NPGD: Ibanez 7-String (Completed...for now)

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

The title stands for New Project Guitar Day if you didn't get it.  It's an RG7621M-BOL which only 12 were sent to N. America.  Got it from ebay as my first 7-string and a small project.  When I got it there was rust all over so I soaked all screws and the saddles in CLR and cleaned em up.  The pics were taken after cleaning the screws so you can't see how bad they were.  I didn't bother taking pics of the bridge or saddles since I already ordered new ones.  The saddles were frozen from rust but the baseplate I'll refinish.


Notice the nasty pickups, nasty frets, rust on the switch, and the worn areas down to bare wood.  These are the main areas I'm working on.  If I can't figure a way to clean the pickups I might just replace them(may have to sell some gear before I BK it).  I'll work on the switch rust but if it's too bad I'll replace it as well.  I also ordered a replacement set of string ferrules for the one that's missing so hopefully they fit ok.

Questions:
Should I leave the wood bare like that or should I seal it up or try to find a black oil finish to match?  What is the best to use to clean and/or polish this kind of finish?

For severe oxidization and rusting of frets would just 0000 steel wool work or should I track down a dremel and some polish?

How would I go about cleaning the pickups?

[Neemo]

I like the a bit relic'd look. I'd just put some kind of lacquer on top of it. great looking gtr  8)

[il˙ti]

Congrats! I like the relic'd look too but what I would do is sand it down a little further and be as patchy as my concience allows me to, then dye it blue. It should look somehting like this:



There are enough shiny black guitars around already.

[Stevepage]

0000 steel wool works great for getting rid of rust on. You can go over the fretboard very lightly with it too if there's alot of muck and then finish it off with some lemon oil.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Congrats! I like the relic'd look too but what I would do is sand it down a little further and be as patchy as my concience allows me to, then dye it blue. It should look somehting like this:



There are enough shiny black guitars around already.

that guitar has had the wood burnt with a blow torch prior to being stained and lacquered

[il˙ti]

Yes I know, I just used it as an example.

[PoshCollins]

Congrats! I like the relic'd look too but what I would do is sand it down a little further and be as patchy as my concience allows me to, then dye it blue. It should look somehting like this:



There are enough shiny black guitars around already.

I <3 that guitar!

Looks Lush!

[Roobubba]

shame about the scratchplate though.

[PoshCollins]

I think it looks nice.

[ibznorange]

the mbol isnt shiny to begin with really. its like semigloss black stain on mahogany.

I personally think it looks killer, but do what you will
i love the stained grain patterns it has though

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

I worded my question on the finish badly.  I was actually just referring to the worn patches next to the neck pickup and on the contour where the arm would rest.  Should I seal those spots up somehow or will it be fine to leave it bare?  Ideally I'd like to get those patches looking like the rest of the finish but it seems hard to pull off.  I think the rest of the finish is great and I'm leaving it alone besides a good cleaning.

Mini-update:
Cleaned the rust off of the selector switch and the pickup poles.  I also painted the pickup poles and random hardware screws.  In the process of sanding the switch I managed to rip two wires loose. :roll:   Just a minor fix but it's always something.

All that's left is fret polish and setup really, other than the parts I'm still waiting on.  It's looking much better and I'm desperately trying to figure out a way to speed up the UPS man!  Nitrous Oxide?

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

OK.  Everything is basically all cleaned up and ready to go but I'm still waiting on the saddles.  I didn't realized the place I ordered them from is in Canada(not clever enough to make a joke about saddles from Canada...mountees etc.) so I had time to finish everything else up.  Check out the before pics up there^^ and then these:



As I was sanding the bridge plate down to spray it black it took on a cool relic look.  I think I'll put a few coats of clear on it instead, what do you think:


What's the difference between Rotor Oil and Bore Oil?  I know Rotor Oil is used for the valves in brass instruments and Bore is for the inside of woodwinds.  I ordered a bottle of Bore Oil along with a bunch of odds and ends but got Rotor Oil instead.  I was planning on oiling my fretboard after a good cleaning which I did but would Rotor Oil work?  It says it contains petroleum distillates if that helps.

Edit: Nevermind..Rotor oil bad.  I need to find some bore or lemon oil then.

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

Done!

Well I'm still waiting on the new saddles but I decided to clean up the old ones as best I could and throw 'em on so I could at least play it.  The action is higher than I'd like because the rusted allens are immovable, but other than that this thing plays incredibly!  The frets and fretboard feel better than any guitar I've ever played.  All that time with the steel wool and the bore oil really payed off.  Just look at the frets before and after...wow.  All my guitars are getting the same treatment at their next string changes.

I'm not sure which Dimarzio pickups these are but at some point they'll need changing.  If I stick with 7-string playing(don't see why I wouldn't) it will need BKP's for sure.  But for now, I'm off to play some more.  \m/

[Jonny]

I like it. Especially the bridge.

[il˙ti]

Looks good to me.