NGD: $50 RGA project

[MetalDestroyer]

Last night I went to a BBQ with some downhill longboard homies at one of their parents' house where they live in an ADU. Spotted this guitar along with a smashed up LTD 5-string bass on a stand in the corner so I asked whose it was. Found out it was his sister's and it was actually for sale. Asked how much and she said $50 each for the guitar and the bass. I passed on the bass because it had serious body damage I'm not interested in repairing, but walked out with this RGAIX6FM.

Finally got a good look this morning and it's in rougher cosmetic shape than I could see under bulb light last night. I think it's been sitting in direct sunlight untouched for a very long time - strings were all black with rust, it's covered in a thick layer of dust and the paint is crazy yellowed for a guitar that's presumably only 5 years old (according to the Ibanez wiki these were only offered in white in the US in 2019). At least there are no noticeable dings or dents.

Initial condition:

One string not attached, a decorative guitar classic

Very weird and stupid cross sticker. It's been baked long enough that there was no sticker residue left behind when I pulled it off

don't sticker your guitars kids. just don't.

nice and dusty

you don't have to tell me twice. The fret wrap was falling apart so I just tossed it.

After cleaning and conditioning the fretboard. This board is DARK - nice to see on a guitar at this price point when $2k Jacksons aren't even bothering to dye them.

ok so guitar is clean let's plug in the tuner and start stringing it up. Oh the jack is pretty loose lemme just pop off the back cover and -

Spoiler: what do we find under the cover?

goddammit Ibanez. out come the soldering tools and wire strippers

After a full setup:

have you ever seen a fretboard so in need of a good shredding?

Anyway this is the first Ibanez I've ever owned and I can't say it's made me an Ibanez believer. All the important bits are in place - good fretwork, no obvious craftsmanship issues, decently comfy shape. But it still has a wide spacing, flat radius, D-shaped neck. The stock pickups are -fine-, but not really up to snuff with the rest of my collection. It also doesn't have a trem which is generally a hard dealbreaker for me these days. But hey it was 50 bucks and it's different enough from the other stuff I have that I think it's worth having some fun with.

The yellowing really bothers me, and that sticker burn is atrocious. I think I'm gonna attempt a refin of at least the top, I just don't know to what. If you have a suggestion I'm all ears. Current ideas include:
- try to carefully sand through the top poly and re-stain the current top/headstock
- try to re-veneer the top/headstock with something spicier and stain that. Possibly including binding replacement on the body as well
- swirl the top and headstock
- matte solid color top. Thinking shell pink or sonic blue

Probably gonna play around with some pickups as well, but we'll see

 

[Albake21]

HNGD! Even with the issues, sticker burn in, and yellowing, $50 is an absolute steal for that. I'm amazed how the seller had no idea what they were selling.

 

[Rubbishplayer]

Don't wanna rain on your parade, but are you sure she didn't boost it from a now-ex-boyfriend?

That happened to my son, albeit with much lesser stuff (a few DS games). After all, if she bought it herself, she'd know its value. It might also explain tbe condition of the bass.

Just sayin...

 

[crushingpetal]

Nice score and great clean up.

My vote would be to do nothing and keep it as a beater guitar. Maybe change the pickups.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

Don't wanna rain on your parade, but are you sure she didn't boost it from a now-ex-boyfriend?

That happened to my son, albeit with much lesser stuff (a few DS games). After all, if she bought it herself, she'd know its value. It might also explain tbe condition of the bass.

Just sayin...

I mean unless she stole a line 6 Spider, an amp stand, and a 3-guitar rack from this mystery ex as well I doubt it. According to my buddy she used to play a few years ago but hasn't for a while. So even if she did take it from an ex, she used it for some amount of time and then held onto it for years and that ship has long since sailed. I think they pretty much view the gear as taking up space at this point, they tried to get me to take the stand as well but I don't have space for it.

My vote would be to do nothing and keep it as a beater guitar. Maybe change the pickups.

I'm not really a beater guitar kind of guy tbh, and the yellow is way uglier in person than it shows in the pictures

 

[Ordacleaphobia]

The yellowing really bothers me, and that sticker burn is atrocious. I think I'm gonna attempt a refin of at least the top, I just don't know to what. If you have a suggestion I'm all ears. Current ideas include:
- try to carefully sand through the top poly and re-stain the current top/headstock
- try to re-veneer the top/headstock with something spicier and stain that. Possibly including binding replacement on the body as well
- swirl the top and headstock
- matte solid color top. Thinking shell pink or sonic blue

Brother this isn't even a real question.

 

[crushingpetal]

I'm not really a beater guitar kind of guy tbh, and the yellow is way uglier in person than it shows in the pictures

Word. Totally get it.

I have a beater and I find it useful to have a guitar that I don't mind taking to various sundry places and not worry.

 

[7stringDemon]

Hell yeah! Great deal.

Put a sheet of vinyl over it, then cut out and expose where the sticker used to be. After that, you just leave it in the sun for another 5 years and the finish should match a little closer

 

[Rubbishplayer]

I mean unless she stole a line 6 Spider, an amp stand, and a 3-guitar rack from this mystery ex as well I doubt it. According to my buddy she used to play a few years ago but hasn't for a while. So even if she did take it from an ex, she used it for some amount of time and then held onto it for years and that ship has long since sailed. I think they pretty much view the gear as taking up space at this point, they tried to get me to take the stand as well but I don't have space for it.


I'm not really a beater guitar kind of guy tbh, and the yellow is way uglier in person than it shows in the pictures

Hey, all good then. You know her better than I...

 

[Rubbishplayer]

Brother this isn't even a real question.

Exactly. Never look a gift horse in the mouth

 

[MetalDestroyer]

Hey, all good then. You know her better than I...

you want me to ask for the names and contact info of all the boys a late teenage girl has dated in the last 5 years so I can find out for you? Or should I just ask their parents whether they let this girl leave stolen music gear in their living room for a few years?

 

[Rubbishplayer]

you want me to ask for the names and contact info of all the boys a late teenage girl has dated in the last 5 years so I can find out for you? Or should I just ask their parents whether they let this girl leave stolen music gear in their living room for a few years?

What's your problem? Did I hit a nerve or something?

Look at it from a complete stranger's point of view (i.e. mine). It looks too good to be true.

And if you were a complete stranger who had witnessed such theft and flipping in the past, you'd probably want to ensure that buyer had their eyes open and that any possible victim was considered. Or, if valid, maybe understand what her reason was for effectively gifting such a guitar.

But hey, not my problem. Enjoy.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

What's your problem? Did I hit a nerve or something?

Look at it from a complete stranger's point of view (i.e. mine). It looks too good to be true.

And if you were a complete stranger who had witnessed such theft and flipping in the past, you'd probably want to ensure that buyer had their eyes open and that any possible victim was considered. Or, if valid, maybe understand what her reason was for effectively gifting such a guitar.

But hey, not my problem. Enjoy.

It was a valid point to bring up at first. You then followed up with a snarky response implying I didn't have conversations with this family to see if there were any suspicious stories around the gear before I bought it. I didn't think I needed to include every detail of every conversation I had before I decided to take the guitar, but here's my justification if you really need me to prove it to you.
1. this girl is like 19 at the oldest. She lives with her parents.
2. she used to play it a few years ago, which would make her fairly young to to be stealing whole guitar+bass+amp rigs from boyfriends. It's not like you're having SO's spend the night when you're in highschool. Based on how rusted the strings were and how yellow the guitar is, I'm very inclined to believe it was sitting in their wall-to-wall window living room where I found it for years.
3. I mentioned that these were like 600 new, and they said they paid "a few hundred" for it. If you were to sell one of these on FB marketplace they would be 3-400 bucks so that price range tracks to me. If they bought it from someone else who had previously stolen it I don't see what I would be able to do about it. I sold a 4-year-old Schecter that was $800 new for $400 when I was broke in college to make rent.
4. They have enough gear in that living room that it seems unreasonable to me that someone in the house is not a musician.

Basically, you don't know anything about the situation and you're implying I'm stealing things. Then you're doubling down on it based on literally nothing. Yeah that hits a nerve.

 

[Rubbishplayer]

It was a valid point to bring up at first. You then followed up with a snarky response implying I didn't have conversations with this family to see if there were any suspicious stories around the gear before I bought it. I didn't think I needed to include every detail of every conversation I had before I decided to take the guitar, but here's my justification if you really need me to prove it to you.
1. this girl is like 19 at the oldest. She lives with her parents.
2. she used to play it a few years ago, which would make her fairly young to to be stealing whole guitar+bass+amp rigs from boyfriends. It's not like you're having SO's spend the night when you're in highschool. Based on how rusted the strings were and how yellow the guitar is, I'm very inclined to believe it was sitting in their wall-to-wall window living room where I found it for years.
3. I mentioned that these were like 600 new, and they said they paid "a few hundred" for it. If you were to sell one of these on FB marketplace they would be 3-400 bucks so that price range tracks to me. If they bought it from someone else who had previously stolen it I don't see what I would be able to do about it. I sold a 4-year-old Schecter that was $800 new for $400 when I was broke in college to make rent.
4. They have enough gear in that living room that it seems unreasonable to me that someone in the house is not a musician.

Basically, you don't know anything about the situation and you're implying I'm stealing things. Then you're doubling down on it based on literally nothing. Yeah that hits a nerve.

Well that's all in your head, not mine. Enjoy.

 

[Albake21]

you want me to ask for the names and contact info of all the boys a late teenage girl has dated in the last 5 years so I can find out for you? Or should I just ask their parents whether they let this girl leave stolen music gear in their living room for a few years?

Holy hell that escalated quickly. I too was very skeptical about it, but absolutely nothing @Rubbishplayer said was snarky, just a genuine response.

I'm not sure how "Hey, all good then. You know her better than I..." was snarky. Definitely a misunderstanding here.

 

[Nobody]

I’ll buy it from you for $150. $100 dollar profit. You’re welcome.

 

[Rubbishplayer]

Holy hell that escalated quickly. I too was very skeptical about it, but absolutely nothing @Rubbishplayer said was snarky, just a genuine response.

I'm not sure how "Hey, all good then. You know her better than I..." was snarky. Definitely a misunderstanding here.

Thank you. Nailed it.

 

[CrushingAnvil]

you want me to ask for the names and contact info of all the boys a late teenage girl has dated in the last 5 years so I can find out for you? Or should I just ask their parents whether they let this girl leave stolen music gear in their living room for a few years?

Relax, brother.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

every time I buy a cheap guitar I regret it. Next time I want buy a clapped out low-end guitar with a broken output jack I'll make sure to run it by the forum first

Relax, brother.

I am thoroughly un-relaxed tbh. All of my excitement about this guitar is now gone and I wish I hadn't bought it.

 

[jaxadam]

This thread is lit!