I bought a 7 string! Err, kind of...

G-Man · 2015-10-04T00:01:34+00:00

A disgruntled chap who may or may not be a gfsa member was selling an unfinished project, its an ibby RG7321 and comes with a hardcase. I put in an offer for just over a grand and now it is mine, it is still on its way to me but I have some pics of the unfinished job. I feel bad for the guy as he said that he was so angry with himself for botching the paint work. Looking at the pics it is very thick paint, ideally I want to try and strip away the neck and try get to the wood under there. Any tips? It's spray paint apparently so would paint stripper be an option? I also want to restore the headstock logo as this has been sanded off. Was wondering where I can get waterslide decals and hints on the application Here are the pics, hope im not an idiot for just jumping in on the purchase but a 7 string project is right up my alley at the moment. Tips and suggestions welcome !!

G-Man

Hasie wrote
G-Man wrote I'm never hand sanding clear off of a guitar body ever again, my arm and shoulder are officially dead lol.
I used an entire roll of 80 and 100 grit sandpaper respectively and as my eletric sander went missing in action after loaning it out I had to resort to the manual method. I guess there is more effort going into this project than I originally anticipated .

I'm certain the end result is going to be rewarding.

Let's hope so ?

So heres some updates. I'm keen for everyones opinion of my stripe idea on the body. Doing it front and back using a walnut stain. That's my 'surprise' from earlier in the thread. It is so hard to mask in a straight perfect 5mm line and not get any bleed through onto the body. It's taking forever.... anyway I will be finishing the lines this weekend and then applying clear.

Finished the headstock decals and although there are visible pores I actually quite like it. Its silky smooth and mirrow shiny. Going to buff with a buffing wheel when I put back properly. These are just mockup pics with the tuning heads. Some serious elbow grease went into this let me tell you...

And finally... yea or neigh?

Hasie

Very nice!

G-Man

And the final clear coats have begun 8)

Looks like next weekend I will be starting to learn how to play a 7 string ?

Stoffeltoo

Definitely very Spiffie G-Man! Those GT stripes on the headstock's just going to make your fingering action faster ?
Excellent work, especially on the stain, no bleeding. That is precision and patience

G-Man

Thanks man. The head stock stripes are real walnut, the body stripes are the stain. But up close it still looks pretty good. My plan is to make the top of the body as shiny as the headstock.

I have noticed that even though the lacquer is the identical type and brand the basswood is reacting differently to the maple of the neck. The body is going yellow while the maple remains white. Even more interesting is that the faux walnut strips that I painted into the body are going a lighter shade of brown?! What sorcery is this!?

G-Man

*spolier alert*

I bought a buffing pad.

peterleroux

Looking good!
I like the pinstripes on the body, and the gloss is bringing out some figuring in the basswood- looks awesome ?

G-Man

Thanks man, its turning out better that I could have hoped for.

Well I finished wiring and stringing it up and oh man it sounds good. Have taken some crappy cellphone pics.

Interesting to note that there aren't many killswitch howtos online, luckily it was just a simple matter of putting the switch between the jack and volume pot. Works well with 0 noise or hum when engaged.

Heres a before and after of the pup clean up.

I used this wiring diagram but ignored the tone pot

G-Man

Here's some pics, all done and dusted.

Turned out really well, pity I don't have a decent camera because these pics definitely are not doing it any justice.

Will upload some clips when I have time to play something.

morph

Nice job

Eujean

That looks magnificent!!

Curious about those ferrules though ???

Great job!

Stoffeltoo

Nice Job G-Man.
Unfortunately even 6 strings are sometimes to much for me. Else I may have considered an offer ?

G-Man

Eujean wrote That looks magnificent!!

Curious about those ferrules though ???

Great job!

I know, it looks like they are staggered in a funny pattern, I asked about them on the first page of this thread as the other RG7321's that I see online are in a straight line.

The top A is a bass guitar string 62 so it's "hoop" doesn't fit in the ferrule.

Anyone know why they would stagger them like that? Easier to intonate?

Eujean

I guess staggering the ferrules might help intonation ever so slightly by making the string angles similar across the bridge. I still think it will be marginal though..

G-Man

Yes I agree, can't think of any practical reason though?

A quick Google search revealed 3 school of thought:

1: It helps with intonation

2: It helps with string tension

3: 1 and 2 are BS it just looks cool.

It seems like they only did it with the early RG7321s, they new ones have straight line ferrules.

Norman86

it came out so well. ☹

G-Man

My good buddy took some fancy snaps with his uber camera and so I thought I would share!

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/ni10q283kkoebvw/AACOPt6aG3LP8D3KmDrLEvxwa

Lu22

G-Man wrote My good buddy took some fancy snaps with his uber camera and so I thought I would share!

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/ni10q283kkoebvw/AACOPt6aG3LP8D3KmDrLEvxwa

That is one purrrdy guitar man.

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