# RG7421 Refinish Project



## ASoC (Dec 15, 2014)

So I just got this RG7421 in the mail today and it needs some love. The finish job thats on there is terrible, aggressive sanding has misshapen the body some, a previous owner tried to ebonize the fretboard and got stain all over the neck, and the neck wasn't seated, most likely because the neck screws weren't coupling well enough.

Pics of the guitar as it is now

















Attempt at shaping here just makes the stomach cutaway look messy and gross, I'll have to fix this











That gap  also, the crackling finish

I currently have the guitar in pieces and I'm using a razorblade to clean up the extra stain. This project is going to be a bit slow because of a lack of both funds and free time. That being said, I don't really know what kind of finish I'm going for here. Anyone have some cool interesting ideas for a finish?


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## odibrom (Dec 15, 2014)

I like that color...


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## Black43 (Dec 15, 2014)

Methinks this guy should stay away from guitars in future judging by the looks of his "improvements" 

Anyways, good luck. Can't wait to see how this turns out.


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## skeels (Dec 15, 2014)

"Agressive sanding" 




Please save that guitar.


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## op1e (Dec 15, 2014)

I would maybe get another body at this point and have the neck painted in a satin anything to cover that horrific stain.


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## aesthyrian (Dec 16, 2014)

Jeeze, what the hell do some people think they are capable of? Clearly the individual that "modded" this cared not about details or even results. They just "go at it" and end up with this crap result. 

Oh well, nothing too bad here, IMO. 

If you are determined and do your research then this will turn out quite nice, I think.

As far as what finish to go for, I would suggest a solid color so you can fill in the "lovely" custom bevels, smooth them out, and paint over it.

Seriously, this looks like such a fun project. Those screw ferrules for the neck are making me ill though, wonder where those came from?


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## ASoC (Dec 16, 2014)

skeels said:


> "Agressive sanding"
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I'll do my best. 



aesthyrian said:


> Jeeze, what the hell do some people think they are capable of? Clearly the individual that "modded" this cared not about details or even results. They just "go at it" and end up with this crap result.
> 
> Oh well, nothing too bad here, IMO.
> 
> ...



Yeah I don't know about those ferrules  I'm probably going to order a set of original ones.

As far as the finish goes, I've got a lot of potential ideas bouncing around in my head. They are: BSB, Swirl, Holoflash, Metallic color, Sponge finish (think like the Apex 1 Nebula that was done here on the forum a while back)


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## Pikka Bird (Dec 16, 2014)

If the finish was actually a highly polished metal flake version of that same colour then I'd be all over it (provided the sanding would be corrected).

How good of a deal was it, with all those mutilations done to it?


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## ASoC (Dec 16, 2014)

it was a really good deal, especially since it came with Sperzels and new bridge saddles


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## ASoC (Dec 25, 2014)

Christmas Bump!

I found a little bit of time before work today and I got started on scooping out the lower horn. I figured I may as well go for it, since I have to recontour a bunch of the body anyway.


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## feilong29 (Dec 25, 2014)

I did a refinish of my RG7620 after a botched paint job. It was a challenging, yet fun and a great learning experience; check it out!

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu...ons/275496-rg-d7620-refinish-mod-project.html


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## ASoC (Dec 26, 2014)

feilong29 said:


> I did a refinish of my RG7620 after a botched paint job. It was a challenging, yet fun and a great learning experience; check it out!
> 
> http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu...ons/275496-rg-d7620-refinish-mod-project.html



That was actually one of the many RG project threads I read through while preparing for this project (I probably also read it when it was current).

I put a little bit more time into it today:

That's where I'm at with the horn scoop right now, I'm not sure how deep I should make it, what do you guys think?





I started taking the finish off by hand with 80 grit sandpaper. This part is a bitch  I'm working again tomorrow (Friday) but I have the day off on Saturday, so I'm going to try to finish stripping the finish off then.


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## Blue1970Cutlass (Dec 26, 2014)

If you think you can swing it I'd vote swirl for the finish personally


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## ASoC (Jan 15, 2015)

Ok, so between weather and my dad coming to town, I haven't gotten much done. However, there is some progress, so I'll just throw up a few pics.











As you can tell, the paint was disgustingly uneven (particularly on the front). I started the sides too, and its not any better. There are areas where the edge radius of the body is totally screwed up, and I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to make it look right. I could re-radius the body, but I'd have to increase the size of the edge radius and I hate that look. Anyone have any ideas?

In other news, I decided that the best thing to do to the neck would be to strip the clear coat off and refinish it. So, everything below the headstock is tung oil now and the headstock still has the factory finish






And it's not showing up at all in the picture, but the neck actually has some nice flaming going on. I'll make sure to capture that next time I update.


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## ASoC (Sep 4, 2015)

Call me the Necromancer, because I'm reanimating this dead thread.

Here's where the guitar stands today, after I finally found time to work on it again 





I shot the final coats of light grey primer today, and decided to just pick a color that spoke to me when I went to the store. I ended up going with fluorescent pink, purely on a whim. I also got a set of stock Ibanez neck ferrules today, though I am a bit dissapointed that they're in Cosmo and not black.

Edit: I'm also seriously considering getting a pick guard and making this into a sort of RG7550. Does anybody have any opinions on how that might look. I'm on the fence about this


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## ASoC (Sep 5, 2015)

So I shot the first few color coats today, pretty stoked on the color, seeing it on the guitar has convinced me that I need a pickguard, so I'll order one today


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## aesthyrian (Sep 6, 2015)

Yes! This is a great makeover.


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## ASoC (Sep 6, 2015)

aesthyrian said:


> Yes! This is a great makeover.



Glad you like the color 

Unfortunately, this might take a bit longer than I thought, I got some spitting when I was spraying color coats today and it caused a couple runs. I'll assess the damage when it dries, and I'll see if I can sand it out without sanding through to one of the layers of primer. If all is well I can start spraying clear tomorrow, but my gut tells me that I'm going to have to get the back flat again. Oh well, c'est la vie

Edit: Almost forgot to put up today's eye candy


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## Mikemtm (Sep 7, 2015)

Great job so far! Hey if your going through all that trouble when you get done, line your pickup cavities and electronic cavities with copper. You probably were going to do this anyway, but it will significantly reduce the noise. Here is a link. 

Single-coil buzzkill: the why and how of electric guitar shielding. | stewmac.com

You can buy this from Stewmac or off amazon. Also look at upgrading your pots and capacitors. But if you do nothing else right now, line the cavities.


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## ASoC (Sep 7, 2015)

Oh I'm definitely planning on shielding the hell out of this guitar, I have materials from previous projects.

As far as electronics go, I have a new 3 way blade for pup selection and mini toggle for coil splitting and I'm planning on getting a new volume pot. I have a brand new cts pot, but the shaft is too big for the hole in the body and I don't want to ream it out now that I've already started painting. Losing the tone pot because I don't use them.

I looked at the guitar today and it looks pretty flat, so barring any sandthroughs when I wet sand with 400 grit, I should be spraying clear today

EDIT: so I sprayed clear today, time to let it cure before the final wet sand and polish


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## ASoC (Sep 8, 2015)

I have a question about Pickguard Paradise for anyone who has dealt with them. Does Tom always have poor communication? I paid for a pickguard for this guitar on Saturday night and have yet to receive any sort of confirmation email that my order is in the works. Also what's the typical turn around time on orders from them? I have time, as I'm not going to be able to drill for a pg until the paint cures anyway, but a frame of reference would be nice


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## aesthyrian (Sep 8, 2015)

Well, you did place your order on labor day weekend, so hopefully that explains the delay. I have never dealt with the company, just my guess.


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## ASoC (Sep 9, 2015)

I figured the same thing, but I still haven't heard from him today. I'm not the type to need constant communication from a business, but confirmation that he's getting started on my order is one thing that I do need


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## DudeManBrother (Sep 9, 2015)

Nice work so far. I keep looking at my boring old black 7620 and think about doing just this in pink or yellow. I can't wait to see it finished. Maybe it'll motivate me to dump money and time into a guitar I never play anymore lol.


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## ASoC (Sep 9, 2015)

DudeManBrother said:


> Nice work so far. I keep looking at my boring old black 7620 and think about doing just this in pink or yellow. I can't wait to see it finished. Maybe it'll motivate me to dump money and time into a guitar I never play anymore lol.



Or you could just sell it to me, my 7620RB could use a brother 

Interestingly enough, yellow was the color I was about to get before impulse told me to go pink. But I was going to go with a more sports car type yellow, not some eye gouging DY type color 

Sprayed some more clear today as sand through security


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## ASoC (Sep 10, 2015)

So I got the pickguard in today from Pickguard Paradise and there's a small problem. The hole for the volume knob is too far up and to the left, so it doesn't line up with the hole in the body. I'll be emailing Tom after work tonight to let him know and get this rectified

Edit: I got home from work and took a picture and emailed Tom. I left the paper on the guard in case he wants me to send it back.





Side note: seeing it with the neck and guard on really reminds me of the RG550RFR from the 87 Ibanez catalog, I think I'm going to call this thing my RG7551 once I'm done with it 





And before you say the color isn't even close, keep in mind that my camera flash really buggered the color in that shot, my bed sheets are supposed to be a deep satin red


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## weirdoku (Sep 11, 2015)

The pot hole locations on Ibanez's do vary a bit. My MIJ RG7421 and 7620 have a slightly different pot hole locations to my other Ibanez. I drew my own pickguard template for my MIJ 7421, so if yours is the MIJ one my templates should fit yours. I've modified to shape of them as well so it fits round the fixed bridge instead of the massive gap for the trem. If you can get someone to custom cut it for you here's the template, there's a .pdf file in A3 paper size and a Adobe Illustrator file if you want to edit the template.

https://mega.nz/#!pkZCDJKT!0UBIyNWhmDDEKCWkispkTTAswe_YO1Tcx2QhKjpBbv0


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## ASoC (Sep 16, 2015)

It's been a week and I'm back! 

I spent the whole day today wet sanding...





Buffing...





And assembling! 





Now I just need to drill for the pickguard (when it gets here) shield the cavities, finish assembly, wire it up, and play! 

The finish isn't close to perfect. There are a lot of flaws, but I'm not going to bother with refinishing it again just to fix some minor flaws. It's in way better shape than it was in when I got it and I'm happy with it for now. Maybe further down the road I'll take it apart again and have some fun with it (piezo mod? )


Edit: Sibling shot for the hell of it


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## ASoC (Sep 18, 2015)

So I finally heard back from Tom at Pickguard Paradise while I was at work today. He just now realized that I emailed him the PDF template that weirdoku kindly provided for me (thank you by the way, I'd give you pos rep if I could). I sent him the template last Friday morning. So he hasn't done anything for a week and it's been almost two weeks since I paid him. I am never doing business with him again after this. He clearly doesn't actually read his email and getting him to respond is like pulling teeth. I've been annoyed since the first guard didn't fit, as I clearly specified that I had the older, MIJ model of 7421. But now that I've realized just how truly awful he is at communicating, I'm furious with him. If he screws up again I'm just going to send it straight back and file a dispute with PayPal before getting someone else to cut the guard for me.


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## ZeroS1gnol (Sep 18, 2015)

Why not just cancel that order and get one of Nate Perle's pickguards? Perle offers a printable template to see if it will fit (probably will).


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## ASoC (Sep 22, 2015)

ZeroS1gnol said:


> Why not just cancel that order and get one of Nate Perle's pickguards? Perle offers a printable template to see if it will fit (probably will).



I'm going to at least give him the chance to cut the guard right, since I'm a nice guy (probably too nice). If it's not perfect though it's going straight back and I'm probably getting a Perle guard 

Here's where the guitar stands, the switches, pot, and jack are wired up, just waiting on the BKP C-bomb and the pickguard I bought


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## Yeah_man (Sep 22, 2015)

ASoC said:


> It's been a week and I'm back!



Impressive cactus brother!

Can you extract juice from it and get drunk? Or is that a myth


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## aesthyrian (Sep 22, 2015)

If it's a peyote cactus you can do much more than get drunk


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## ASoC (Sep 24, 2015)

Oh yeah, that cactus was here when we bought the house. I thought it was pretty metal  

So I received and mounted the pickguard today, just waiting on the new bridge pup to be delivered before I can string it up and play it! The wait is killing me!


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## weirdoku (Sep 25, 2015)

The template came out okay but the looks of it.


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## ASoC (Sep 25, 2015)

weirdoku said:


> The template came out okay but the looks of it.



I'd say the pick guard is 95% there's a small gap on the treble side of the neck pocket and the pickup routes are a tiny bit oversized, but I'm not sure how much of it is an issue with the template and how much of it is just Tom goofing it up. Either way it's not going back, the guard has been too much of a headache for me to keep sending it back.


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## weirdoku (Sep 26, 2015)

Ah that gap is because I drew this template to my 7421 to the mm! I forgot about that haha. On my 7421 there's a gap on the treble side between the neck and the pocket, so that's why you have a gap on that one.


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## ASoC (Sep 26, 2015)

Man if there was that much of a gap in the neck pocket of this guitar body it would be firewood  why haven't you replaced your 7421 body? 

In other, update type news, USPS tracking just showed my C-bomb arriving in LA today. I bought it from San Diego and it shipped on Tuesday...... so needless to say, I'm fvcking livid. I will definitely be going to the post office on Monday to give somebody an earful. There's absolutely no reason for a tiny box with a single pickup in it to take 4 days to travel a distance I can drive in 2 hours.


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## weirdoku (Sep 28, 2015)

Lol I can't complain much, it's only a cheap Ibanez at the end of the day. If I come across some cheap nice wood bodies I would replace it! But I got my 7421 after I started my ash body project which I had already taken apart another Ibanez for. If it was the other way round this 7421 would have had the ash body.


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## ASoC (Sep 28, 2015)

Look guys!





I'll be wiring it up when I get home from work. Can't wait to finally play this thing after having it in pieces for almost a year


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## ASoC (Sep 29, 2015)

She's playable! 






I'm super happy to have a guitar in standard tuning again, both my 6 and 7 have locking trems and are down tuned so I haven't been able to jam to any of the thrash I know. And speaking of thrash, I'm loving this c-bomb for that type of sound. It's absolutely killer, the voicing is perfect to my ears. I can't put this guitar down. 

However, I'm still not done. The neck pickup actually isn't wired up because it's going to be replaced anyway. I'm saving up some extra cash to order a new VH II wound to match the resistance of this pickup, so until I get it I'm just going to treat this as a one pickup guitar. I just put the stock ibanez neck pickup because I knew that I would hate looking at it if there's was nothing there. This way, I love looking at it! The color is really interesting, indoors it's a reddish pink, in sunlight it's definitely red, and it looks orange on camera. I don't know about you guys, but I think I got eerily close to rfr by total accident and I'm diggin it. 

So basically, I'm super stoked on this one, and I can't wait to get a neck pickup and finish it


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## ASoC (Oct 1, 2015)

Another shot hanging next to her sibling on my wall. 





And a clip of the C-bomb that I knocked out today, the center channel is the pup coil split, everything else is humbucking
[SC]http://soundcloud.com/theberb/geetz-bkp-c-bomb-test[/SC]


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## FifthCircleSquared (Oct 1, 2015)

Nice work.


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## DiezelMonster (Oct 5, 2015)

Awesome work! I love the colour choice. I have a few questions. Did you seal the body before primer? If not, how many coats of primer? Also was this a spray can job? And what type of paint did you use?

Once again, great work. I have three raw bodies to paint and i just have not bit the bullet.

Thanks!


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## ASoC (Oct 5, 2015)

DiezelMonster said:


> Awesome work! I love the colour choice. I have a few questions. Did you seal the body before primer? If not, how many coats of primer? Also was this a spray can job? And what type of paint did you use?
> 
> Once again, great work. I have three raw bodies to paint and i just have not bit the bullet.
> 
> Thanks!



Thanks dude! The color was actually a bit of a happy accident, the body was pink until I sprayed clear.

I did not spray sealer, but I used 4 coats of primer. If I were to do it over again I would definitely seal it first and use less primer. This was indeed a spray can job. If you want the same color you should use Rustoleum light grey primer and spray their fluorescent pink over it. If you want a slightly more professional look (this is how I'm going to do it when I repaint this one again, more on that later) then I've heard that DayGlo Rocket Red sprayed over white primer is a dead on match for RFR.

As far as clear coat, I used the Rustoleum stuff and I don't recommend it. Even after letting it cure for a week before finish sanding it still dents very easily. There's actually a line on the front of the body from a seam in the towel I had it laying on when I was wiring it up. If you have a compressor/paint gun you should use a good clear coat. If you don't, you should consider taking it to an auto body place or something similar and get a quote on clear coating. The spray can clear really does not hold up well at all. 

I'm going to leave this one as it is until the clear really starts to wear, but once it does I'm going to refinish it again. Like I said, next time I'm going to use DayGlo paint and I'm going to get a compressor/gun. I'm also going to match the headstock next time, as that is one thing I regret not doing. 

I hope this helps, I tried to make sure and share some of the things I learned while doing this one. Thanks again for the compliments, I really do appreciate it.


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## DiezelMonster (Oct 5, 2015)

Thanks for all the info. I have looked into tue DayGlo stuff as well. Looks awesome.

I'm just not sure what route I want to take. I just gotta finish these bodies!


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## kylendm (Oct 5, 2015)

Cool to see you're still rocking my old blue RG haha. The neck on that thing was sick! This project came out awesome btw!


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## ASoC (Oct 7, 2015)

DiezelMonster said:


> Thanks for all the info. I have looked into tue DayGlo stuff as well. Looks awesome.
> 
> I'm just not sure what route I want to take. I just gotta finish these bodies!



Glad to help bro 

You could do what I did and just pick a color on impulse when you go to the store to get supplies.



kylendm said:


> Cool to see you're still rocking my old blue RG haha. The neck on that thing was sick! This project came out awesome btw!



Thanks dude! Yeah the blue 7620 fueled my Ibby gas and I had to pull the trigger when this one came up. Both of these are going to be mine forever, I've bonded to both of them too thoroughly to let them go


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## ASoC (Oct 7, 2015)

Old neck pup is out, BKP Cold Sweat is in! Pictures here: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/se...-rescue-refinish-mod-content.html#post4455273


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