NGD!! ...well, sort of

[synapsistheory]

Feeling a bit nostalgic. This DXMG was the very first guitar I ever purchased. I was 17 years old. I bought it at Guitar Center and it was originally black. I paid $450 for it brand new. That was 17 years ago in 2001.
In 2007 I sold it to the rhythm guitarist of a band I was playing in at the time. Fast forward 11 years and I catch back up with him...I ended up asking him about it and low and behold he still had it! At some point he ended up painting it pearl white and he clearly put it through hell but I got it back from him yesterday evening for $50 and a 6-pack of beer. Hell yeah!
Looking forward to cleaning it up and restoring it!












I spent an hour or so cleaning it and she looks a lot better but the bridge needs replaced and I'm definitely going to swap the pickups.

[Number Of The Priest]

Saw you post this on Facebook but figured I'd wait until you shared it to JCF before commenting. Must feel awesome being reunited with your first love! And knowing your restoration skills (and your nose for sub-$100 deals) you will no doubt make this guitar shine again. So many cracks in the fretboard binding...

Do you think you will strip the white paint, or leave it as-is? How good was the white paintjob?

What replacement bridge do you think you will choose for the JT500? I know an OFR fits in the route of a JT580LP but the footprint of the JT580LP is larger than the OFR so it leaves large gaps when the "smaller" OFR is swimming in it; I wonder, with the JT500 more closely resembling the OFR, if they have similar dimensions and the OFR would nicely fit a JT500 route.

Gonna watch this thread for your progress!

[synapsistheory]

Saw you post this on Facebook but figured I'd wait until you shared it to JCF before commenting. Must feel awesome being reunited with your first love! And knowing your restoration skills (and your nose for sub-$100 deals) you will no doubt make this guitar shine again. So many cracks in the fretboard binding...

Do you think you will strip the white paint, or leave it as-is? How good was the white paintjob?

What replacement bridge do you think you will choose for the JT500? I know an OFR fits in the route of a JT580LP but the footprint of the JT580LP is larger than the OFR so it leaves large gaps when the "smaller" OFR is swimming in it; I wonder, with the JT500 more closely resembling the OFR, if they have similar dimensions and the OFR would nicely fit a JT500 route.

Gonna watch this thread for your progress!

Thank you for the kind words, Priest! I appreciate you! It does feel pretty badass to get this guitar back! I’m super stoked about it!

My buddy has been an auto painter for years and he did an awesome job painting it. I’m gonna keep the pearl white. I like it better than the black. It looks badass! Pictures don’t do it justice. He’s gonna mix up a little bit of paint to touch up the blemishes on the back. Kind of funny and ironic that this guitar and another one I’m getting early next week are both white.

As for the bridge, I’m still trying to figure out what to replace it with. I think I’ll put a JT580 in it. Not the low profile. I had someone tell me that it would fit since it fit in their DXMG. Any thoughts or suggestions about that?

It’s a “beater” guitar so I can’t justify spending $200 on a OFR for it. I will however get a set of SD Blackouts to replace the EMG-HZ’s.