see where it took me. I'm pretty happy with where I'm at so far. I sanded this down to a really light grey to light brown burst and then added about 5 layers of a "walnut burst" with a base layer of very, very thin "tea-stain" (not actual tea stain though, I don't feel like giving the color another week to slowly develop). I admit that I have a problem with "distress" where my shut off isn't very intuitive, so hopefully I didn't go into overkill. 
No point in taking pics tonight. When it's dry in the morning and I give it another quick sanding, I'll take some pics and see what I think of where it is before moving onto the next step. 
I'm a little iffy about my original idea of building up a "distressed" old fence post base before doing the final gray/black burst and going over that with steel wool. I'm just thinking that the steel wool "distress" won't look as good with the guitar as is. 
I guess I'll have to see where I'm at tomorrow.


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2014)

Okay, I lied. Here's a pic, but keep in mind this is still wet, pre-sanding, and with bad lighting, so the "burst" looks more uneven than it really is. 

Also, don't judge me on the sink, as far as I'm concerned it's my landlord's problem. But I was also sorting laundry. It happens...


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2014)

metalmonster said:


> I am very curious about you swapping the bridge for an OFR : please give me feedback,i want to do exactly this.



The OFR is a direct replacement. However, the bridge mounting screws are a different size than the TRS ones, so you have to swap the anchors or use the old screws. I think I'm going to use the old ones, but it does fit perfectly.


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## metalmonster (Jan 5, 2014)

Nice ! Don't worry 'bout the sink, i've been there bro, i know how it is ... so glad i have my apartment now. 

As for me ... first layer of rustoleum satin white ! They seemed to use that exact paint on cars a lot, and doing great jobs with it so i'm givin' it a shot on a guitar (since it's an all-purpose paint, that is designed to work even without primer and all). 

By the way, i now know how to paint a car for cheap. So when i'll get to a point in my life i can afford an used car, i'll repaint it. Totally doing that. 

Hope my job turns out OK, i use a dresser as mini-painting-booth 

And as for the OFR ... My WD-40 cleaning did actual miracles, my takeuchi looks brand new (almost, still shows a little wear on the plating, but nothing too serious).


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## metalmonster (Jan 5, 2014)

... ok, it's gonna look awesome. I am SO loving that satin white, it's a fantastic color, first coat's drying and it's already hiding all the imperfections out of being white and satin, and bringing to life all the lines of the body. I'm really excited now.


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## metalmonster (Jan 5, 2014)

Ok, my first coat went OK , but i've put too much paint here and there... so i'll wait like 24hr minimum and then sand a bit, and add a super thin "decorative" layer. 

But that's about it, my guitar body never looked THAT good, i'm really, really loving white actually.

edit : sorry for the 3 consecutive posts ...


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2014)

metalmonster - let's see some pics!!

So, this isn't super helpful, but this is where I was at this morning. I over sanded the bottom half of the body and lost the burst a bit. I put a couple more layers on it and it's drying right now. Pretty stoked!


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## Prophetable (Jan 5, 2014)

That is looking even better.


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## metalmonster (Jan 5, 2014)

Hm ! Looks nice ... you should put a gloss finish on it, to bring the wood to life. 

and for pics ... well, i'll try when i can touch the guitar to take picture with my webcam (or i'll charge my DSLR batteries, but that's not gonna happen, i don't know where the charger is. Or the batteries. Or the DSLR  but don't worry, i have a pretty good webcam  . ) . Seriously starts to look good, except that i still have to wait for it to dry completely, and sand the excess paint off (actually , there won't be much sanding necessary, it's just that i want a pretty smooth finish) and then one more coat, and then lots of polishing, to get a finish as smooth as possible. 

Tough task to paint though. So easy to mess ...

ps : i dig your collection of cooking books.


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2014)

Top stain: DONE

Back sides getting done in one shot tonight, going for a single solid color. Easy.

Then the poly process begins. And this bad boy is going to be matte.


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2014)

What a difference 12 hours can make!


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 5, 2014)

feraledge said:


> metalmonster - let's see some pics!!
> 
> So, this isn't super helpful, but this is where I was at this morning. I over sanded the bottom half of the body and lost the burst a bit. I put a couple more layers on it and it's drying right now. Pretty stoked!



Holy shit! I'm digging this more and more. I really need to find some sort of project like this. This is really inspiring me to make a "lighter knot" guitar. Awesome work KT!


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 5, 2014)

Dude! Hell yes! 

I think matte is the way to go, too.


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## feraledge (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks man!! I'm not stoked on the upcoming poly work, but hot damn am I stoked to have this back together and shred on it. I put the pieces on to see how it looked after I went darker with the stains, this "walnut distress burst" with the rosewood fretboard looks KILLER.

And to anyone who is thinking about a project like this with no real experience on this kind of work, it takes a TON of time, but man am I stoked. And that I got this guitar for $150! Oh yeah. RG550 neck (first run 470s got the remainders), made in Japan goodness. I sanded it down a bit and the neck flies. Plus getting a minty OFR for $70 (it's all about waiting for the badly timed auctions!). I'm stoked to hear what the Black Winter will sound like too.


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Jan 5, 2014)

feraledge said:


> Thanks man!! I'm not stoked on the upcoming poly work, but hot damn am I stoked to have this back together and shred on it. I put the pieces on to see how it looked after I went darker with the stains, this "walnut distress burst" with the rosewood fretboard looks KILLER.
> 
> And to anyone who is thinking about a project like this with no real experience on this kind of work, it takes a TON of time, but man am I stoked. And that I got this guitar for $150! Oh yeah. RG550 neck (first run 470s got the remainders), made in Japan goodness. I sanded it down a bit and the neck flies. Plus getting a minty OFR for $70 (it's all about waiting for the badly timed auctions!). I'm stoked to hear what the Black Winter will sound like too.


I got my set of Black Winters for my RG a few months back, & all I can say is they are AMAZING. IMO they are the best passives you could ever use for metal & anything hard.


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 5, 2014)

Man I bet it does! I'm glad you decided to go ahead and see what it was going to do. It's coming together awesomely.


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## feraledge (Jan 6, 2014)

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm floating pretty high on this right now after thinking I was going to have to jump ship. I just needed a few days away from it. 
I can't wait to have it finished. I'll probably end it by continuing to do this 1 AM work once my girls are completely settled in bed and I'm in the safe zone. Sucks because I go back to work tomorrow, but I'm just pumped to play this guitar!!


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## metalmonster (Jan 7, 2014)

as for my job, paint has finished drying hard enough for me to sand down the imperfections. 

I've just sprayed a super-thin layer on top of it, starts looking not-too-messy, actually the new paint coat hides imperfections pretty well. Phew ! Painting is a tough job ...

my theory about the superthin layer is that it'll dry very fast, it's already looking more dry 5 minutes after the application.

edit : a few imperfections will stay visible after this coat, but the guitar now looks very nice. I think i'll go to the local "french home depot" store to get some 200, 400 and 800-grit sandpaper to finish the job after this coat, and apply another coat that i'll go 800-grit with, then i'll see. Probably my paint will be OK then and all i'll have to do will be to use some kind of guitar or car polish, since i used a paint that's supposed to hold up pretty well on a car (or anything, it's for any surface).


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## BillNephew (Jan 7, 2014)

I bought a RG570 that needed refinishing on the body. I might just steal your burst idea if you don't mind haha. Do keep posting pics, this has been awesome to see as it progressed!


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## metalmonster (Jan 7, 2014)

Ok ... my paintjob seems about done. And ... white makes all the imperfections show off, but that's also because the paint's still not dry and because i'm a perfectionist. 

And i think sanding/buffing will remove 90% of the imperfections, leaving a decent-looking guitar behind (i'm starting to think about asking a girl i know to draw stuff on it, too, she's pretty artsy).


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## BlaK-Argentina (Jan 7, 2014)

metalmonster said:


> Ok ... my paintjob seems about done. And ... white makes all the imperfections show off, but that's also because the paint's still not dry and because i'm a perfectionist.
> 
> And i think sanding/buffing will remove 90% of the imperfections, leaving a decent-looking guitar behind (i'm starting to think about asking a girl i know to draw stuff on it, too, she's pretty artsy).



Dude, get a bottle of Meguiars Ultimate Compound. That stuff works WONDERS. I'm buffing my Schecter which I got painted 10 days ago and I only wet sanded with 1200 grit. 3 passes of Meguiars in one spot leaves it like a freaking mirror.


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## Jonisbrutal (Jan 8, 2014)

I'm in the process of staining my mij ibanez rg 470 black as well, any tips, or words of wisdom? I posted a thread, but no one replied on it. I've never stained a basswood guitar before. Thank you for your time! 
Your guitar is looking awesome!


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## metalmonster (Jan 8, 2014)

@black-argentina : oh this product seems lovely. I'm definitely getting some to make my guitar handsome ! 

Well my guitar dried overnight : almost every imperfection reduced 90% , and now i'm super-motivated to grab some 1000 and 1500-grit sandpaper and do some wetsanding. The small problems will disappear (according to a few websites), leaving a smooth, nice surface. 

And then i'll use the meguiar's to finish her off. 

And in one month (to let things stabilize really well) i'm putting some car wax (carnauba wax) and get a finish that will be more resistent and really bright. 

I don't regret painting that guitar white. This color is gorgeous. It jumps to your eyes and bring out all the lines of the body ...

Can't wait to wetsand, polish, and play it for the "first" time


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## Riffer Madness (Jan 8, 2014)

lookin good ferraledge 

i used to have an old grey ash plank like that just big enough for a jackson dinky body, but planing it ruined that old fencepost look and ive been wanting a finish like that ever since.


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## feraledge (Jan 8, 2014)

Jonisbrutal said:


> I'm in the process of staining my mij ibanez rg 470 black as well, any tips, or words of wisdom? I posted a thread, but no one replied on it. I've never stained a basswood guitar before. Thank you for your time!
> Your guitar is looking awesome!


 
Good luck!
Are you doing a solid color or multicolor? For the top I used a thin water based stain with a ton of layers and sanding. The sides and back will be a single coat of darker color, but I'm admittedly bit worried to be sure that nothing drips onto the front. Just taking my time.
note that the cut away part of the front will take stains way differently than the rest. It's a bit more porous so it'll look darker and need a lot of sanding.
If you're going for layers and/or effect, don't do what I did where I got really discouraged after the first go. There is a process to getting your vision to come through. 
With the water based stains, they dry relatively quickly, which is nice for layering, but dry to the touch doesn't mean that it has set yet. Always go light to dark if you plan on layering quickly and be mindful of how wet your applicator is. I used cotton balls. And it takes a ton of them.


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## Jonisbrutal (Jan 8, 2014)

I just did my first coat of black stain on the top today. Came out pretty dark, I'm going I do another coat tomorrow. I'm going with a nice stained black, like the meshuggah guitars. With a pick guard. (I'm thinking about a white pearl one).


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## metalmonster (Jan 9, 2014)

The paint coat is getting a lot more smooth now it's drying up. I mean, it had been dry since two days now, but it's getting more dry and it looks a lot better.

I even reassembled the guitar just to look at it and yeah, it's beautiful.

The plan now is to : 
wait a bit (to get the paint more-than-dry) 
wetsand
apply meguiars (i've been checking on that one, it seems fabulous)
wait for a month
apply meguiars carnuba wax (this was is also used on instruments and sold by planet waves. Only thing, i'll have a big-ass container)

So i'm also polishing my strat as well (since the product my friend black-argentina recommended is for any worn finish) and applying some wax on it as well. I'm planning on de-rusting its metal parts as soon as i'll get the ibby rockin'. So i'll have two 6-string guitars in very good shape ... 

I'm definitely trading the strat for for a 7 string of equal value  Now i'm considering it since the "wow" factor of my ibanez is pretty high (and there are still a few hard-to-see runs and imperfections that will go away in no time when i'll wetsand and polish. Or at least be so minimal i'll accomodate them).


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## metalmonster (Jan 12, 2014)

@feraledge : all this Ibanez story got me thinking a lot, and i've been trading my deluxe player strat for a 1989 RG560 ibby, some guy was offering a trade for this axe, and i thought "why not ? " and i ended up with that guitar instead of my mexican strat, and i'm really, really, super-happy to have it. Really a great axe, if you like the 470, you really should try to at least test one of these (the 560 is the sister of the very well-known 550). It sounds and plays gorgeous, and the original edge being factory-clean makes me go crazy. And these super-clean frets/fretboard/neck ... 


i actually feel like i've spent a ton of money while i didn't spent a dime since it was a trade. That's weird.


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## feraledge (Jan 15, 2014)

I finished the staining on the back and sides, I'm ready to do the poly but it's taking forever to dry and it's driving me nuts. So ready to shred this mighty axe again.


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 15, 2014)

Dude, I can't wait to see it finished! It's going to be awesome


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## metalmonster (Jan 15, 2014)

ME TOO ! 

took forever to dry.


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## feraledge (Jan 22, 2014)

Question: I'm reading that doing a mineral oil finish over stains won't pull the stain up. Can anyone speak to this? Does it sound safe for me to use on my finish?


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## feraledge (Jan 25, 2014)

Ended up doing a wipe on poly. Last coat was 24 hours ago and SHOULD be dry by now, but my basement has a bit more moisture than it probably should. The anticipation is killing me since it's so close to done. 
So this is a teaser update, but I want anyone else who is antsy about this refinish to share my anticipation. 
But this could be back together and ready to shred within 24 hours. Considering I started this around Halloween and was hoping to have it done by Thanksgiving, I'm super stoked to welcome this guitar back into the arsenal.


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 26, 2014)

Duuuuude! Post it up as soon as it's done. This has been a long time in the making and we're all ready to see this beast


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## feraledge (Jan 26, 2014)

Teaser pic before reassembly. I'll have my wife take the final pics with her camera. 






And I do have foam for the trem cavity.


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## youngthrasher9 (Jan 26, 2014)

SoItGoesRVA said:


> Take a blow-torch to that S.O.B. Make it super-distressed



I was taking this god awful finish off of a cheap strat copy a while back with a heat gun (the _only_ thing that worked), and the POS caught fire. I put it out, but it caught fire in about 16 other places after that. I decided "what the hell, it looks kinda cool" after about the 8th time it tried to commit suicide by fire. 

It's rough but awesome and it has a story, so I never ended up putting paint on it. It's awaiting pickups currently.


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## youngthrasher9 (Jan 26, 2014)

feraledge said:


> Teaser pic before reassembly. I'll have my wife take the final pics with her camera.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It looks great!


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## zilla (Jan 27, 2014)

feraledge said:


> Teaser pic before reassembly. I'll have my wife take the final pics with her camera.



This is exactly the concept i had in mind for my 'hog partscaster..

distressed/weathered look but adding some burn marks from a blowtorch too.


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## feraledge (Jan 28, 2014)

AHHHH!! Set up limbo.
The truss rod cavity is too tight for my wrench. First time this has ever happened. I'm slowly chiseling away with a small, sharp flat head screwdriver, but it's an added step that is making this take even longer. 
That and my daughters seem to know that I want to work on this and have been staying up super late. Good thing I love them. 
SOOO close. Just finishing the set up and soldering. I left most of the wiring intact so it's just the output and wiring the pickups back in. I can feel it.

JUST... NEED... MORE... TIME...


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 28, 2014)

Aaargh!! The suspense is killing me! It looks amazing, though.


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## sifi2112 (Jan 28, 2014)

That's looking really good, like the finish mate


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## feraledge (Jan 29, 2014)

This guitar is killing me...
I got to the wiring this morning, but I immediately realized that my notes to follow the existing wiring made sense, but the wiring didn't. I'm amazed this guitar worked in the first place. Someone took liberties of putting the original pickups back in before parting ways with it and they had an interesting interpretation of how it could work. There are so many extra wires and solder points that I'm thinking about scraping the original pots and redoing the entire thing. Either way, I had to walk away from it. Extremely irked and just read to be able to full on play this guitar again.


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## BillNephew (Jan 30, 2014)

If you're going for the stock wiring, I can probably draw up a diagram for you. You just need a code for a Seymour Duncan in the bridge, and the stock pickups in the middle and neck positions, right? If you're using the stock 5 way switch, I can probably make something for you to follow.


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## feraledge (Jan 30, 2014)

BillNephew said:


> If you're going for the stock wiring, I can probably draw up a diagram for you. You just need a code for a Seymour Duncan in the bridge, and the stock pickups in the middle and neck positions, right? If you're using the stock 5 way switch, I can probably make something for you to follow.



That would be AMAZING!! Definitely would be much appreciated. It's got the original 5 way switch, but there are a number of added wires and solder points, so I could definitely take a straight forward diagram with the ground wires. 
Will trade pos rep for useable diagrams!!


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 30, 2014)

Damn, man. This really sucks to hear. This guitar has given you hell. It'll all be worth it in the end.


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## feraledge (Jan 30, 2014)

dedsouth333 said:


> Damn, man. This really sucks to hear. This guitar has given you hell. It'll all be worth it in the end.



It definitely will. I just think the closer to the "end" I get the more anxious the setbacks make me. 
But I'm handling it fine after another NGD today.



....I have a problem....


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 30, 2014)

But it's the best problem I've ever seen someone have. Not to mention you have impecable taste and it feeds my GAS pretty hard.


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## feraledge (Jan 30, 2014)

That's what we're all here for, right? Just feeding the GAS frenzy?


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## zilla (Jan 30, 2014)

WDU-HSH5L11-01

This wiring diagram should help you.


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## dedsouth333 (Jan 30, 2014)

feraledge said:


> That's what we're all here for, right? Just feeding the GAS frenzy?



 

That is absolutely right.


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## metalmonster (Jan 30, 2014)

I'm in sync ! And oddly enough i also used a "standard" wrench from the local HW store to set the neck ... what i've done for the electronics isto rewire everything with brand new pots and switch. 

Much easier that way, even if i got a funky switch that is not standard at all, but some research made me the master the art of putting this all together quickly, actually it's the first time i wire a guitar and it works fine at the 1st try, and i feel like an expert now. The guitar plays and sounds really good. Definitely a great addition to my arsenal. 

I still have a few things to do on this guitar to make it perfect, basically i need screws for the pickups, and a big decal on the guitar, because the paintjob ended up looking pretty ghetto, especially with my duct-tape-cavity-covers.

What does not look ghetto is the electronics, neck, and hardware, i did a very good job here, and these parts look beautiful. So in (almost) conclusion : i am happy i made that guitar playable. I'm unhappy i sanded the body in the first place (5 years ago), because that was a terrible idea given my paint skills.


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## metalmonster (Feb 4, 2014)

Well ... the 470 now works and it's basically a cool axe, but i'm there today to say my '89 RG560 (550's sister) i recently got is 10 times more awesome. And if you like the 470 i can definitely recommend you check these out, they come pretty cheap (mine was for sale at 400&#8364; but i traded my my mex "deluxe player" strat for it) and ... well ... i have a shredder-ection just thinking about it, a real keeper as in "when my guitar is away from me i am slowly and painfully dying".


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## feraledge (Feb 4, 2014)

I haven't been able to get to the soldering yet. With both of my girls sick and miserable it's hard to get some time upstairs to work on it. It's all set up otherwise. Plays amazing.











Note: It will have the volume, but I don't have it on fully yet because that pot is a mess and is hard to work with "in position".


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## metalmonster (Feb 4, 2014)

Looks amazing


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## dedsouth333 (Feb 4, 2014)

Man, the more that guitar comes together, the more I like it. I've got to look into getting one finished similarly. It just looks awesome!


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## CrushingAnvil (Feb 4, 2014)

I hope you like your new refin'd guitar, but I'm sorry - why do people ruin nice RG's like this with boring finishes?


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## feraledge (Feb 4, 2014)

CrushingAnvil said:


> I hope you like your new refin'd guitar, but I'm sorry - why do people ruin nice RG's like this with boring finishes?


 

I do. Thanks. Guess I'm just boring. Sorry for ruining your day.


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## dedsouth333 (Feb 4, 2014)

CrushingAnvil said:


> I hope you like your new refin'd guitar, but I'm sorry - why do people ruin nice RG's like this with boring finishes?



What the .... man? What a d'bag comment to make.


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## guitarfreak1387 (Feb 6, 2014)

CrushingAnvil said:


> why do people ruin nice RG's like this with boring finishes?



Cus they refinish it to their own liking, not some asshat's liking.


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## zilla (Feb 6, 2014)

CrushingAnvil said:


> I hope you like your new refin'd guitar, but I'm sorry - why do people ruin nice RG's like this with boring finishes?



just so we're clear...

this





is more boring than this






right.


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