guitar2005 Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 (edited) All, I've been working on this project for a couple of weeks now, mostly working on the plans but this week, I actually got some real work done. The guitar is an Explorer style body with a Ken Lawrence style headstock. The body will feature a 1/2" (maybe 3/4" - not sure yet) Black Korina top over Honduran Mahogany. The set neck will be a 5 piece hard rock maple / Jatoba laminate with a Mahogany scarf jointed headstock with black Korina veneer (to fully match the body), angled at 10 degrees. The Tune-o-matic bridge will be recessed into the body to ensure comfortable picking hand positioning, 2 humbucking pickups, grover mini tuners, braided wiring, 3-way toggle switch on the upper region of lower bout and a fender strat style jack cup on the side of the guitar. The finish will be most probably polymerized Tung Oil buffed to a nice sheen to enhance the natural beauty of the wood. I might put a thin coat of french polish to ensure extra protection. Here's what I have so far in my photo album http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid13121210 The Headstock - Notice that the string pull isn't perfectly straight. This is the best I could do given the headstock design. Let me know if you have any suggestions to improve on it (edited with new, improved version) The neck laminates ready to be glued together with the fretboard showing on top. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/194313608.jpg The body template which still needs a bit of work on the straight lines. I'll fix those up at the same time that I do the neck template, probably within 1 week or so. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/194313601.jpg The neck and bridge setup http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/197333086.jpg Edited November 25, 2006 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJD Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 If you want the string spacing to be straight, I’d suggest starting out by drawing the string lines, then the tuner positions, and adjust your headstock shape to accommodate I find rough drawing headstocks to scale on paper first a good place to start - and then 'cadding things up' from there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted October 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 (edited) If you want the string spacing to be straight, I’d suggest starting out by drawing the string lines, then the tuner positions, and adjust your headstock shape to accommodate I find rough drawing headstocks to scale on paper first a good place to start - and then 'cadding things up' from there The original intent was to base the drawing on a picture of the Ken Lawrence headstock which is a starting point I guess. I've updated the drawing to base it more on string pull. Here's the result. It'll make the design a little more unique Edited October 9, 2006 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJD Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 That looks good to me - make sure you have the tuners before you cut it out of the wood though incase those top two are a little too tight - nothing like having the hardware there to check for fit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2006 (edited) Quick update. I realized today that my body template is wrong. The width at the neck join is too narrow. I'll be redoing the body template this week. I'm condering to go with a full width neck tenon (EDIT Nov 22 - Decided to leave the neck tenon as is) for better strength and stability. That would mean redoing the body template accordingly. What do you guys think? Here's a pic of the headstock template done: http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/202173173.jpg Edited November 22, 2006 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 (edited) Neck blanks glued up and flattened on both faces. These things are pretty damn straight. I'm sure that when I start cutting and shaping, the wood will start moving Next steps are, in order: cut the scarf joint, bandsaw the back portion of the neck, glue the headstock, install the truss rod then glue on the inlayed fingerboard. That sound right? Edited November 22, 2006 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doeringer Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 Sounds right. Looks like good clean work so far! Tha wood shouldn't move much at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 (edited) I picked up the Honduran Mahogany wood yesterday for the body. All I can say is that it has a really nice ring to it. Very lively. 12" wide so I'll be able to make a 2piece body and with careful cutting, I'll have leftovers for other projects I resawed the headstock thickness from another piece of honduran Mahogany I had leftover from my Rhoads V project. The Headstock will receive a 1/8" Korina veneer on top to match the body and a thin maple veneer on the back to match the maple neck. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/208021657.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/208021633.jpg I also finished the body template: http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/208021649.jpg Edited November 25, 2006 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 This is looking sweet so far! I'm looking forward to following this one, and see how it turns out. Keep it up! Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 (edited) Did a bit of work over the holidays on this one. 1- I routed out the body outline from the Mahogany 2- Received the Black limba for the top 3- Thicknessed and jointed the Korina 4- Glued the tops on both guitar bodies (Notice how well tops are joined in the middle with no visible glue line) 5- Routed the top to match the body outline 6- 320 grit sanded the sides and top of the body 7- Glued the mahogany headstock. The Black Limba "triangle" overlay will be applied separately when I have the base headstock deisgn cut out, routed and final sanded. The tops were a real bitch to glue. I used all the clamps I had but I still have a couple of spots where the glue line is visible. Having both pieces perfectly flat to mate as closely as possible was really tough. I have a question regarding the Black Limba. It is a lot softer than I thought it would be. Is there a way to "harden" the wood. I want to use a thin nitro finish but if the wood is too soft underneath, it won't last very long. Any suggestions? Edited January 6, 2007 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted May 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Progress has been slow. Been working on the fretboards and got the truss rod installed. here are the necks so far Notice the mitered binding: http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/250165188.jpg Truss rod cover shot: http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/250165194.jpg I'll be gluing the fretboards this week as soon as I have my measurements double checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted September 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 I haven't made much progress on this guitar project during the summer. I basically did the radiusing of the fretboards, the neck contouring & headstock shaping. The volutes are almost done. I want to apply a maple backstrap to the headstock before I do that. That should be done by the end of the weekend. Here are some new shots. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/277839390.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/277839386.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/277839376.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/277839364.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/277839357.jpg The picture album: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p...amp;uid=4316378 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 hey g2005; could i ask you where you get your wood from? im always visiting the valley (Kanata,Fort Coulonge) and would love to know about some good timber places many thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 (edited) hey g2005; could i ask you where you get your wood from? im always visiting the valley (Kanata,Fort Coulonge) and would love to know about some good timber places many thanx The Woodsource in Manotick Station has a great selection of woods. I special ordered the Honduran Mahogany from them. Its is pattern grade and cost me $275 for a rough 2"x12"x10' piece with taxes in. I also got the Maple veneer for the binding from them. The Cocobolo for the fretboard is also from the woodsource; so is the maple. They're a little on the expensive side for certain things but the quality of their product stands out. They're about 20-25mins from downtown Ottawa. The black limba, I got from exotic-woods I got them to ship the wood to me. They also sent me the cocobolo binding strips because I couldn't figure out how to make the strips with the tools I have here at home. Hope this helps. Edited September 15, 2007 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 yes thanks; im 10 min from exotic; great dudes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted October 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Ok - I hit a snag on the headstock. I measured the face of the headstock, making sure I have enough room for the tuner washers, that the tuners are spaced enough so I can turn the tuner knobs, everything is fine so I drill the holes. Test fit the tuners, Everything is ok until i realize that on the back on the headstock, there isn't enough room for the top two tuners. Close but doens't fit. They're Grover Rotomatics - so not exactly the smaller tuners out there ARGHGHGHG! I was so frustrated! Thankfully, I only drilled one headstock. For the neck I already drilled, I think I'll have to go with the Steinberger gearless tuners. Nice but not the amount of money I wanted to spend. Oh well, lesson learned. On to the next neck (the one I didn't drill yet), Drawing everything out, even with the smaller Schaller tuners (the ones with the set screw at a 45 degree angle), there's no way I can get the top two tuners to fit without having weird string pull. I'm trying to get the string pull to be as straight as possible. I see that the Sperzels are pretty small and compact and don't have the set screw thingy on the back. From the specs on the Stew Mac website, it looks like they might fit. Anyone have experience with these tuners? Are they really that small and are there smaller tuners out there? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 i had the same problem with my kl headstocks. your supposed to use mini tuners. all kls have sperzel tuners. those are the only ones that will work for that exact problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unrealize Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 That sucks!!! I used Sperzels on mine, and I had no problem fitting them at all. Good luck with it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWk5150 Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 What about using some LSR tuners?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTU 7's. Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 LSR tuners are expensive and they accept 0.65 strings maximum. Amazing work you're doing, very clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted October 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 What about using some LSR tuners?? I tried to find them but haven't found a source for them. It seems that they're out of production. Anyone have some leads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted October 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 LSR tuners are expensive and they accept 0.65 strings maximum. Amazing work you're doing, very clean. Hey - thanks for the comments. I'm doing my best here. Still learning a couple of things, like how to drill tuner holes LOL! If I were to redo something, I'd probably change the way i'd do the neck joint. Yeah, 0.65 gauge. I'd never go over 0.58 anyways so the LSR would be OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWk5150 Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 What about using some LSR tuners?? I tried to find them but haven't found a source for them. It seems that they're out of production. Anyone have some leads? http://members.aol.com/intertunei/LSR.tuners/ That is there homepage but they say they have stopped production for a pierod it seems. I do have a few sets laying around here depending upon what color you migt be interested in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted December 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 (edited) I haven't posted any progress pics on the KL Explorer pair I'm building in a while. I've made some good progress lately and I'm almost ready for the first washcoat. This is the one I'm making for Steve. Loaded with EMGs, mounted directly onto the body, no 'buker rings. I'll paint the pickup cavity black. I have to drill the string ferrule holes but I'm not sure on how I want to place them yet. Straight? Angled? Curved? Other? Arghgh! Some other cool pics This is mine - with fire inlay. Pickup routes and bridge route not shown in this pic, but you get the idea. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/291575990.jpg This is Steve's headtsock, to be fitted with Sperzels. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/291575988.jpg This is Steve's neck at the 12th fret. I'm real happy with the fretwork on this guitar. This is my best so far. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/291575992.jpg Here's Steve's neck join. I decided to bring the binding down along the neck. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...0/291579119.jpg So... please, ideas on ferrule placement would help. Edited December 5, 2007 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 I'd do them curved in a swoosh to match the back end of the guitar. Yes, curved to match your back end I did it for my Explorer (pic, ignore the tearout plz!) which has the swoosh the opposite way, and it looks nice, so I'm sure it will work the other way for your build. They're both coming out great, by the way! ::EDIT:: Of course, if you go with them straight, you'll get an even feel over all of the strings, more like a TOM/tail setup. I feel that my lower strings are too floppy because the break angle over the bridge is so small. I'm going to rectify it with the V build by using a tailpiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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