Stocky Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 hey have just joined and thought id post up my new project. I picked up a premade explorer and epiphone neck. im planning on sticking some EMG 81/60 pickups in it and a tune o matic bridge. not sure what to do about the colour though, i think i might oil the wood, and try to get the neck colour a bit darker to match the body. the body is honduras mahogony, and the neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. the body is very well made, but my only issue with it is the placement of the drilled holes for the knobs and switches, but oh well. let me know what you think of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIRS Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Looking good! The electronics holes look strangely placed to me but if you like where they are then its good. It'll look great oiled I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Looking good! The electronics holes look strangely placed to me but if you like where they are then its good. It'll look great oiled I think. yeah i know theyre oddly placed. ill find a way to work with them. they were like that when i bought the body. the black lines near the pickups look like theyre done by some kind of pen, so ive gotta get them off before oiling it. hopefully light sanding will do the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 That's a 21 fret neck...did you measure that body so your bridge won't be where your bridge pickup is??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rista Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Looks nice! But I was thinking the same as eddiewarlock. My first build was an explorer and by looking at pics my bridge seems to be located where your bridge pickup cavity is: What's the scale of the neck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Looks nice! But I was thinking the same as eddiewarlock. My first build was an explorer and by looking at pics my bridge seems to be located where your bridge pickup cavity is: What's the scale of the neck? its a 25.5 inch scale neck. i didnt notice that difference in the pickup placement on mine. im assuming its different to suit the different sized neck. now ive just gotta work out where to put the bridge exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted April 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 time for an update. have just received my new pickups - -EMG 60 -EMG 81-TW and a few other pieces. havent put anything together yet, but it will be getting done soon. i am still unsure of the placement of the bridge, as pointed out earlier, the pickups are spaced differently from a normal explorer, and the next is longer. might look a bit weird but hopefully it all works well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 doesn't look right to me. To figure out your bridge placement measure from the face of the but to the 12th frte, the double that amount and that's where you should locate your bridge.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted April 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 doesn't look right to me. To figure out your bridge placement measure from the face of the but to the 12th frte, the double that amount and that's where you should locate your bridge.... thanks for that. im comparing my body design to other explorers, and it seems a little smaller than most, so that could be another reason why it looks a little weird. im hoping the pickup placement was designed right to accommodate the different neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted April 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 what are my options if the pickups and bridge arent in the right spot? should i look for a different neck, or just move the holes up closer to the neck, and cover the rest with a scratchplate? your comments have me abit worried, but i havent had a chance to measure the neck to find the bridge position yet. i bought the body with the holes already cut in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 well c'mon man. its not that hard to measure the scale and measure where it should be. you need to do that before even thinking about continuing. you must do that, or you cant do anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 better build a new body, it isn't hard at all best of luck mate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted April 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 well ive measured it and it looks like i should be right. the bridge looks like it will go in the right spot. the weird spacings for the pickups must be to accommodate the different style neck, so while it wont look the same as most explorers, it should be made properly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan316 Posted April 29, 2008 Report Share Posted April 29, 2008 You said you wanted to darken the fretboard. If you do a very very careful masking job, you can use either black leather dye or wood stain dye, and soak it into the rosewood. We've done a few of our rosewood necks with black leather dye, and they turn out awesome. Here's a suggestion for finishing your body. Mix up some metallic clearcoat over the wood grain. Maybe darken the wood with some oiling or a gentle amount of dark brown staining, then metallic over it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted May 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 You said you wanted to darken the fretboard. If you do a very very careful masking job, you can use either black leather dye or wood stain dye, and soak it into the rosewood. We've done a few of our rosewood necks with black leather dye, and they turn out awesome. Here's a suggestion for finishing your body. Mix up some metallic clearcoat over the wood grain. Maybe darken the wood with some oiling or a gentle amount of dark brown staining, then metallic over it all. cool thanks for that. im not actually going to darken the fretboard, was thinking more the rest of the neck. its a very bright brown colour when compared to the body. was thinking of trying to adjust the colour so they blend a bit better. project is going very slowly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted May 16, 2008 Report Share Posted May 16, 2008 You gotta place your bridge correctly or the guitar will be pointless. Take the distance from the front edge of the nut to the center of the twelfth fret (probably 12.25") and measure that from the 12th fret towards the bridge. This is the theoretical end of your scale length--line up the thin E string saddle with this point, but add about 1/8" for the bass side of the bridge, and you should have a usable range of intonation adjustment (assuming your saddles are well-adjusted to start with) Also check out Stewmac's bridge position calculator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocky Posted May 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 You gotta place your bridge correctly or the guitar will be pointless. Take the distance from the front edge of the nut to the center of the twelfth fret (probably 12.25") and measure that from the 12th fret towards the bridge. This is the theoretical end of your scale length--line up the thin E string saddle with this point, but add about 1/8" for the bass side of the bridge, and you should have a usable range of intonation adjustment (assuming your saddles are well-adjusted to start with) Also check out Stewmac's bridge position calculator. thanks for that. ill get started with bridge positioning next. ive just gotta find a few smaller parts and then ill be able to start putting it together. ive been unable to fit a nut larger enough to fit this neck, so i might have to make my own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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