Some pics straight out of the box and into its case. Kit looks to be solid! no real issues as far as I can tell. Gonna do a mock (dry) build with a couple of strings first and then... sanding begins.
Some pics straight out of the box and into its case. Kit looks to be solid! no real issues as far as I can tell. Gonna do a mock (dry) build with a couple of strings first and then... sanding begins.
Good news!
I found the neck profile on my EX-1 quite chunky and wished I'd sanded it down a bit on the sides of the neck before I'd sprayed it. I may well sand and respray the neck this summer.
Hey Simom,
Yeh I actually had the same thought, I saw one guy online reshape it to resemble a parker fly headstock?! looked a little odd but got me thinking about my options. Hey just out of interest... what did you do about the pickups and wiring, pots, switch etc. Did you upgrade or use what was in the box? If you did use the standard electronics what's the quality like?
Cheers Mark
Hey Groovyman, it looks the biz! its a lot chunkier than I thought it was gonna be too.
I think that's how the layout goes yeh? This'll be my first time even playing an explorer! its one of the few shapes I don't own haha
I never use the kit electrics or hardware. All the kit hardware and pickups work OK, but they aren't anything special. If I am putting a lot of effort into finishing the guitar, then for me, I might as well get better hardware and pickups to get the most out of it as I can. I'm of an age where I've got a reasonable amount of disposable income so I don't have to think about budgeting for the upgrades (though I don't go mad).
I will tend to fit Iron Gear pickups, CTS pots, Kluson or NorthWest Guitars machine heads. Because I wanted a proper Explorer look, on the EX, I routed my body out for a lower horn selector switch and fitted three pots in the control location. The EX got fitted with Iron Gear Metal Machine pickups, which are certainly not very subtle or suitable for blues!
I was talking about the neck profile, rather than the headstock shape (which is a bit rounder than a real Explorer). The neck (on mine at least) has a very chunky 50s Gibson LP profile. Not uncomfortable, but quite a handful and not what you'd normally find on a hard rock/metal guitar. I'll probably sand the sides of the neck down to create more of a modern C profile.
Aghhhhh.... sorry my bad, now you mention it mines the same, it does feel a lot chunkier than the necks am used to (ibanez) I may have a go at reshaping it a little but I'm a bit apprehensive to go at it being my first one... will see how i get on sanding the body.
Thanks for the advise re hardware. I'd added the upgraded grover hardware that pitbull offered, so will use all of that on this build. Will defo look at upgraded pick ups though... those seymour duncan invader pups looks pretty sweet!
Oh wow... just had a look at this Iron Gear pickups! they have a set that look just like the invaders but half the price and then some!
Iron Gears are very good pickups. Generally very similar to Toneriders in terms of sound and quality. Both very good lower-cost but quality pickups. Don't expect them to sound exactly like the SD invaders, but they'll be very similar.
I'd avoid taking any wood of the very back of the neck (you don't want to sand trough to the truss rod or make the wood too thin so that adjusting the truss rod cracks the neck), but you can certainly trim the 'shoulders' down from what I'd call a 'D' to a 'C' shape. That can make the neck feel a lot more comfortable in the hand.
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Originally Posted by ACZLoOn
