Bringing an Ibanez 2350 custom back to life

[Ravie]

The husband of a friend of my wife's called me up a while back to tell me he had a guitar and wanted to know if I was interested in having it. So I popped over to their place for him to open up a case containing a pretty well preserved 1976 Ibanez 2350 Custom, with all of the electronic parts in a box next to it. He said he had taken it apart for no apparent reason and didn't know how to put it back together but just wanted it out of the way since they were moving, etc...

After I got it home and cleaned it up a bit I decided I'd wax pot the pickups. Terrible idea, I ruined them with a stupid rookie mistake. Finally yesterday I decided to order some replacement parts and get it back together. I went to the GFS website and ordered a new bridge, some random pickups he had from some warehouse he bought out ( if it turns out they suck ill order something else) a new pickup switch, jack, etc... Then I went to all parts and ordered 25' of braided shielded wire to wire it up with.

It should be a fun little simple project. I'm interested to see what it turns out to sound like.

Pic...

 

[studio1087]

Wow.....an old lawsuit model.

We need step by step photos. Thanks.

 

[Ravie]

This one is one year post lawsuit. The headstock is rounded on top instead of open book. Still quite close though!

 

[Myewgul]

Nice, keep us posted!

 

[Ravie]

It's alive!

Got my packages of parts yesterday and worked on the guitar til 1am... Then some more when I realized I messed up a little AND I was annoyed with the not having independent volume controls thing...so I swapped that around and now I've got modern style wiring with independent volumes. Just how I like it.

I found the new humbuckers trim rings were not rounded to match the top, so I used the originals which were in great shape. I love the gold hardware and I'm glad I stuck with that. After taking a bunch of relief out of the neck, adjusting the action a bit, etc... It plays quite nicely! For cheap pickups they really sound quite good. There's no marking on them except for "B" and "N" for their positions..

Maybe a vid...

 

[Ravie]

Beautiful sights!

 

[Myewgul]

Wow, thats looks so kew...!

 

[damaged]

Nice looking guitar, what was the rookie mistake btw?

 

[ME262]

I'm curious; is that a set neck or a Michael?

 

[ReaL Madras]

I'm curious; is that a set neck or a Michael?

Tee hee.......

 

[Jupiter]

Pretty!

 

[Ravie]

Nice looking guitar, what was the rookie mistake btw?

Tried to wax pot the Super 70s ans warped the bobbins. Badly. I've done it before but I guess I just plain wasn't paying attention to them.

Oh, and Bolton. Haha.

Plays and sounds quite nice. I think 10-49 is too big though. Almost sounds *too* fat.

 

[ME262]

Even though it's a Bolton, those are fine guitars! I wouldn't be surprised if you got surprised if you one day put even better pickups in it. Some of the set necks came stock (at least wher I live) with a diMarzio PAF in the neck and a Superdistortion in the bridge, and I tell you, that sounds kick!

 

[Ravie]

Even though it's a Bolton, those are fine guitars! I wouldn't be surprised if you got surprised if you one day put even better pickups in it. Some of the set necks came stock (at least wher I live) with a diMarzio PAF in the neck and a Superdistortion in the bridge, and I tell you, that sounds kick!

Yes, I get the whole "well if its a bolt neck then it's not really a LP." But at the same time I see a lot of guys online just dogging them like they're horrible. Maybe some of them are, I don't know. Mine is a '76 and apart from a few cosmetic character pieces from the years of use, its really a pretty nice guitar. The sunburst is done well, the fret edges are nice, etc...

The big things I'm planning someday: "green" button tulip klusons, a volume pot I need to replace, a fret level, and maybe some DiMarzio pickups. I had some picked out but can't remember which model they are. I used brand new shielded braided wire, a new pickup switch...

I may even keep the darn thing. Haha

My hands anymore don't like anything but a V neck, so anything big C shape is usually not fun to play, but it's such a neat guitar...