EXA-1 Build

[Gibsonite]

Morning all, Thank you for the kind words! I've been busy doing a mock setup to check the neck length and it all seems to be ok. It measures 313mm from the nut to the 12th fret and 315 from the 12th to bridge. I'm assuming that the small difference is ok ? Other than that i have to check that the new pickups fit ok against the neck then its glue time!!

[Gibsonite]

Made some good progress today, mocked up the guitar with the pickups in, There was a problem with the fit between the neck pickup ring and the neck, so rather than notch the neck i modified the pickup ring



Then made sure the neck lines up properly with the bridge, which it does perfectly. so then on to gluing the neck.



rather than wasting a day i decided to do another coat of tru oil on the top and sides while the neck dries. The grain in the headstock is really starting to stand out.

[wokkaboy]

nice work Jason, factory must have got the bridge holes in the right position. So was the distance 12th fret to bridge saddles of 315mm the saddles wound forward ? There is usually about 3-5mm compensation of the low E string so that should be perfect.
Cool mod on the neck pup surround

[kimball492]

For your first build your doing a grand job Jason well done ,like your work around ref pickup mount nice colour too

[gavinturner]

Great work Jason! FYI the stewmac fret positon calculator has this to say for a guitar with scale length = 2 x 313mm:

Tune-o-matic style bridges: 627.534mm (± 0.5mm) from nut to center of treble-side post. Mount bass-side post 1.5mm - 3mm further from the nut.

so this is another check you can do to make sure everything looks good.

cheers,
Gav.

[stan]

Nice work Jason.
Just as an aside, traditionally the side of the pup with the adjustable pole pieces face the fretboard and bridge respectively. That is - they are both on the outside.
I love the colour of the finish, looks good on the EX

[Gibsonite]

Nice work Jason.
Just as an aside, traditionally the side of the pup with the adjustable pole pieces face the fretboard and bridge respectively. That is - they are both on the outside.
I love the colour of the finish, looks good on the EX

I never even noticed that! any idea what the difference would be if i installed it that way?

[Gibsonite]

Spent most of the morning doing some polishing with birchwood casey gun stock wax, i liked how the tru oil looked before but this stuff is amazing. It goes on very thinly then goes kinda cloudy, then you give it a buff with a clean rag and it just shines. Amazing stuff!

Then i lined the inside of the pickup and control routs with shielding tape, which i forgot to take a photo of.

Then onto final assembly......







I'm really stoked with how it turned out. It sounds AWESOME due to the Gibson pickups. The neck feels great, BUT i need to throw the nut in the bin and give it a good fret level. With a small amount of effort this is going to be a great playing guitar.

[Nickosaurus]

I can dig a natural explorer mate. Well done - looks really sweet!

[stan]

I never even noticed that! any idea what the difference would be if i installed it that way?

not sure if any. as with all things some gurus say there is a difference and some say none.