# NGD + New Build Started! (Lot of Pics)



## bigswifty (Dec 28, 2009)

Finally after a few months of waiting for things to fall into place, I was able to head over to pick up my new (used) RG7620!!!

Before I ramble, take a look!

Beat up, I know but this is going to be getting a sexy refinish!









Its got a bunch of tiny holes in the body where he'd mount the guitar synthesizer 






I love the neck grain though! 











Despite the flaws I'm quite happy that i got it for $300 (the price of a new floyd rose shipped for his new jazz 7 (yes, hes mounting a floyd on a semi-hollow))
Originally, I was going to buy an Agile as well, but I've decided against for now and am going to use that cash to buy a Tremol-no, refinishing materials and some Bareknuckle Nailbombs! 
I hope to refinish it something like this:






Once I have the pups, I can use the stock Ibby's for my guitar project, 
Its all mahogany, and I'm thinking a maple fretboard with either a natural or distressed finish would look awesome on it.
From here on its going to be a lot harder, but now I have the RG for some sort of guidance for the routing and measurements.
Anyways, here:

















Once I get the fretboard material and truss rod I can resume building it!


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## Isan (Dec 28, 2009)

Grats and have fun


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## Stealthdjentstic (Dec 28, 2009)

Good luck!


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## redlol (Dec 28, 2009)

wow i like the refinish idea man!
its gonna be looking great ifyou can pull it off. looks like something the jackson custom shop would do. ibby headstocks do look sexy when painted


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## caskettheclown (Dec 28, 2009)

redlol said:


> wow i like the refinish idea man!
> its gonna be looking great ifyou can pull it off. looks like something the jackson custom shop would do. ibby headstocks do look sexy when painted



Oh yea!


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## cyril v (Dec 28, 2009)

the first set of 7620 pics aren't showing up.. throw 'em on photobucket or something maybe?

anyways, good luck bro.


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## Apophis (Dec 29, 2009)

Good luck


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## SnowfaLL (Dec 29, 2009)

that swirl is pretty sweet.


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## svart (Dec 29, 2009)

coolest swirl so far! hope you'll get it done


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## PeteLaramee (Dec 29, 2009)

That is, by far, the best looking swirl I've seen!!!


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## bigswifty (Apr 6, 2010)

Its been a long long time..
My wood shop at school is so basic that I am now building my guitar with a Luthier at a shop near my house, where I also might be employed soon enough!

Some more pronz for you all, its starting to actually seem like a guitar!

When making the fretboard, a friends dad who was in the shop and I were running acoustic tops through the giant thickness sander. So after we plop the fretboard down on the guide and set the height, and then decide to use the smaller guide seeing as it was only one fretboard. We swapped it and pushed it through and after the slow feed and the massive grind of pressing sandpaper we realized the small guide was about a cm thicker than the big guide... So we took too much, we ended up using a sacrifice peice for the bottom, which turned out really cool! 

The fretboard is now made out of Flamed Canadian Eastern Maple, with Mahogany trim and figured Brazilian Walnut on the back! 





















And heres the neck! 
















The walnut gives an awesome contrast between mahogany on the side view of the neck! That mistake turned out pretty cool 

Anyway, theres going to be more pics coming at a steady rate most likely from here on, the builds starting to take off now. 
And for the swirl finish, im dismantling my RG this week and sanding off the finish so that should be coming along pretty soon too!


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## Origin (Apr 6, 2010)

Jesus man, this is really shaping up  me like


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## Sebastian (Apr 6, 2010)

Origin said:


> Jesus man, this is really shaping up  me like


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## Raoul Duke (Apr 6, 2010)

PeteLaramee said:


> That is, by far, the best looking swirl I've seen!!!





I'm not normally a fan of swirls but that one is awesome


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## ittoa666 (Apr 6, 2010)

Ibanez should license that finish and call it midnight swirl.


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## Stealthdjentstic (Apr 8, 2010)

Give me your address so i can break in and steal that neck


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## Zahs (Apr 9, 2010)

I very much enjoyed the awesomeness of this thread!


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## bigswifty (Jun 20, 2010)

Update!

http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/tt104/DevBro22/Guitar Build/SAM_0735.jpg?t=1277087744










Neck pocket was routed yesterday  Its comin' along slowly!






Please excuse the current headstock situation.
My initial plans were to integrate guitar playing with canoeing!


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## bigswifty (Apr 2, 2012)

Bump 
Necromancy +1.

School has begun to recess and I now have a bit more time to work on other things, so I am picking up on this build and working on it weekly!

Since the last post I have glued fretboard to the neck, designed the headstock and have begun to shape both. Check it out.

Shaping the neck:






Fretboard glued:











Headstock Design: Sorry, Vik! 






Materials:






The nice slab of highly flamed maple will be used to cap the upper part of the headstock indicated in the drawing, and also be used for an inlay in the body below the bridge. 

For the body inlay, I'm thinking the Woodstock 69' logo as seen in my avatar.

Hope you like it mates 

EDIT:

In the OP I had referenced my plans to swirl my RG7620, however since then have chosen a different finish and further modified the guitar.
Take a look!


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 2, 2012)

A little more than just +1 to Necromancy for that.  Glad you did bump this and start up on it again though, otherwise I would've missed this whole thread.


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## bigswifty (Apr 2, 2012)

^  

Glad you enjoy it, I plan on really pushing to get it done from this point.
On the plate for this weekend - capping the headstock and more neck shaping


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## Munch (Apr 3, 2012)

Dude, awesome!


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## Stealthdjentstic (Apr 12, 2012)

Hell yes!


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## bigswifty (Apr 15, 2012)

Up 

Some nice progress today, meaning porn for you!

Starting to route






Ooopss.. 
Some careful corrections were made - you'll notice it in the end, but it will be one of the unique features 





Dat flame





The Cap















Until next time


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## androidkaita (Apr 15, 2012)

dayyyyyyyyyyyymmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


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## ibanezcollector (Apr 15, 2012)

digging where this is going


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## Stealthdjentstic (Apr 15, 2012)

Awww yeah! Stoked to see done!


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## bigswifty (Apr 16, 2012)

A question for anybody following this build. 
For the headstock, I am torn between either sanding the woods down flush or keeping a slight height transition between the mahogany, binding and maple. 
The maple in this case would be a couple millimetres higher. 

Any thoughts?


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 16, 2012)

I would say go for flush if you can.


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## Stealthdjentstic (Apr 17, 2012)

Flush that bitch


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## JStraitiff (Apr 17, 2012)

Flush.


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## Solodini (Apr 17, 2012)

I think staggered would be cooler and easier but it seems I'm in the minority.


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## bigswifty (Apr 23, 2012)

Little Sunday night bump


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## Stealthdjentstic (Apr 23, 2012)

Toooo sick


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## bigswifty (May 13, 2012)

Update 

















EDIT

Have to route the bridge pup cavity next week!
Very stoked, this is nearing finish pretty soon now.

Quick question for readers, what is your take on Tune-O-Matic bridges?
The parts are all from my granddads Schecter Jazz 7 that he modded (heavily). So it was my default bridge. 
I had an Epiphone SG with a ToM in the past, never was bothered by it. But I've heard it's either a love or hate deal, so tell me your opinion!


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## Stealthdjentstic (May 13, 2012)

Nooooooooo, buy a hipshot instead!


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## Pikka Bird (May 14, 2012)

I love TOMs and have absolutely zero idea why everyone seems to have developed a deeply seated grudge against them.


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## BlackMastodon (May 15, 2012)

^ I'm ok with TOMs but I haven't tried hip shots yet. If you do use a TOM keep in mind you will need to angle the neck properly or route a slot for the TOM to sit in a little deeper in the body to make up for the angle.


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## bigswifty (May 26, 2012)

^ thanks for the input guys, I've decided to stick with the ToM bridge to add to the retro feel of this guitar  Hopefully I can sort out this inlay below the bridge!

Due for an update as well, here you go!






Neck joint has been worked on to accommodate the bridge. 











Behold, the shittiest electronics cavity in SSO history (excluding DeVries).






Cheers.


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## Stealthdjentstic (May 26, 2012)




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## BlackMastodon (May 26, 2012)

I think I've seen worse cavities, that one looks pretty clean aside from the drill holes.


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## bigswifty (May 26, 2012)

Stealthdjentstic said:


>





BlackMastodon said:


> I think I've seen worse cavities, that one looks pretty clean aside from the drill holes.


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## bigswifty (Sep 16, 2012)

Semi-necro bump!

It's been a while, but the body is now complete! It is ready for finish and I couldn't be more stoked! Some pics:






















The holes in the back are pretty chipped, but it is being covered with a stainless steel plate.

The neck has been shaped and is also nearing the finish stages. Just need to touch up the headstock and its good to go!


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## ROAR (Sep 16, 2012)

This is beautiful.

And this may be the only thread where every post from Stealth is positive


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## skeels (Sep 16, 2012)

ROAR said:


> This is beautiful.
> 
> And this may be the only thread where every post from Stealth is positive



I know, right?

Here, I'll pick up his slack while he's banned.


That.... looks... awesome.


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## Vicious7 (Sep 17, 2012)

Body looks like a delicious graham cracker.  I love how clean all the curves look.


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## bigswifty (Sep 17, 2012)

Thanks for the kind words!
Can't wait to finish her up so we can all see how she looks


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## bigswifty (Oct 1, 2012)

Here's the product of Saturday morning  :
















Pretty pleased with this! Looks good, a bit darker than I imagined but still no problem. Sanded it down since to get ready for coat 2.























But I made a huge mistake.. 






 The headstock was too long so I tried a slightly different idea with taking some of the top off. Then rounded the edges.. Complete lack of plan.
I'm going to try and cut new straight edges and clean up the headstock so it doesn't look like a pear 

Getting closer now


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## bigswifty (Oct 1, 2012)

Just did up a couple of rough headstock ideas, thought I'd see what you guys think!

#1







#2






#3









Personally I like #3 by a long shot. It's reminiscent of a leaf, and would kind of pay homage to the tree it came from  Nature ftw.

And I've decided to also bind the outline of the headstock in either ebony, mahogany or maple.. Give it extra thickness and class


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## Stealthdjentstic (Oct 1, 2012)

1 plz


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## ej207t (Oct 1, 2012)

you could go for something similar to the evh wolfgang headstock. that looks like a leaf of sorts

or at least one thats been chomped on by a caterpillar 

im really liking this build, keep it up champ!


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## toiletstand (Oct 1, 2012)

beat me to it ^^





i like option 3!


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## Pikka Bird (Oct 1, 2012)

Option 1 all the way.

I'd like #3 too if the corners weren't round.


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## Nimgoble (Oct 1, 2012)

I actually kind of like the headstock the way it is...


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## bigswifty (Oct 1, 2012)

Cheers guys! Really appreciate the suggestions and kind words 

Drew up a few more, lets see what you think from these: 

#1 again






#2 






#3 again 






#4







I think it's a tie between #3 and #4 for me now.
What do you think? Also, would you like to see the headstock bound with ebony, maple or mahogany?

Later!


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## GRIZ (Oct 1, 2012)

i like one and 4

also, bound with maple


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## ugly_guitar_guy (Oct 1, 2012)

#3


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## WiseSplinter (Oct 1, 2012)

1 or 4


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## rcsierra13 (Oct 3, 2012)

4!


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## bigswifty (Oct 3, 2012)

I drew up one final design, and I think this will be the one I use!
It just looks the most natural to me. 

Check it out!






This will be bound with flamed maple, which will blend right down to the neck where the maple board is bound with mahogany. 
Also, the truss rod cover will either be mahogany or maple, I will probably make one of each.

Thanks for the input guys


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## Randy (Oct 4, 2012)

>



Chiming in a little late. 

I really like this design, but with the rounded area at the tip recessed rather than removed completely.


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## Lost of All Reason (Oct 6, 2012)

dbrozz said:


> I drew up one final design, and I think this will be the one I use!
> It just looks the most natural to me.
> 
> Check it out!
> ...



There were a few I wanted to get on board with but just couldn't, was gonna recommend you keep refining but then I saw this. Looks SOLID. I think it's what you're headstock as a whole is asking for.


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## Lost of All Reason (Oct 6, 2012)

In fact I got curious myself just cuz I dig the design so much and threw up a quick shopped side by side


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## ej207t (Oct 6, 2012)

dbrozz said:


> Also, the truss rod cover will either be mahogany or maple, I will probably make one of each.



heres an idea! why not do maple AND mahogany together like the headstock? 

im liking your revised headstock and LostOfAllReasons' 2nd design in the shopped image. both are mickey mouse


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## Stealthdjentstic (Oct 6, 2012)

Yeah im digging 2 now after seeing dah shop.


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## devolutionary (Oct 6, 2012)

Curve it, definitely. Not much, just a little incline. The flat end doesn't work so well with the curves on the sides, in my opinion.


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## bigswifty (Oct 7, 2012)

devolutionary said:


> Curve it, definitely. Not much, just a little incline. The flat end doesn't work so well with the curves on the sides, in my opinion.



Though I disagree, the Luthier who very kindly lets me use his shop to work on this guitar said the same thing. 
I took his word for it and curved the left side as well. I think I should have left it, but I don't dislike the result either!
















The curve on the bottom left side ended up coming a little closer to the tuning peg hole than I would have liked, but working with less and less material starts to get pretty shakey. 
A learning experience nonetheless! Tell me what you think! 

EDIT: Unfortunately, my idea for maple binding on the headstock was a little ambitious and required gluing instead of routing. 
So I was advised to just leave it as is. Maybe on a future guitar where more planning is involved I can make this happen.


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## Stealthdjentstic (Oct 7, 2012)

Looks good man!


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## noUser01 (Oct 8, 2012)

I've been waiting for updates since I saw this thing sitting in your room, glad it's not a forgotten project! Looks great man, so stoked.


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## Lost of All Reason (Oct 11, 2012)

dbrozz said:


> Though I disagree, the Luthier who very kindly lets me use his shop to work on this guitar said the same thing.
> I took his word for it and curved the left side as well. I think I should have left it, but I don't dislike the result either!



I'm with you, I thought that straight top line made the subtle curve on the underside particularly tasteful, but I don't dislike like the way it ended up either


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## Darkanus (Oct 11, 2012)

I'm not a fan of swirl finishes but that blue-white-black is just AMAZING.


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## bigswifty (Oct 14, 2012)

Darkanus said:


> I'm not a fan of swirl finishes but that blue-white-black is just AMAZING.



Unfortunately that never happened! Great swirl though indeed 

Here's some of today's work:


























All oiled up 

I drilled the side markers in without really considering radius.. Now they will end up closer to the top than middle, but that's only an aesthetic issue in the end (right?.. )

Got me thinking of having a relatively flat radius for this neck, though. 
Good for teh shredz 

What is your preference in radius?
Later!


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## OfArtAndArsenal (Oct 15, 2012)

16/20 compound radius.


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## Solodini (Oct 15, 2012)

12". Just like my... ruler.


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## iRaiseTheDead (Oct 16, 2012)

that headstock looks beautiful


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## Stealthdjentstic (Oct 16, 2012)

16-20


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## bigswifty (Oct 21, 2012)

Another gloss on the body, and 3rd satin coat on the neck


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## Stealthdjentstic (Oct 21, 2012)

Hnnnng


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## BlackMastodon (Oct 21, 2012)

That's some tasty mahogany, sir.


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## bigswifty (Nov 27, 2012)

^ Cheers fellas!

So the shop owner recently became a father, which is why this thread has been experiencing drought for the past month or so. But as of this week progress has been made! Take a look:
















Wet sanded all the parts last weekend, and will buff the body this weekend.
Loving the way it looks and can't wait to play it! 
Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will have the neck finished to show you guys and shortly after that this build will be complete!


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## Stealthdjentstic (Nov 27, 2012)

Slick Dev..looks like....




















Christmas came early.


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## bigswifty (Nov 27, 2012)

YEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!


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## Stealthdjentstic (Nov 27, 2012)

YYYYYYEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


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