A hybrid mongrel guitar project

A hybrid mongrel guitar project

I had two defunct guitars. The J&D had neck issues. The problem with the Ibanez was that I just couldn't get the intonation right. I tried every trick I knew without success. Moving the bridge seemed like too much work.

One day I got an idea to combine the best parts of those two to build one playable guitar - why not? They were just collecting dust on the wall.

First job was to fit Ibanez neck to J&D´s body. Some woodwork was expected, but to my surprise it was a perfect fit - just like that!

I used barbecue sticks and epoxy to fill old screw holes.

removing wood from body

It was necessary to move the bridge a little backwards. First I removed some wood from the tremolo cavity to make space. The J&D had a two point tremolo and it would have been difficult to move that. Luckily I had another, vintage-style, tremolo. As you can see above, the two point tremolo has two notches to fit the posts. The baseplate of a vintage tremolo is straight and so it would move further back from the posts.

The original posts didn't hold the tremolo properly and they were too thin. I found two machine screws that hold the tremolo in the right place. I got perfect intonation after adjustment. Those screws are not pretty, though.

I took pickups from the Ibanez, they were slightly better (not great). After other necessary adjustments it was time to plug the guitar in. And it´s not bad!

It kind of combines the ergonomics of a strat type body with the easy playability of a short scale neck,

One day I might give the thing a new paint job, and remove those bindings. Yes, they look nice, but I like rounded edges. They make a guitar more comfortable to play.

Oh, and new pickups. And ...