# Ibanez scale conversion/7th string/refinish



## cerfew (Dec 9, 2010)

This isn't a thread asking what I should do, this is documenting what I'm currently doing (just so I don't get any posts saying 'it's a waste of time').

My friend had an Ibanez Gio (you know, the $5 guitars), and he also wanted a 7 string. After building my 7, he asked me if we could convert his guitar to a 7 string and I said sure, why not, I had extra wood left over to make a new neck out of.

I used the site Calculating Fret Positions to figure out the scale conversion- by adding 1 fret behind the nut, I increased the 25.5" scale to 27.016." Woo! perfect for a 7 string.

So far, I have routed out the neck pocket to accomodate the new neck. I will be replacing the Gio-style neck plate with Rg-style bolt bushings for a smoother feel.

The new bridge is going to be a flatmount, whereas the previous was one of those Strat-like tremolos. I have routed a cavity around the old spring cavity in the shape of a perfect rectangle, as well as around the bridge route, so they can be filled in solid with a chunk of Maple. I'm curious to see how this is going to sound...

PICTURES COMING SOON!!!


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## ralphy1976 (Dec 9, 2010)

good luck man, building threads are always a win in my opinion!!!


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## cerfew (Dec 11, 2010)

Pics. Guitar all stripped...







Planned new neck pocket:










Odd shape will be explained later.

Paint stripped:





I used a big machine belt sander to get the top and bottom, and a spindle sander (spinning dildo sander... lmao) to get the sides. I had to use a rasp & sandpaper to get the round edges, that was a pain in the ass.






Modified lower horn, and hardly visible bevel. Nobody is gonna be able to tell this was a GIO, lol...






Truss rod access. Anyone have an idea for a cover plate? The headstock is going to be painted black.

This guitar is pretty much a cheap piece of shit though. The routes look hand-done, and are horrible. Looks like the router bit was dull as hell too. The body is made from MANY pieces of maple glued together, with a shitty looking plywood veneer thrown on the top and bottom. 






Also, I routed around the bridge cavity and spring cavity, and filled them in with blocks. The bridge one can be seen above, here is the spring cavity:






The bridge route came out a little tighter, but I was still happy with how well the pieces fit. I can fill the gap in with wood putty.


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## BlackMastodon (Dec 11, 2010)

Very well done. Can't wait to see the finished product. You basically took a Gio and made it into a Prestige, or at least will be.


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## clouds (Dec 11, 2010)

Keep the updates comin!


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## Mordacain (Dec 11, 2010)

Awesome work so far man! I love following the project threads. Keep at it!


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## OrsusMetal (Dec 11, 2010)

More stuff like this needs to happen, way more often. I'll be watching this thread! Keep up the great work!


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## cerfew (Dec 18, 2010)

SOB! I just wrote out a whole post with a ton of pics in it, then actually clicked the wrong button and went away from the page... lost all my progress. :O it's past midnight, and I don't feel like retyping it all. update coming tomorrow


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## jymellis (Dec 18, 2010)

cerfew said:


> SOB! I just wrote out a whole post with a ton of pics in it, then actually clicked the wrong button and went away from the page... lost all my progress. :O it's past midnight, and I don't feel like retyping it all. update coming tomorrow


 

FUK


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## OrsusMetal (Dec 18, 2010)

Damnit! Hurry up and post again!!!  I want to see more of this.


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 18, 2010)

crap, how did I miss this thread?


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## cerfew (Dec 18, 2010)

Well, here is the new neck joint:





And from the side:






Much better than the stock GIO steel plate, lol.

Neck bolted on, bridge placed:






That was actually my most exciting moment right there, lol. I'm going to have to design my own pickguard, because the stock one no longer fits well between the neck and the bridge- there's about a cm gap from the bridge, and the neck protrudes about 8mm into the neck humbucker pocket. The blank material is on the way, I think I'm going to make a template and just route it out.

I stained the fretboard black. It looks pretty good, but I can't get a decent picture of it, sorry. I also did the walnut headstock laminate; I'm hoping that with the clear coat it's going to look gorgeous.






And, I found that since the center of the guitar is maple, the stomach comfort bevel has some REALLY nice flame going on... So I stained it, and it's going to be clear, just right there. Lol.






The rest of the guitar will be gray, with a black strip of faux-binding around the edges.

I started the carving of the heel and the volute:











However these are still in a pretty rough stage, and I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the volute or not, due to the ugly glue joint. Unless I paint the back of the headstock.

Fret bender:






Result:






Much easier than what i did last time (cut the lenghts first, then tried to bend around something with a small radius... )

Anyways, that's all I've got. Right now I'm in the process of grain filling the body so I can begin painting it once the weather clears up.


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## Mordacain (Dec 18, 2010)

Awesome work man! Love the stain on that contour. A suggestion though, you might want to use a single-coil sized double-rail humbucker since the fretboard extrudes into the normal humbucker space. Ultimately it will sound more like it should using the single coil size.

Keep it coming!


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## cerfew (Dec 18, 2010)

Hmm, that's a really good idea actually... I like it. I'll incorporate it when I build the pickguard.

Only problem is that means I can't buy the used pickup I was planning on getting, lol.

EDIT: I can't find any decent 7-string single-coil size pickups. I guess that idea isn't going to work after all.


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## Mordacain (Dec 18, 2010)

Yea, Seymour Duncan makes some of their better single coils in 7 string config, but not their hotrails for some reason. Dimarzio similarly doesn't.

I have read that will make them special order though I have no idea what pricing would be like.

Since that would probably be cost-prohibitive, it will probably be ok, looks like it will only be moved a CM or so south.


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## BlackMastodon (Dec 18, 2010)

Looks amazing man. Not sure if I'm digging the sharp corners on that fretboard cut but it still beats the hell out of a GIO, keep it up.


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## Stealthdjentstic (Dec 18, 2010)

Interesting to see how this turns out. Keep up the good work comrade.


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## cerfew (Dec 18, 2010)

BlackMastodon said:


> Looks amazing man. Not sure if I'm digging the sharp corners on that fretboard cut but it still beats the hell out of a GIO, keep it up.



The only reason I did that is because when I was routing the fretboard taper, a HUGE chunk chipped off right there. I didn't want to try and fill it with sawdust so I just cut off more to incorporate it into the design.


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## joaocunha (Dec 19, 2010)

Dude, you're a genious. Really. Just subscribed to the thread, keep it updated.


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## BlackMastodon (Dec 19, 2010)

cerfew said:


> The only reason I did that is because when I was routing the fretboard taper, a HUGE chunk chipped off right there. I didn't want to try and fill it with sawdust so I just cut off more to incorporate it into the design.



I don't mind the cut fret board on the higher frets of the lower strings, i just personally would have rounded the fret board in that area to be more of a wave shave or a smooth curve. All personal preference though.


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## cerfew (Dec 19, 2010)

Ah, I see now. Personal preference, I agree


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## Dark Aegis (Dec 19, 2010)

I like it so far, very unique


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## AvantGuardian (Dec 20, 2010)

Wow, cool project! Can't wait to see how this one looks when its finished. Also, that figure on the maple is a crazy find. Seems odd that such a nice cut of maple would be thrown into the middle of a Gio body.


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## JamesM (Dec 20, 2010)

Looks great.


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## cerfew (Dec 23, 2010)

Here's the guitar, all covered in grain filler (wood putty) before sanding.







Then I cleaned it all up, sprayed 3 coats of Zinsser's aerosol shellac, let it dry, and wet/dry sanded it.






I have seriously never felt a smoother finish, lol. And this is only the primer stage!!! I had to use shellac, because of that one stained area in the back. Tomorrow I'm going to be painting the actual color. Woo! (As long as the weather is decent)

I also have been working on the pickguard. When I got the material, I made a template and fit it on.. There was BARELY enough room for it, maybe 1/16" space total on the sides.






Then I routed it and... SHIT! I put the shiny side on the wrong side, so the top is now crappy plastic. Ugh. It's alright though; I fixed it. What I did was drill the holes, and countersink them, then bevel the edges, then paint it with flat black. Came out pretty awesome, I think. Still need to finish the neck cavity joint, drill holes for electronics and route pickup slots.






Before, this side looked ugly as hell. I'm glad the paint covered it up; I used 3 coats. 

Another thing-- see the lowermost hole? When I was drilling the recess holes, the bit grabbed on that one and sucked straight through- in other words, the hole was way to big kuz the bit went through. I was able to fill the hole with superglue and re-drill-- that was lucky. Because all I had was super thin viscosity, when I was trying to fill the hole it ran all over the place, including down the back to my finger where I didn't see it, glueing my finger to it. That was a fun experience, lol.

So, like I said, I should be able to start painting tomorrow.


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## OrsusMetal (Dec 23, 2010)

This keeps looking better and better. Can't wait for the final product.


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## JonnyDeath (Dec 23, 2010)

Very clever build, I am impressed.


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## Elysian (Dec 23, 2010)

The neck pocket looks like it could actually add a bit of stability to the mix, will be interesting to see the finished product. Make sure when you fret it you've got something supporting underneath the fretboard extension. 

Also gotta ask, if you've got the ability to build a new neck for it, why not go all out and build a body too? Seems like a lot of time wasted on a rather terrible GIO body...


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 23, 2010)

Elysian said:


> Also gotta ask, if you've got the ability to build a new neck for it, why not go all out and build a body too? Seems like a lot of time wasted on a rather terrible GIO body...


This might just be the best question so far this year. and it's almoast over.


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## cerfew (Dec 23, 2010)

I didn't have any wood for the body, and besides, the body was already shaped. Lol. That's my only excuse-- it would've been a lot easier to build my own, kuz then I wouldn't have to deal with the pickguard and what not. But oh well.

1st coat of paint went on today-- I'll upload pics after I sand out the runs.


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## Elysian (Dec 25, 2010)

cerfew said:


> I didn't have any wood for the body, and besides, the body was already shaped. Lol. That's my only excuse-- it would've been a lot easier to build my own, kuz then I wouldn't have to deal with the pickguard and what not. But oh well.
> 
> 1st coat of paint went on today-- I'll upload pics after I sand out the runs.



Can get wood for pretty cheap. I've tried to go this route before, ultimately I was much happier with the finished product when I built the body myself. While it's a good learning experience, so is starting from scratch


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## cerfew (Dec 25, 2010)

Ugh, my day just got ruined.

Was prepping to route out the pickup holes in the pickguard. Had everything perfect, template double-taped down, and started at it with the router. The god damn tape slipped for whatever reason and gouged a hole in the pickguard. Damn thing is wasted now. So I gotta dish out another 20 bucks to get a new one, which won't be here for almost a week. Totally screws up all my plans.


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## JamesM (Dec 25, 2010)

So lame. Don't let that ruin your day, it probably isn't the first fuck, and will not be the last.


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 25, 2010)

As I keep telling myself, at least it wasnt a finger...


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## cerfew (Dec 25, 2010)

I've already got a wooden template finished up to the point where I was, so when I get the new one, it'll come out quicker. So while this is a pain in the ass, and a huge inconveniance, the end result will be better. Oh well.


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## adrock (Dec 25, 2010)

scherzo1928 said:


> As I keep telling myself, at least it wasnt a finger...



this


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## Van (Dec 25, 2010)

scherzo1928 said:


> As I keep telling myself, at least it wasnt a finger...


I ended up cutting off the very tip of my finger in woodshop class making guitars
still, at least it wasn't the whole finger but i'm still to scared to try my own build


to the OP, this guitar is looking amazing, I really like that angled corner on the fretboard


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## Elysian (Dec 25, 2010)

cerfew said:


> Ugh, my day just got ruined.
> 
> Was prepping to route out the pickup holes in the pickguard. Had everything perfect, template double-taped down, and started at it with the router. The god damn tape slipped for whatever reason and gouged a hole in the pickguard. Damn thing is wasted now. So I gotta dish out another 20 bucks to get a new one, which won't be here for almost a week. Totally screws up all my plans.



That happened to me just this weekend while routing my Strat's pickguard for a humbucker in the bridge  I was able to save it though because I am so used to routing I barely take out any material per pass, just take my sweet ole time with it. Can't even tell I messed up a little bit, so it all worked out... Don't let it get you down, make sure anytime you attach a template to something it's absolutely securely attached. I use the Scotch double sided tape, it's very thin, clear, and gets a great bond. I place the tape, place my template, then clamp it tightly so that the tape is sure to stick.


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## BlackMastodon (Dec 25, 2010)

scherzo1928 said:


> As I keep telling myself, at least it wasnt a finger...


+12986192364
Power tools have a grudge against my family, my dad almost lost his finger through a table saw while he was building my cottage.


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## cerfew (Dec 25, 2010)

Haha, I've actually been POUNDING down my templates with the tape now, then firmly pressing on them on the side where the router will touch to make SURE they won't go anywhere.

Anyways, after working all day, here's my final template, next to the original. Part of why I was so ticked was because I had done a lot to it making it look good. The matte look was due to paint that I applied, and the edges were beveled painstakingly by hand. The next one will keep its shiny (i only made it matte because I routed out the first one on the wrong side, DOH) and I'm going to bevel the edges with a router bit.






Here is the guitar, after 1st coat of paint and intense wet/dry sanding with 400 grit. Turns out I did a crappy job filling the grain on the back, and the shellac didn't help much either. I sanded it down a TON, the second pic is the result. While it LOOKS like you can see the grain, I'm hoping that in reality it's perfectly flat and the appearance is just the result of deeper spots. I guess I won't know till I paint the second coat.

You can also see where I routed a little bit on the left side of the cavity to make room for the 7-string pickups.











Btw, that isn't bare wood showing-- its still got shellac over it.


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## cerfew (Jan 25, 2011)

Ahh, time for a much needed update. I've just about finished the neck, all's left to do is spray the poly over it. The body needs a coat of black and then poly. My friend Derek (who I'm building this for) is an awesome artist- he used electrical tape to "draw" an awesome design on the headstock and body. The headstock is finished- the body will be painted black, so his design will show gray.






















Hope you enjoy it!


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## b7string (Jan 25, 2011)

I am really liking that headstock! How did you achieve that design on the face of it?


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## cerfew (Jan 25, 2011)

The headstock was walnut- I stained it almost pure black, then coated it with spray shellac. My friend then used electrical tape cut into thin slices to create the design- we painted black, then pulled up the tape. It left a really cool effect around the edges- it almost looks like the wood itself is tape that is on the guitar. Haha.


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## darren (Jan 25, 2011)

Looking great so far! I'm impressed.


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## BlackMastodon (Jan 25, 2011)

That body is gonna be hella cool when it's painted. Sweet neck too.


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## cerfew (Jan 29, 2011)

Ahhh.. FInished! For the most part. Frets need some more leveling, and I somehow wired the neck pickup wrong (It's an ibanez pickup- I wasn't sure what the color translations were, and I couldn't find anything online). I want to say its currently wired single coil, but I'm not positive- it sounds pretty cool though xD

Enjoy.


























All the colors and designs were chosen and/or done by my friend Derek.


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## scherzo1928 (Jan 29, 2011)

holy nutsack. That came out incredible.


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## OrsusMetal (Jan 29, 2011)

Great job man!


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## skyeDCCCXX (Jan 29, 2011)

I started reading this from the beginning today and had no idea how this was going to turn out, but it looks awesome man. Great job!!!


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## technomancer (Jan 29, 2011)

Wow that turned out really nice


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## Eric Christian (Jan 29, 2011)

What a creative person you are! Very nice work!


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## BlackMastodon (Jan 29, 2011)

Muy bueno


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## joaocunha (Jan 30, 2011)

Amazing results. Congrats, buddy!


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## b7string (Jan 30, 2011)

Congrats, very impressive result!


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## ReldvS (Feb 4, 2011)

i am very very impressed with your work on this and i too have been following this thread. i love ur creativity and hope to be able to change the scale on my Ibby gio one day too. not sure if im up to that level just yet...
again incredible work \m/


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## joaocunha (Feb 5, 2011)

It's just me or it's kind of a bad feeling when such a building/modding ends? I love to see how the things are going.


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## metal_sam14 (Feb 6, 2011)

Holy guitar batman! fucking ace job mate


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## AK DRAGON (Feb 6, 2011)

Congratz on an amazing build.


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## rebell82 (Feb 7, 2011)

Freakin awesome!


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## Qweklain (Feb 7, 2011)

WOW, that is KILLER!!!


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## AwakenNoMore (Sep 16, 2011)

I love this build, amazing mod work!


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## Darkstar124 (Sep 16, 2011)

BUENO


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