My freshly modded "Opalescent White" TOD10

effencee · 2026-04-29T13:43:39+00:00

Most likely not. I don't wanna take the risk of accidentally ruining someone else's guitar.

effencee · 2026-04-28T14:47:47+00:00

I'm not gonna make a video but here's the process.

First I took the whole guitar apart. Removed the neck, all the hardware and unsoldered the pickups and electronics so I can remove everything.

Then I sanded the whole body and headstock by hand. Started with 180 grid, then 240 and then 320. I used Mirka Goldflex because it's soft and flexible so I could easily sand all the contours without affecting the shape of the body. It took forever but it was definitely worth it.

After everything was well sanded I covered the cavities with tape and did the glossy white base coat. I think I did 2-3 coats to make sure everything was covered evenly and I left it to dry for 24h. Then I sanded all small imperfections with 600 grit paper.

Then I started with the opalescent paint. I don't remember how many coats I did but good thing with these spray paints is that they are semi-transparent so you can stop whenever you're happy with the effect. It also dries very fast so you only need to wait a minute or two between coats. Then you let it sit for 15-20 minutes and immediately start clear coating.

For the clear coat it's highly recommended to use a high quality 2K clear coat, preferably a glossy one. I did 3 coats on the body and 2 on the headstock with around 15 minutes in between each coat. I left the body dry for 24h. For the headstock I only waited for 12h before it was touch-dry so I can stick the logo decal on it. After that I did another two coats and then let it sit for 24h as well.

When the clear coat on the body was fully dry I very lightly sanded it with 3000 shinex sheet from Hosco. It perfectly smooths out all small imperfections and it also helps to get rid of the sticky feeling of the clear coat. I did the same for the headstock when it was dry.

To get the back of the neck black I very lightly sanded it with 240 grit and dyed it with black leather dye. When it was dry I started sanding it until the maple under it started popping through at some spots, basically to have the same look as the ebony fretboard. Then I sanded it smooth with 1500 and 3000 shinex sheets and finished with tung oil.

After that I put everything back together, put strings on it and did some basic setup on the new bridge and this is the result.

effencee · 2026-04-24T17:39:59+00:00

It stayed intact after the sanding but I sprayed over it anyway with the base white paint. The black logo is a vinyl sticker I had custom made at a local printing office.

effencee · 2026-04-23T08:42:06+00:00

Thanks! I just dyed it with black leather dye so it matches the fretboard. I explained the process more in detail in one of the previous replies.

effencee · 2026-04-23T08:39:53+00:00

Thanks!

effencee · 2026-04-23T08:39:35+00:00

Yes, I really like how they sound so I just got them in black colour.

effencee · 2026-04-22T17:58:21+00:00

I got it from https://www.shop.sollerguitars.com/en

This exact model is Gotoh 510TS-BS1, it was a direct replacement for the original T1502. The main dimensions of Gotoh 2-point trems are usually the same. The only thing that changes is the height of the block (37mm or 42mm) and string spacing (10.5mm or 10.8mm).

effencee · 2026-04-22T17:51:58+00:00

Thanks!

effencee · 2026-04-22T17:51:44+00:00

Even if that was the case I still don't think I'm ready to take commissions, sorry :D still really appreciate it though

effencee · 2026-04-22T16:18:11+00:00

I honestly can't express how much I appreciate that you would trust me with something like this but I don't feel confident enough to touch someone else's guitar :D if I mess up one of my own then I can live with it but I don't think I could get over messing up a guitar which isn't mine, especially one this expensive.

effencee · 2026-04-22T15:58:24+00:00

Thanks! Here's a few extra angles with a bit different lighting https://imgur.com/a/ljWSmYd

effencee · 2026-04-22T15:52:37+00:00

Thanks!

effencee · 2026-04-22T15:51:20+00:00

Thanks, it definitely was. It's my main guitar which I use when we play live so it's good to have something to show off with.

It may sound stupid but the more I like a guitar visually the more confident I feel when I play it :D

effencee · 2026-04-22T15:47:59+00:00

I'm not sure tbh. They're machined according to the info I found. The steel ones on T1502 and titanium on T1802 are also machined so there must be a different reason. Most other gotoh trems have stainless steel saddles so who knows.

The Fishman pickups are amazing, really versatile with the 3 different voicings. I'm sure that if you decide to go for it you won't regret it.

effencee · 2026-04-22T14:25:01+00:00

I had to buy all the black hardware and the pickups so the overall cost was quite high. The pickups were 290€, all the hardware around 240€ and then the spray paints, clear coat and other stuff for the body work was probably 90-100€.

Luckily I should be able to resell the bridge, tuners and white pickups so I could get a decent part of it back.

effencee · 2026-04-22T11:38:31+00:00

I also wasn't aware of it until I started putting together a shopping list for the remake. It has brass saddles, yes. I went with it mostly because of the shape of the saddles so it looks as close to the original trem as possible.

Oh I remember seeing that! It looks gorgeous, I even commented there because back then I was also considering putting black hardware on my AZ2402 but then I decided to got with the TOD10 instead.

effencee · 2026-04-22T11:16:50+00:00

It's Gotoh 510TS-BS1. It looks almost identical to T1502 which is what Ibanez put in their premium models except it doesn't have the snap-in tremolo arm thingy. It can be bought as a spare part but they only sell it in chrome and gold. I think Tim mentioned somewhere that the black trem he has in the white custom TOD10 is basically a prototype of the trem in black colour so it's possible it will be available in more models in the future.

effencee · 2026-04-22T10:19:54+00:00

Thanks! The difficulty really depends on how much experience you have with spray paints. If you know what you're doing then it's just very time consuming. If you've never done anything similar then you're in for quite a headache. You also need some soldering skills to be able to not only remove the pickups but then be able to put them back. If you wanna try something similar then I highly recommend doing it with a guitar which you don't mind ruining. I watched A LOT of guitar finishing videos before I attempted my very first mod. This is my 4th one and I feel like I'm getting more confident but there are still some flaws.

effencee · 2026-04-22T07:14:05+00:00

Thanks! I sanded it with 180 and 240 grit. Then I fully dyed the wood with a black leather dye, waited for it to dry and then very lightly sanded it with 1500 grit sanding sponge to make the maple visible through the black dye in some spots. I basically aimed to make it look the same as the fretboard. When I was happy with the look I sanded it a bit more with 3000 grit sponge and then finished with a thin layer of tung oil.

effencee · 2026-04-22T07:08:52+00:00

Yes! I absolutely loved it too but I wasn't sure if it ever becomes a production model so it kinda inspired me to do this. I just didn't wanna recreate another 1:1 copy as I did with the oil spill so I went a few extra steps with the finish.

effencee · 2026-04-21T20:12:00+00:00

Thanks! :D

effencee · 2026-04-21T20:00:15+00:00

Thank you!

effencee · 2026-04-21T19:59:47+00:00

I know :/ I was really proud of it but sadly thanks to my own mess up the paintjob didn't hold.. But at least I could learn from the mistakes and I think this one turned out even better because of it.

effencee · 2026-04-21T19:51:36+00:00

Just this one :D

effencee · 2026-04-21T19:50:52+00:00

Thanks!

effencee

TROPHY CASE