SV1 'The blast from the past'

[Simon Barden]

If you are having problems with scratches, then you might have been polishing a bit too soon before the poly is really cured. Can you wait a fortnight and try again?

[Simon Barden]

Forgot to say it does look good in the photo!

[Andyxlh]

yes perhaps you are right. It has only been 9 days or so. i'll try in a week. I have started mocking it up to see what it looks like, but i'm happy to pull it down again. really happy with the paint thickness, it is very thin but very shiny, and you can really hear the body ring when tapped. hopefully it should sound nice!

[Andyxlh]

Well got it polished up and assembled. Haven't really done much of a setup yet, but is playable as is and the intonation is close to perfect.
First thoughts...
The neck is much thicker feeling than the Ibanez wizard neck. Not a problem for me I'm a bassist!
The fine adjusters on the bridge need oiling
The stock pickups sound amazing. I'm not kidding... On the bridge pickup the growly high output ceramic is pushy and biting, enough like a semour duncan to keep my tone deaf ears happy. With the bridge and middle pickup the sound is much more 70s rock, warmer with nice mids.
Haven't investigated the others in detail yet, but they all sound good.
Playing through a black star ht 5.
I'm not much of a guitarist, but when I get a chance I'll record some sounds. Won't call it playing
This is a totally stock kit, currently I even have the no name strings on it! All I have done is shield the cavities.

[Andy40]

Nice work Andy. Black with tiny scratches.....I know your pain. I eventually used Meguiar's ScratchX I got it from supercheap auto. It helped me out immensely.

[Simon Barden]

Reading last month's Guitarist magazine, Steve Vai said he put the monkey grip in when he was working with Ibanez on his requirements because that it was so unusual, that it would be instantly obvious when someone was copying the design.

[Andyxlh]

Well here's a reply to my zombie- thread!
The SV1 is finally done. I had several problems which meant it hung on the wall as art for 12 months or so...
9 or so frets were out, from about 11th up, which meant there were lots of nasty buzzes and gutting out, spent several hours getting the neck straight and dressing frets, now sorted I think...
The cast alloy nut was too soft, and tightening the locks resulted in tearing out the threads... replaced with another alloy one for now, does need a steel one but can't find one at the right price!
The Allen head bolts which secure the strings in the floating trem were too soft, and the Allen key started rotating in a couple of them. Replaced with a set of USA made Allen bolts, which surprisingly had the correct thread!
Everything else is bog standard, the pickups are pretty good actually, but the wiring isn't JEM correct with the coil taps. I'd like to have a go at that sometime, not sure how hard it might be. Anyone with any ideas?
I'll post some pics today after I have polished the frets and restrung it...

[Andyxlh]

Here we go, the finish is Feast Watson black stain with polyurethane clear over the top. In the light you can catch the grain through it, and and it keeps the finish nice and thin compared with a heap of black paint 😊

[Andyxlh]

And one more for luck as it is a nice day...

[Andyxlh]

I decided that it needed a headstock decal... this was the best idea I could come up with!
Just sprayed the clear over it, I have used a poly clear which has lifted the vinyl decal at the edges very slightly. I think it actually looks great! I'll need to flat back the clear in a few weeks as there's a little unevenness and some dust flecks in it.