masterpuppets

I am thinking about building a Warmoth Explorer (again LOL) but this time, sculpting the neck and body to the Ibanez style AANJ. Is this a crazy idea? It seems like it would be fairly simple to do. I figure the basic work would be: 1. Dowel the neck holes in the body. 2. Mark approximate area for sculpting on body/neck. 3. Use spokeshave and power sander CAREFULLY to shape these to the desired contour. 4. mark/drill holes for neck screws, leaving room for countersunk ferrules, and counterbore these. 5. Sand up to 300 grit to make ready for paint. Seems like I can do it without messing the parts up. Maybe I'll conjure my own unique design for it! I just really hate Fender-style neck joints.....never got used to them. But the Ibanez AANJ is perfect for me. Please advise on my idea everyone! Thanks.

Hey all! I just recieved a black korina explorer body from Warmoth, and it looks so good I think I wanna just put a clearcoat on it, without changing the natural wood color. My thoughts on the process were this: 1.Fine sand body 2.Add grain filler, sand and re-fill a few times until all grain is filled 3.Spray on sealer 4.Spray on many coats of clear 5.Buff to shine after cure time (about a month) Does this sound right? If not please fill me in on the steps. I am thinking of just using regular Krylon gloss clear, but I am unsure what wood filler/sealer is compatible with that. I would use one of those spray guns you can connect to the can. Real primitive, but I can't afford an air compressor and those slick guns to make it really pro. Would I be able to keep the same wood color, or will it change the timbre of that? Here is a pic of the body: Thank you in advance and sorry for all the questions!

Thank you very much!! That worked first try! I found a way to do it in an old book of mine,but your way is FAR easier than the wiring scheme they had.Now I can finally play my surf tunes with the right tone.Thanks again Melvyn!

Disconnect the wire going to the tone pot from the input lug on the volume pot ( the lug where the white or yellow wire from pickup is connected).Actually,you don't have to unsolder it I don't think.Just clip it off.

I looked around everywhere and can't find anything on how to do this.I want to use one switch for both pickups to change them to single coil mode.The pickups have independent volume controls,but no tone controls.It seems like a DPDT would work,since it really is two SPDT switches in one.Can somebody direct me to a good link or explain what each lug would connect to/from in this wiring setup? Thanks in advance!

I installed a Kahler 2220C flat mount tremelo on the body of my Warmoth guitar.They made the route for the spring cavity but I had to drill the screw mounting holes myself.Well it looks like I was off slightly.The measurement from nut to center of front screw holes is 25-1/4" and it mounts in the same place as a standard strat trem.Becuase of this my intonation is still sharp with the saddles all the way back on a few strings.I need to know what I should use to fill the old holes.Would bondo work? What will harden enough for me to re-drill without breaking into the older holes? And what would be the safest method of drilling new holes without a drill press? Is there something I can use to stabilize an electric drill or should I just find someone with a press? Thank you to all in advance!

The cool thing about aluminum foil is that it costs about $6 to shield a LOT of guitars.$5 for the spray adhesive,and $1.00 for the foil.I used regular household stuff.You cannot solder to it.Of course,this is not an issue.The spray adhesive is non-conductive,so it interrupts the circuit when you overlap pieces that are glued down.All you have to do is put electrical tape on the corners which overlap,and it is still a good circuit.At least it worked for me.It is a bit ugly,but so what? It works.

Yeah,that is what I figured.Thanks for letting me know.The shielding certainly does make a difference,compared to my other guitar without it.I bet with single coils it really helps.I have humbuckers in all of mine.Anyone tried the method in Guitarnuts.com for shock protection? It's basically a fuse,which absorbs the shock,from what I have read there.Looks like it could be a good idea,to keep from getting zapped.I may try it.....it's a cheap mod,so why not?

Ok...I used aluminum foil with spray adhesive,and covered the electronics,pickup,and bridge cavities in my guitar.It has 2 humbuckers.I ran a wire to each of the pickup cavities,and the bridge one,and all grounds,including these are soldered to one lug,which was screwed flush to the foil in the electronics cavity.The guitar is very very quiet,and has no buzz whether my hands are on the strings or not. My question is: since I had no string ground wire actually touching the bridge,but only touching the shielding which makes connection to it,is this a string ground circuit? If so,I can't tell because touching the strings or not,I can't hear a difference in noise.....there is none.If this IS a string ground I would like to possibly use the safest method to protect against shock,ala Guitarnuts.com.Any help is greatly appreciated,thanks!

Hello all.I just started finishing my guitar body/neck in Tru-Oil,and it looks really good so far.But I see now that I would like it to be darker.The neck came with a sealer already on it,but I used the filler & sealer that Birchwood/Casey makes for the body(2 coats).I am 3 coats in on the body,4 on the neck with the Tru-Oil.Would it be possible at this stage to add a stain to the Tru-Oil in order to get it darker,or do I have to start over? The neck and body are both mahogany,and no grain filling was done to the body. As another option,could I later on use some sort of "tinted" clear lacquer over it,to get it darker? Which,if either,is possible? I am thinking of picking up the B/C Walnut stain,and watering it down until I get the desired shade,and applying it.But my fear is that it will not really go on right OVER the existing Tru-Oil coats.

My bridge is a 2320C(brass cam/rollers),so it has the roller design.So basically,I should put the saddles in the halfway-point of their range,and measure the scale length,to the rollers? That does make sense.I was also thinking of getting the measurements off of a stew-mac template for a Fender vintage tremelo,as the six front holes of these is where you would screw in a Kahler flatmount.As far as I know,they were designed originally to be a retrofit for a strat,with routing required of course.Since my routing is already done,I just need to find where the front holes are.The back holes would be obvious after that. If you have time,give me the measurement from your template.That would be a great help! I have a Kahler template,but it's for the stud-mount version.Don't think it will work.Thanks for the reply!

Wow....this site is VERY informative!!! I like the "mom & pop" thing they have going on.The prices are CRAZY cheap! I am using SD's right now.I used to have 2 LX-500's in my old Jackson Dinky...man those pickups did sound great! And they were only $50 apiece.I might go back to them man.....I remember those having the warmest tone,even though they were extremely high-gain.Dimebag used those in his bridge for almost his whole career too. They really sound great. Plus the blade poles make string bending sound a lot better.I notice a little loss of sustain when bending with my SD Distortion,well,if I hold a bend obviously.Interesting.I thought they were just cheap becuase they were some crap imported stuff.But when I open the box and put them in,they were just as good as any of the other pickups....better actually.What is the deal with these "other" Lawrence ones? I don't know anything about it.Got mine in '99 at a really small music store.I am pretty sure they were not copies,becuase they sounded too good.

I was having a look at the site for them....it seems as though they cater more to the "vintage" side of things.Since I play metal and enjoy weird body shapes,and things like a thinner neck(not thin like those "wizard" designs),and sharkfin inlays for example,I am thinking that Warmoth seems to have more options.But many have said that these guys make a better neck/body than Warmoth.Why could this be? It would appear that they are also CNC machined,for the most part.The prices look similiar.If I was a typical "blues strat" player I think it could be my cup o' tea,but I am not.And nothing against those who are,but it seems as though they lean more towards that end.Maybe I am missing something though...gonna dig around on the site some more....

Hello all! I just got my Warmoth explorer body in last week and wanted to get some advice from you all.The routing is done for the Kahler's cavity area,but they do not drill the mounting screw holes.So what would be the safest way to do this? I do not have a drill press,which makes it even harder.On a Kahler flatmount tremelo,you screw it in on the front post holes,and it covers the old ones,for a strat vintage tremelo,not fulcrum.How could I determine where these holes should be located? If I can figure out where these would be,I can use the bridge as a template for the 2 rear screw holes,and it should line up right.I also need to make screw holes for the tuners and my top-mounting floyd locking nut.Those may be easier.Any help greatly appreciated,thanks!

Hello everyone! I just ordered a Warmoth guitar body/neck and,becuase I do not have a good place to use any spraying equipment of any sort,wish to finish these 2 by hand primarily.I am thinking sort of the "Gibson Wine Red" look,since they are both Mahogany.By looking around,I found some great info on this forum,but am still not sure how to do this.Here is one way: 1.Prep body(sanding) 2.Apply grain filler 3.Apply desired color of water-soluble dye 4.Many coats of Tung Oil as clear 5.Buff this to nice shine If I wanted to use Tru-Oil as my finish,instead of this,can I tint it's color with the dye? Or would I follow the steps above and use this in place of Tung Oil? My next question is,why does the grain filler need to be a darker shade for mahogany? Does it bring out the grain pattern more,once the dye is applied? And the final question:if I decide to go with a blue color,would I have to bleach the wood first? And at which point,after initial wood preperation,would this be done? I have basically no experience doing this to a guitar,which is probably obvious haha! Just want to get some ideas from all you experienced folks here!