# Refinishing my Ibanez Iceman



## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 1, 2014)

I recently posted a NGD with an Ibanez Iceman I got for only $100 from a local guitar store's out of business sale, even came with a DiMarzio X2N installed. It plays & sounds great, but the previous owner really didn't take good care of it. Usually some wear on a guitar doesn't bother me, but it did on this one, so it's getting a repair & refinish.






























First thing I did was clean up that nasty fretboard. Every other board I've ever cleaned up always took no more than 1 go with some naphtha, & the occasional #0000 steel wool. But this one, took FIVE runs each. Starting with the steel wool, then naphtha, repeat. But it's looking great now.


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 1, 2014)

I got the guitar taken apart, but had a bad accident. 3 of the 4 tune-o-matic bushings came right out clean, but the last took some poly with it 










Luckily I have a huge tube of filler, so with multiple thin layers, I patched up the chip & all the scratches/dents.














After I cleaned it up, I sprayed some primer on to help me better see any parts I missed filling in. It's drying as of now.










Hopefully one of these days soon I can knock out some more progress.


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## Dcm81 (Sep 2, 2014)

Good stuff! Just refinished my Iceman so I'm excited to see how this turns out.

Is it an Ibanez? I ask cause the lower horn is missing a bit, the belly carve is extremely different, the sharp tip at the bottom end of the body is also missing a bit and the controls (and cavity) are different to all the Ibby Icemen I've ever seen?


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 2, 2014)

Dcm81 said:


> Good stuff! Just refinished my Iceman so I'm excited to see how this turns out.
> 
> Is it an Ibanez? I ask cause the lower horn is missing a bit, the belly carve is extremely different, the sharp tip at the bottom end of the body is also missing a bit and the controls (and cavity) are different to all the Ibby Icemen I've ever seen?


Yeah it's an Ibanez, it's the ICX220DX (not a Gio or Mikro model.) The body is slightly different due to the smaller scale. The neck is also a little thicker, like a cross between an Ibby & Schecter. It's like it's perfect for me


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## TheStig1214 (Sep 2, 2014)

Can't wait to see how this comes out! What sort of finish are you going for?

Also, where can I get this magical elixir that makes fretboards look new?


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## LexxLucius (Sep 2, 2014)

Such a beautiful guitar! I really like the Iceman's shape. Looking forward to some more progress pictures


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## DredFul (Sep 2, 2014)

Looks promising! That's a lovely fretboard too!

Iceman gas is growing..


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 2, 2014)

TheStig1214 said:


> Can't wait to see how this comes out! What sort of finish are you going for?
> 
> Also, where can I get this magical elixir that makes fretboards look new?



It's just going to be a satin white, & I use naphtha (zippo fluid) & some #0000 steel wool to clean my fretboards, & then use all natural lemon oil to recondition it


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## Alex Kenivel (Sep 2, 2014)

Not wasting any time with your new steal, are you? Looks better already!


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 3, 2014)

Alex Kenivel said:


> Not wasting any time with your new steal, are you? Looks better already!


Haha yeah I keep refinishing my guitars, I may have a problem


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 3, 2014)

When the guitar's all finished, I'm going to add all these to it.














I've also thought of replacing the Tune-O-Matic bridge for a hardtail, kind of like this one, just to make the body look a little bigger like a regular Iceman, but I haven't decided


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 4, 2014)

Got the chance to stop by my friend's house after work to get a little bit done. I lightly sanded the primer to help see what small dents were left & then I put some filler on them.














I also ebonized the fretboard. It's not completely black but it's a lot darker.


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 6, 2014)

Managed to get a bit more done today, first thing was I sanded all the spots with filler & gave it a quick coat of primer to help show any spots I missed, turned out most of the spots with that filler lowered down a bit so I put some better wood filler on them, hopefully that's the last of the filling.














I also filled in the recesses in the pickup cavities so I can direct mount the pickups






I decided that I might as well refinish the headstock as well since Ibanez headstock decals are easy to come by


















I left a tiny line of the original black all the way around for a faux binding look






That's all I've managed to do today, I'm gonna let that filler set for a couple days since it was a deep fill in the pickup cavities, then hopefully I can get the actual painting done.

Also, I might be selling the DiMarzio X2N that came with it if I don't find a use for it. I'm putting some white colored SD Black Winters in this one so I don't really have much of a need for it, unless I end up finally building the single hum Tele I've been putting off forever.


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## Alex Kenivel (Sep 6, 2014)

Nice.


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## Hollowway (Sep 7, 2014)




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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 7, 2014)

This is starting to remind me a lot of my warlock refinish!
Well done man, keep up the work!


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## Chiba666 (Sep 7, 2014)

Really Nice job, and Ishan Iceman good be a good way to go


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 8, 2014)

Chiba666 said:


> Really Nice job, and Ishan Iceman good be a good way to go


Ihsahn's Iceman was actually the original inspiration for me painting it white I'm going to cover Emperor's The Eruption with it when it's done






I'm going for a cross between this & Ola's Washburn Parallaxe Solar 160






I decided I'm going to keep the TOM styled bridge, but try to make something like what Ihsahn's has on the tailpiece but in chrome, & replace the main TOM bridge piece with one of these roller styled ones


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## remorse is for the dead (Sep 18, 2014)

any updates?


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## Alex Kenivel (Sep 19, 2014)

remorse is for the dead said:


> any updates?


 
[banana]this^[/banana]


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 20, 2014)

remorse is for the dead said:


> any updates?


Not yet, I've been working 50 hours a week & now I've caught some sickness going around, but I plan on getting some done whenever I get another day off. The guitar is at my friend's house cause he has a mini guitar workplace rigged up in his basement & I don't have any place to work on it in my tiny apartment.


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Sep 29, 2014)

So on break today I finally got to make a little progress











































Hopefully tomorrow I'll actually get out at my scheduled time & not work open-close so I can get some more done.


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## TheStig1214 (Sep 29, 2014)




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## Konfyouzd (Sep 29, 2014)

This is pleasing to my eyeballs...


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 9, 2014)

Alright, I've been making some progress lately, feast your eyeballs 










































I set a few parts on it to get a bit of a preview of how it's gonna look. 






I still need the white custom SD black winters, all the electronics, tuning keys, strap locks, & headstock decal. The decal is on it's way & I'm gonna get most of the other parts next paycheck, but the pickups are gonna be the issue. I'm selling my Dimarzio X2N & Gibson '61 Zebra neck humbucker to help cover that. Anyways, it's getting close to being complete


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 9, 2014)

Also, since I'm giving the Iceman a whole winterish all white theme, anyone know of a cool strap that would go good with it? Nothing plain, & less than $50. So far this is the one I'm looking at


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## DredFul (Oct 9, 2014)




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## TheStig1214 (Oct 9, 2014)

That strap is metal as f*ck. A nice strap always compliments an Iceman nicely.


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 10, 2014)

TheStig1214 said:


> That strap is metal as f*ck. A nice strap always compliments an Iceman nicely.


I'm going to be playing alot of black & death metal with it so it goes well with that aspect. That Japanese strap does look great though imo


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 10, 2014)

I ordered pretty much the rest of the parts needed to finish it, minus the pickups & strap/straplock. But as soon as my DiMarzio X2N & Gibson '61 humbuckers sell I'm gonna use the money towards those custom white SD Black Winters 

Just for a little GAS burst again


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 14, 2014)

I got some parts in today, mostly small stuff like new bushings for the tailpiece & the input jack, but the main thing was the locking tuners.


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## Neilzord (Oct 15, 2014)

Just a plain white strap IMO. 

Never been a fan of "fancy" straps, It takes too much attention away from the guitar!


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## vilk (Oct 15, 2014)

I'm pretty sure the Eruption is for 7 strings. You tuning this badboy down to B?

Either way, this is a great thread. I basically intend to do the exact same thing to my old warlock.


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## craigny (Oct 15, 2014)

Looking really good!


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 18, 2014)

The headstock decal finally came in. Whenever I get a day free I'm gonna shoot some clear over it.






I also got started on the wiring harness, but I need some different wire to continue, all I have left is solid core but I prefer braided core. I also ordered the wrong orange drop & need to reorder & wait for that to come in.


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## CD1221 (Oct 18, 2014)

Solid wiring jig.

I like it.


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## skeels (Oct 18, 2014)

CD1221 said:


> Solid wiring jig.
> 
> I like it.



Yup- totally stealing this idea!

Sweet Ice Cream!


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## Alex Kenivel (Oct 19, 2014)

This is looking real nice. Props and rep for you! 

I agree on the plain white strap..


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 19, 2014)

I had a bad accident at work today & sliced the tip of my thumb clean off, so im not sure when ill get more progress on this. Sucks cause I won't be able to hold a pick for a long time.


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## Dana (Oct 19, 2014)

Oh man that sucks!

I feel for ya... Last winter I crushed my middle finger in a machine. The tip of my middle finger of my fretting hand. Broke the bone, broke the skin clean thru to the bone, fingernail snapped completely in half. The removed that at the hospital. Fortunately I was able to keep the finger tho. It took months to grow the nail back and heal. Still isn't the same but I can play again these days without losing ability. Hope you have a good recovery


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## XxJoshxX (Oct 20, 2014)

I feel for ya man. Im disappointed that I'm still not able to play after a small accident I had on a sander a while ago, so I couldnt imagine how your feeling right now. Praying for your quick recovery.


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## Alex Kenivel (Oct 22, 2014)

Holy shit.. One of my worst fears.. That's horrible.


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## TheStig1214 (Oct 22, 2014)

Ouch. I know that feel. Cut the middle finger on my fretting hand down to the bone with a sword. Couldn't play for a while. Definitely keep us posted when you recover!


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 23, 2014)

Welp, I just found out that the poly I used slowly turns yellowish. It's already changed quite a bit


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Oct 26, 2014)

Is there any way to brighten up the color without a repaint? It's all finished except for the pickups & I really hate the yellowing effect this poly gave it. The guitar is at my friend's so I don't have a way to post a pic.


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## pwsusi (Oct 26, 2014)

> Welp, I just found out that the poly I used slowly turns yellowish. It's already changed quite a bit





> Is there any way to brighten up the color without a repaint? It's all finished except for the pickups & I really hate the yellowing effect this poly gave it. The guitar is at my friend's so I don't have a way to post a pic.



I'm not sure, but if you end up re-doing the clear I've had a lot of success with 2 part urethane aerosol...
2K clear coat: Spraymax


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