So, a buddy of mine gave me this...

[Torment Leaves Scars]

So I saw my best friend this past weekend and he gave me this guitar he'd made in high school "shop class 20 years ago...I can remember the day after class he came running down the hall with it, so proud of himself.  "DUDE!  DUDE!  CHECK IT OUT!  I MADE IT IN SHOP CLASS!" 

Anyway, this guitar had basically been neglected and just thrown from one corner of his place to another.  When I saw it I picked it up and told him, "You oughta fix it up, man, it could probably be a pretty decent instrument!" 

Well, he told me he wanted me to have it, so here it is.  Right now it's sitting at the shop awaiting a "bill of health," but I know it needs a neck, as the back of it is fractured to the point I can press my finger into it.  Aside from that, things don't look too bad (to me...). 

If things turn out to be okay with it as far as the integrity of the body (tight neck-joint cavity, etc.) and has potential to be made into a quality instrument, I'm going to do add all new electronics, the new neck, and get it professionally painted, staying true to its "Spider-Man" roots. 

I just think it's really cool to have this guitar he made.

 

[AndyG]

Your buddy "made" that guitar?  It looks suspiciously like an '85 Ibanez Destroyer with a Floyd instead of the ProRock'R trem.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Your buddy "made" that guitar?  It looks suspiciously like an '85 Ibanez Destroyer with a Floyd instead of the ProRock'R trem.

He mentioned he traced the body of some Ibanez guitar.  I didn't know Ibanez had a model that looked like that. 

I know the body is not an Ibanez body, given the flat top of the surface and the sharp body edges.  Most guitars have sort of a "rounded" edge to them so you don't scrape up your arm, this one is totally flat like a basic piece of wood.  It feels and looks very "hand-made." 

While he'd been known to tell a few stories during his time, I know he didn't have a guitar during our high school years.

 

[AutoBat]

Some guy named Edward Van Halen had one.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Some guy named Edward Van Halen had one.

Nice pants, I hope you really like them.  :tard:

 

[NonsenseTele]

Nice pants, I hope you really like them.  :tard:

You know, I'm pretty embarassed to say I've born in the '80s.... There are so many wrong things done on that decade that I fear people take me as one because of that :laughing7:

 

[DangerousR6]

Your buddy "made" that guitar?  It looks suspiciously like an '85 Ibanez Destroyer with a Floyd instead of the ProRock'R trem.

Ya, Imma call shenanigans on this one... :icon_scratch:

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Some guy named Edward Van Halen had one.

Gawd, they've got one of those monstrosities at Sam Ash here in town.

(the guitar, not the pants)

 

[thebutcher85]

Your buddy "made" that guitar?  It looks suspiciously like an '85 Ibanez Destroyer with a Floyd instead of the ProRock'R trem.

Ya, Imma call shenanigans on this one... :icon_scratch:

I second the shenanigans call  :sign13:

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Your buddy "made" that guitar?  It looks suspiciously like an '85 Ibanez Destroyer with a Floyd instead of the ProRock'R trem.

Ya, Imma call shenanigans on this one... :icon_scratch:

I second the shenanigans call  :sign13:

I'll have to be quite honest, I'm a bit tempted to raise the "BS Flag" on this one, myself.  I'd like to hope I'm not being taken for a ride and that at the age of nearly 38, he's above storytelling.  The only thing that has me believing the body is handmade is that the top edges aren't beveled like on most production guitars.

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Your buddy "made" that guitar?  It looks suspiciously like an '85 Ibanez Destroyer with a Floyd instead of the ProRock'R trem.

Ya, Imma call shenanigans on this one... :icon_scratch:

I second the shenanigans call  :sign13:

I'll have to be quite honest, I'm a bit tempted to raise the "BS Flag" on this one, myself.  I'd like to hope I'm not being taken for a ride and that at the age of nearly 38, he's above storytelling.  The only thing that has me believing the body is handmade is that the top edges aren't beveled like on most production guitars.

If Japanese guitar makers were cranking out guitars with craftsmanship as questionable as US manufacturers (my beloved Peavey T-40 being a prime example) in the 80s, it wouldn't surprise me to find out it is a factory piece.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Your buddy "made" that guitar?  It looks suspiciously like an '85 Ibanez Destroyer with a Floyd instead of the ProRock'R trem.

Ya, Imma call shenanigans on this one... :icon_scratch:

I second the shenanigans call  :sign13:

I'll have to be quite honest, I'm a bit tempted to raise the "BS Flag" on this one, myself.  I'd like to hope I'm not being taken for a ride and that at the age of nearly 38, he's above storytelling.  The only thing that has me believing the body is handmade is that the top edges aren't beveled like on most production guitars.

If Japanese guitar makers were cranking out guitars with craftsmanship as questionable as US manufacturers (my beloved Peavey T-40 being a prime example) in the 80s, it wouldn't surprise me to find out it is a factory piece.

While I'd normally agree, you would have to see this body to know what I was talking about.  When I get it back I'll take some better detailed photos.

 

[Alfang]

I think you oughta fix it up, to our standards, and give it back to him. Maybe with a good refinish and setup, your best friend will actually play it,

It won't cost you but a few bucks in paint and supplies, a good setup, and of course your sweat, would be a great way to thank him for giving it to you in the first place

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I think you oughta fix it up, to our standards, and give it back to him. Maybe with a good refinish and setup, your best friend will actually play it,

It won't cost you but a few bucks in paint and supplies, a good setup, and of course your sweat, would be a great way to thank him for giving it to you in the first place

I've pondered that thought and even asked his girlfriend what she thought of it and she basically said he wanted me to have it. 

I just scratch my head because he wanted to smash the same thing he was so proud of in high school.  I'm sure he'd appreciate it a lot more if I decided to give it back to him all fixed up.

 

[Cagey]

Not everyone wants to keep things around that they don't use, regardless of their value or condition.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Not everyone wants to keep things around that they don't use, regardless of their value or condition.

Yeah, he basically said he just got sick of looking for a place to set it and he didn't play it, so you know...but still, if I were proud of something I'd made, I guess I'd value it a little bit more than that.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Okay, got the guitar back from the shop and the more I look at this thing, the more I'm thinking this is an Ibanez and somebody's blowing smoke. 

The routing for the tremolo is horrible, and it looks like a hack, at least from inside the tremolo cavity.  Other than that and a top that looks like an added-on top layer, things look suspectfully professionally "fitting," such as all the cover plates covering the electronics, along with the "recesses" for those cover plates.

While I don't doubt he's obviously done some things to this guitar, as for being made by him, I'm smelling a little bit of BS.  :tard:

Here are some photos...

In this photo, the jack just doesn't seem to be standard, but who knows...

The cover plates for the electronics and the depth they're routed just look too "professional" to be done by a high-schooler.

The edges of the body look too "sharp" to be factory, but again who knows...

 

[Updown]

If the top is an add on, wouldn't that account for the square edges ...... may-be  :dontknow:

Sounding more and more like a Fraud or as you put it, BS

Oh well ...... least it's already road worn  :laughing7:

So what did the shop say ?

 

[DangerousR6]

Hell, the neck plates got "Ibanez" stamped into it.."Made in Japan"..

He's definitely trying to blow smoke... :dontknow:

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

If the top is an add on, wouldn't that account for the square edges ...... may-be  :dontknow:

Sounding more and more like a Fraud or as you put it, BS

Oh well ...... least it's already road worn  :laughing7:

So what did the shop say ?

The shop told me the electronics looked "interesting" and did not look like a factory wiring job.  They couldn't conclude whether it was a true Ibanez body or just a poor copy because it did not have any serial #s or indications it was or wasn't an Ibanez body.  One thing I noticed was inside the electronics cavity, there was a previous finish, which appears to be a sparkly green.  I saw a pic of this on a Star Destroyer when I looked one up on Google for an image of one.

I'm thinking I've had smoke blown up my ass and all this thing got was a bad paint job and hacked up routing job for a tremolo...but what's odd is that from the outside the routing job for the tremolo looks fairly neat...it's the inside that looks like Hell.  :doh:

Hell, the neck plates got "Ibanez" stamped into it.."Made in Japan"..

He's definitely trying to blow smoke... :dontknow:

I most certainly noticed this.  I'll have to take some better pics of this "added top" I was talking about, unless it was where this body was traced for something with a thick marker. 

For the record, I measured the width of the body and it's about 1 3/4 thick.  I'm not sure how thick an actual Star Destroyer was, as I'd never even heard of one or seen one until this "gift" was bestowed upon me.