Printable View
I'm not sure if I'm doing this correctly but here is the start of our build diary. My son wanted a flat black look with just the top of the body and head painted leaving the rest natural. We did a mock up and it looks pretty cool with the chrome accessories. I'll post photos as we go.
Hey Fellowsoldier, you're doing just fine. :) I like your young man's vision for this EX, its very clean and very simple.
It all looks great so far. What treatment are you going to do for the back?
Curious vision of an EX, with the convination of Black and natural finish. The result must be cool.
Looking great so far! Really digging the colour combo. Should look amazing, especially if the natural part is gloss. Watching your build diary with interest!
cheers,
Gav.
That will look great! You could just seal the timber with gun oil or similar......
Good work so far. You'll really need to treat the 'natural' wood in some way to help protect it, otherwise its going to look rather dirty in a very short time. Also, it really needs protecting from moisture and the worst excesses of high and low humidity. If you don't, a simple spilled drink could stain the wood and also cause it to swell up.
So I'd suggest a clear flat lacquer finish or some form of gun stock oil (e.g. Tru-Oil) as Andyxlh suggested.
Of course you may have already been going down this route, it's hard to tell from the photos, but you did mention only painting the front faces.
Welcome along to the small EX-5 owners club.
Looking good and also curious to know what you have planned for the sides and back where there is plenty of nice grain happening.
The standard kit supplied truss rod covers look a bit out of place of these radical shapes and substitutes can be easily found on the net or eBay. Also, keep an eye out on the upper frets as once you have flattened the deck hopefully that will eliminate any buzzing in the upper registers, at least that was the culprit on mine.
If you get the action low enough the standard PUP's sound quite good.
Good luck with the rest of the build, these EX-5's are awesome fun to play.
Finally, hardcases are not big enough to accommodate these and I ended up having to buy a gig bag on Amazon from the US. Mind you the Epiphone Explorer case for my EX-1 is a very, very snug fit but it would need at least 5mm to 10mm sanded off the snout just to make it fit without touching the inside edges of the case. Let me know if you are interested and I will take photos to show what I am talking about.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. My son doesn't want a "shiny" look so we're trying to avoid finishes that would give that appearance. I put one coat of Watco Danish oil, Natural, on the back, neck and head. After that dried I took some fine steel wool and gave it a good rub down. I'm not real sure how many more coats I'll put on, probably just one more.
My son chose the paint scheme after looking at photos online of other instruments. I'm a fan of the simplistic look, plus he's not really into the flashy look of things.
I purchased a soldering iron today, this has me a little nervous. I really appreciate all of the advice, please keep it coming. The wiring aspect is going to be a challenge but we're both trying to learn so it'll be good for both of us.
Thanks again guys.
Simple is often best. I really like that clean uncomplicated look you've achieved with it. Don't stress the electrickery work, there's plenty of assistance on the forum. Great job so far!
Looking great so far. Soldering is similar to many skills - don't rush and you should be right. Also having good light helps.
I like the look you guys are going for. Satin black looks great on pretty much any guitar, and having the natural back and sides is something I've never seen - it's a really good contrast. Keep it up, can't wait to see it finished.
We are just about ready to start the wiring process, are there any videos that you guys recommend that you think would be helpful? Thanks again.
Any intro to soldering or guitar wiring video/guide will help if you're new to soldering.
Here's the Pitbull Intro to Soldering video, and 'How To' thread with related video links. And, Doc's Mini soldering tutorial for step by step through the process.
Take your time, work out where things need to go/reach, prep your wire lengths and surfaces, don't over-heat parts, ask if you need help.
Always great to see family builds
I must say your son has awesome taste - this is exactly the look that suits an EX and you guys are doing a great job.
I did 3 coats of Danish oil on a repair project ( the Martin repair in my signature) and it was enough to give good coverage and a decent semi gloss finish - would also suit your plan for a rubbed back matte one.
Enjoy - this looks killer
A good mechanical connection is the basis for a good soldering connection. Wherever you can, poke the bare wire ends through the holes in the components e.g the holes in each of the three metal lugs on a potentiometer, and wrap it back round so that its holding itself in place. Solder isn't particularly strong, so if there's already some mechanical strength in the connection, it helps when the wire's caught on something and the joint is put under strain.
Where there isn't any means of making a mechanical joint first e.g. wiring ground connections to the back of a potentiometer, then clean the metal as best you can first, as there's bound to be some oil on it, if even just from your fingers. Rub the pots down with a medium grit sandpaper (as well as removing any oxidised metal, the scratches will increase the surface area and so provide a better grip for the solder).
Making a template for the potentiometer holes in a piece of cardboard and doing the bulk of the wiring outside of the guitar make it a lot easier, even when it's only two pots and a selector switch. You can also wire up the pickups to the selector switch whilst the pots and the switch are out of the guitar. It gives you a lot more room to move the soldering iron around in, plus as it's a father/son build, it means that one person can help hold the wire and components together (using thin nosed pliers) whilst the other does the soldering. Soldering is always a job requiring a minimum of 3 hands to make it easy.
Use a decent sized bit and fairly powerful soldering iron when soldering to the back of pots. Too low a power (which is best for small connections) and the metal takes too long to warm up. the heat then has time to spread throughout the pot and too much can damage the carbon track inside. So it's often a good idea to have the sides clamped in some metal grips as a heat sink. A more powerful iron can heat up the area quicker, so that it has less time to spread. Soldering wires to the back of pots is one of the times that having another pair of hands holding the wires onto the back of the pots is a real benefit.
This is looking really nice, loving the flat black with natural wood back... I've had the new Metallica album on repeat for the past few weeks and i'm getting an explorer itch haha.
Good job guys
Been trying to hammer out Atlas Rise a wee bit. Not sure the Nuns next door appreciate Metallica as much as I do. It will sound better through my EXA-1 I'm sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by zeromick
yes! \m/ I'm sure my neighbours love me thrashing away on "spit out the bone" all the time as well hahaQuote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
Thank you, I'll check those links out!
Thanks again you guys for all the help, it's definitely taking some the stress out of the whole deal!