Project RG

I needed an RG to play after retiring my heavily modified RG470. I never really liked the feel of a stock RG but I have always loved the wizard neck. Some of the things that needed attention are the volume knob, the arm bevel, the belly cut and weight. In order to retain the look I kept the edges sharp, while drastically increasing the bevels. I still need to work on the heel transition. Since I always hit the volume knob on the stock RG I moved it to a more Gilbert like position out of harms way. Next was to simplify the electronics and the looks. I used a strap jack instead of a regular RG input, removed the middle pickup, single push/pull volume knob to switch pickups, and replaced the edge with a wilkinson. I might add a coil tap switch later but it is not in the plans right now. This is a very personal RG.

The set neck is laminated big leaf maple and walnut with a maple fret board and a bigger Ibanez style headstock (like my 82 destroyer). The big leaf was a little soft but has proven to be quite stiff. The body is poplar, while I should have used basswood I didn't really care since it will be painted and I like the way poplar works. It is currently sealed with thin CA and a top coat of thicker CA. After I assemble it and make sure it is worth keeping I will paint it. No need to paint it to find out it needs a major adjustment.

Neck : Flamed Big Leaf Maple/Walnut
Fretboard : Flamed Big Leaf Maple
Frets : 24
Trussrod : Warmoth

Body : Mostly one piece poplar, small side sections glued on
Tuners : Gotoh Vintage RG Tuners
Pickups : V1, V2 Vintage Ibanez RG pickups
Bridge : Wilkinson
Electronics : push/pull volume swith, strap jack


The biggest issue I have now is painting it. The poplar looks better than I thought it would.