# Ibanez RGA8 body building!



## Rojne (Apr 7, 2012)

Hi guys!

After starting loads of building thread's but never started any of the builds,
here comes one that will take off real soon!

I have been struggling with getting a job the latest 5 months, being
unemployed breaks you down bit for bit everyday but I NOW got a frekin job
where I earn them good moneys!
And with that I thought that I would give myself a new guitar in birthday-
present in the end of this month when the salary comes knocking on the door!

I put a used Ibanez RGA8 in mint-condition (the guy who owned it before had it
for 2 days) on lay-away, so that I can pick it up whenever I've got the money!

Im making plans for how I want the body and it's shaping up quite good,
heres some specs and mock-up's for all of you to look at!

Neck and Hardware will be stock.
Pickup's: DiMarzio D-Activator 8's (Black, Cream or Zebra)
Volume, Tone and 3-way Toggle (JPM)
JEM-style input jack






Swamp Ash





Mahogany





Walnut





Alder

These are the woods Im thinking about using, but give me other ideas on
what woods who would fit in making a body who gives loads of clarity and
attack but still can be quite warm!

Will be using it for hardcore/metal and jazz!

Hope you'll enjoy this, expect a NGD soon!
(And a New Ink Day too )

Have a great Easter, Im gonna go and get drunk with my relatives now! haha


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## bob123 (Apr 7, 2012)

Alder is win win win in this scenario. Its easy to seal and paint, its easy to work with, its the cheapest of the woods you have, and its fairly light! The bright nature of alder should also help keep things in line with that boomy 7th and 8th string  

Id actually suggest some american basswood, but that my be too "mid rangey" for an 8 string though...


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## Purelojik (Apr 7, 2012)

my votes for ash. i've always loved the grain patterns. if you get a cool grain filler you can do a contrasting stain like how mayones does. it looks pretty sweet


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## Rojne (Apr 7, 2012)

Yeah, it leans toward Alder or Swamp Ash, as they're quite spanky tone-wise!
The only thing is that those woods are quite boring to look at,
and I would like to have it all natural!


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## Rojne (Apr 7, 2012)

Purelojik said:


> my votes for ash. i've always loved the grain patterns. if you get a cool grain filler you can do a contrasting stain like how mayones does. it looks pretty sweet



I've thought of that, but I think it's quite hard to do a finish like that!
It looks fukin great though!


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## jarnozz (Apr 7, 2012)

walnut with clear coat! that´s just pure win


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## Rojne (Apr 7, 2012)

jarnozz said:


> walnut with clear coat! that´s just pure win



Dude.. the only bad part is that it's heavy as hell!


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 7, 2012)

Rojne said:


> Dude.. the only bad part is that it's heavy as hell!


It would be heavy and suuuuper bassy for an 8 string I would think. My vote also goes to Swamp Ash, even with just a black stain I think it looks sexy as hell. If you could replicate that Mayones style finish though that would just be godly.


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## DropSplash (Apr 7, 2012)

Swamp ash all the way. Though, I do think the walnut looks super cool.


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## Rojne (Apr 7, 2012)

I love the look of Walnut, maybe Swamp Ash with a Walnut-top/veneer?
My brother built a base some years ago out of walnut, it's heavy as a elephant but it sounds so damn goood!


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## Ocara-Jacob (Apr 7, 2012)

Alder or Swamp ash, but the Walnut probably wouldn't be too bad either.


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 7, 2012)

If you do go Walnut, you could get some higher gain pickups (or at least some that have a bit less bass response and are more focused on treble) to counter the warm tone of the walnut. And you could start working out your back and shoulders to counter the weight. 
A veneer or even droptop might work too, though.


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## asher (Apr 7, 2012)

Swamp Ash or Walnut.


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## Rojne (Apr 7, 2012)

The simplest way is to build a body out of just one spicies of wood
without a drop-top or veneer, but sure as hell walnut looks 100x better
than any of the other woods!

It's hard, you choose either tone over looks and vice versa!

Walnut is double the price of Swamp Ash here in sweden,
so maybe I should go that route for my first build?

Damn Im drunk, sorry haha!


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## Bigsby (Apr 7, 2012)

another +1 to swamp ash


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## Rojne (Apr 8, 2012)

Swamp Ash it is, I think it will suit my needs best!
Im ditching the Tone-control too, as I never really use it, 
and Im thinking of doing Blackmachine-style bevels on the body!


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## Faine (Apr 8, 2012)

Yeah man, Id do swamp ash and stain it black or flat black or something.


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## Konfyouzd (Apr 8, 2012)

Swamp ash!!! 

Stain it dark red.


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## Rojne (Apr 8, 2012)

I will stain it brown and call it McTurd... no

Im thinking of just Tung-oil and buff the hell out of it!


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## 7stringDemon (Apr 8, 2012)

Swamp ash. Then match the headstock!


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## Rojne (Apr 8, 2012)

7stringDemon said:


> Swamp ash. Then match the headstock!



That would be cool, and put a black Ibanez logo on it!


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## Rojne (Apr 8, 2012)

THIS caught my attention when I was fiddling with finishes, would probably look great
as hell with cream or zebra pup's too!

And a question: Can you replace the locking nut with a Graphtech Tusq nut without any problem?


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## skisgaar (Apr 9, 2012)

that looks tasty :3


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## Rojne (Apr 10, 2012)

So as I said my birthday is coming up, actually my 20th and I didn't realise it's
somewhat of a big thing until my fiancee told me that it was a serious thing!

So, Im thinking of persuading my parents into help me fund this guitar
so that I atleast could throw in a D-Activator in the bridge position for a start!
(saving up for a wedding makes the wallet a bit thirsty!)

Im also thinking of steel-wooling the whole piece, so it will look a bit more fun!






So I've search around, but haven't found anything REAL useful and detailed 
about how to approach the steel-wooling-business?
Is it just to use #0000 or finer steel-wool and do a "Wax-on, wax-off" with a light touch until I reach my goal?

Im not that worried about fucking it up, as Im going to build a new body for it,
but who doesn't want it to look nice?


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## s4tch (Apr 10, 2012)

I'd keep the original mahogany body, remove like 1,5 centimeters and apply a swamp ash top to it. The dark character of the mahogany and the brighter ash top would make a pretty balanced sound, and you could finish it the way this Mayones is done:






Just outstanding.


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## Rojne (Apr 10, 2012)

s4tch said:


> I'd keep the original mahogany body, remove like 1,5 centimeters and apply a swamp ash top to it. The dark character of the mahogany and the brighter ash top would make a pretty balanced sound, and you could finish it the way this Mayones is done:
> 
> *"PIC"*
> 
> Just outstanding.



That looks dope, but It's not really my thing TBH!
If I could find a tutorial in how they make the all black
Gothic finish then I would be all over the place!!


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## AK DRAGON (Apr 10, 2012)

Keep the Mahogany body and just sand the finish off and tung oil it


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## Rojne (Apr 10, 2012)

AK DRAGON said:


> Keep the Mahogany body and just sand the finish off and tung oil it



It's a thought!

The RGA8 Im getting is the older one without the bevels, and there was one
of the newer models in the shop that I compared it with..
The one Im getting played and sounded better than the newer one,
and it was a bit more heavy too.. so it might be a good piece of mahogany
underneath the finish!

I'll see what it sounds like when I get new pickups for it, but I have a
feeling of that the mahogany might be a bit bassy for my liking!


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## JaeSwift (Apr 10, 2012)

I wanted to chime in earlier but I kept forgetting to post a reply. I've built a replacement body for my RGA 8 out of Swamp Ash and I installed D-Activator 8's in it. Here's a link to the build thread:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu.../136137-making-my-rga-8-replacement-body.html

Here's a link to the NGD thread with the final product:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/extended-range-guitars/165845-ngd-jae-custom-rga-d-8-a.html

The warmth and attack you are looking for is something that will definitely come from Swamp Ash. It describes it to a T, even with the D-Activator's (which by the way, are great). The bottom end is pretty fat but it's nothing you can't controll with a bit of EQ'ing; it is far from being out of controll.

Keep in mind that, if you do opt to go for Swamp Ash, you will want the lightest weight piece available. The heavier pieces always sound very trebly and shrill and the midrange is even more absent in one. One problem you will run in to is that the body will become slightly neck heavy as the neck on the RGA 8 is ridiculously heavy. 

When it comes to walnut; it is not warm. It really isn't. It's screamy as all hell. It's much closer in sound to maple than it is to mahogany. If you can find a lighter weight piece the screamyness is mellowed out by quite a bit and you will notice it being quite a lot warmer than maple, but if you really want warmth I would avoid walnut unless you have the option to ''weight test'' quite a few pieces.

You may want to look in to Limba/Korina. I've got a piece laying around that I'm using for my upcoming 7 string build. From the guitars I've heard with it, the sound is similair to mahogany but with much more clarity and punch, resulting in an un-avoidable boost in the mid range. It's also relatively heavy so you could go with a thinner body size (or archtop like the RGA) to compensate without it becoming neck heavy. Looks beautiful in natural finishes as well.


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## Rojne (Apr 10, 2012)

Damn, I totally forgot that you built a new body for yours.. I followed the build thread! haha
Do you got any clips of it? 

I think Im gonna go with Swamp Ash, if there is a neck-dive I think I could handle it!
I going to build a full-size RG body with Blackmachine'ish bevels, I'll maybe make it a bit slimmer! 

Thanks for the advice, I'll check your build-thread later and inspect it thoroughly!

STILL: I hate locking nuts, so can I replace the Locking Nut with a GT Black Tusq nut?
As the bridge doesn't have any springs I don't see if there would be a problem?


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 10, 2012)

That Mayones, how the hell does he do that?


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## Rojne (Apr 10, 2012)

BlackMastodon said:


> That Mayones, how the hell does he do that?



I would pay these guys to teach me how to do it!


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## JaeSwift (Apr 10, 2012)

Rojne said:


> Damn, I totally forgot that you built a new body for yours.. I followed the build thread! haha
> Do you got any clips of it?
> 
> I think Im gonna go with Swamp Ash, if there is a neck-dive I think I could handle it!
> ...



In theory, yes, you could. Thing is though, I doubt you'll be able to find a graphtech slab as long as the nut was so it will probably look pretty off. You would also need to know how to make one.

I'de really recommend not bothering. If you hate the locking nut, just remove the locking pad 

EDIT: Side note, I just saw you live in Sweden. Sweden has some beautiful Sycamore trees (European Maple) and your bound to find a few cheap pieces of nicely figured sycamore. Just some food for thought.


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## Rojne (Apr 10, 2012)

Yeah, that would be the only problem, to find a Tusq-piece long enough! 

Our maple trees are quite beautiful, but would the tone-characteristics be the same as american maple?
I believe our's is a bit softer and lighter, so it should be a bit warmer maybe?


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## JaeSwift (Apr 11, 2012)

Yes, European maple tends to be a bit closer in tone to Ash in that it has less bite in the top end.


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## Rojne (Apr 11, 2012)

You gave me a great idea, have to take a look around and see if I can find some nice pieces! 
It would probably be cheaper than both Swamp Ash, Ash and Alder!

Mock-up time!!











I've found a place where they carry maple, waiting for an answer about if it's american or swedish!


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## asher (Apr 11, 2012)

I really like that trans-black.


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## Rojne (Apr 11, 2012)

asher said:


> I really like that trans-black.



Yeah, feeling the Meshuggah vibe!


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## Rojne (Apr 11, 2012)

Oh, and found out that Graphtech has Black Tusq pieces as long as 63mm,
the nut width on the RGA8 is 55mm if I remember right!
So the locking nut will probably be replaced!


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## asher (Apr 11, 2012)

Rojne said:


> Oh, and found out that Graphtech has Black Tusq pieces as long as 63mm,
> the nut width on the RGA8 is 55mm if I remember right!
> So the locking nut will probably be replaced!



Yeah, I found when shopping that they have slabs long enough to get an 8 string in. Not a ton longer, but. They're much harder to find however.


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## Rojne (Apr 12, 2012)

asher said:


> Yeah, I found when shopping that they have slabs long enough to get an 8 string in. Not a ton longer, but. They're much harder to find however.



They wasn't that hard to find, a online parts-shop here carrys their stuff so I found it like right away! Haha

Still hasn't recieved an answer from the Wood-guys, hopefully later today!


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## JaeSwift (Apr 12, 2012)

Rojne said:


> They wasn't that hard to find, a online parts-shop here carrys their stuff so I found it like right away! Haha
> 
> Still hasn't recieved an answer from the Wood-guys, hopefully later today!



''Wood guys'' are notoriously slow in e-mailing in my experience 

You could check out a nice piece of flamed maple rather than a plain piece mind you. I really like that forearm scoop by the way, it's near enough the exact same thing that I'm going to be doing on my offset superstrat build lol. If it's affordable to you I would recommend getting a top even if it is American maple; it will make the looks infinitely better and I can guide you through the process of joining a top and glueing it to a body as I'm actually doing the exact same thing now (literally just now joined a myrtlewood top). If it's around 1cm or thinner you're not going to notice a huge difference in sound anyway.


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## Rojne (Apr 12, 2012)

JaeSwift said:


> ''Wood guys'' are notoriously slow in e-mailing in my experience



I hear you, they take fukin forevar to answer a simple Yes or No question! 

It's a great idea with the flamed maple and a top, but that's not really my thing!
I like it simple and for my first build I don't want to go in over my head, haha!

Im thinking of even be so comfortable and order a nice cut'n'glued blank of Swamp Ash, 
it would cost me about $130 (wich is pretty cheap over here)!


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## Rojne (Apr 14, 2012)

Soo... I sort of finalized the spec's on this upcoming build, only having problem about deciding what wood Im going to use!

 Neck and Hardware will be stock.
 Body: Swamp Ash, European Maple or Alder
 Finish: Ebony stain (Maybe I'll have it clearcoated too)
 Blackmachine'ish bevels around body
 Pickup's: EMG 808X
 Control layout: JPM (Volume, Tone and 3-way toggle switch)
 JEM-style input jack

*Swamp Ash*






*European Maple*





*Alder*





I decided to go with EMG's just to try them out, if I don't like them I'll sell them before this builds starts and buy a pair of DiMarzio's instead!


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## Levi79 (Apr 15, 2012)

I realize you've already made your decision, and an awesome one at that. I love me some Swamp Ash as well. But Walnut isn't very bassy at all, and definitely isn't as heavy as people are making it out to be. It is heavy, I'm not going to say it isn't, but it isn't much heavier than a Mahogany guitar. I've had 2 walnut guitars and am using it on my first build. I looove the tone and the looks of it. It's tight, snappy and bright, but retains a nice well rounded sound.
And if you're thinking about maple as a body, and weight is an issue. Think again. Maple is muuuuuuch heavier than Walnut dude. 
I don't really have a preference in the woods you've been looking at. Their all awesome, but I just thought Walnut needed a fair portrayal. 
Will be following this thread!


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## DropSplash (Apr 15, 2012)

Don't do a black guitar..
You might as well have just kept the RGA8 stock..
Go original. Don't fall into the black trap when you have the opportunity to do something else
Doooooooooooonnn't giiiiiiiiiiiivvvve iiiiiinnnn tooooo thhheeeee Daaarrrkk Siiiiiddde


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## Rojne (Apr 15, 2012)

European Maple is much lighter than American, so that wouldn't be a problem!
But I think Im going to go with Alder, and add a little colour into the stain and clearcoat it!

Purple





Green


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## 7stringDemon (Apr 15, 2012)

Purple all day!

And where/how are you doing these mockups? They're REALLY good!


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## Levi79 (Apr 15, 2012)

Ah. Never thought of that. Maybe you should try a walnut stain on the alder dude! It looks super sick.




I fucking love that guitar for some reason 

I agree with the mockups, super good. HOW U DO DAT


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## Rojne (Apr 16, 2012)

7stringDemon said:


> Purple all day!
> 
> And where/how are you doing these mockups? They're REALLY good!





Levi79 said:


> Ah. Never thought of that. Maybe you should try a walnut stain on the alder dude! It looks super sick.
> 
> I fucking love that guitar for some reason
> 
> I agree with the mockups, super good. HOW U DO DAT



Im just one of those guys who knows how to use Photoshop a bit! 

I can't decide if I want to go Green or Purple, haha, it's hard these decisions..
I've got at least some time to think of it though, won't start this build in another 1 1/2 months or so!

Maybe I'll do some test's on the RGA body, and try to stain the mahogany in one of the colours and see how I'll like it!

If you got MOAR ideas they're more than welcome!!!!!!


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## Rojne (Apr 16, 2012)

And Purple it is!


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## DropSplash (Apr 16, 2012)

GREEN


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## Rojne (Apr 16, 2012)

Or Green! 



dayum


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 16, 2012)

Blue! NO, YELLOOOOOooooooooooow


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## Rojne (Apr 16, 2012)

BROWN WITH TEAL STAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111one


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## Rojne (Apr 18, 2012)

*FINAL "FINAL" SPECS!*

 Neck and Hardware will be stock
 Body: Alder
 Finish: Dark Purple stain w/ Clearcoat
 Pickups: DiMarzio D-Activator 8's (Neck/Neck for lower output and clarity) 
 Controls: Volume, Tone, 3-way JPM switch
 JEM-style input
 Blackmachine bevel design on body






Build starts off in a month or so, don't know if I'll start a new thread or keep going in this one! 

Expect a NGD next week!  so excited!!!


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## asher (Apr 18, 2012)

That's gonna be sweeeeeet


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## SilenceIsACrime (Apr 18, 2012)

PURPLE FTW!! Excellent choices


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## Rojne (Apr 22, 2012)

Had a really crazy idea...


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## MrHelloGuitar (Apr 22, 2012)

MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!! Hahahaha.


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 22, 2012)

^This. 
A graphic might look pretty cool if done tastefully (we don't need more skulls/fire/skulls & fire guitars).


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## Rojne (Apr 22, 2012)

it will be purple hahahahahah


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## IB-studjent- (Apr 22, 2012)

I love that particular Picasso, Spanish Civil War FTW !


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## Rojne (Apr 23, 2012)

IB-studjent- said:


> I love that particular Picasso, Spanish Civil War FTW !



Yeah, me too!


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