Chapter 1 - Frankie Comes Home

One of my local music stores was having a sale.  About a million bucks worth of inventory damaged by a flood.  Unable to resist potential bargains to be had on every conceivable kind of musical instrument and equipment, we (our band Beer Supply), headed down to sift through two tractor-trailer loads of gear.







I noticed a black, left-handed 2008 Ibanez Gio 170DX on sale for whatever someone would pay for it.  Taking it into the light, it was in pretty rough shape.  Mostly rusted, and I wasn't sure the electronics worked.  But, I figured even if they didn't, the 24-fret neck was worth something as a project - a Frankenstein.


$40 later, "Frankie" was on his way home.  I plugged it in, and despite the rust, all the electronics worked.

So.  First problem: I play right.  I needed access to the upper frets.  So, I took the strings off, covered the pickups, and clamped it down.

I figured the easiest thing to do was just try to match the left-handed cut-away.

Twenty minutes in the garage with a jigsaw and a Dremel, the frets were available, and the nut accomodated reversing the strings.

Voila.  Right-handed Ibanez.