Warfare Project
I make a lot of Ibanez JEM style guitar replacement bodies. I'm working on a a project for Steve. I'm wrapping it up this weekend, so I thight I'd document it. The idea is to look like an Ibanez Steve Vai Limited Edition UV77 - Warfare.
These pictures show the initial buff of after the clear. The reflections are from my window.
Here are some shots after the pickups. The humbuckers are DiMarzio PAF Pro DP151. The middle is a stacked humbucker DiMarzio Area 58 DP415.
Here is a shot after installing the neck hardware. It's starting to come together.
I have been trying out DiMarzio 500K Custom Taper Split Shaft Pots. Even though Ibanez seems to be close with DiMarzio, I don't think DiMarzio gives them much love back. As an example, if you ask them what pickup goes on the Black (JEM EM77V BK) and Bad Horsie (JEM77B RMR)with Breeds, they don't know and recomend things like a Red Velvet. I guess. But that is not the one. This is another example. Ibanez is in Japan, so they use the metric system (so a Royal with Cheese!). For pots, DiMarzio uses standard. Ibanez doesn't. So they don't fit without a fuss. So the holes need widening. To do that on a body with clear, be carefull. The clear tends to chip off on the edges. A good trick is to run the drill backwards until you break the surface, then go forward - slowly. I drill from the top. There is a tiny tear on this one, but it is inside the cavity, so no worries. These two show the new hole from the top, and the slight tear on the back.
These two show the finished install. Clean and top notch.
Here is a picture of the jack. This is another DiMarzio lack of love. They sell parts, and jacks, and jacks from this company, but they needed a week (and one reminder from me) to figure out if they sell barallel jacks. They don't. The stubby barrel jacks are better, but hard to find. The cheap ones from China don't work very well. So this is the best compromise. I picked that trick up from the guy who wired this one.
Here is a shot of the back plates. They have a bit more space than I like. These are from a Ibanez RG Prestige. I thought I had re-worked the programming to get these closer. I'll take another look at that. I have some custom made plates that fit a bit better. Just ask if interested. The amount of time spent on plate programming is crazy. All copiers and canners distort. The cavity cover hits the worst spot, so it's try, adjust, retry. I sort of like the prestige cuts on the trem cover though.
Here are the mostly final pictures. What a great guitar!
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