Upper fret bevels for Ibanez guitars?

[diogoguitar]

I love my Ibanez RG1570 to a point I'm considering getting a second one and doing some surgery in it: like adding some upper fret bevels like a kiesel.

You might ask: why do you need MORE access than Ibanez?

Yeah. I could use a quarter inch more to reach the 24th fret on certain songs (I'm talking to you Marty Friedman). I know famous musicians don't need it, but I am not as good as them and could use some extra room to reach the 24th fret.

Anyway, anyone had the balls to do the bevels around the lower horn? If so, any tips for me not butcher a perfectly working Ibanez? After the woodwork, I plan to send it to some reputable tech to do the refinish... I have zero plans to resell the guitar... I've owned an RG1570 long enough to know it will be my forever guitar.

Thanks

 

[Dumple Stilzkin]

If you have doubts about how to do it, and do it well— I would find a tested luthier to handle it.

 

[CleansingCarnage]

You could do that very easily with a rasp as long as you take your time. All you have to do is figure out how far down each face of the guitar (top and side inside the horn) you want to bring the bevel, draw the contour you want on each off those faces, then use your rasp at an angle on the corner until you remove the material between the lines. Then clean up and fine tuning through sanding.

 

[tedtan]

Try to find guitars with similar cutaway and bevel and play them first - I’ve never found bevels to help provide access to the upper frets. Enlarging the cutaway ala Rusty Cooley’s signature Dean models would likely help much more than bevels (though would change the looks of the guitar quite a bit).

 

[Thesius]