Ibanez GAX70

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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somanytoys
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Re: Ibanez GAX70

Post by somanytoys » Sun Sep 15, 2019 10:10 am

Wow, that one is interesting, with the 4 knobs. Mine only has 3 inline. If the top wasn’t a cutaway on yours, that would remind me a lot of the old Gibson Sonex my friend used to have, a hundred years ago.

I have played this guitar a good bit over the last few years with the old pickups, and I have to say that even with the hum that I have to fix, these dirty fingers pickups that I bought from the link upthread sound way better. Can’t wait to get that all sorted out.

The neck wasn’t really set up well for the 9s, it already had some dead spots. I think my adjustment of the truss rod for the 10s worked really well. The bridge seems to be set up well, and it plays really well now. I need to check it again, now that it’s been about 24 hours and has had time to adjust.

But this is quickly turning into a much better guitar than it was originally, and I haven’t really done very much to it yet. I may even replace the tuners one day, they are a little dodgy, but they work.

I think this guitar is definitely worth spending the money on better parts, the core guitar is good, it’s just the parts that they skimped hard on that holds it back.

The difference in my pics won’t be as dramatic as yours were, it’ll mostly be the pickups that will be the big difference as far as looks.
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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somanytoys
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Re: Ibanez GAX70

Post by somanytoys » Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:04 am

I fixed the grounding problem, and it sounds and plays great. The wire from the neck pickup pot to the switch is barely long enough to reach, which is why it came loose. Yet other wires have a good extra 4 inches, so it apparently wasn’t a rationing thing. I might have to replace that wire at some point.

Those dirty fingers pickups are pretty hot, much louder than my other Ibanez guitars’ pickups (they’re old, early/mid ’80s models), but they do sound really good.

And the setup is almost perfect, which is weird because it was setup for 9s, and all I did was put 10s on it and adjusted the truss rod (a lot) to give it some relief. Haven’t even bothered with the new nut yet, but I may start sanding that down sometime soon.

I went ahead and ordered the right Switchcraft switch (short), I’m not really sure why I ordered the long version last time. But I have one, if I find a use for a long one.

The improvement in how it plays and the sound is huge, but that doesn’t really show up in pictures! :D
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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HNB
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Re: Ibanez GAX70

Post by HNB » Thu Sep 19, 2019 7:25 pm

Sounds like it is pretty killer. :D
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

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somanytoys
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Re: Ibanez GAX70

Post by somanytoys » Fri Sep 20, 2019 8:23 am

Yes, it is, and really, I’ve done so little to it so far. A lot for someone with no experience with any of this, but not very much, really.

Thanks for starting this thread, I wouldn’t have done any of this if it wasn’t for seeing all that you did with one, how cool it turned out, and all of the good info and encouragement in the thread.

And now I’m halfway finished building my reverb, I wouldn’t have thought I could do something like that, either, and probably wouldn’t have even tried. I’m at the wiring and soldering stage now, I’ll see how I do with that. But I have a lot more confidence now, and swapping out that switch seems like it’ll be easy when it comes in.

It’s like a whole new day...
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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HNB
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Re: Ibanez GAX70

Post by HNB » Fri Sep 20, 2019 8:30 am

It is pretty awesome when you get used to soldering and doing wiring work. It opens up a lot of options guitar wise. It isn't super hard to learn, but feels pretty awesome when you understand how it works and knowing you can do it yourself. I hope your reverb tank goes well. I have built some DIY pedals before, but nothing as large as a reverb tank or amp. I hope to do that eventually. :D Most I have done amp wise is install a three prong power cord. :)
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

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somanytoys
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Re: Ibanez GAX70

Post by somanytoys » Sun Sep 22, 2019 10:36 am

Yeah, it really does open up a lot of options. It’s a pain in the ass and expensive to take something to a shop, which I’ll still have to do for some things, but not as much.

I tried to change the switch, and the original wire from the neck pickup is just too short and shot. I’ll have to go grab some more coax wire to use on Monday, it was too late yesterday. Kind of sucks that I took the old switch off, but oh well, it’ll be worth it when it’s changed out.

I’m still in the wiring stage with the reverb. All of the wire cutting, stripping and tinning, then trying to run and keep the wires connected took forever. I had to go back a few times to verify where the convection came loose.

It might be different if I knew what I was doing, maybe pre-fab some wires ahead of time, but doing all of this as I was going back and forth with instructions and drawings, and backtracking because wires came loose, it was a crappy 2-step dance. So I decided to start soldering where I could, going thru the drawings & directions to ID which wires didn’t have any other connections that needed to be made. That helped a lot.

I still have to finish the wiring, and then hook up all of the caps and resistors, and then I should be about done. Maybe after about 5 more hours or so, I’ll be done - right about the build time that they say the whole project should take?!? Haha I’m such a newb.

I’m doing a pretty good job, tho, and I think I can finish it, it’s just taking soooooo long....
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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Re: Ibanez GAX70

Post by HNB » Sun Sep 22, 2019 12:23 pm

Almost every time I try to go too fast, I screw something up. Going slow and careful is always going to be better. :D
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

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