How I Restored My Electric Guitar From The High School Years
The geekiest thing I’ve done. And I’ve learned so much in the process.
When I was 17, my parents bought me an electric guitar. As a matter of fact, it was my guitar teacher (“maestro” Antonio Scarpetti) who made the purchase because he thought I didn’t know enough at the time. It turned out to be an affordable Ibanez RG270DX, Made in Korea (nowadays these models are made in China). The shiny and loud “emerald green” finish was really really 90s. I even gave it a name, “Seven”, not after the Star Trek character but because I received it on May 7, and I thought that was my lucky number.
I have played it quite consistently for a few years. Around year 2000, I took it to a luthier to get the pickups replaced and the last five frets “scalloped”. It is still my opinion that those changes improved the playability of the instrument. Later on, I bought another Ibanez, a Paul Gilbert Model 90th Anniversary (which I’ve eventually sold), but decided nonetheless to keep the old one. To be fair, it’s been sitting in its case for a very long time until recently, when I decided that the time had come to give it a new life. What happened is that, well, I turned 40 and I thought it was time to buy a serious guitar. So I sold my Tesla stocks and got a Gibson Les Paul Studio. This led me…
