RiverRatt

I saw this thing at my buddy's pawn shop. I go by every Thursday and he always has the same old guitars and a Peavey Backstage amp. I missed 2 or 3 weeks when my surgery had my schedule messed up. He had a Millenium Destroyer - a MIK Ibanez with a bolt-on neck. It's got a really deep metallic candy apple red finish. I had some non-music gear that I figured he'd like and the price was right. It badly needed strIngs and a setup and I thought it had some potential.

I got it home Thursday and worked on it from four until 9:30. I had to shim the neck, clean all the dust off, and change out the electronics. It looked like it had years worth of dust on it. It's a stop-tail and tune-o-matic setup and I forgot to clean the gunk off the bridge. The neck is decent quality. Korea was turning out some nice instruments back then. Jumbo frets and a cheap black plastic nut. If I keep it, that's going to need to be bone.

I had that complete EMG 81/85 humbucker set, harness and all, so I yanked out everything but the bridge ground wire which I left in case I put passive pickups back in it. I found more stupid mistakes in that wiring setup - I don't see how it worked at all. I put the EMG 85 in the bridge. It's supposed to be more chunky. Plus, it's a smaller body and the neck pickup is closer to the bridge, so it's almost like having two lead pickups; the bridge for the heavier stuff and the neck for a more Mellow and woody tone.

I took off the cheap chrome plastic knobs and used a couple of black speed knobs just to dress it up better, put some Power Slinkys on it, and that was pretty much it. I had to open the control cavity and flip one of the quick-connects on the volume pot. Those EMG pickups belong in this guitar.

Every time I pick up one of these overlooked gems and turn it into a badass machine, it feels good. The pickups are about as expensive as the guitar! It's a hell of a player. These bargain guitars blow most of the cheap guitars that were around when I grew up out of the water. I'm going to post some pics tomorrow. The weather should be great for some outdoor shots. If you're still with me, this is what the model looks like.

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Originally Posted by MartyStrat54 That's what I like about you Alan...you got it bad. You're a tube-aholic.

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Söulcaster

Can't wait to see it...grats RR

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RiverRatt

I thought seriously about ditching the chrome pickup rings, but they don't look so bad with the EMG's. I left my good camera at work and had to use my point-and-shoot so they aren't great.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MartyStrat54 That's what I like about you Alan...you got it bad. You're a tube-aholic.

RiverRatt

What sold me on this guitar was its unamplified tone. I never try an electric guitar in the store plugged into an amp. If it has the tone and the feel, I know I can do something with it. I don't want my opinion colored by the amp that I plug into in the store. This guitar had a loud, clear and defined tone unamplified. It's a ****in' monster through my amps. All it needed were some good pickups and strings. I can set up a guitar - hell, I did it for a living for 10+ years. I love finding these pawn shop specials and turning them into great guitars. The only problem is, I set them up the way I like. I worked with a guy for years who would get out the gauges and put every guitar to Gibson specs. He worked for Gibson for a couple of years in Nashville and it clouded his thinking. I don't think I've ever had a guitar that I didn't set up myself the way I wanted it, whether it was a Gibson Custom Shop guitar or a $100 Squier strat. It blows people away when they play one of my guitars and find out it's strung with 11-50's or 11-48's. I ran across a Rene Martinez video this week and he walks you through a strat setup to Stevie Ray Vaughan's preferences. It's worthless unless you're Stevie, except for the one point he makes - and it took me half a lifetime to figure out. When you get done with the setup, push the strings each down on both sides of the bridge saddle and both sides of the nut. I always wondered why my guitar sounded out of tune even when I thought it was set up perfectly. That solved the problem. It's probably the best setup tip I've ever heard. I'll post a link to the video when I'm back at the office. I can't find the link to it here.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MartyStrat54 That's what I like about you Alan...you got it bad. You're a tube-aholic.

Söulcaster

Grats RR...

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Jason77

Oh wow! Nice grab. That looks like so much fun to play!

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'02 LP standard
'98 SG-Z

DSL 100 & 50
1960B with v30/g12h30 mix

TU-2 < MXR carbon copy < MXR micro flanger < OCD < OC-2 < peppermint fuzz < wilson wah

RiverRatt

It's unreal. I had the Destroyer, SG and Strat all lined up last night and I played each one of them for awhile. I wouldn't kick any of them out of bed, but I kept coming back to the Ibanez. It balances so well and the neck is about perfect. The EMG's sound massive. I guess you could get a decent clean tone out of it. I haven't tried yet!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MartyStrat54 That's what I like about you Alan...you got it bad. You're a tube-aholic.

Jason77

Cleans?? That's like buying a hooker just for conversation!

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'02 LP standard
'98 SG-Z

DSL 100 & 50
1960B with v30/g12h30 mix

TU-2 < MXR carbon copy < MXR micro flanger < OCD < OC-2 < peppermint fuzz < wilson wah

Stringjunkie

Mmmm, dibs if you want to sell it!! I call dibs!

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Orange Dark Terror
JCM1H
DSL1H
Sourmash 1x12/reaper
Sourmash 1x12/green beret
Fender American standard strat-stock
Fender Blacktop strat-MHD pups
Ibanez RG- MHD pups
Gibson LP 50s tribute studio-stock

RiverRatt

Dude, there's one on eBay. Search for the model number: DTX120. It's at $149.99 with no bids. Add an EMG 85 in the bridge and 81 in the neck, a set of Power Slinkys, and you're there. Go read some of the reviews of these guitars on the net. The only complaint I have is that the neck had to be shimmed to put it at the proper angle. I cut up an old credit card and put a small strip at the end of the neck.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MartyStrat54 That's what I like about you Alan...you got it bad. You're a tube-aholic.