1983 Ibanez AR30 Restoration | Part Four

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

In Part One of this series, we took a look at the early stages of restoration work done on this 1983 Ibanez AR30. Then, in Part Two, the refinishing process was completed; and the AR30 left aside for a month. Next, in Part Three, we saw electronics, shielding and related issues being taken care of.

We are now at the fourth and final part of this series. It's been nearly a year since I started this restoration, and I'm eager to send it back to the owner for final testing. As it turned out, I met him just a few hours ago at his rehearsal studio, handed him his AR30; and was treated to a 15 minutes of blazing guitar work.

After putting the guitar back on its stand, he looked at me and gave me the thumbs-up. I heaved a huge sigh of relief, I tell you. Well folks, that concludes the saga of how this 1983 Ibanez AR30 was restored. Who knows, one of these days another AR30 might just come my way.

1983 Ibanez AR30 Restoration | Part Three

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

In Part One of this series, we took a look at the early stages of restoration work done on this 1983 Ibanez AR30. Then, in Part Two, the refinishing process was completed; and the AR30 left aside for a month. We are now at the electronics stage of the restoration process.

I've been provided with a pair of used PRS Dragon I humbuckers and a pair of mounting rings. The "Dragon Bass" is the neck humbucker, and the "Dragon Treble," the bridge. Unfortunately, neither of the seller's rings seem to fit the profile of the top correctly. In fact, the bottom of the neck mounting ring is completely flat. But I do have on hand a pair of Gibson pickup mounting rings: PRPR-015 (neck) and PRPR-025 (bridge). Yes, they seem to fit better than the ones supplied by the seller; so they'll be the ones I'll use.

Other than that, I've shielded the pickup and control cavities with conductive paint, and screwed in grounding tabs/wires where needed. I've also wired up a harness consisting of three Alpha A500K pots, 3-way toggle switch, K40Y-9 0.033uf tone cap; and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack. Note that genuine Gavitt cloth push-back wire was used throughout. The original output jack plate also needed to be replaced as it was beyond saving; even after a thorough de-rusting.

The AR30 has been strung with Elixir Nanoweb 10s, set up, tuned; and put through its paces with the help of my trusty Fender Champion 40. By the way, here are two YouTube videos of yours truly doing exactly that: Video 1 | Video 2

Squier California Series SSS Strat Upgrade

Rust never sleeps. Grime and gunk spread like Covid-19. Two things to remember if you love your guitar. The current owner of this Squier Strat bought it used for MYR200 (USD47). Quite a good deal, I must say. It was grimy, rusty and caked in various evolutionary stages of gunk; testament to years of neglect.

On the plus side, this Strat had been recently refretted (there was hardly any fret wear). Someone had also upgraded the stock ceramic pickups to Alnicos (probably Alnico 5s, as printed on the pickup covers). Popping the neck revealed a seller's note on the heel, indicating that it had once been up for sale in 2007 for MYR960 (USD223). Now I knew that this Squier was at least 13 years old. Nice :)

Poor guy -- he could not even plug it in coz the output jack was broken. Now, I could have just replaced the broken jack, serviced the electronics; and called it good. However, as the owner intended to keep this Strat; he requested that it be upgraded to gig-worthy specs.

The first thing I did was degrime/derust the whole guitar as best I could, and recondition the fretboard. A full shielding job ensued, followed by an electronics upgrade. This upgrade included Alpha A250K pots, generic PCB selector switch, Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack and full rewire.

As per the owner's request, the bridge was to be set flat. However, even with three springs and the trem claw screws screwed in to the max; the bridge was still lifting slightly from the body. I'm glad to say that adding an additional spring solved the problem.

Well, that's about it for this write-up. Now, boys and girls; burn this into memory:
(i) Rust never sleeps
(ii) Grime and gunk spread like Covid-19

Frankenstrat Partscaster Build

I was handed the components for this partscaster build in a cardboard box, no kidding. The beat-up natural-finished body was solid wood capped with an ash-like veneer on the front and back. The body cavities appeared to be shielded with conductive paint, but further inspection revealed that it was just plain old black paint.

The preloved 22-fret maple neck was scalloped and sported a '70s-style big headstock. Those decals? They were already on there when I got the neck. It was clearly another one of those notorious Chinese "replica" necks. Don't nobody sue me now, you hear? I just put parts together so my clients can have a guitar to play on.

The client had provided me with a battered white pickguard, new Chinese single-coil pickups with cream covers; and replica vintage-style tremolo bridge with bent steel (read: pot metal) saddles. Putting everything together took a very long time, with "measure ten times, drill once" being the word of the day. Basically, the whole process mirrored what I went through on the Candlewood Strat Kit Build.

The bottom of the pickguard was shielded with aluminium foil, and body cavities with conductive carbon paint. New electronic components included Alpha A250K pots, a K73-16 0.022uF cap, generic five-way selector switch; and NYS229 output jack socket. This guitar was strung with 10s, and required a little truss rod tweaking and neck pocket shim to get it playing like it should.

Yamaha RGX121Z Refret and Overhaul

This metallic red Yamaha RGX121Z was in dire need of lots of TLC when it came into the shop. Dust, cobwebs, rust, sweat, grime; years of use and overall neglect had taken their toll on this fine instrument. Let's take a look at some specs first, courtesy of Yamaha Singapore.

Construction: Bolt-on
Scale Length: 25 1/2"
Fretboard: Rosewood
Radius: 13 3/4"
Frets: 22
Body: Alder, Agathis or Nato
Neck: Maple
Bridge: Vintage Style Tremolo
Pickup Configuration: HSH
Pickup Switch: 5-Position Lever
Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone

Work done on this guitar included a full refret, shielding, electronics upgrade and hardware servicing/replacement. The image of owner Emie Burst onstage with this guitar is courtesy of Official Swerved.