Notjack's EX1

Finally got the ball rolling on my new hobby. Having never built a guitar or had any real woodworking experience I’m jumping in at the deep end. I bought 2 kits the EX1 and LP-1SS as I like the look of them.
They arrived almost 2 months ago but sat in their boxes while I researched and decided how to finish them. I eventually started on the EX as I had a clearer plan of what to do with this.
Pre-sanding
Attachment 19545
Inital sanding and cleaned
Attachment 19546
Mock build. This has shown up two problems, as you can see the is a small gap in the neck socket which allow the neck to pivot a degree or 2 and isn't a tight fit. And secondly the neck pickup pocket is too far forward on the body and doesn't let the neck sit in the correct scale length position its about 3mm out measure the 12th fret.
Attachment 19547
Attachment 19548
I've seen others have had the issue with the length and fixed it by removing part of the neck pickup surround. but the pivot neck fit has stumped me slightly. With it being a set neck what is the best way to fix it place squarely?

Congrats on starting your new hobby just be prepared to get addicted and spend lots of money... but it is so much fun.. on to your issues. With the scale length two options IMO you can search for a different bridge that will give some adjustment to compensate for the 3mm or take it out of pickup cavity. With limited woodworking skills you may want to look for different bridge. Did you measure it from the high side? I'm sure you did but never assume. And for the neck pocket you can use some very thin veneer wood and glue inside the sides of the neck pocket and sand down to match the neck. If you check out YouTube Crimson guitars has a video series on making a good guitar from a kit and he had to do the exact thing and documented it very much in detail. I'm sure more experienced builders will chime in with great ideas. Good luck and can't wait to see it completed.

What kind of finish do you have in mind? I ask this because of the way they glued the three parts of the body together... With a clear coat it would seem a bit 'off' to me.

Congrats on getting into the addictive hobby of guitar building. You're of to a running start by getting two kits already!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kick

What kind of finish do you have in mind? I ask this because of the way they glued the three parts of the body together... With a clear coat it would seem a bit 'off' to me.

---

I want to get and EX kit but the grain orientation does concern me. It looks weird not having the grain lines run parallel with the neck.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CascadiaGuitarGeek

I want to get and EX kit but the grain orientation does concern me. It looks weird not having the grain lines run parallel with the neck.

---

Exactly what I mean...

Could make an optical allusion of sorts.. ma Be solid color would be best.. or a least dark dark

Another option is to take a bit out of the back of the front pickup cavity and move the pickup back slightly.
As for the neck pocket, the main contact area of strength is the bottom of the pocket.
Some possible fixes for better fit are: Add fine slivers of wood to the pocket sides and sand back to fit.
Use a filler like Timbermate and do the same

Hi NotJack, welcome to the expanding Explorer owners club.

Stan is on the money with taking a bit out of the back of the neck PUP cavity as on my EX-1 I found out after the neck had been set for a few days and was way too late to do anything. Looked into all sorts of different mounting ring ideas before going top loaded as that ended up being the best method and looks much cleaner than the botch job I might have done.

Moving the bridge would be harder to get right. Just a shame that the thickness of the neck PUP mounting ring was not factored in at the factory as it is almost impossible to intonate these things if you slide the neck forward to accommodate such.

Cheers, Waz

Another Explorer, I was wondering how long it would be for you to jump on this Waz;)

Hi Andy, they are an unbelievably comfortable thing to play, even if it is a bit longer than your usual LP or SG.

Thanks for all the advice.

i had a go at making the neck a better fit by using the E strings to align the neck with the body and then gluing some veneer in the gap. it seems to have done the trick so i can now start moving forward with this guitar again now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kick

What kind of finish do you have in mind? I ask this because of the way they glued the three parts of the body together... With a clear coat it would seem a bit 'off' to me.

---

the plan for this is to spray it black and put some kind of motif on it, i may even try a hydrographic on the black base. So i'm not too fussed about the random grain directions.

MMMMMM Black Explorer, i will have to send you the FrankenLab, FL stamp of approval ;)

So, i've started putting the finish on my EX, so far so good apart from dropping the sanding block onto the body which left a nice dent. a bit of filler and 2 coats primer on the body luckily fixed that.
Attachment 20002
Attachment 20003

Also got some black on the neck which is starting to look nice but needs a few more coats
Attachment 20004

My biggest dilemma now is that i think i prefer the white primer finish to the black gloss. so i may change my mind and spray it matt white.

Noice! Very Noice!. Black neck White body! Make it a Zebra?

They do look a lot bigger when done in white.

Yes, make a Scorpions guitar :)

Yes, satin or matte white would look great with the black neck