Ibanez JEM style build: NON-WARMOTH content

[dmraco]

I have a friend who just recently opened his own brew pub (good friend to have).  He also happens to be a guitar player and is afflicted with the same disease all of us on the board have.  So he has asked me to build him a guitar.  To keep costs down (he did just open a brewery) we are using parts from an old 80s Ibanez he has.

The concept will be to make the guitar from the same woods he used to build the bar, Mahogany, Walnut, Cherry, and ambrosia maple.

Here are some photos.  The 1sts is the donor guitar.  It will use the neck and trem off this. 

The second photo is the neck repair.  It has a separation at the scarf joint.  I was able to repair the joint and a super high 2nd fret.  You can see the binding is actually cracked where the neck separated.

The 3th photo is of the donor JEM body.  I will use this as the core for the build and also utilize the Ibanez pickups.  This was the only part we had to purchase.  It will also serve as the Mahogany part of the build.

I had some walnut Veneer from another build so I decided to add this to the headstock.  This is before sanding and finishing.

I will get some photos of the wood for the lam top I will build soon.

 

[Cagey]

Mmmm... anticipation! Reminds me of the days back when I'd work on old cars. You see a gem in the rough, the people around you see an idiot standing next to a wreck :laughing7:

Well, I'm excited for you. I'm sure this'll be great. Except for the monkey grip, of course.

 

[AirCap]

Reminds me of the days back when I'd work on old cars. You see a gem in the rough, the people around you see an idiot standing next to a wreck

I STILL do that, and so do many of my friends. It's neat to have the vision to see a project through to magnificent completion.

 

[dmraco]

The monkey grip is what he wants.    Just a headache for me

 

[Cagey]

Just goes to show that no matter how stupid an idea is, it will have its supporters.

 

[dmraco]

Some here is a shot of the wood.  Ambrosia maple, cherry and Walnut.  I will cut approx 1/4 inch lam tops for the mahogany body.

I also made some additional adjustments to the body.  Interestingly enough these bodies do not have a bottom edge to the neck pocket.  The pocket runs right into the pickup route.  I used some mahogany and shaped a piece to come close to the contour of the neck heel and also allow me to easily install the neck for a 25.5 inch scale.  Since I am miss-matching the body and neck the holes don't exactly line up so I have to fill and drill new ones in the neck.  I will also have to adjust the neck pick up because the body did not allow for a fretboard overhang the Ibanez neck has.  We will probably be eliminating the middle pick up so it is a non issue. 

This will all be covered by the lam top.

 

[DangerousR6]

Mmmm... anticipation! Reminds me of the days back when I'd work on old cars. You see a gem in the rough, the people around you see an idiot standing next to a wreck :laughing7:

Well, I'm excited for you. I'm sure this'll be great. Except for the monkey grip, of course.

I kinda always liked the monkey grip...built in carry handle... :headbanging:

 

[Cagey]

The neck is a built-in carry handle. The guitar weighs 7 or 8 pounds. How many handles does it need? That's just Vai being pretentious.

 

[DangerousR6]

The neck is a built-in carry handle. The guitar weighs 7 or 8 pounds. How many handles does it need? That's just Vai being pretentious.

:laughing11:

I figure it's more of just a gimmick than anything else...But hey, it was cool in the 80's and 90's, two of my favorite musical decades.. :toothy11:

 

[stratamania]

I used to own a Jem, it's actually surprising how handy that monkey grip can be in certain situations.

 

[swarfrat]

Really all the monkey grip is is a signature. It works pretty well for that. I don't mind holes in guitars. Just think of it as chambering without the top/bottom skin.

 

[stratamania]

I'm the hell outta here...

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZV-cqYpMXw[/youtube]

 

[dmraco]

After a few hours of cutting and planing, the JEM is ready for gluing (I also worked in the PRS mentioned in another thread).

I took some material off the body top with the planer.  I then cut in the wood to the right dimensions and thickness.  It is just about a 1/4 inch, maybe a little less.

The body back is obviously mahogany.  The center strip is cherry.  This was the most unremarkable piece of wood so I used it for the center since so much will be cut away.  The next thin strip is ambrosia maple with the walnut filling up the rest of the top.

 

[DangerousR6]

That's going to look killer...But I'm all about the 80's, so.... :icon_biggrin:

 

[dmraco]

Looking killer.  Whammy and Monkey grip cut.  I had to freehand much of the whammy.  There was not enough room for the router bit guide because the wood remaining was too small.  I will finish it off by hand.

  I did not use the router for the upper horn.  I will use my sander to get the final shape.  I then have to work on the forearm contour.  This will be a first.

 

[Cagey]

That's gonna be sharp!

 

[dmraco]

I just added a skim coat of shellac.  It will be sanded and then cleared.  I see I repositioned the pickups a bit.  I am using a mismatched neck and body and hard to set the neck slightly deeper into the body.

I am real happy with the progress so far.  The forearm contour turned out great.  My 1st.

 

[DangerousR6]

That's purdy damn awesome... :kewlpics: