New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

[Boogie Bill]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Looks like you did a very nice job! Congrats!

BTW, you might be able to order a replacement bridge from Ibanez. I got some parts for an Ibanez guitar from them once....worked out great.

Bill

 

[dominus]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Moving pics to second page:

...WTF?


If I was able to buy this for $50 from GC, that means you traded it in for $25. Granted, it was a non-working guitar, but how did you let it get to be this way?



As soon as I pulled the bubble wrap off I saw why it was $50. At least the neck seems straight and there's no major damage.



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Looking at the body, it's hard to come to terms with all that is wrong with this guitar. I'm *guessing* that the previous owner bought it mostly stripped down, and tried to put it back together with whatever he had.




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Let's start with the single knob, single jack... Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't the jack be mounted to the side? You really couldn't get a replacement oval jack plate?




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Okay, that's just wrong. Yes, this is a fixed bridge / hardtail guitar. Not that kind of hardtail dumbass. This takes a Gibraltar tune-o-matic style bridge. Yes, a regular Gibson style TOM won't fit, but still. Damn.



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No back cover? No problem! Just take an old VHS box and cut one to fit and tape it on.




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No ground wire to the bridge? Why am I not surprised?



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Obviously I'll be removing all the parts from this guitar and fixing it up right over the next week. Updates to follow.

Okay, got it done.


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Didn't bother refinishing it, as I don't like painted necks. As long as there's no spots of bare wood that can get discolored, it's all good. That and I wanted to keep this as cheap as possible, meaning I wanted to use whatever parts I had sitting around.


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Swapped out the tuners for black ones. Left the truss rod cover in place, even though it's not the right one.


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BC Rich Badass style bridge from a Kerry King import. GFS VEH in the bridge, GFS 59 bridge in the neck, wired in parallel. The pots and switch are dummies, I've got the pickups running straight to a stereo jack. (Bridge to the tip, neck to the ring. I use a stereo splitter cable here to run to two different amps.)


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Made a cover from the lid off a plastic bin. Not perfect, but actually covers it much nicer than taped on cardboard.


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Import locking tuners. These are actually pretty nice.



The only issue I have with it is that the bridge is a little too thick, so the action is way high. I think I'm going see if my dad (a machinist) can remove the outer lips from the inserts and posts so I can sit the bridge right on the body. The upside of that is that I won't mess up the body trying to recess it and the bridge sitting on the body will cover up the extra holes that the previous owner put in. :nono:

 

[dominus]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Looks like you did a very nice job! Congrats!

BTW, you might be able to order a replacement bridge from Ibanez. I got some parts for an Ibanez guitar from them once....worked out great.

Bill

I don't like the stock bridge, so this was actually a plus.

 

[dominus]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Thank you Wilkinson for making this amazing piece of hardware!

I'm using it as a tune-o-matic replacement and it's just so damn smooth compared to the standard saddles on the Badass. Palm muting is a breeze and I'm not poking my skin.

 

[HALENisking]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

How's the nut? It honestly looks terrible, like the ones that come on the lowest end fender starcaster acoustics haha. sexy wilkinson tho :biglaugh:

 

[greekdude]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Ibanez's tight tune bridge is the best I think for the specific guitar. Also take a look at the "Gibraltar" ones.

 

[dominus]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

How's the nut? It honestly looks terrible, like the ones that come on the lowest end fender starcaster acoustics haha. sexy wilkinson tho :biglaugh:

It's okay, just dirty. As long as it's functional, I'm not too concerned about it.

Ibanez's tight tune bridge is the best I think for the specific guitar. Also take a look at the "Gibraltar" ones.

I hate the saddles on them. I had a few ARTs and SZs last year and sold them all *because* of those bridges. Now I may look at them again.

The strings sit too far in the saddles for the way I palm mute. I'm not adjusting my hand.

The Tight Tune doesn't look too bad, but I wouldn't pay extra for it.

Not to mention, they probably aren't available in regular black. All of their colored chrome hardware sucks for color retention.

 

[Diego]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

You don't like the Gibraltar? Wow.
I think it's great, feels very smooth and dependable, it works OK for me. But then I don't think too much about these things.
I'd never noticed that the strings DO sit very far back to mute them. You're right but after a few years I'm OK with it.
Mine is discolored as hell though.

And damn, how could I miss the original post being a SZ fanboy?
What a stupid, stupid hackjob.

If you ever see a nice deal on a Prestige SZ let me know! The Japanese SZ are a dream guitar to me.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Thank you Wilkinson for making this amazing piece of hardware!

I'm using it as a tune-o-matic replacement and it's just so damn smooth compared to the standard saddles on the Badass. Palm muting is a breeze and I'm not poking my skin.

I've got that bridge, it came factory on an import small bodied semi-hollow. I figured I'd replace it with a badass style wraparound if it didn't intonate. But no problems. Smooth surface and pretty low profile. I like it. Glad it worked out. $50 plus some sweat equity and a few bucks in parts. I'm assuming you're still under $200. Cant beat that.

 

[ErikH]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Nice work. Might be a good idea to fill in those holes from the wrong bridge with dowels and then color match them.

I wouldn't mind coming across something like that to fix up, although I would make use of the pots and switch...lol.

 

[bladefrenzy]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Great work, I have a sweet sz520 I totally love. Great guitars that Ibanez should never have stopped making.

 

[HALENisking]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Man, that bridge job makes me giggle like a dumba** every time. It's just SO bad mg:

 

[dominus]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

New bridge, new pickups. I have a Duncan Designed HB105n in the bridge (sounds like an EMG 85) and a GFS Redactive EQ Bridge model (with the bass and output cut and treble boosted) in the neck.

The switch is now functional. It turns the battery on and off. (Switch positions are On-On-Off) The pickups still go straight to the jack. (Bridge to tip, neck to ring.)

 

[bladefrenzy]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Looks great!! Let me know if and when you get tired of it!

 

[dominus]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Looks great!! Let me know if and when you get tired of it!

Should at least last the summer. Too hot in the garage to do anything with my other projects right now. (The last place I lived in had the 2nd floor over the garage so it was cooler but my new place has the garage more out front.)

 

[dominus]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Went back to passive pickups. GFS Fat PAT in the bridge, Calig Super Drive wired in parallel in the neck. It's an A2 magnet and sounds okay, but might swap it for an A5 or A4 eventually to try to make it sparkle just a hair more.








Picked up a twin for it. Same guitar (SZ320MH) in the red satin finish. This one has Dragonfire Phat Screamers:

 

[Demanic]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Wow, you certainly know where to look for some nice axes.

 

[guitarSQUIRELL]

Re: New Project Day - To the previous owner of this Ibanez SZ320...

Very nice RESTORATION/RESSURECTION if you will.