Advice for new guitar body...

[jclogston]

Hi everyone -

So I have been gassing for a new guitar in transparent blue that i overlooked my present guitar. I need some advice/help on this. My present guitar is shown below:


I would like to have a body in transparent blue, similar to the ibanez rg320fm in lavender blue or the ibanez rg3120tw. Would like direct mounted HxH, 3-way switch, and volume knob located where the tone knob is usually located (nothing where the volume knob would be normally).

Now - i figure i can do the following:

1 - pick up a rg body and swap. BUT my rg550 is pre-aanj so pretty much every guitar body out there is aanj and i would need to modify my present neck.

2 - look for a pre-aanj body: BUT very hard to find and i believe nothing in tran blue.

3 - Can i modify my existing rg550 body for this? I think not b/c of the routing for the rg550 (swimming pool) but i could be wrong.

4 - Get a new body made with the specs listed above. It would have to be able to accept a pre-aanj neck. Question, is it a simple swap procedure (literally remove and replace in new body)? Would i need to send in my neck to whoever would be making the body?

Please advise as the GAS is killing me,,,,,,,LOL

Thanks in advance

Jeff

[erikm5150]

I would say go with #4 -- yes it is just a simple swap. no need to send in your existing neck. people who make ibanez RG bodies know the standard body dimensions and neck joint specs.
go to jemsite and ask around there -- there a several guitar makers / luthiers who specialize in ibanez style bodies.
there are many advantages to going with this option:
-- you save time and the final outcome is clean and professional
-- you can choose the body wood (if you want a nice wood grain under that transparent finish!) -- damn i'm getting GAS just writing this!

#2 is also feasible -- you can easily find a pre-aanj Ibanez RG body (look in jemsite or 3bay -- make sure it is original!) . Get a RG570 (rear mount) body, then you can do some mods to direct mount the pickup... don't know about that particular color, though.