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Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 6:44 am
by drolo
Hi there,

Long time lurker and offset enthusiast.

I just bought this old Ibanez for 50 bucks and thought I'd come here to document the restoration and also get some advice :-)

Some pics:
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I am going to keep the pickups as they are for now, they measure about 4-5k and seem to be working (could not really test as the whole electronics are falling apart) If needed I can always rewind them but keep the case for the aesthetic.

The tuners need to go.
The tremolo looks really cool and seems to work, just need to find an arm.

Will leave the frets as they are for now, although they are really thin, but don't seem to be too worn out.

Probably going to strip away the crude furniture lacker that was applied over the whole guitar, sand it and apply some oil as finish.

I am a bit on the fence about the pickguard. I'd like to keep it but not sure what to use to use to fill that big rectangle where the original rocker switches were.


here is a pic of a similar guitar from the same era (mid-end 1960ties) where you can see them:

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Does any one know if it's possible to find some similar switches? they seem to be the same as Teisco ones.

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 6:46 am
by drolo
Also if anyone has info on these guitars (did not find much online) or restoration ideas, they are more than welcome :-)

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 9:23 am
by Squirrel
Huh, I almost bought an Antoria-branded one of these a while back. As for the hole where the original switches used to be, I'd probably fabricate some kind of metal or plastic panel with 3 slide switches, similar to a Jaguar. I think that replacing the entire pickguard would be more hassle than it's worth, and would never look as good as the original IMO. Good luck with the restoration anyway!

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 11:05 am
by drolo
thanks mate :-)

I have sanded the whole thing down. Turns out to be some nice pieces of wood

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I reshaped the headstock a bit to give it a clearer shape (incidentally more fender-esque ...)

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Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 7:35 am
by drolo
Body and neck are oiled and drying

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the body has a rather pretty grain

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have cleaned the hardware as much I could with some WD40

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the pickups are an interesting construction I had not seen before

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also look cleaner

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Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 1:43 pm
by raphaël
:w00t: Love those pickups, they look rad!!!

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:16 pm
by drolo
raphaël wrote:
Tue Oct 31, 2017 1:43 pm
:w00t: Love those pickups, they look rad!!!
yeah, had not noticed they were that color before cleaning them :-)

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:57 pm
by Shadoweclipse13
Gotta be honest, I liked the headstock shape better before. But that guitar as a whole is AMAZING!!!

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2017 5:30 am
by Embenny
Those pickups are way cool! The tops look like the original Yamaha SG pickups, and the underside looks like a cross between a Dynasonic (the long cylinder magnets) and a P90 (because the screws are the actual polepieces).

And that blue MOP is a total surprise as well!

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 2:56 pm
by drolo
In the end I decided to cut a little plate to accommodate 3 slide switches. I really like the slightly translucid original pickguard

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The wood kind of splitered while I was sanding it and looks a bit ... crappy.. but I just wanted to test if that switch config would work.
Knowing me, if it works and the plate doesn't fall appart it will still be there in 10 years ... ;-)

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:18 am
by drolo
it came out real pretty :-)

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I tried to keep the original vibe but could not help changing a few things here and there.
Flipped the logo around, did not really like how it was before, only makes sense for guitars standing in a display :-)
The original bridge was not too bad but it cut into my hand when playing so I replaced it with a roller bridge.
Along the volume and tone knob, the third knob has a rotary switch with various caps to cut lows.

It plays surprisingly well. The neck, although I shaved quite a bit off, feels like half a tree trunk.
The trem has a tendency to not go back to place, creating slight tuning issues. Will see if I can improve that somehow.

The pickups are fairly weak and not really bright. But boosting the highs makes them come alive. Still deciding whether I leave them like that or try to rewind them. In the end, I don't want this guitar to sound like any other guitar I have.

It's definitely fun to play with and so light compared to my Jazzmaster :-)

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 4:51 pm
by Shadoweclipse13
That's beautiful man! I love your color choices with the wood grained body and pickguard. That little switch plate is cool too!!

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 12:12 am
by drolo
Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Mon Nov 06, 2017 4:51 pm
That's beautiful man! I love your color choices with the wood grained body and pickguard. That little switch plate is cool too!!
thanks man :-)

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 2:07 pm
by sirspens
This is wonderful. From eh to wow!

I love the switch plate. I'm going to have to steel that at some point.

And that pickup design is fascinating. I would expect them to be brighter, somewhere between a lipstick and a P90.

Re: Ibanez Kindajaguar restoration

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 am
by drolo
I couldn't help it and rewound the pickups (well only the neck and bridge)

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Tried to squeeze as many turns on the small coil as would fit and got to the 5.5k range.

Made a hell of a difference, way spankier now :-)

here's a pic of my ghetto pickup winder :-)

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