So I bought this Jackson Dinky off ebay to help me with teh shredz. It sounds and plays nice but has a photoflame finish which is peeling off from the body, and the neck could probably do with a refret.
Am I in over my head by considering doing a complete refret and refin? From my point of view this guitar cost £125 so it's cheap enough to have as a "project guitar" to muck about with but also good enough to make it worthwhile investing the time in.
Could you guys point me in the direction of some beginner guides? For painting I have an old rotting shed to use. Also tools wise, most power tools are available to me, as is a decent work station.
If you already know or can determine the fretboard radius, you can purchase a sanding block that matches your frets radius off of ebay or from StewMac, then sand the frets down the entire length of the neck to remove the divets. You will likely need to adjust your truss rod after the strings have been removed to make the neck as flat as you can for best results. A metal straight edge is needed to check for flatness. I use a notched fretboard tool that I purchased from Stewmac, but any metal edge like a Framing square will do as long as it's true. Removing and replacing the frets isn't that difficult either, but is more time consuming and will require purchasing or manufacturing more tools and new fret wire. There are plenty of good video tutorials on Youtube regarding fret replacement, sanding, polishing, etc...
Disciple of Pain
"I'm like the monkey screwing the skunk. I haven't had enough, but I've about had all that I can stand!"
Literally all the way up bar the last few highest frets. Only on the treble side too. Basically a lazy lead shredder weedling the high strings for 16 years but must have know his scales because each fret is evenly worn. The bass side looks untouched.
speedfish, I think if I levelled them to the lowest point they would be too low to make it worthwhile and may need replacing anyway! I suppose it could be good practice. It's 12" radius. I think having a go at some stainless steel jumbo frets would mean the guitar lasts forever.
Depends: It will be an awesome learning experience, but is something that will be useful down the line? It will be a lot of work, always bank on more than you think. Sure 125 is cheap but the point of this seemed to me to have a guitar you could just crack on with doing your shred stuff. Is a 125 guitar worth the hassle? Do you REALLY need another project happening that means you're not playing it? in this context? In all honesty if i said I had one you could have for 200 in full working order and no fiddling needed would you just sell this one and put the money back into one that works?
Might be a cynical position but as someone cursed with constantly making life hardwork with guitar parts I'm kinda more into just spending the money I need to get what I want so I can actually get on and PLAY IT! Just some food for thought.
iCEByTes wrote:5 Most Jizz face maker Solo�s , classic Rock music i ever listened.
iCEByTes wrote:Blunt a joint , Take the Touch , Listen this.
Honestly I wouldn't worry about it, the main thing I've found about fret wear is that it's only really annoying on bends, bar that you'll be fine. My main guitar has terrible fret wear and will probably need a re-fret at some point but it doesn't feel that bad, so I haven't bothered yet. Just work the rest of the setup and see how it works out.
Also in terms of finish, I'm with Benecol, I'd just cover the bits that are falling off in stickers.
I see what you're all saying. i suppose i might sit on it for a while. i haven't even given the truss rod a going over yet as the tool is in the post so we'll see how it straightens out but in my opinion it will need a bit of work.
maybe stickers are the way to do it in the meantime
Is this a bolt on or is it set or through or something?
The reason I'm asking is that whilst I'm sure you'd do a good job, I've no idea how many shred guitars I've seen second hand with terrible orange peel refins in Ferrari red (or similar) where a wonky masking job all the way up the neck making you feel sea sick when you glance down whilst playing.
If it's bolt on, I'd say fire away at it. It's never going to be pretty anyway, so fuck it. You may as well make something cool.
Kind of wish I'd never sold the home finished purpleburst LTD I'd bought off nick and then refinished with duct tape hardware before setting fire to it.
Haha. Yeah it's a bolt on. Really tidy looking neck actually. One thing I love about these Jackson and Ibanez guitars is the truss rod nut. It is basically immune to stripping and easily replaceable.
I think Fenders or Squiers at least are built to fail with internal truss rod nuts that strip like anyone's business. Here's a bass example
Gabriel wrote:Honestly I wouldn't worry about it, the main thing I've found about fret wear is that it's only really annoying on bends, bar that you'll be fine. My main guitar has terrible fret wear and will probably need a re-fret at some point but it doesn't feel that bad, so I haven't bothered yet. Just work the rest of the setup and see how it works out.
Also in terms of finish, I'm with Benecol, I'd just cover the bits that are falling off in stickers.
Have to agree with that.
My Jag, Jag-Stang and Tele all have some serious fret wear, never really bothered me much.
However, a second opinion may tell you there is enough meat on them to level and re-profile. Jumbo frets innit.
maybe a nice natural finish for your Jackson, I´d do this on a shred guitar..depends on what kind of real wood is underneath, you can peel of the foto flame in the electronic cavity in the back..
of course without the humbucker frames..would look badass
