Can You Recommend A Repairman?

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Author Message Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 11:59 pm:    Captain, Could you recommend a good repairman in the Sydney area who can replace the peghead veneer of my Ibanez? Any idea of how much such work would cost and how long it will take? Many thanks. Regards, Meranti Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - 5:29 pm:    Hey Meranti! I know you asked me this question a few months back.. I would normally say bring it to me but I dont think I would like to attempt this at the moment.. What is required is quite detailed.. First of all.. the binding needs to be taken off around the headstock and hopefully saved.. then the veneer has to be removed completely (more than likely you will lose the logo and inlay on the headstock (no one will guarantee that they can save these as they are Applique) then a new tortoise shell overlay needs to be cut to shape.. More than likely a new Ibanez logo will need to be cut out as well as the Inca Inlay and then inlaid into the tortoise shell. Finally attach the binding and touch up any paint chips around the headstock and then respray the whole neck and headstock in clear.. I couldnt give you a cost on this but I would say close to the $500 - $600 Aud mark for something like this type of work as it involves inlay work. the people I would get in touch with are as follows: Craig Upfold (Cameron can give you his Number) Grubisa Guitars (02) 9564 0055 Gilet Guitars (02) 9316 7467 There are others but these 3 are probably the best in Sydney for this type of work.. If it was any other type of work I would take it on (ie. fret work, inlay work, refinishes, broken headstock and so forth)But I havent attempted something like that before and I wouldnt want to stuff it up as it is a rare guitar ( Although I have replaced overlays on gibson guitars before but these are sprayed in nitro lacquer) Anyway try these 3 and then I can give you more if need be.. Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - 9:06 pm:    Meranti just out of curiosity what happened to it? Captainibanez Username: Captainibanez Registered: 01-2004 Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - 10:42 pm:    Meranti, Craig Upfold is oversees at present and won't be back fo 2 weeks,email me offline and I will give you his number. Captain Ibanez Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - 11:39 pm:    It has plasticised.. The tortoise shell has started to breakdown (A Cellulose issue now becoming a major problem on alot of vintage guitars) I have done a few pickguards and pickups surrounds because of this issue. Not only does the plastic breakdown but the solvents let off destroy anything around it eg pickups and bridges.. Major issue it can destroy a perfectly good set of tuning pegs as well Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 12:06 am:    Thanks Spiro, as usual a thorough and in-depth report! Is that what had happened to that triple coil Artist(pre iceman) a while back? Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 12:51 am:    hey freak!! Yep exactly what happend to that triple Coil Iceman.. Its funny you know A guy brought in a 1968 Gibson ES335 that he had bought about 15 years ago in near mint condition ( I had seen it back then) and had left this guitar in its case as an investment for the last 7 or 8 years and the guitars binding had disintegrated!! making all the metal hardware green.. Such a waste of a guitar but nothing he could have done to prevent it.. But at least he could have played it.. Remember the artist with the binding being replaced on it? same thing there.. I have an Ibanez LP that is doing the same thing as well as an Ibanez SG that has no binding left on the fingerboard.. What do you do? Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 1:56 am:    Thanks Captain & Spiro, Yes it is the 2675 that is the problem that I wrote to Spiro earlier. I have another Ibanez that has the same problem and I am thinking of bringing both to Sydney next week for repair work. If I do I will spring a surprise on both of you. I will try to call up the other two guys listed there for a quotation as Craig is out of town. Ibanezfreak, the problem is the dis-integration of the plastic material used on Ibanez pickguards, headstock veneer & bindings. I believe the major cause of this problem is heat. The weather here is really hot and humid and I have found it to be the cause of the problem and accelerates it. These are not the only Ibanez's that I have that have this problem. The pickguards and bindings on others have also shown dis-integration. It is very frustrating and it renders the guitars literally un-playable and the plastics (especially the tortoise shell types of plastics on headstock and pickguards probably due to their area) emit a fume as well a liquid and as Spiro said, can damage (literally corrode) metal parts easily. Thanks everyone for the input. Regards, Meranti Snowjays Username: Snowjays Registered: 09-2004 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 4:02 am:    Spiro, Is this problem limited to any one particular type of plastics, I see the Tortoise Shell type gets a regular mention, but what about the plastic pup surrounds and scratch plate materials? Do you think certain plastics should be removed before storage if at all possible? Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 4:58 am:    Sorry to say this but apparently Ibanez was aware of this problem but did not address it in time. Regards, Meranti Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 6:10 pm:    Hey snowjays It is normally Celluloid plastics that have this problem.. Most Pickup surrounds are made from ABS plastic.. Some pickguards are made from celluloid plastic thouigh.. The ones I have seen: Tuning peg buttons especially Klusons Ivoroid Binding (like on the artists) cream bindin on earlier guitars.. SOLID Tortoise shell pickguards, pickup surrounds, peghead veneers and binding.. I have never seen it happen to any black plastic though.. Guitars I have seen it on: Early Gibson's Early fenders with single ply pickguards Ibanez ash artist binding Ibanez Icemans with triple coil pickup(also destroys the binding on these) Ibanez weir A yamaha SG and a couple of 70's acoustics.. Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 6:13 pm:    here is a pic of a custom agent that is on ebay right now with some nice plastic disintegration Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 6:25 pm:    OUCH! I'd hate for this to happen to mine Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 9:20 pm:    here is a pick guard from a Hofner 500LH from 1968 with the same issue. Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Thursday, April 14, 2005 - 6:58 am:    I have called Grubisa Guitars and the guy says he is not taking any more work for the next 2 months and when I mentioned the problem, he said he could not do it. Will try Gilet tomorrow. Regards, Meranti Snowjays Username: Snowjays Registered: 09-2004 Posted on Friday, April 15, 2005 - 1:24 am:    Thanks Spiro / Freak. I do have a Ragtime Special with the truss rod cover that appears to be a bit sus. The screws are corroding and the TRC has been repaired because of cracking and warping. Think I'll replace it. Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Friday, April 15, 2005 - 1:31 am:    Just got off the line with Darrell of Gilet Guitars and they mentioned that they need to see the guitars first before they decide if they can do it. Really nice guy to talk to. Looks like the 2675 is going back to Sydney for a visit where I first got it from. Captain are there any more nice spares in SPIRO's BOX where you keep it hidden from public view at the parts department? Regards, Meranti Flatbag Username: Flatbag Registered: 09-2004 Posted on Sunday, April 17, 2005 - 10:07 pm:    Hi Meranti, I can definitely recommend going with Gilet, I have had repairs to my Ibanez 2345W (SG Custom) carried out by Darrell. This was about a year ago and included replacement binding, refretting and respraying of the neck. It took a while (13 weeks - due to paint supplier taking weeks to get colour matched lacquer) and cost about $500, and I have absolutely no regrets. At that time Gilet were not taking repair jobs on, but Darrell liked the guitar and did it on the side in his spare time. Cheers Pete Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 5:03 am:    Okay so I finally got to meet Chin.. Man these guitars are in a bad state.. Only one repairman was up to the task of taking on the work involved providing we could get hold of some bits and pieces.. (i have known this guy for years and does alot of Fender warranty work) Otherwise no one waned to know about it. Anyways we need to source the Ibanez logo for these guitars.. I may have to get cameron to measure the logo length and see if we can find someone to make them up.. I will let chin fill in the blanks when he can Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 5:23 am:    Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 5:24 am:    Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 9:16 am:    Spiro: What are we looking at in these two photos? Obviously, the top is what Chin has today, but is the bottom one what the guitar looked like when CHin first got it? If so, OUCHHH!!! Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 4:38 pm:    The photos above are before and after shots of a 2675 with exactly the same problem.. The repair was done by mosby Guitars in the US.. And yes the bottom photo is what it is supposed to look like. Again I will let Chin fill in the blanks.. Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 12:20 am:    I am in an internet cafe (on George Street) now typing this quickly as I have some errands to run. First and foremost Thanks to Captain and Spiro for all the help. Will post some pics when I have more time on the 2675 including Spiro and Captain looking at the 2675s. Captain I am sorry I could not talk too long yesterday when you called me as I was in the middle of something at RPAH. Sorry about that. Thanks again Captain and Spiro. Regards, Meranti Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 11:16 pm:    From Jim Donahue.... "The problem is that the binding material is real celuloid, It has Nitro in it and it breaks down after 15 years or so. This is happening to all the older Japanese guitars. The only way to stop it is to keep it out of the case so the gases can escape. I don't know anyone that has these inlays, Fuji does not have them and I worked at Ibanez and we did not have them either. I think you will need to make them. I think that is the only way you will be able to do it? I don't know of anywhere else you can get them." Soo Fellas!!!! you guys need to keep these guitar out of their cases otherwise thwy will crumble into nothingness Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 6:21 am:    Hi, I am back in my office and have managed to get some of the pics reduced in size and hopefully I can load them here now. Captain and Spiro are two great guys who helped me a lot during this short trip of mine. Spiro took me to two repairmen, one of them Gilet Guitars (who in turn recommended another repairman who happened to walk into Gilet's while we were there). Both said that they could not do the job. Spiro then took me to see Franco another great guy who has done work for Sting, George Benson etc. He has agreed to the work but cannot get the parts in Australia. I am now attempting to order the parts from the US and send them over to start the repairs. I have one question. Both Spiro and Franco recommended that I replace the tortoise peghead with rosewood veneer so that the same problem will not happen again. I really would like to restore it to its original specs but on the other hand worried about the problem starting again. What do the board members here think? As you can see there are actually two 2675 Custom Agents here and both have the same problem. Here are some of the pics. Above is a picture of Captain and Spiro busy opening up the 2675s. The one with Captain is familiar to Spiro as he originally spotted it in a store in Sydney. Spiro is handling 2675 No.2. Above: Captian with Custom Agent 2675 No.2 Note changed pups. They will be restored with Super 58s. Above: Spiro working on 2675 No.2 Above: This looks like a CD cover and has Captain with the headstock of 2675 No.2 with the same problem. Notice the bubble on the veneer. Regards, Meranti Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - 6:32 am:    I forgot to mention that the pictures above were taken at Australis where Captain is based. Regards, Meranti Bluesmeister Username: Bluesmeister Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 12:51 am:    Excellent photos Meranti, and it's great to be able to put faces to names. Onya Cappie & Spiro. Spiro Username: Spiro Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 2:35 am:    I look pained !!! I was trying to remove a very rusty screw there!! Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 8:56 am:    What does the Captain got in that spray can with the green label? Is that some sort of tazer spray? Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 5:14 pm:    Looks like the Cap is hearing evil voices coming from that headstock. So, what's the story with this other 2675? Who owns it? Is it going to be repaired by the same luthier as Meranti? And how did two of the rarest Ibanezes ever come to be in the same room? Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 9:44 am:    Hey Cap'n or Spiro: Is the tortoise shell material that Ibanez uses today for pcikguards going to continue to deteriorate? I bought a new GB10 pickguard from Ibanez, is it going to do the same thing in 20 years? Meranti Username: Meranti Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 12:06 am:    John, The two 2675s belong to me. One is a '77 (A77xxxx) and the other a '78 (F78xxxx). The '78 was found in Sydney and the '77 in Germany. They will probably be repaired by the same luthier. Cannot decide whether to replace with a rosewood veneer or the same tortoise type as worried that the problem may happen again. Regards, Meranti Captainibanez Username: Captainibanez Registered: 01-2004 Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 8:56 am:    Ok you guys...yes I see dead people underneath laminated headstocks...and so did JD way back then...but he was the Master in the loop then and I was not worthy...but I must continue his hard etched legacy Yes there were very much chemical demons loose in Chin Hons guitar cases..causing untold amounts of damage to these rare birds..shame..chemy reactions..shame. The first thing Mr Spiro and I did was strip the hardware of these guitars...can I just say if you live around 15 degrees either side of the equator and you buy one of these guitars then do me a favour...run down to your local shoe shop and ask them for as many silica gel bags as they will give ya...youl need them, but as a item is really well discussed on here like Mr Spiro says..and as I do ...leave ya rare birds out of their cases and let em breath...that way you won't get that corrosive atmosphere that the funky fur lining creates with the real tortise shell headstocks or pickguards that makes metal things go green So Chins guitars are in for the full restoration that Rex Goh's LR10 prototype got.. see that thread with the pics I took of that or Mr Shanley you can supply that link but Craig Upfold is a true master of the factory re-finish. So stay tuned I have asked Craig to take pics of the transition from shitboxes to originals and Chin, I will ship them back with enough Silica Gel bags to last you a lifetime ok. Captain Ibanez And a happy Greek Easter to all our Greek Ibanez fans out there this weekend Captain Ibanez Captainibanez Username: Captainibanez Registered: 01-2004 Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 9:12 am:    Freaky, the green label can is Selleys RP7 same stuff as WD40 which you can get at Walmart, KMart, Youfart..hehe or any Auto Store that stocks parts for a 426 Big Block Mopar...and rember this gang that ya O'l Cappy endoreses anyhthing thats..MOPAR..or Chrysler...Go that 1970 Plymouth Superbird...Richard Petty is a NASCAR Ledgend ! Anything that loosen's stuff. It's a vital part of guitar restorations or crash cart emergencies And no Mr Spiro is not a guitar tech for the Taliban...he's just a new age Greek groover "downunder"..please feel free to show him some respect and self pity for my trusty side kick...I know I do...if he could only learn to clean up after his self with out the threat of ya Cappy's disintergrater ray...

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