1984 Ibanez DT 555 Destroyer Replica Build:

Just picked up the DT555 from Fed-Ex. They mummified this thing, which is great, but it will take some serious cutting to get down to the actual guitar.... :-)

More on this later....
 
Goldmember said:
All I can say is, "Rock and frickin' Roll, man!"
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Picked it up yesterday morning. Opened it up last night. Man, what a cool looking guitar. It's smaller than I remember, but it is a full-size destroyer....funny how we recall things. very impressive looking piece. Right out of the box the playability is very good. The stock Ibanez neck (about .821" at the 1st fret) is very wide and fast. The stock Wilkinson pickups are good...nice and quiet...but they don't seem to have near enough output to suit me. I already have a set of my own pickups to go in it (16.5k bridge/15.2k neck) and some Russian K40Y tone caps. Guitar is very comfortable to play sitting down too. Not sure this will become my "number One Guitar" but it will certainly get pulled out for Def Leppard songs.

Very cool to relive the old days!!!!

DT555 Completed.jpg
 
Wow. gorgeous.
I'm not a big gold guy, and I love it. That thing looks ready to rock. Congrats. Worth the wait, I'm sure.

How did I know you'd change out the pickups? Lol. Good for you man....make that thing scream. Sweetness!!!
 
Bocc69 said:
Wow. gorgeous.
I'm not a big gold guy, and I love it. That thing looks ready to rock. Congrats. Worth the wait, I'm sure.

How did I know you'd change out the pickups? Lol. Good for you man....make that thing scream. Sweetness!!!
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Thanks, man. It's cool to have it back....I tend to favor more output because I don't use a dirt pedal....
 
Had to break it in on some Def Leppard tunes....Naturally... :)

Photos from the build:

DT555 First Cuts.jpg

First cuts - Project begins May 31, 2017

Herndon DT555 Body & Neck.jpg

Herndon DT555-FR First Coats.jpg

DT555 In Paint.jpg

DT555 Quality Control.jpg


Herndon DT555-FR 40th Day.jpg

Project completed - July 28, 2017

Headstock.jpg

The serial number from my original 1984
Destroyer - Stolen in 1988

DT555 Completed.jpg

Delivered on August 10, 2017
 
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RVA said:
Wow, that is exceptional! Congrats Robert!
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One thing I don't like is the nut height. Intonation is spot-on at the 12th. However, the first fret is way sharp, 3rd fret better 5th fret better and by 7th fret its on pitch.

I haven't measured the first string height yet but its huge.

That will need to be addressed.
 
Robert Herndon said:
One thing I don't like is the nut height. Intonation is spot-on at the 12th. However, the first fret is way sharp, 3rd fret better 5th fret better and by 7th fret its on pitch.

I haven't measured the first string height yet but its huge.

That will need to be addressed.
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Easy enough. Press down the strings at the first fret and see if it exceeds 1 semitone, when it begins to exceed 1 semitone, and how much it exceeds 1 semitone when fully depressed. That will give some indication of how high it is from a functional perspective.
 
RVA said:
Easy enough. Press down the strings at the first fret and see if it exceeds 1 semitone, when it begins to exceed 1 semitone, and how much it exceeds 1 semitone when fully depressed. That will give some indication of how high it is from a functional perspective.
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I'm tuning with a Korg Pitchblack. I'm not sure what the value of each red bar is on the display, but its several bars sharp at the 1st.
 
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