| Welcome to zetaboards. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| My handbuilt Explorer; The shape everyone wants... | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: January 1, 2007, 4:48 pm (2,194 Views) | |
| Metfuk | July 5, 2009, 6:36 am Post #16 |
|
Don't Tread On Me
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
The next Explorer I did was a lot better though! ![]() The little white one is now disassembled laying in my closet.
|
![]() |
|
| mishmash | July 10, 2009, 2:35 pm Post #17 |
|
Poor Twisted Me
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
wow thats great! |
![]() |
|
| Metfuk | July 11, 2009, 5:08 pm Post #18 |
|
Don't Tread On Me
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
thank you.
|
![]() |
|
| AlexAutopsy_x | July 11, 2009, 5:15 pm Post #19 |
|
Bad Seed
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
that brown one is amazing, Max. Well done ![]() |
![]() |
|
| Metfuk | July 11, 2009, 6:04 pm Post #20 |
|
Don't Tread On Me
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Thanks
|
![]() |
|
| untilitzzz | July 11, 2009, 7:22 pm Post #21 |
Some Kind Of Monster
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
You ARE a Guitar Whiz! It looks fantastic! Did you build the brown Explorer from "scratch"? Or did you use some parts from other guitars? Sorry...all these questions. I am a bit in awe. Inspirational ![]() Another question...What wood did you use for your Les Paul Jr? It's beautiful!! Does each guitar (shape) warrant a specific wood...for a specific sound? The finish work (detail) looks perfect. That is not an easy task. Must have taken patience. Work of love...I wouldn't part with any of them!! You are so talented! Last Question.. Why aren't you going back to next year ? ? |
![]() |
|
| Metfuk | July 12, 2009, 5:31 am Post #22 |
|
Don't Tread On Me
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Thank you Carol! ![]() Alright lets see if I can answer everything. - The brown Explorer was made from an unfinished body that I got from ebay. I wanted to get this body so bad because it had the 'James shape', which is slightly different from the Gibson shape. Making a body yourself isn't hard though, but it's just that I didn't had that particular shape. Otherwise I would have made it from another kind of wood. The body is Alder. But I would have preferred Mahogany. The neck is the most work. Everything has to be done so precise to make it right. Because I had limited work space, it took months. No parts from other guitars were used. The body from Ebay was completely new and unused. The brown Explorer is now sold. I was getting too many Explorers and I wanted to get money for a real James guitar (the black one, you can see it in 'your instruments' topic) that I have now. The brown Explorer was sold to a guitarist of a signed metal band called 'The New Dominion'. - The Les Paul Junior body is made of Sipo (one of 40+ mahogany types out there) and the neck is African Mahogany. There is no particular reason for this choice. Only financial. The Sipo was not so expensive as the higher quality mahogany types available. Even though Sipo is somewhat cheaper, the guitar sounds amazing. I really didn't expect this. - The wood choice for a guitar is purely based on what kind of sound the player wants. The shape doesn't matter for wood choices. They do say the shape can have effect on the sound but it's hard to say. A Flying V sounds pretty much the same as an Explorer if it is made from the same woods. Fenders are mostly made of Alder (body) and the neck is Maple. Gibsons use mostly Mahogany for the whole guitar (except Les Pauls: the carved top is maple, to give a bit more high end to the dark character of the mahogany). Mahogany sounds dark and it is preferred by hard rock/metal players because it gives you a lot of low end. It's no surprise that James' guitars are also made out of this wood. Gibson has also used Korina (Limba), which is similar to Mahogany when it comes to tonal qualities. But I believe it costs more, because they don't really use it anymore. The first versions of the Explorer and Flying V in 1958 were made of Korina. It looks kinda pale yellow. - I am not going back next year because I don't have time for it anymore. I don't have any proper college degrees yet (only high school) so I'm going to maritime college after the summer. Will take me 4 years. I don't know if I have the patience for that, but I have no choice really. Well I also thought of becoming a truck driver, but I'm using that as a plan B. I can currently still work on guitars, but it's tough without any good work space and proper tools (I have tools, but not everything and no machines). Makes me depend on others too much and I hate that. I guess the future will be better for me. I'm looking forward to it. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask! Thank you for your interest.
|
![]() |
|
| untilitzzz | July 12, 2009, 9:31 am Post #23 |
Some Kind Of Monster
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Max, You are going to be sorry you said that... Thank you, for taking the time to answer my questions. I don't play but I DO find craftsmanship VERY interesting. (I really liked shop class in school and spent free time mucking about with spare pieces of wood etc.) Did you post other photos, of the production process, of your other guitars (Brown and White Explorer)? I would love to see them. I can see how the work space would be crucial. Space, equipment and cleanliness-ventilation (you wouldn't want to share a space with someone who is sanding while your piece is drying) Then there is the humidity. It must take longer to dry when it's humid. How many coats of varnish/laquer? Do you sand in between? Do you cut the neck out (obviously) and get it precise by using hand tools? Is it the pointed instrument (sorry) in one of your pictures? Is this difficult to do with hard wood? I doubt I have the hand strength...which is annoying. I am so glad that you learned this trade! This is something you can always pick back, up at anytime. Honestly, you are seriously gifted. [BTW - A friend of mine is a merchant marine. He is gone, out to sea, for three months at a time (roughly). He has a mountain bike and site sees, whenever he is in port. He has seen some lovely places. His house is filled with the best, from around the world (rugs, wooden carved furniture, lamps, glasswork) It's amazing.] It can be brutal on relationships. OK, I'll stop here I actually had more questions but deleted them...don't want to be a TOTAL pest!! F!...this is another long post. So sorry! Thanks for sharing your work with me/everyone..I greatly appreciate it! Carol |
![]() |
|
| Spoken Silence | July 13, 2009, 12:03 am Post #24 |
![]()
Blackened
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Hey man, that's AWESOME. Question for the Alpine Explorer. Plywood body? What kind of tonal properties does that give/take away? And is it topped with a maple cap or anything? Also, it says you got the body for free. Did you build/shape it yourself, or was it a pre-cut job? I see in a later post you said that the shape of the body doesn't really matter. That's not entirely true, IMO. Of course, it's all in the eye of the beholder in the end, but I find that the depth of the body, even in an electric, has a lot to do with the sound. Also, bodies that are rounder- to me, at least- seem to put out more of a classic tone, while sharper angled bodies give you that punchy, edgy voice. And, of course, hollow body vs. solid body is always a great point for the debators, but for me, both work equally well depending on what you want. I think I'm rambling. Anyway, that is a KILLER piece of work, man! You are a talented luthier! I hope to see a lot more from you! ![]() -Sam |
![]() |
|
| Metfuk | July 14, 2009, 9:07 am Post #25 |
|
Don't Tread On Me
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Hey Carol, I have re-uploaded some pics of the work in progress on the brown Explorer. I'm posting them at the end of this post. I have no real experience with laquering guitars. I use linseed oil on most of them to finish them. The white Explorer was the only one that I sprayed myself with spray cans. The results were weak. Not professional at all, yet it took me 2 weeks to get it done. I hated it. Had to wear a masks to protect myself from the fumes and had to cover everything in the garage to prevent other stuff from getting sprayed. The job went kinda bad because a bit of dust got in there and I couldn't remove it anymore. The white Explorer was my 2nd ever guitar and it played pretty good but my skills were really in it's infancy at that point so there were a lot of flaws. But only cosmetically really. It is now disassembled and laying in my closet because there's no point in selling it and it takes up too much space that I need for other guitars. The Les Paul Junior I took to a car restoration company that also sprays guitars. It has a professional job and looks like any guitar in a guitarshop now. It was very expensive though! Gotta find myself another address to get my guitars sprayed because I ain't gonna pay 350 EU everytime I wanna finish a guitar. In regard to workspace: you mentioned humidity. That's why I can't just work in the garage. It would be best to work in the house or in the basement (if we had one!) because the climate is neutral. But imagine building the guitar in wintertime in the garage, and then taking the parts inside the house to finish the assemblage...it would be bad for the wood. The body and neck get cut roughly into shape with bandsaws and after that you can use woodworking planes, sanding machines and hand sanding to get it into shape. You don't really need a lot of strength for it. The key word is just PATIENCE. Which can be very hard at times. I can get impatient and I wanna push it too hard to get it done quickly, because I'm eager to see the results. But rushing NEVER pays off. The white Explorer involved a lot of rushing because first off I just wanted to see it finished and play it, and secondly, I wanted to get it done before christmas at that time. But when it was finished I regretted the rushing because there were spots that could've been made nicer if I took more time for it.Thanks for your interest!
Hello Sam, No tops on the white Explorer. I have no idea about plywood because it can be made of different kind of woods. I got it for free from someone who was renovating his kitchen and this was a left over. It was square shaped when I got it, so I had to cut it into shape myself. The sound of white Explorer lacked some serious low end, but it was alright. I tried it once in a band setting and I couldn't get through the mix properly because of the lack of low end. It sounded too thinny I guess. I did use the guitar a lot with my digital devices for recording on the pc. About your body shapes comment: Try an Explorer, Flying V, SG and a Les Paul Junior with the SAME pickups and woods on the SAME amp. Tell me how much difference there is. I think not so much. You are mentioning other designs aswell. They may have different kinds of woods, so the conditions are already different. You mentioned body depth. A Les Paul is thicker than a Flying V, but that thickness of a Les Paul is build up out of different kinds of woods than the Flying V, so of course it's gonna sound different then. At this point it's no longer a matter of shape, but already a matter of materials. And my previous post was about solid bodies only of course. Hollow bodies are a different story (they are extremely hard to make btw!). If you can make a hollow body, I think you can handle pretty much anything when it comes to building. I hope that everything is clear about the bodies. Here are some progress pics of the brown Explorer. First it was yellowish, because it's made of Alder. But later I wanted it to be darker so I stained it. On my table. The neck is still block shaped. The truss rod channel has been made ![]() Before shaping the neck, I devide it into parts to help the shape. You can't just start shaping without any guidance because it would fuck up the shape. ![]() Lining up some parts ![]() Rio Rosewood veneer for the headstock (the neck is maple), with tuner holes drilled ![]() ![]() Lining up and drilling for the neck screws. This was very precise work. If it went wrong, the strings would be too much at one side of the fretboard. Everything went great and the strings got nicely centered over the fretboard. ![]() Me playing it before I made it brown. This is the natural Alder colour after linseed oil was applied. ![]() I don't have many pics from the time it was really early on in the beginning. Out of excitement I often forget to take pics. Thanks for looking! |
![]() |
|
| untilitzzz | July 26, 2009, 7:59 pm Post #26 |
Some Kind Of Monster
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Hi Max, Those are great pictures. Thank you for sharing them with me/us. Also, for answering my question...I appreciate it. I learned a lot. (I want to make one!) I am truly speechless. You are SO talented. I hope you get the opportunity to make many more guitars in your lifetime. Cheers! Carol |
![]() |
|
| Metfuk | July 27, 2009, 7:34 am Post #27 |
|
Don't Tread On Me
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Thanks a lot!
|
![]() |
|
| Spoken Silence | July 27, 2009, 4:01 pm Post #28 |
![]()
Blackened
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Won't bother quoting, but y'know. Thanks for the reply! I see now. And GORGEOUS pics of the work process. When I was younger I wanted to be a luthier, but now I'm more of a player than a builder. However, if I ever manage to come into any money, I was going to work on a custom shape...I should sketck it and put it up at some point. Anyway...can't wait to see more!! -Sam |
![]() |
|
| Metfuk | July 27, 2009, 5:31 pm Post #29 |
|
Don't Tread On Me
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Thank you! Well I think you're never too old to start! Be careful with posting your own design here. Maybe someone steals it and makes a lot of money with it. I don't know. It's cool that you wanna design on your own. I never really felt much desire to design something on my own. Everything that exist already fascinates me so much that I only feel the need to build my own version of it, just with different materials/looks, but using the existing shape. I think if I'd design something on my own, it would look too much like something that exist already. |
![]() |
|
| ...so metal... | July 27, 2009, 5:59 pm Post #30 |
![]()
Just live!
![]() ![]() ![]()
|
|
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Musicians Forum · Next Topic » |





![]](http://z1.ifrm.com/static/1/pip_r.png)















12:38 PM Jul 13