Hello,
I have an RG7321 (not something to be over proud of
) and decided to refinish it. I did a thorough research before commencing about the plain look of basswood, and about the filler used by Ibanez difficult to remove and sand by hand (coz I don’t have power tools) etc., but what the heck, I took the plunge sometime around September last year…..I was opting for a natural stained finish then tru oil…….
Sanding process – clear coat and black paint sanded away, I thought madali lang pala eto, but then came the hardest part. What you are seeing here is the thick filler used by Ibanez, not yet the bare basswood……I started to panic kasi mukhang malas ako sa grain to do a natural finish, but then……….this was a point of no return already
since I already sanded down some parts of the filler (tingnan nyo ung lower horn and some parts of the body, those whitish patches)……..
More sanding – it was indeed, the filler is a bitch to remove so I asked some help from my landlord’s handyman. We used 60, 80, and 100 grits sandpaper and an improvised sanding block. But wait!!! Am I seeing some flame figuring on the top horn? Looks promising……..but still, the basswood looks like pinagtagpi-tagping 5 to 6 pieces na kahoy……ouch!!!
Sorry Sirs, hindi ko napicturan ung bare wood before staining…….
Now for the staining – as it turns out, sinuwerte ako sa grain, does not look like basswood at all, though it is still a sandwiched 5 pieces body…….I used Ace Walnut stain bought from Ace HW (not the “dark walnut” variant, just the ordinary walnut one)……applied with a brush. The technique was to apply the stain on one section at a time then immediately wipe it away with a clean rag. If you want to go darker, leave it around 10 to 15 seconds before wiping the excess……you will notice na may section na darker compared sa iba most specially sa sides, wala na kasi akong tiyagang mag prepped pa (pore/grain filling, o gamitin ng wood conditioner, para even ung stain)........hindi ko kasi totally na remove ung filler sa horns and some curvy sections of the sides may mga konti pang natitira........damn this project has been taking too long sa pagsasand pa lang, gusto ko ng magamit eto before December, kaya ayun lessons learned....more patience pa dapat....ang lakas humigop ng sections na may natitira pang filler ng stain kaya they appear to be darker......
Now for the pics. Yay!!!
Front
Back
Tru-oil application – I decided to go with Tru-Oil due to the good reviews of the product. It is a very forgiving finish, in which you can easily correct your mistakes (just sand it again then start all over). Just make sure that you wipe it thinly using a lint free cloth (old cotton t-shirts will do), and spread evenly, watch for build ups and spill overs especially on the sides kapag nag apply ka sa either front or back…..I used to do front and sides sa umaga after going home from work, then rest, then do the back sa gabi before going to work…..so on so forth……before the next coat, lightly wet sand it with a 0000 steel wool, I used water
with detergent soap as lubricant……nothing wrong with water….pigain nyo lang mabuti ung steel wool before sanding……..para hindi mapasok ung mga screw holes
This is around 3rd coat of tru oil – you can see na hindi pa na fifill ung grain………
8th coat – grain filled already by tru oil, having a mirror like finished here…
10th coat – Yay!!!
I am already in the 18th coat, haven’t uploaded the picture yet kasi nakalimutan ko ung camera ko po. But I have to stop na kasi something came up last December, something really sad happened in my personal life, a loss of a loved one…….so I had the guitar hanged for the whole December after the 18th coat……….which turns out to be accidentally beneficial before polishing.......having the multiple layer of tru oil thoroughly dried definitely helps with the durability of the finish..........before, after a coat dried for 24 hours, i notice that I can easily dings the tru oil with my finger nail...........with the tru oil dried for about a month.........still i can ding it but needs a lot of force from my nails and fingers..........
This January, I had to move on, did a final wet sanding of steel wool to make it smooth before polishing, I will use 3M products and will post pics of the guitar before re assembling and the final product……this will have a D Sonic 7 in the bridge and an Air Norton 7 in the neck, Graphtech Black TUSQ XL nut and saddles courtesy of Bossing Boss, will also have a custom wiring in which I will be able to series, parallel, and split each pickups then a tree of life with hummingbird jockomo inlay sticker courtesy of Sir rtf_axeman....
Thank you for reading.....gawa kaya ako ng separate refinish thread baka may further questions po ung iba na interesado???....hope this helps for those who are planning to do a natural refinish with their low to mid entry Ibanez axes........though I wouldn't recommend this to your Prestiges, Premiums, discontinued and hard to find Ibanezes for obvious reasons......
