radrobgray Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 i am currently enrolled at Roberto-venn spring 08. heres some of my builds: Exploder specs: Mahogany body Mahogany neck (.850"-.950" neck carve), PRS style neck joint Ebony head cap and fretboard, pearl inlay 1/4" Bubinga top 24 5/8 scale 24, Dunlop 6100 frets Schaller bridge, Gotoh stop tail, all black hardware Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine set Finishing up buffing this one out, then level crown and polish. done. ill post more pics after the weekend. EXP, Before paint EXP, Full RR specs: Mahogany wings Maple neck thru, Ebony head cap and fretboard, pearl inlay 25.5" scale 24, Dunlop 6100 frets OFR, Gotoh tuners EMG 81b/89n, Pa-2 boost Black with yellow bevels Flatsanding and final coats needed on this one. will get a full pic when clear is all done. RR, Front RR, back RR, headstock RR, Front Painted RR, back painted Tele specs: Alder body Maple neck, bolt on Birds eye maple board 25.5" scale 22 scalloped, 6100 dunlop frets Khaler 2300, Gotoh tuners Possibly a Green Dimarzio X2N need to finish carving, fret and scallop neck. then pick a color for the body. T, Full shot Acoustic specs: Indian Rosewood back and sides Mahogany neck Sitka Spruce top Ceder reversed kerfage mossman back strip ebony fret board and head cap Walnut binding/wedge w/ maple purf shaller tuners Flatsand and finish clear, design bridge and what not. A, Box A, Wedge and mitres A, Top Bracing A, Back braces A, Inside kerfed/side strips Amp that is unrelated to RV: 2ch fender style clean, marshall crunch 2x6v6 power tubes 4x12ax7 fx loop Oversized 112 lopo cab with V30 will be sitting in with amp class to build a head shell for it soon. Amp, Guts Amp, full w/ sick green cab g'devening to all. remember more pics to come, comments welcome, rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 those look great! i especially love that rr v. its always been my favorite shape. where did you get that bubinga for that top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrobgray Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 those look great! i especially love that rr v. its always been my favorite shape. where did you get that bubinga for that top? Reuter...at roberto-venn, $35 top that is there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 you went to roberto? wow 35 bucks. i wish i could find any kind of bubinga for guitars. i cant ever find any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigM555 Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Wow! That Explorer is sexy as hell. Looks like pretty nice work all around. ...but that Explorer......just WOW! BigM555 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrobgray Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 you went to roberto? wow 35 bucks. i wish i could find any kind of bubinga for guitars. i cant ever find any. I'm still there (here?) i graduate in 2 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Dude, awesome stuff, Rob! Let's see, where to start? Exploder: -Seems like everyone's building one these days. And also spelling them differently hahaha -But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing either; I really dig the top! -Reminds me of Hetfield's wood EXP a bit. I dig. -Let me know how the Dunc's pickups sound. -I've been really scratching my head lately, wondering why a lot of people are switching from EMG to Dunc. Alexi RR: -I almost pooped my pants. I really wish my V came out that well. -And you almost made me want to go back home and recarve my neck joint, if there was wood enough left to do so. Nice carving! -I might have just gone all the way and got an 81TW for total coil tapping. But that's just me. Tele: -I really am not feeling the Tele. Then again, I never dig teles to begin with. -I do like the sharper lower horn and the bevel you'll put on it, though. I just wish that "racy" attitude were carried over to the rest of the build Acoustic: -I don't know what to say about the acoustic. They're not my field of expertise. Amp: -RV has an amp building class??? I need to fly me out there and build me an AC30! PRS: -I am so damn glad you didn't build a friggin' PRS like everyone else nowadays So does RV have all the templates and everything to shape up the bodies with? Because all of those body shapes look dead on! And do you get discounts on materials, if you do their class and then buy some stuff in bulk? I've heard of a lot of people taking that class, but I've never got around to checking out the details of it. Very sweet, man. Very sweet. You're building a veritable arsenal! ::EDIT:: If I come off like I'm rambling a bit, it's because I'm running on two hours of sleep and have been writing final papers for the past 4 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrobgray Posted May 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 Dude, awesome stuff, Rob! Let's see, where to start? Exploder: -Seems like everyone's building one these days. And also spelling them differently hahaha -But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing either; I really dig the top! -Reminds me of Hetfield's wood EXP a bit. I dig. -Let me know how the Dunc's pickups sound. -I've been really scratching my head lately, wondering why a lot of people are switching from EMG to Dunc. Alexi RR: -I almost pooped my pants. I really wish my V came out that well. -And you almost made me want to go back home and recarve my neck joint, if there was wood enough left to do so. Nice carving! -I might have just gone all the way and got an 81TW for total coil tapping. But that's just me. Tele: -I really am not feeling the Tele. Then again, I never dig teles to begin with. -I do like the sharper lower horn and the bevel you'll put on it, though. I just wish that "racy" attitude were carried over to the rest of the build Acoustic: -I don't know what to say about the acoustic. They're not my field of expertise. Amp: -RV has an amp building class??? I need to fly me out there and build me an AC30! PRS: -I am so damn glad you didn't build a friggin' PRS like everyone else nowadays So does RV have all the templates and everything to shape up the bodies with? Because all of those body shapes look dead on! And do you get discounts on materials, if you do their class and then buy some stuff in bulk? I've heard of a lot of people taking that class, but I've never got around to checking out the details of it. Very sweet, man. Very sweet. You're building a veritable arsenal! ::EDIT:: If I come off like I'm rambling a bit, it's because I'm running on two hours of sleep and have been writing final papers for the past 4 days RR, is going to have a 81TW so they will both be splitable. They have an amp class but i did not take it. i ordered an amp from else ware and did it to keep busy on weekends. the amp class they have is a slightly modified 8x84 Hi-octane kit. As for the body shapes i made all of them my self, the only templates they have are tradish shapes. The RR is slightly bigger, but not as big as the ESP ones. I built that RR in 5 days minus paint. The EXP is similar to a ESP lawsuit explorer from back in the day. Yes they give you some pretty decent prices on stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 (edited) looks like kris is still sporting the VW pickup i actually talked to kris 2 weeks ago i think. i graduated spring 06. still not building yet though but i did 4 guitars while i was there as well, though i didn't do amp class. awesome to see someone doing so much building, when i went there were some who did 3 and 4, but not many, and it looks like subsequent classes didn't have as many do even a 3rd... if i had the money, i honestly would have done a 5th. i did do A LOT of repair work though to keep my busy, way more than was required, including a full rebuild of an Ibanez RG7421. that explorer looks sick. and how do you like the neck through? i found it to be the easiest kind to build, my 2 neck through builds went WAY faster than the acoustic or the set neck build i did. i also scalloped my V, i dunno if anyones given you any suggestions on setting the depth of your scallop, but i used the dremel router setup to do a strip down the middle of each fret, then used rat tail files and sandpaper wrapped around dowels to get final shaping done, did the final shaping after i fretted it. Edited May 3, 2008 by ElysianGuitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 That dremel setup actually sounds like a really good idea! Consistency all across the fretboard. And thanks for supporting the neck-through fan club I keep telling people it's easy so long as you're using the right bridge, but hey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted May 3, 2008 Report Share Posted May 3, 2008 neck throughs are definately easier, my second was a neckthrough and i have been convinced since then. I have been playing on my 7th today which is a bolt-on and i really noticed how bad the neck join was... huge gaps everywhere. No such shoddiness with my early neckthroughs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrobgray Posted May 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 looks like kris is still sporting the VW pickup i actually talked to kris 2 weeks ago i think. i graduated spring 06. still not building yet though but i did 4 guitars while i was there as well, though i didn't do amp class. awesome to see someone doing so much building, when i went there were some who did 3 and 4, but not many, and it looks like subsequent classes didn't have as many do even a 3rd... if i had the money, i honestly would have done a 5th. i did do A LOT of repair work though to keep my busy, way more than was required, including a full rebuild of an Ibanez RG7421. that explorer looks sick. and how do you like the neck through? i found it to be the easiest kind to build, my 2 neck through builds went WAY faster than the acoustic or the set neck build i did. i also scalloped my V, i dunno if anyones given you any suggestions on setting the depth of your scallop, but i used the dremel router setup to do a strip down the middle of each fret, then used rat tail files and sandpaper wrapped around dowels to get final shaping done, did the final shaping after i fretted it. yeah there are only a few that are actually building dedicated 3rds(not just finishing the tele form the tool seminar). if i had the cash id build my self a pair of neckthru king vees; one neon green w/ black bevels and one red w/ black bevels. thats the 3rd neckthru i've built and i will agree they are quick and easy to build. that one only took me 5 days to build and get into paint, on Monday ill be putting the final coats on and hanging it up to cure. how deep did you scallop? i was thinking 3/32 for mine, but, I have only played one scallop(fender YJM) before and its was brief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted May 5, 2008 Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 (edited) looks like kris is still sporting the VW pickup i actually talked to kris 2 weeks ago i think. i graduated spring 06. still not building yet though but i did 4 guitars while i was there as well, though i didn't do amp class. awesome to see someone doing so much building, when i went there were some who did 3 and 4, but not many, and it looks like subsequent classes didn't have as many do even a 3rd... if i had the money, i honestly would have done a 5th. i did do A LOT of repair work though to keep my busy, way more than was required, including a full rebuild of an Ibanez RG7421. that explorer looks sick. and how do you like the neck through? i found it to be the easiest kind to build, my 2 neck through builds went WAY faster than the acoustic or the set neck build i did. i also scalloped my V, i dunno if anyones given you any suggestions on setting the depth of your scallop, but i used the dremel router setup to do a strip down the middle of each fret, then used rat tail files and sandpaper wrapped around dowels to get final shaping done, did the final shaping after i fretted it. yeah there are only a few that are actually building dedicated 3rds(not just finishing the tele form the tool seminar). if i had the cash id build my self a pair of neckthru king vees; one neon green w/ black bevels and one red w/ black bevels. thats the 3rd neckthru i've built and i will agree they are quick and easy to build. that one only took me 5 days to build and get into paint, on Monday ill be putting the final coats on and hanging it up to cure. how deep did you scallop? i was thinking 3/32 for mine, but, I have only played one scallop(fender YJM) before and its was brief. honestly, i don't remember, it was either 3/32(sounds most likely) or 1/16. i only did 12-24 on my V, thats my favorite scallop. scallop the frets i don't really riff on, it works out really well, don't push too hard down low when i'm playing some gnarly riffs. edit: and yeah, when i went we weren't doing a tele during the tool seminar, there was a tool box, but i didn't even take the tool seminar, as i already had a pretty good understanding of tools. any ideas what you'll be doing after RV? going back to utah? working for a manufacturer? any of that? Edited May 5, 2008 by ElysianGuitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrobgray Posted May 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2008 any ideas what you'll be doing after RV? going back to utah? working for a manufacturer? any of that? I'm going back to Utah, we had a reasonably big following for my band and I don't want to leave that. Hopefully I'll get a job at a shop doing repairs while building my reputation as a custom electric builder. I figure there are plenty of musicians/bands in SLC so I could someday do builds full time. i already have 3 more builds lined up back home so that'll keep me busy for a few months while I find a job. although, i am really thinking about going to MI to get a AA-guitar. i have a friend who's there right now and hes having a good time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrobgray Posted May 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 More progress, I finished the exploder. I also finished scalloping the the "tele" neck and assembled it. I still need to put my logo on the headstock. The tele is finished with satin wipe on poly, neck and body. x2n in the bridge, vol/mini 3-way, random lipstick in the neck, gotoh minis, kahler pro. Scallops Exploder 1 Exploder 2 more/all pics @ Distorted_Frequency Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted May 17, 2008 Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 wow, that tele is awesome. a kahler, and an x2n, and scalloped, i'm in love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrobgray Posted May 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 wow, that tele is awesome. a kahler, and an x2n, and scalloped, i'm in love. its pretty different, i like it a lot. that x2n is a sick pup i love it! Troy sent some pics to kahler hopefully ill get to be in one of their news letters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted May 18, 2008 Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 wow, that tele is awesome. a kahler, and an x2n, and scalloped, i'm in love. its pretty different, i like it a lot. that x2n is a sick pup i love it! Troy sent some pics to kahler hopefully ill get to be in one of their news letters. have you seen the D-Activator X? it looks like an X2N, with slightly lower output, and even has a lower output neck pickup version, i'm probably going to be replacing the dual x2n's in my 6 with the d-activators, see how i like them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted May 18, 2008 Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 Man, that's the most bitchin' Tele I've seen in a while. I didn't know it was going to turn out like THAT! And an interesting TOM you picked for the ExploRer I've only seen those on Ibanez's. Where'd you grab that from? The X2N is a good choice. The guitarist in the "band that I sang for that never got off the ground" replaced his stock Ibanez's with an X2N and a Tone Zone. He's a big Michael Romeo fan, as you can tell. How do you like the Kahler? I'm going to put a hybrid on my next build, methinks. I want a trem guitar, and I DON'T want a Floyd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrobgray Posted May 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 wow, that tele is awesome. a kahler, and an x2n, and scalloped, i'm in love. its pretty different, i like it a lot. that x2n is a sick pup i love it! Troy sent some pics to kahler hopefully ill get to be in one of their news letters. have you seen the D-Activator X? it looks like an X2N, with slightly lower output, and even has a lower output neck pickup version, i'm probably going to be replacing the dual x2n's in my 6 with the d-activators, see how i like them. blasphemy! lower output i want more, MORE, MORE!!!! jk.. they might be a nice different flavor, i like that they make a specified neck pup tho. Man, that's the most bitchin' Tele I've seen in a while. I didn't know it was going to turn out like THAT! And an interesting TOM you picked for the ExploRer I've only seen those on Ibanez's. Where'd you grab that from? The X2N is a good choice. The guitarist in the "band that I sang for that never got off the ground" replaced his stock Ibanez's with an X2N and a Tone Zone. He's a big Michael Romeo fan, as you can tell. How do you like the Kahler? I'm going to put a hybrid on my next build, methinks. I want a trem guitar, and I DON'T want a Floyd. I almost painted the tele Neon Green to appease the need for a racer xish guitar*spandex not required*. But, I didn't because someone pointed out that it had a very Jason Becker (peavy) vibe. It's just a schaller roller TOM/Gotoh Stop tail, they sell em at Stew Mac, nothing fancy. As for the Kahler its a sweet trem for, sure just different than a Floyd, I like them both. but out of familiarity I would still probably go with Floyd. We'll see as I'm really digging the tele it may convert me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted May 18, 2008 Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 wow, that tele is awesome. a kahler, and an x2n, and scalloped, i'm in love. its pretty different, i like it a lot. that x2n is a sick pup i love it! Troy sent some pics to kahler hopefully ill get to be in one of their news letters. have you seen the D-Activator X? it looks like an X2N, with slightly lower output, and even has a lower output neck pickup version, i'm probably going to be replacing the dual x2n's in my 6 with the d-activators, see how i like them. blasphemy! lower output i want more, MORE, MORE!!!! jk.. they might be a nice different flavor, i like that they make a specified neck pup tho. Man, that's the most bitchin' Tele I've seen in a while. I didn't know it was going to turn out like THAT! And an interesting TOM you picked for the ExploRer I've only seen those on Ibanez's. Where'd you grab that from? The X2N is a good choice. The guitarist in the "band that I sang for that never got off the ground" replaced his stock Ibanez's with an X2N and a Tone Zone. He's a big Michael Romeo fan, as you can tell. How do you like the Kahler? I'm going to put a hybrid on my next build, methinks. I want a trem guitar, and I DON'T want a Floyd. I almost painted the tele Neon Green to appease the need for a racer xish guitar*spandex not required*. But, I didn't because someone pointed out that it had a very Jason Becker (peavy) vibe. It's just a schaller roller TOM/Gotoh Stop tail, they sell em at Stew Mac, nothing fancy. As for the Kahler its a sweet trem for, sure just different than a Floyd, I like them both. but out of familiarity I would still probably go with Floyd. We'll see as I'm really digging the tele it may convert me! the bridge d-activator x is only 10mV lower than the x2n, and the neck version only puts out 300mV, should be pretty nice sounding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted May 18, 2008 Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 It might just be the pictures, then. The bridge looked like something you'd find on the old Destroyers or the KISS signature models. We need more lime green guitars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael.Speer Posted May 26, 2008 Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 damn thats some tidy wiring in the amp when i first saw the headstock on the tele it looked not that great but i gave it a couple of seconds and have decided that it might actually be the best thing ever. ever. good on u for keeping it natural Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) saw you're guitars are now posted on the RV site they all came out great! Edited June 25, 2008 by ElysianGuitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scab Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 saw you're guitars are now posted on the RV site they all came out great! yeah rob, they sure did. all of your guitars are pretty damn impressive! cheers, mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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