The Explorer Kit Guitar Project

Peeker said:
awesome, good to hear.

like I said, shitty p.ups are good for me
bass with a shit-ton of grind, it ain't gonna matter much. :wink:

I'm really excited to get mine, but it's gonna be a couple months.

hate waiting....but I'll have an Iceman bass eventually

yes, I finally decided :lol:
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Oh, yeah, you're getting a bass kit. Cheap pickups are much more forgiving on basses. That's why the same shit-ass construction that makes for terrible single coil pickups on the MIM Fender Strats actually sounds good on the MIM Fender basses.
 
smurfco said:
As far as the stain goes, I would go to home depot and see if you can find some pieces of scrap lumber in the same type of wood. Stain those first to make sure it's something you want!
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Peeker said:
YES!
that's a very good idea

test first
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Yep. Just need to see if they have something that looks like cheap Asian mahogany.

Incidentally, though, when I pulled the body out of the box and gave it a knock the thing resonated very nicely. Definitely not a dead piece of wood.
 
GilmourD said:
Oh, yeah, you're getting a bass kit. Cheap pickups are much more forgiving on basses. That's why the same shit-ass construction that makes for terrible single coil pickups on the MIM Fender Strats actually sounds good on the MIM Fender basses.
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I don't see me doing a singlecoil kit (or guitar) until/if this one works out.
if it does, I'm gettin me a Tele kit, as all my guitars are humbuckers, since I sold my Strat


as far as gigging goes, as long as it stays in tune well (I beat the shit outta my gear at a gig), I'll be fine
tone?
meh...
that comes from my amp.
 
Peeker said:
I don't see me doing a singlecoil kit (or guitar) until/if this one works out.
if it does, I'm gettin me a Tele kit, as all my guitars are humbuckers, since I sold my Strat


as far as gigging goes, as long as it stays in tune well (I beat the shit outta my gear at a gig), I'll be fine
tone?
meh...
that comes from my amp.
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I'm one of those "total system" people. Tone starts at the fingers and ends at the speakers and everything in between makes a difference. I tend to like pickups with a fair amount of treble to make them present but not icepicky, decent mids, and strong but not overpowering bass.

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ah, see. apart from the band (where I play bass and "sing"), I'm a guitarist as well
but I run everything thru the Pod
so I can "fix" shitty p.ups that way.
I don't even own a proper guitar amp (bass rig not incl)

as long as it plays decent, I'll be okay

and it has to be tough enough to be thrown at a drum kit.


our drummer's a cock, God love him...


but then, that's why he's in the band
 
Peeker said:
ah, see. apart from the band (where I play bass and "sing"), I'm a guitarist as well
but I run everything thru the Pod
so I can "fix" shitty p.ups that way.
I don't even own a proper guitar amp (bass rig not incl)

as long as it plays decent, I'll be okay

and it has to be tough enough to be thrown at a drum kit.


our drummer's a cock, God love him...


but then, that's why he's in the band
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While I do own a few proper tube amps my main gigging rig is actually a POD X3 Live (and used to be a PODxt Live) straight into the house sound. I do tend to use the PODs as if they're real amps, not futzing too much with them.
 
I have an X3 Live too!
love it to bits
gonna need a new one soon though, I think
switches are not working right these days

I don;' t give a shit what folks say, there ain't a sound out there that I can't reproduce on the Pod
 
Peeker said:
I have an X3 Live too!
love it to bits
gonna need a new one soon though, I think
switches are not working right these days

I don;' t give a shit what folks say, there ain't a sound out there that I can't reproduce on the Pod
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I'm with you on that. If you build a tone from the ground up you can get great tones. The presets suck. LOL

I love gigging with it because there's so little to carry.

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GAH! What the guy thought were ProBuckers turned out to be the old AlNiCo Classics (not even AlNiCo Classic Pros). So, no dice on that...

@mystixboi1, since I know you trade and sell en masse, have you pulled any nickel humbuckers out of an Epi that happen to have a sticker on the back starting with PB? O0
 
Getting back to finishing...

I took a long look at the pics again, and you're going to have a real issue getting the stain to match up...the 2 darker pieces are heartwood, which is much denser than the lighter pulpwood sections, and will not absorb the stain as deeply...the color difference will also be enhanced...

So were I you (and I'm not so of course you should keep your own counsel) I would step away from the stain/poly combo and go with a dye over wood conditioner...

Thw wood conditioner will make the different woods accept the dye more evenly, and the dye, unlike stain, is less dependant on the wood for it's coloration...then you can build up a nice even gloss finish over top...

Please at least consider this before you proceed...
 
GilmourD said:
GAH! What the guy thought were ProBuckers turned out to be the old AlNiCo Classics (not even AlNiCo Classic Pros). So, no dice on that...

@mystixboi1, since I know you trade and sell en masse, have you pulled any nickel humbuckers out of an Epi that happen to have a sticker on the back starting with PB? O0
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Hahaha... Nope
 
jelloman said:
Getting back to finishing...

I took a long look at the pics again, and you're going to have a real issue getting the stain to match up...the 2 darker pieces are heartwood, which is much denser than the lighter pulpwood sections, and will not absorb the stain as deeply...the color difference will also be enhanced...

So were I you (and I'm not so of course you should keep your own counsel) I would step away from the stain/poly combo and go with a dye over wood conditioner...

Thw wood conditioner will make the different woods accept the dye more evenly, and the dye, unlike stain, is less dependant on the wood for it's coloration...then you can build up a nice even gloss finish over top...

Please at least consider this before you proceed...
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That's actually one of the reasons I wanted to go with the color and finish in one solutions, so that way it's a color absorbed into the wood AND covering the wood as a transparent finish.
 
newbuilder said:
I have always found these to be rocking on a budget.
http://www.guitarfetish.com/VEH-Vintage-Extra-Hot-Nickel-The-BROWN-Sound-_c_166.html
I have used the minwax poly blend, it's ok, color with clear on top looks better IMO, but you can get a nice finish using the blend, like Jello said the trick is evening out the color and you may still end up adding poly at the end.
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Actually, I already have two guitars with VEHs in them already. LOL I was trying to go for something a little different.

I actually still have a bottle of StewMac's cherry red dye from when I dyed my red Tele and my buddy's bass.

I was definitely thinking of using the Minwax Express Color Crimson (which is a bit darker than the StewMac cherry red) and then doing a wipe on poly over that. I don't want a grain filled, smooth, shiny finish.

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Well, it seems that I may have stumbled upon a BurstBucker set (BB1 neck and BB2 bridge) out of an Epi Thunderhorse Explorer for a sweet deal. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't fall through. LOL
 
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