BeatTheBastard
New member
Hi everybody. Today I faced something almost heartbreaking. I noticed that my #1 and also my first electric (Got it when I was eleven) had fallen and the neck kinda broke. Nothing big, the holes were burst so the neck screws weren´t able to hold the neck in place anymore. It could be fixed and the neck changed but somehow I feel it´s time to retire this great guitar. And the neck joint is not the best one after all, there has been a nail for a long time to hold the neck to not to turn too much in the pocket.
Yea. The guitar. Originally an Ibanez GSZ, one of those cheap models that cost something like $230 newbie. 25.1" scale, hardtail, two humbuckers and 2 vol + 1 tone pot combination. I´ve always thought that it was very good axe for the price.
But the years passed, and I managed to play the original neck to a condition where it wasn´t quite reasonable to fix it. It needed refretting and the neck started to be crooked in to a one way and another. I once even took the guitar in to pieces and planned to use the electronics somewhere else. Then I got an Kramer Focus neck for free, just needed to pay the postage. It was an 21 fret full maple neck and of course with a regular 25.5" scale.
What then happened was quite unplanned, but it happened. I plugged the old TOM bridge ferrule holes with wood pegs and drilled new ones to match the 25.5" scale. I also drilled new holes to the neck to match the holes in the Ibanez neckpocket. The bridge pickup died so I just changed the neck pickup to bridge. Electric circuit lost some of the pots. Once a single coil came from China (price: $2.60..) to the neck. Wiring ended up being HS w/ 500k volumepot (I dug the neck pickup most with that) and 3-way switch. Straplocks? Yea, some big washers. I rebuild the guitar cheap, I even used the original tuners from Ibanez 3x3 headstock so the Kramer headstock looked quite weird. The neckfitment was tight in the beginning, but the screws started the eat the bodyholes so the neck moved in the pocket. Well, I just hammered a little nail between the neck and the body.. The neck angle was fixed w/ some paper under the neck.
I was young and quite stupid at a time, well I still am, but I fell more in love with it. My Jackson started being the one I played less even though it was my main axe of choice for a long time.
It was a total beater. It truly was, but goddammit I loved to play this thing. It sounded, believe it or not, awesome! It sustained great (even with that ****ty neck fitment!!) and the bridge pu sound was the one I´ve always tried to find. The quack from the middle position of the switch was also the best I´ve heard. The neck was also the one of the best I´ve played, with 41mm nud width and thicker profile than Jackson it suited better for my hand. I played the **** out of it and it just kept being better and better.
But the good times end. Even though I love this thing I think it´s better to "retire" it. Total beater. But yet awesome.
Due to a quiet evening I ended up writing a little story about my first electric, hope you don´t mind.
Has anyone else retired a well-serving guitar for similar reasons? Something cracking up and stuff..
Yea. The guitar. Originally an Ibanez GSZ, one of those cheap models that cost something like $230 newbie. 25.1" scale, hardtail, two humbuckers and 2 vol + 1 tone pot combination. I´ve always thought that it was very good axe for the price.
But the years passed, and I managed to play the original neck to a condition where it wasn´t quite reasonable to fix it. It needed refretting and the neck started to be crooked in to a one way and another. I once even took the guitar in to pieces and planned to use the electronics somewhere else. Then I got an Kramer Focus neck for free, just needed to pay the postage. It was an 21 fret full maple neck and of course with a regular 25.5" scale.
What then happened was quite unplanned, but it happened. I plugged the old TOM bridge ferrule holes with wood pegs and drilled new ones to match the 25.5" scale. I also drilled new holes to the neck to match the holes in the Ibanez neckpocket. The bridge pickup died so I just changed the neck pickup to bridge. Electric circuit lost some of the pots. Once a single coil came from China (price: $2.60..) to the neck. Wiring ended up being HS w/ 500k volumepot (I dug the neck pickup most with that) and 3-way switch. Straplocks? Yea, some big washers. I rebuild the guitar cheap, I even used the original tuners from Ibanez 3x3 headstock so the Kramer headstock looked quite weird. The neckfitment was tight in the beginning, but the screws started the eat the bodyholes so the neck moved in the pocket. Well, I just hammered a little nail between the neck and the body.. The neck angle was fixed w/ some paper under the neck.
I was young and quite stupid at a time, well I still am, but I fell more in love with it. My Jackson started being the one I played less even though it was my main axe of choice for a long time.
It was a total beater. It truly was, but goddammit I loved to play this thing. It sounded, believe it or not, awesome! It sustained great (even with that ****ty neck fitment!!) and the bridge pu sound was the one I´ve always tried to find. The quack from the middle position of the switch was also the best I´ve heard. The neck was also the one of the best I´ve played, with 41mm nud width and thicker profile than Jackson it suited better for my hand. I played the **** out of it and it just kept being better and better.
But the good times end. Even though I love this thing I think it´s better to "retire" it. Total beater. But yet awesome.
Due to a quiet evening I ended up writing a little story about my first electric, hope you don´t mind.
Has anyone else retired a well-serving guitar for similar reasons? Something cracking up and stuff..
