Ashurbanipal
Well-known member
For quite a few years I've been toying with the idea of having a single pu guitar. I did look at Kramers for a while but they were quite pricey and wasn't a fan of the slightly gumby upper horn. So once I got on the Ibanez gravy train anew (thank the gods for MIJ) I looked at the 1986 models, specifically the RG410, the single hb model.
So, finally got one that came up. I've been working on it for the past month as I bought it just as neck and body, and had to fish around for hardware.
Usual Ibanez woods, Edge trem, push-push volume for coil cut. Yeah, I hate black but I hope to get it refin'ed sometime, some kind of loud red maybe.
The oil finished neck on these is great. It's a C shape with nicely tapering shoulders; not too dissimilar to a JS neck. Frets are jumbo but not huge.
Lucked out and found an '86 spec Edge in great nick. The PAF Pro sitting in my parts drawer also found a new home. I do have the original pu this would've come with but it's 12k triple ceramic, not interested.
Lots of swirling/scuffing on the body - it's been played a lot, but not much fret wear (don't think it's had a dress). The fingerboard has some pitting on the 2nd and 3rd frets too.
It sounds pretty good - has a nice throaty quality not unlike my '85 Roadstar. The PAF Pro seems quite balanced, with a bit of mid squawk the pu is known for, tight low, and bright top. I don't know if it'll stay there forever, but for now it's fine.
Neck still needs to settle - the truss-rod is fairly loose and there's a small amount of relief, bit more than two days ago when I strung her up, gods know how long she'd been sitting in pieces. Might also need to go up a string gauge - using 9s in Eb at the moment, very slinky, but feel that 10s might be the way to go in the end.
Still a few things to do: trim the locking nut bolts as they sit proud of the nut (a Gotoh 41mm, not the original Top Lok III), treble bleed on the volume, and a light fret dress. Pretty pleased though, a lot of fun to play - encourages experimentation with picking for dynamics and timbre colours because of the single pu, and the neck feels super.
So, finally got one that came up. I've been working on it for the past month as I bought it just as neck and body, and had to fish around for hardware.
Usual Ibanez woods, Edge trem, push-push volume for coil cut. Yeah, I hate black but I hope to get it refin'ed sometime, some kind of loud red maybe.
The oil finished neck on these is great. It's a C shape with nicely tapering shoulders; not too dissimilar to a JS neck. Frets are jumbo but not huge.
Lucked out and found an '86 spec Edge in great nick. The PAF Pro sitting in my parts drawer also found a new home. I do have the original pu this would've come with but it's 12k triple ceramic, not interested.
Lots of swirling/scuffing on the body - it's been played a lot, but not much fret wear (don't think it's had a dress). The fingerboard has some pitting on the 2nd and 3rd frets too.
It sounds pretty good - has a nice throaty quality not unlike my '85 Roadstar. The PAF Pro seems quite balanced, with a bit of mid squawk the pu is known for, tight low, and bright top. I don't know if it'll stay there forever, but for now it's fine.
Neck still needs to settle - the truss-rod is fairly loose and there's a small amount of relief, bit more than two days ago when I strung her up, gods know how long she'd been sitting in pieces. Might also need to go up a string gauge - using 9s in Eb at the moment, very slinky, but feel that 10s might be the way to go in the end.
Still a few things to do: trim the locking nut bolts as they sit proud of the nut (a Gotoh 41mm, not the original Top Lok III), treble bleed on the volume, and a light fret dress. Pretty pleased though, a lot of fun to play - encourages experimentation with picking for dynamics and timbre colours because of the single pu, and the neck feels super.
).
just go heavier on the wound strings.
issed:
