# This is never a good sign...



## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Brand new body, something's gonna need a lot of sanding. 










Sorry for the fuzz, apparently my leg was the focal point in the unedited image.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I'm not sure what I'm seeing here. Give me some context. Thanks.


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


> I'm not sure what I'm seeing here. Give me some context. Thanks.


The neck is sitting too high in the pocket...there shouldn't really be any maple showing between the body and the binding.

The strings sit right across the frets...


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

dag yo!

and is that a new guitar??


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Budda said:


> dag yo!
> 
> and is that a new guitar??


Neck and hardware is from an almost new guitar with a damaged body, the body is brand new, same series different model (same specs).

Should fit, doesn't. :confused-smiley-010


I'll most likely end up taking the extra off the neck as I don't want to weaken the body.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Man, that looks like quite a bit to take off. Are you sure you want to do that. 

FYI - simply an opinion, I am definitely not a luthier!

What kind of guitar is it??


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Ibanez S Series.

Don't have much choice, I'm not going to spend any more money on this project...these two will play nicely together or not at all


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

The Kicker Of Elves said:


> The neck is sitting too high in the pocket...there shouldn't really be any maple showing between the body and the binding.
> 
> The strings sit right across the frets...


 
There are no hard and fast rules about burrying the maple, the string height is the real issue. This neck has an overhang, sometimes when you drop the neck it will vibrate against the body and you might have to sand a little off of the back to get it to stop.

You could adjust the bridge, but depending on the bridge type if it is sitting too high you'll get 'different' coupling and possibly too much string tension (on a two piece or string through).

I agree that it looks better with the neck deep in the socket and the stings tight to the body though.

If you take some meat off the back ofthe neck, you will probably need shorter neck screws to avoid poking through the fretboard (unless you are already using short screws).

I'm guesing that one of the doner guitars had a floyd based on the forward tilt angle that the neck appears to have (or is it the shape of the body?)


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Hamm Guitars said:


> There are no hard and fast rules about burrying the maple, the string height is the real issue. This neck has an overhang, sometimes when you drop the neck it will vibrate against the body and you might have to sand a little off of the back to get it to stop.
> 
> You could adjust the bridge, but depending on the bridge type if it is sitting too high you'll get 'different' coupling and possibly too much string tension (on a two piece or string through).
> 
> ...


Both had the Ibanez ZR (Zero Resistance) trem, which is a modified Floyd.

I'm going to take a little off the body (mostly the generous poly) and take the rest off the neck a fraction at a time until the strings are up off the frets.

Taking my time with this project as this body has a beautiful and interesting finish and when it's done I'll have a pretty much new guitar (with all new electronics) that I already have people calling dibs on in case I want to sell or trade. 


Thanks for reminding me about the screws. :food-smiley-004:


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

Just a point of interest...

I have an old '96 Ibanez RG and I'm pretty sure there's some maple showing at the joint (guitar is stock). I'd have to check to be 100% sure.


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Emohawk said:


> Just a point of interest...
> 
> I have an old '96 Ibanez RG and I'm pretty sure there's some maple showing at the joint (guitar is stock). I'd have to check to be 100% sure.


I agree, and HG said the same thing...it's not a rule of thumb.

For this guitar the neck is going to need to come down almost 1/8" for the strings to be at a playable height. At that point adjustment of the bridge can take care of buzz, but right now the strings are tight across the frets all the way to the nut.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

GONE


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

gtrguy said:


> Is the neck backbowed?
> 
> gtrguy


It wasn't when the guitar was together and the strings on...


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

The Kicker Of Elves said:


> I agree, and HG said the same thing...it's not a rule of thumb.
> 
> For this guitar the neck is going to need to come down almost 1/8" for the strings to be at a playable height. At that point adjustment of the bridge can take care of buzz, but right now the strings are tight across the frets all the way to the nut.


All the way to the nut, huh? There should be some relief - at least under tension - shouldn't there? Even if the strings were resting on the 24th fret and the nut there should be some clearance along the fretboard. A guitar neck shouldn't be perfectly flat I don't think. 

You may have a couple of different issues here. It could be pocket angle, neck/body thickness at the joint, neck relief, or bridge setup (or a combination).

But hey - I'm certainly not a luthier. All I can say for sure is my Ibanez and several others I've seen have as much maple showing at the joint as yours, have as much space from the fretboard to the body, and play fantastic.


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Emohawk said:


> All the way to the nut, huh? There should be some relief - at least under tension - shouldn't there? Even if the strings were resting on the 24th fret and the nut there should be some clearance along the fretboard. A guitar neck shouldn't be perfectly flat I don't think.
> 
> You may have a couple of different issues here. It could be pocket angle, neck/body thickness at the joint, neck relief, or bridge setup (or a combination).
> 
> But hey - I'm certainly not a luthier. All I can say for sure is my Ibanez and several others I've seen have as much maple showing at the joint as yours, have as much space from the fretboard to the body, and play fantastic.


I've only had the neck on with strings the one time, and since then the focus has been on getting the work done on the body completed (all hardware and electronics installed and tested).

Now that this is all done I can put the neck back on and have another look at how it fits and what adjustments are needed.

I'll take some better pics of what I find, the fuzzy one from the original post was taken quick with my Blackberry before I took it all apart again.


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Almost there, a tweak or two to the truss rod and it should be perfect. I'm hoping to be able to keep the action as low as it is right now, combined with 9-46s (as opposed to my usual 10s) it sure is easy to play.

This is a *really* nice guitar to play, I might just keep it 

The single needs to come down even more, I'm going to have to take it out and remove the small pieces of foam under it to drop it any more. Fortunately you can take the whole bridge off and leave the strings wound...makes the fix faster than having to restring it all over again.


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## Emohawk (Feb 3, 2006)

Looking sweet man. Love the finish on that body.

I have the same complaint about the middle single on my RG - could never get it low enough to be out of the way - but I'm kinda heavy handed sometimes... :rockon2:It's disconnected right now in fact. I dropped a set of EMG's (81/85...what else?) in it a while ago. Haven't decided if I'll throw a SA in the middle or just yank it all together. I never liked the tone anyway.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

where did you get a new S (since it's ZR'd) with a quilt top??


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

Budda said:


> where did you get a new S (since it's ZR'd) with a quilt top??


The new body (an S470 DXQM-TL...Deluxe Quilted Maple - Transparent Lavender) I got from Ebay. Someone had a new body for sale, it had never been drilled for covers, pickup rings etc.

It was routed for ZR, and I had all the parts already.


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

A thin shim at the headstock side of the neck pocket (curse Ibanez's curved neck pocket!) fixed the last of the high fret buzz.

Seymour Duncan Full Shred out of the bridge position and Dimarzio Fred in...

I've always liked the combo of a Fred in the bridge and a Humbucker from Hell in the neck.


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

It's definitely a unique finish...depending on the lighting it looks almost black, blue and black or this (as named) Lavender.


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