MetalDestroyer
Heaven's Football Bat
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 -
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
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:
![RGA-initial-front.png](https://i.ibb.co/jTXyqV3/RGA-initial-front.png)
One string not attached, a decorative guitar classic
![RGA-initial-string.png](https://i.ibb.co/fd7Bvzy/RGA-initial-string.png)
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
![RGA-sticker.png](https://i.ibb.co/9hQq67L/RGA-sticker.png)
don't sticker your guitars kids. just don't.
![RGA-sticker-damage.png](https://i.ibb.co/cNW2nnw/RGA-sticker-damage.png)
nice and dusty
![RGA-dust.png](https://i.ibb.co/gVTggxj/RGA-dust.png)
you don't have to tell me twice. The fret wrap was falling apart so I just tossed it.
![RGA-drop-C.png](https://i.ibb.co/n8CmTyP/RGA-drop-C.png)
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.
![RGA-fretboard.png](https://i.ibb.co/hcC42ZT/RGA-fretboard.png)
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 -
goddammit Ibanez. out come the soldering tools and wire strippers
![RGA-jack.png](https://i.ibb.co/b3VZSDr/RGA-jack.png)
After a full setup:
![RGA-after.png](https://i.ibb.co/Z8LyrDb/RGA-after.png)
have you ever seen a fretboard so in need of a good shredding?
![RGA-fretboard-2.png](https://i.ibb.co/sKkgnK8/RGA-fretboard-2.png)
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