My big overhaul of my S7420's looks, sound and playability

[Just A Box]

Well, I got an S7420 for $599 on eBay a few months back after complaining about the price hike to $799 at the big retailers. I felt no need for a NGD, as I'm sure that even though it's pretty cool, it's just another stock, all black Ibanez.

Well, that's about to change. Here's the plan:

1) Use my just built neck jig to do a proper leveling & recrowning to correct the pathetic unevenness of the fretwork as it came new out of the box.

2) Use the carbon fiber veneer and reflective stripe tape I've used before to attempt to dramatically change the looks of the guitar. Do the headstock as well, using a replacement vinyl Ibanez decal

3) Condition and stain the fretboard black

4) Swap out the factory pickup with the CL/LF set.

5) Make white pickup covers for the DiMarzios (as they don't make both pickups in full white for sevens). I'm not painting the pickups themselves or using stickers

6) Perhaps, relocate the volume to the rear, leave the tone control in the cavity and use the volume location for a two (or three) way switch for the pickups and maybe use the pickup selector as a coil tap.

I could screw things up royally (I already ran into some fretting questions when leveling) or have to scrap one part or another due to over-ambition.

Let's see how it goes.....

 

[Just A Box]

Well, here's the guitar in the neck jig I made (much thanks to Matt Vinson for the tutorial). I found that there were high frets all over this thing. The jig came out pretty good. I made a few changes from his exact design, but most are negligible.

I have a fair amount of tools, and don't mind buying more when absolutely needed. Sadly, absolutely needed is a term I use when I try to do something using the wrong method or tool and damage something that would otherwise have been fine if I had been less of a tight-wad.

So the first victim on this job was a string and a good nick in a fret. Instead of using the appropriate brass fret setter to give a quick re-seat to the high frets, I simply spread the string apart with my fingers & used the fretting hammer. Well, I not only pinched a string on the fret with the hammer blow, it cut the string and dinged the fret probably deeper than I will level it. Nedless to say, that fret setter will be ordered before the next guitar goes in the jig.

 

[Just A Box]

By the way, as some of you may have seen before, this is the last (and first) guitar I used the carbon fiber veneer on. This should give you an idea of how the body may look after it's done. The new roll I have is darker, more authentic looking to me, and I'm not planning on the fake "neck through" stripes. But I am doing the binding.

The big deal will be using a veneer with actual foil like metal in it that may have a hard time with the carved top nature of the S body. Could be a waste of effort and time... but black, on black, on black, on black.... Ugh

 

[TheSixthWheel]

I definitely appreciate your ambition, and hope this turns out very well for you.

Nice jig, btw

 

[broj15]

No need to make white pickup covers for your dimarzios. Order through a dimarzio dealer and they can do a custom color set (bobbins and/ or pole scews) for just $10 extra per pickup. May be a tad bit more expensive, but it will certainly save you some time and effort.

 

[Just A Box]

No need to make white pickup covers for your dimarzios. Order through a dimarzio dealer and they can do a custom color set (bobbins and/ or pole scews) for just $10 extra per pickup. May be a tad bit more expensive, but it will certainly save you some time and effort.

Kinda already have the pickups in hand... for a couple of months now. What I'm shooting for is for them to look like a pair of white SD Blackouts. We'll see how it goes. I'm halfway through making the first cover. I'll post that when it's almost done.

 

[Just A Box]

Well, I started the carbon fiber veneer. Here's the stuff I'm using (bottom) under the stuff I used last time:

Here's the process:

Stock looking headstock

Get all that hardware off...

Now, check that the piece I'm using will fit with the "grain" at a 45 degree angle

Continued...

 

[Just A Box]

Now I carefully applied the veneer, and used a credit card to get it flat and ensure no air bubbles get trapped

Start the trimming out with a razor blade angled from inside the headstock to outside in order to get a rounded-off feel to the top of the veneer, so that it can't easily be caught on the edge and start pulling off

Finish off the edges all around

And put all the hardware back on to finish it off

I'm hoping, as the veneer is slightly textured, that the vinyl replacement decal I ordered today won't have any issues with lifting. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, the prospect of doing the body in this veneer looks promising.

More to come...

 

[benny]

You could refret the one fret you've messed up. I'm not sure how you feel about that, but I've got some fretwire leftover I can send, pretty sure it's "nickle silver" extra jumbo, a couple inches. I can send it today/tomorrow or Friday. Let me know!


I've wanted to vinyl coat of my guitars and hopefully will soon. All the pictures are greatly appreciated. Subscribed.

A lot of vinyl can be molded with heat. I watched a bunch of videos a while back about doing vinyl and a hair dryer should work. Might be worth trying if you have trouble with the curves.

 

[AwakenNoMore]

I've always wanted to do carbon fiber overlay in my ibby, cool to see it done. Care to share where you purchased the Cf veneer?

 

[Just A Box]

You could refret the one fret you've messed up. I'm not sure how you feel about that, but I've got some fretwire leftover I can send, pretty sure it's "nickle silver" extra jumbo, a couple inches. I can send it today/tomorrow or Friday. Let me know!


I've wanted to vinyl coat of my guitars and hopefully will soon. All the pictures are greatly appreciated. Subscribed.

A lot of vinyl can be molded with heat. I watched a bunch of videos a while back about doing vinyl and a hair dryer should work. Might be worth trying if you have trouble with the curves.

Thanks for the offer, man. That's very generous. I'm going to see if I can get away with it as it is for the time being. Alot of times just bending strings over an area will smooth things out enough to make it less noticeable. We'll see. If it goes back together and is an issue, I may take you up on that offer.

As for the veneer, I am, in fact, worried about the carved top nature of the guitar. And, though heat can be used to mold this stuff sometimes, part of the veneer looks to be foil based - not too sure how heat mold-able that will be. I won't keep it on if it's going to have blatant smears in the appearance of the veneer and certainly won't live with any wrinkles. The fact that these curves are modest gives me hope though.

Oh, here's a shot of the nick in the fret... embarrassing as it is to show:

 

[Just A Box]

I've always wanted to do carbon fiber overlay in my ibby, cool to see it done. Care to share where you purchased the Cf veneer?

Auto Zone. It's called Trimbrite Carbon Tech Vinyl Sheet. Got it in a 17" x 22" roll. It's meant for car parts. Go to the section of the store that has all the tacky accessories for cars and you can find it. $15 for a sheet big enough to cover the face of your entire guitar. I was looking for some stripe tape to do a binding effect on my RG7321, and saw it hanging there and thought it might look good on my guitar. Came out nice on the RG. We'll see how it goes with a carved top.

 

[benny]

That's no problem. It is the same width as Ibanez frets, but a little taller. The ding isn't too bad either by the way.

You could test wrap the vinyl around something odd. Like a soda can. Going from the main area up to the top or bottom lip using scrap material. Of course adding heat to test for problems, if that makes sense.

 

[Just A Box]

That's no problem. It is the same width as Ibanez frets, but a little taller. The ding isn't too bad either by the way.

You could test wrap the vinyl around something odd. Like a soda can. Going from the main area up to the top or bottom lip using scrap material. Of course adding heat to test for problems, if that makes sense.

Just tried it. Wrapped a smallish piece around the back of the neck of a Hondo strat neck. Looks promising.

 

[Miek]

Auto Zone. It's called Trimbrite Carbon Tech Vinyl Sheet. Got it in a 17" x 22" roll. It's meant for car parts. Go to the section of the store that has all the tacky accessories for cars and you can find it. $15 for a sheet big enough to cover the face of your entire guitar. I was looking for some stripe tape to do a binding effect on my RG7321, and saw it hanging there and thought it might look good on my guitar. Came out nice on the RG. We'll see how it goes with a carved top.

GET IN THE ZONE
AU-TO ZONE

 

[sk3ks1s]

... yeah, you've pretty much just sealed the fate of an old 7321 I have lying around that's in dire need of some aesthetic change.

 

[Just A Box]

... yeah, you've pretty much just sealed the fate of an old 7321 I have lying around that's in dire need of some aesthetic change.

I'd argue that you can't improve a guitars looks more fully than I did with that RG7321 for the $20 I spent in total.

 

[Just A Box]

Here's a quick look at the pickup covers I'm making. I spared no expense, utilizing some thin pickguard material, and a plastic cup. I'll detail the "build" process in the near future. Installed on the pickup, and envisioning them flat white, I think they will look good...

By the way, it still needs work. I want them to look like one piece molded covers.

 

[Agone]

This should look great!

Aren't you worried about the impact of the home-made pickup cover (which look swell by the way) on the tone ?

 

[Just A Box]

This should look great!

Aren't you worried about the impact of the home-made pickup cover (which look swell by the way) on the tone ?

Do I think that 1/8" of plastic between the pickup and strings will be a problem? Not really, but you never know. I'm more worried about hitting the pickup cover with my pick if they're adjusted correctly and close to the strings. We'll see.