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Project EXP; Yet another new project
Topic Started: August 21, 2009, 2:32 pm (1,313 Views)
Metfuk
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Don't Tread On Me
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2 weeks ago I got some weird Explorer on ebay. When looking at the ebay item, I immediatly recognised the ESP (Hetfield) shape. But the neck was some weird unofficial one. Also the guitar was painted in a rather odd paintjob.
I got it because it was only 60 British pounds!!! To compare: If I buy a new unfinished Explorer body (only the wood in the correct shape) on ebay it is 72 pounds. And what I got for this 60 pounds was a real mahogany body, the neck and all the parts. :D
The body is an LTD EXP body. To give you an idea: An old LTD EXP in original condition easily sells for $500-700 on ebay because they are rare and not made anymore. In Europe they sell for 700+ EU in original condition.

This guitar, with shipping price included, only cost me 100 EU.
I took it apart right away. I haven't even played on it.
The neck is actually a wrong neck. Because it has a Fender scale length and the body is made in Gibson scale. So it's not possible to intonate properly. I'm gonna sell the neck. The body is the real gem in this bargain buy. I'm sanding it down and I'm gonna make a new official Explorer neck for it. When it's completed, I will have another James Hetfield EXP! :D

Here are some pics:
Look at that stuff! Weird shit!!
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All the parts together after being fully disassembled
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Started sanding. Finally some wood visible!
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And it looks awesome!
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My current plans are to make a black guitar of it again. With a maple neck and ebony fretboard. I'm gonna find out if I can make a glued neck joint, even though it was originally bolt on. A glued neck joint will make a more valuable guitar and it looks better. I'll just have to investigate possible methods and make drawings, which I'm enjoying thinking about already! :D
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untilitzzz
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Some Kind Of Monster
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Holy shit...what a crazy paint job!

Good for you for seeing past all that paint and recognizing the beautiful guitar, underneath it all. :D Also getting a good deal...gotta love that :tu:

It already looks so much better. The mahogany is nice.

I cannnot wait to see your continued progress....especially what you have planned for the new Explorer neck. It's going to look awesome! Have you ever built an EXP neck before? What wood are you going to use :D

Best of luck...it's very exciting, indeed!!



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Taimi
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Wow... somebody has a taste for the freaky camo-type paint-job.
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Mrs.Metallica
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Michallica
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untilitzzz
Aug 22 2009, 10:51 PM
Holy shit...what a crazy paint job!

:lol: very crazy!

It looks really weird with that neck on too.

Post up some pics when your all done max, it will look great, nice & hetfieldy :rockdevil:
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Metfuk
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Mrs.Metallica
Aug 23 2009, 06:06 PM
Post up some pics when your all done max, it will look great, nice & hetfieldy :rockdevil:

Hell yeah! Don't worry about it. I will update this topic while I progress with the guitar. But it may take a while until there are any updates. I'm just gonna continue with sanding the body.

After that I need wood for the neck and workspace and machines to make something out of it. All kinds of stuff that I don't have anytime soon.
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Metfuk
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Don't Tread On Me
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Here are my drawings for the glued neck construction I intend to make. I'm not sure about it yet. I'm gonna have to ask for opinions from other builders.

The blue lines are the current situation and the red ones make the new. Top is side view and bottom a top view.

Posted Image
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BlueSilver
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A
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Taimi
Aug 23 2009, 12:17 PM
Wow... somebody has a taste for the freaky camo-type paint-job.

camo-paint would look great :horns2


great work Max :tu:
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Metfuk
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Don't Tread On Me
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I haven't worked on this one since the last update.
It's 'on hold', because I'm working on the Les Paul first, and also because I already have so many Explorers. It will be a nice future project.
I have decided to keep it a bolt on structure...no glue neck joint.

The body is heavy as fuck btw! It's more than 2 kilograms for sure (I weighted it on a device that could only take till 2 kg. When I put the body on, it gave an error, meaning it was over the 2kg marge).
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