Xanthus Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Heh, that's true, I had to check the build pics again to see about the fret access. Sometimes I wonder if the guitar builders at Gibson ever use anything over the 17th fret... It would explain a lot about most of their designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 Looking good Wes. Is that body solid or hollow? How heavy is that sucker? The piece of bubinga I worked with was heavy as hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 the body weighs 4 pounds.the body is smaller in every dimension than a true explorer...as well as being only 1 3/8" thick.the entire guitar when painted and assembled should be less than 8 pounds...the neck is very thin as well... it is solid as well.you should see this sucker in person...it is by far the best i have built so far..but yes,the blank was freaking heavy...3" by 18" by 22" was at least 50 pounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 okay..the exploder is sanded to 220 and ready to seal...i will seal it tonight,paint it tomorrow,and in about two weeks it should be hard enough to assemble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_the_damned Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 hehe...look on the left side of the photo here http://westhemann.com/my%20music/pics/IM000055.JPG see that flame maple blank all laminated up?that is the neck for this explorer...before i did anything to it... that's some nice looking wood. I guess left and right are oposite in america.....that must be why you drive on the wrong side of the road off topic a bit: But more on topic, the "Exploder" is coming along quite nice, but why choose to put a trem on it? I dunno if it's just me... oh wait, yeah it is, but something about an LP or Explorer or similar hardtail design with a trem on it strikes me as... nontraditional. I dunno, it's just a personal thing, not trying to rain on the parade, you want the trem there. As I seem to remember one of the early high end Explorer models came with a Vibrola trem, though I may be mistaken. he's only using the trem because its a new toy that he's not been able to play with yet! Heh, that's true, I had to check the build pics again to see about the fret access. Sometimes I wonder if the guitar builders at Gibson ever use anything over the 17th fret... It would explain a lot about most of their designs. You've got to remember that a lot of gibson designs are very old (even the 'modern' designs like the V and Explorer are from 58) and I don't think a lot of players spent vast amounts of time playing much higher than the 17th (I know I don't it sounds god awful playing any higher up than that with lots of distortion; IMHO of course ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 okay..the exploder is sanded to 220 and ready to seal...i will seal it tonight,paint it tomorrow,and in about two weeks it should be hard enough to assemble Are you going to be using that Sherwin-williams 2 pack? How is that stuff working out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 why did i write left?that's wierd.getting old is a bitch actually i was originally going to use a zr trem on this guitar...but fortuitously enough,kahler finally made it easy to get a trem from them...and at over $100 less and with such an easier rout,i would havehad to be crazy to not switch over. i play above the 17th alot...there s a real sweet spot right there for position playing....index finger on 17 and work your scales in that position...it really "sings" there...much like what you get at the 3rd fret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 well..something went wrong.i am not sure exactly what,but my sealer coats were on and looking good,i level sanded it with no problems,cleaned it thourouhly....and sprayed my color coat(translucent cherry red)...and it did not go well at all... i have to wait for it to cure and see what i can do about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 okay...so thanks to the quick cure on this finish,i wasalready able to check it out...apparently i didn't let the guitar dry enough after cleaning,so a few spots weren't quite ready...i mixed up some more color coat and put another wet coat on,and it fixed it right up,no sweat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 kahler finally made it easy to get a trem from them...and at over $100 less and with such an easier rout,i would havehad to be crazy to not switch over. Saw that the Kahler trem came without the toplock nut, what are you gonna do concerning the top nut??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 you mean the locking nut?i am using a floyd nut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 interesting...i was planning on using magnets for control cavity cover...and someone mentioned it in another thread,so i ordered them... 1/8" discs ...100 for $7...no more screws Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Uh oh... what happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 apparently my "compatible" dye was not so compatible....it stuck,but didn't cure as hard as it should have,so i have to take it back down to sealer and start over. the bad thing is that it's a maple fretboard,so it's got the bad finish on it too....and i really don't want to refret,so i have to manage to get it down to sealer next to the frets as well....pain in the ass is what it is. i am not so sure i liked the cherry red anyway...i think i am going to change it to amber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 I'm sorry to hear about that! I know it's a huge pain, but maybe there's a silver lining. If you're starting to think you don't like the red, you might've decided you hate it a few months down the road. That would REALLY suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 interesting...i was planning on using magnets for control cavity cover...and someone mentioned it in another thread,so i ordered them... 1/8" discs ...100 for $7...no more screws Word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 I'm sorry to hear about that! I know it's a huge pain, but maybe there's a silver lining. If you're starting to think you don't like the red, you might've decided you hate it a few months down the road. That would REALLY suck. yeah i'm going to redo it natural... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 okay...so an abrupt about face... after putting the guitar up all day,i came back to it today prepared to take the dye off...but it was cured hard....i sanded and sanded and it was just like it's supposed to be...so good news,the finish is fine,i guess it just takes longer to cure with the dye in it.i double checked the dye and it said specifically it was good for catalyzed varnishes,so i was pretty happy. so i looked at the red,and it was a bit monochromatic for me...so i added a yellow translucent on top of the red.it really livened it up it seems. so it will sit until the weekend before i touch it...then i will sand and clearcoat.. so here is the part you guys are not going to like... i WAS going to originally dye the body only,and leave the neck clear,even though i secretly wanted the fretboard and neck to be the same transluscent as the body...then when i realized it was my guitar and i was going to do it how i wanted,i just did it my way. so i will i am sure take some heat forr my choice on this when you see it,but i wanted this thing to be metal....so i am switching to black hardware instead of the chrome...so it will be entirely translucent cherry/yellow all over,with black hardware... so i am going to have to use a different truss rod cover...i am starting to think about inlaying a cover like unrealize did,except obviously something to match this guitar... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Sounds good... hope you get some pics up soon. I like what you've done with the explorer shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 (edited) Wes, don't forget to make a groove in the cavity for the control cover. It's a simple oversight to make but a real pain when you're using magnets. I haven't done it yet, but it's bound to happen sooner or later. Granted, if the holes for the controls are drilled already, all you need it a phillips head screwdriver. Edited February 7, 2007 by thegarehanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Wes, don't forget to make a groove in the cavity for the control cover. It's a simple oversight to make but a real pain when you're using magnets. I haven't done it yet, but it's bound to happen sooner or later. Granted, if the holes for the controls are drilled already, all you need it a phillips head screwdriver. i don't understand what you mean.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Just copied this from another thread: "One thing about that website; He doesn't say how to get the cover OFF. I took sandpaper and a AA battery (Man, even with only AA you should see the flame figure on it tongue.gif) and carved a little pinky-finger-notch in one corner of both the cover and the body. Came out pretty good! I'm wondering how you'd get the magnetic cover off without a finger notch." /\ Carved should be read as sanded, though. Is that what you meant? Because otherwise, I'm confused too haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 i don't understand what you mean.... I think he is talking about how you will lift off the cover once the magnets hold it down. If there isn't a place to put your finger you will have a hard time removing the cover once it is flush to the body. ~David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 oh...i was thinking of different ways to achieve that...i was considering a small hole in the center of the cover...just enough to slip an allen wrench into. also i guess i could do the finger groove thing on one edge...if i was real inventive,i would drill a hole in the side of the body and put in something permanent that when turned would push the cover up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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