Dora the EX-4plora

[Rabbit]

Can't wait to see how it all comes together.

Thanx I think it will be another 3 or 4 weeks before it gets to me. I'm planning on painting and finishing with waterborne products... Auto Air primer and bases, and AquaCote clear. It should be an interesting experiment . There will probably be a pause while I wait for hardware for Dora, so hopefully I'll have another build. Mean Gene happening then .

[Rabbit]

And the scales fell from his eyes........

Since it looks like it's still going to be maybe a week before they ship my kit, I was perusing the website, and noticed they had a realy good shot of the headstock, which included the first fret. Since the EX-4 has the same scale as Toby, so I was able to scan a section of the neck with the nut and the first few frets. Since that was 1:1 scale, I could flip the pic of the headstock to reverse it, and re-scale to match up the space between the nut and the first fret.

Next step was to rescale the vector of the Solar headstock to match .... erm Houston, we have a problem:



Yeh, the holes don't line up! Obviously the reverse EX-4 headstock won't work for me to get locate the tuners. I was looking at Fender like headstocks for tuner placement, when I discovered this obscure mob called Pit Bull Guitars. They have this pretentious twin neck abomination. the bass neck finishes in a headstock with the holes in the right place and a shape that's very similar. Rather than stealing Solar's headstock design, I figured I'd rip off this Pit Bull mob instead . With some re-scaling I ended up with a vector:




The headstock of the EX-4 is angled away from the neck rather than parallel to it the way a Fender headstock is. Do ya reckon it will still need a string retainer?

[Simon Barden]

Probably not. It's all down to the string break angle over the nut, and with an angled headstock, that angle should end up very similar for all the strings. You'll have space to fit one if necessary (any headstock logo position and truss rod cover permitting), but I wouldn't go and buy one before you've got the neck in your hands to see what the angles look like.

[wazkelly]

Just checked my EX5 and as Simon said the headstock is angled back quite a fair bit and no need for string retainers.

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[Rabbit]

Probably not. It's all down to the string break angle over the nut, t I wouldn't go and buy one before you've got the neck in your hands to see what the angles look like.

Just checked my EX5 and as Simon said the headstock is angled back quite a fair bit and no need for string retainers.

Thanx guys. I suspected as much. I already have most of the hardware that is different from the kit. Once I get the kit I'll be able to measure the pups to order upgrades. The head stock mods will take enough time for them to turn up after ordered.

[Rabbit]

Emulating a standard manufacturers shape for a one off for personal use shouldn’t be an issue.

Yeh, your kinda late to the party on that one . Aside from the advise that has already been given, I also found words to that effect in the build guide documentation. As it turns out, it's a bit of a moot point, as I was able to reverse an existing Pit Bull headstock which will work for me. There is enough meat left on the bone to add a slight concave curve along the line of the tuners and maybe straiten the curve at the end into being more angular.

Now I just have to wait for the kit to be shipped hehe. I've been living on steady diet of rockumentaries and guitar making vids. After watching an entire builld series from Crimson Guitars, I had an uncontrollable urge to take a flight to the UK.....with a brick! I was also perusing the titles in the build diaries, looking for other EX-X builds and occasionally getting side tracked. I noticed there was a number of Rickenbacker style builds, but the kit seems to have been dropped from the lineup . Also got some more vector done for the next build after this ...kit still to ship from manu, so next year's project

[Rabbit]

Anyone know what the thickness of the headstock is for the EX-4 (I'm guessing Pit Bull kits have a common thickness, so the same as the violin bass, 15mm) ?

[wazkelly]

Just checked the EX-5 and it measures 15-16mm thickness which seems to be fairly universal across most of my builds.

[Rabbit]

Thanx @warzkelly, I suspected as much. Since I'm still waiting for them to ship from WA, I didn't have the headstock to measure. I was going to use some American Black Cherry that I had to add to it so I could re-shape it, but it's 19mm thick. Didn't want to cut a piece of my White Oak, but I guess I could....that's 16mm. I paid a vist to my local Carbatec. They had some small pieces of various timber. Was hoping for some maple. they had Pacific Maple... a bit too weak I think. The birdseye maple just seemed a bit pricey. I ended up walking out with some New Guinea Teak, and some Silkey Oak veneer. I think a larger piece of New Guinea Teak would make a nice tone wood.... holding the bit I had lightly and giving a tap pronounced a surprising ring!

[Rabbit]

<bouncybouncy>! So my kit came on Sunday (Yeh, for the first time in history Australia post are delivering on a Sunday! ). Like @Marty, the heel does not go all the way to the end of the neck pocket, due to the neck pocket being routed and the heel of the neck being sanded. The radii do not match. There is enough wiggle room adjustment wise with the saddles that you *could* leave it alone, or you *could* work the corners to match the pocket. Eventually, once the humidity has dropped off and stayed consistent, I address that. As when it arrived the fitment was not super tight, but it *was* snug, about where you want it to be. I checked it again today, and despite the room humidity being in the 70+%, the fit hasn't changed.

I have already started work on the headstock (pics to come in the next few days, worts and all) . I'll also outline what I did, how it could have been done, and how it should have been done .

I'm still collecting hardware it seems in dribs and drabs (needed to order neck screws, the kit ones are the wrong colour for what I have in mind)

I don't want to make repeated trips to get foam, so I have been trying to work out what thickness to get fo under the pickups. The confusing part is the specs for the soapbars I have started to order (I can't afford to order them both at once). the length and width are given as a single size (104 x 39) but thickness is given as a range... 18.5 - 21.1mm. Has anyone else come across this? Does this mean they are tapered?

Untill next time... one more drink and the Sunken Norwegian!