First scratch build: Gibby/ESP Explorer hybrid

[Troy McClure]

Wow must have been a hard choice to cover up that body blank the wood looks amazing and I'm a fan of white guitars. If this is your first build only since October if it doesn't give you the building bug nothing will. Look forward to your next one.

 

[GreaseBox]

AWESOME!!

 

[failsafe306]

Wow must have been a hard choice to cover up that body blank the wood looks amazing and I'm a fan of white guitars. If this is your first build only since October if it doesn't give you the building bug nothing will. Look forward to your next one.

Haha yes! I almost reconsidered my decision for an opaque finish after I saw how nice it looked after the sealer coat. But I’m the end, my desire to have my dream white Explorer won.

The bug has definitely has bitten me. I am planning out my next build already. I want to do a black explorer next. I salvaged and dismantled an old (like 1905-1910 old) piano that I believe to be made of Douglas Fir, and the boards just run like a bell when tapped. Should make a good body. I already have a mahogany neck roughly cut out and an ebony board blank.

 

[failsafe306]

I have decided to redo the paint on the neck where it meets up with the fretboard. The masking tape I originally used let some of the color seep up onto the board, and didn’t leave a crisp line. Also, there was a pretty thick and noticeable ridge where there as well, which was not very pleasant to feel. It has been bothering me for a while, and I knew that t would bug me forever if I didn’t at least try to fix it.

I sanded down the transition and masked it off for new paint. I’m hoping that I can blend it into the existing color already on the neck. Here’s a couple of photos of before.

 

[failsafe306]

After two coats.

 

[dcomiskey]

View attachment 286100 After two coats.

I had the same issue on my first build. I believe when you put the clear on, you don't tape up the side of the fretboard, and that gives you a smoother transition. But I'm no expert. That's why most of my future build are going to be unpainted necks.

 

[failsafe306]

I made a little progress since I last posted. I shot another 3 coats of nitro last Saturday, bringing it up to 6 coats so far. I've been level sanding the high spots after every 3rd coat. I just finished the latest sanding.

 

[Hangers]

Great work!

 

[failsafe306]

There isn't much going on around the house today. Daughter is at a birthday party, son is napping, wife is at the hobby store. Explorer is hanging in the guest bathroom, drying. I have 9 coats on a this point. I plan on level sanding and spraying the last coat or two of thinned out lacquer tomorrow.

 

[failsafe306]

I just put the last coat of clear on about an hour ago. I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out so far. It should polish up pretty nicely.

I thinned out the Behlens 1:1 for the last coat. For the build coats, I used a mix of 2:1, based on some recommendations I found while researching. These ratios seem to work will with my spray setup. I don't really see any reason to change it up for the next build, which of course, I've been planning for weeks now.

Now she just needs to sit and dry for 30 days, and then I get to experience the joys of cutting and polishing!

note: I use spray booth filters in front of the fans, they were just removed at this point since I was done spraying. I try to be somewhat of a conscientious neighbor.

 

[pshupe]

Beautiful!

 

[failsafe306]

Small update while waiting to polish the clear....made a cavity cover.

 

[failsafe306]

Another week of waiting to buff out the clear coat and assemble. I had some free time today, so I went ahead and shielded the control cavity. I picked up a roll of .003" copper from Hobby Lobby and glued it with 3M spray glue. Continuity test was good without needing to solder any of the pieces together!

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Wow. I'm not normally a fan of Explorers, but I sure do like this one. Great stuff!

 

[failsafe306]

Wow. I'm not normally a fan of Explorers, but I sure do like this one. Great stuff!

Thanks! That’s really nice to hear.

 

[failsafe306]

Done! My wife shot some quick picks me trying it out for the first time. All I can say is that it turned out much better than I expected it to when I started. It's such a satisfying feeling to finally play a guitar that you built out of rough planks of wood!

 

[GreaseBox]

Awesome!!

 

[Hangers]

Well done Sir! How does it sound plugged in?

 

[failsafe306]

Well done Sir! How does it sound plugged in?

It sounds and plays great! Hopefully this weekend I can put together a video.

 

[bcguitars74]

Wow! Done and dusted in 2 pages of forum !! Beautiful! How does it look after the fretboard / neck transition repaint?