@@Giant_Guitars Need to borrow a router and route for a bridge humbucker first, since that was the plan. That and summer's over. You think spraying in the fall weather makes any sense?
I swear that you unintentionally made an ASMR channel for woodworkers and guitar builders hahaha. Freaking amazing work man! I feel like I want to start working more projects when I watch these vids.
@@Giant_Guitars I mean... honestly I appreciate the talking through because it helps me understand how to do these things. The strat builds you did a while ago actually got me to repaint a tele that I had, so I like knowing what you're doing too but I would totally watch these hahahaha.
@@Giant_Guitars Also... I want to see what you do to get rid of the fret buzz. I struggle fixing this a lot of the time. So... just my feedback... I'd like to see how you get it playing without the fret buzz.
Really nice guitar! Love the paintjob and the pickguard, really nice touch. Personally I've put a metal knob to suit the overall theme of the guitar. And the black painted metal pickguard with all black hardware is going to look awesome! I'd like to see you work further on this build so please consider uploading follow up videos! So glad to see you again doing awesome builds! I've missed your videos. Can't wait to see your new series and the coming builds!
That grain pattern looks great! You were right to do the burst as well. Good to know about the neck on those kits though. I'm thinking about doing a Les Paul style kit which has a glue-in neck. I'll be sure to check how the neck fits prior to gluing it in. I'd love to see you upgrade the hardware (your black idea is great), but I also think it's also the perfect candidate for learning to do a neck reset. I'd love to see more videos about this guitar.
@@TheGuitarCurator thanks mate I appreciate it a lot 🙂 I have an idea with a PRS that I want to do but that requires a neck removal but I'm too scared so I've been looking an excuse to do one haha
Guitar looks great, would definitely like to see more! I’ve considered a kit build myself a few times so, as someone who’s never done anything like this before, it was good to see the process 👌🏼
Great video, the burst came our better than I thought, I love the back of the neck. I'd love see more of this guitar get fixed because that string alignment is gonna give me nightmares. Also Hetfield would approve.
I got a pango music explorer kit last year. The kit was really good. No issues with neck alignment at all. Still needed a level and a crown etc. i replaced all of the hardware and im really happy with the finished guitar
So glad you’re back - just found you recently and have been binge watching all your guitar content!! Got another around 40 mins to enjoy🙀🙀 Hope you’ve been doing okay too!!
Nice build man! Congrats! The moment in the video that you glued the neck without test the alignment of the bridge I was certain that something was very wrong. The neck bone( or plastic ) doesn't seem to be well made, I suggest redo it because the spaces between the slots seems to be not even. Other modification I suggest is to do static shield protection, after all the guitar is almost built from scrath.
Thanks bud, I appreciate it! I will probably start with the nut when I do some diagnostics and a few have mentioned moving the bridge slightly so we shall see! Appreciate the comment 🙏
This has probably been said before but if not, telling the pickups apart, the wires always on the right side because that where the holes to run the wires in the guitar, in the right side of the pickup cavity that’s been drilled out. Hold your pickups so the wires are on the right side of the pickup and if the pole pieces are on bottom it’s bridge and top is neck.
I really enjoyed the video and i am also very interested to see what will become of this very nice looking explorer, so a second video about how you fix/improve the issues it has would be very much appreciated. I ask myself if you wouldn't want to put some kind of brand sign on your builds like your channel logo on the headstock or the truss rod cover.
Thanks Christian! I will probably do a complete rebuild at some point. I have in the past been asked to put my logo onto the back of headstocks of guitars I've sold but it's not something I will do again until I'm building the whole guitar from scratch myself!
I 3D printed a scratch plate with the same anti skid pattern in silver for my mates Epiphone SG. I love the colour of this Explorer, such a shame about the E strings position, maybe re-cutting the nut might get enough room to get them more equal, but as you said taking the neck out and resetting it would be the sensible option.
I know how to fix your guitar, nice paint/stain job! Dont fix the neck, too hard a job, instead remove the bridge components and fill in the holes with dowel. stain,oil, then redrill the holes in the new position to fix the string placement issuse (3mm to the left) far eaisier than removing the neck. Work out wether you want to lower height of the bridge, you can lower the bridge more when you redrill the new holes for the bridge components. The staining and oiling will take the most amount of time, filling and drilling the holes 30 mins. that takes care of string placement and height. Adjust pickup cavity accordingly also 3ish mm to the left! hope this helps! great video!
If you top wrap your strings (put your string in backwards, then wrap it over the top of the tailpiece), you lessen the angle from your tailpiece to your bridge. Not only can you get more sustain, but you'll also save a fortune on strings. Another tip from Billy and Elwood was to keep the ball of the broken string and slide it down the new string. It keeps the string winding under the tailpiece. You'll never break a string again. Check out The Music City Bridge. Pricey but seriously worth it. Don't be so hard on yourself. Set necks are always hit-and-miss. The guitar looks great. Music City might even have wee adapters with grub screws to address your string alignment.
At 32:12 it looks like the problem is also the position of the bridge, it's off-center compared to the pickup pole pieces. The nut is also off-center a bit. If you plug the holes of the bridge and redrill at the correct position plus use a new nut, you might be good. I like the guitar build videos, keep it up! 🤟
@@Giant_Guitars no problem, it could be that the neck causes this misalignment too, but it seemed to me a bit too much to be only from the neck. Anyway, just another idea to check out. 👍
@@Giant_Guitars right. check to see if the strings line up over the pole pieces. I just had this same issue with (a thankfully bolt neck) guitar where the bridge was about 1-2 mm off which made it look like the neck was at the wrong angle from the centerline.
I hear putting the high and low E strings on and marking inside the neck pickup hole helps set the neck and scale length properly. Oh you mention that later in the video, either way the color definitely turned out nice.
dude i love these videos so muchh, if you want feedback id like em less asmr-y and a bit more clear on the electrical aspects of the guitar but thats obviously just me. continue the formula and ill be here regardless
Honestly comments like this mean so much to me, thank you mate. And I get it, if you want some more electrical commentary I'll include that in the next one! If I forget to, remind me haha 😂
@@Giant_Guitars the electric aspect intrigues me so much but i dont really have the money for spare guitar parts to do mods myself, rather just learn a bunch about it anyways, its so cool
Of course we want to see more of this guitar. PS would having a new not solve some of the E string issue. From the image on screen they seem a little out if position at the nut.
Man, I wish my failures looked this good. Great video. I'd actually love to see the pickguard and the panel cover stay regular diamondplate. Reminds me of the old ESP explorers that had the full body diamondplate covers. I have a request for you actually. Any chance of a video on spray lacquering a finish? Asking for a me.
Hey dude yeah sure, any particular type of spray lacquer? You looking a high gloss finish? My favourite is a nitro clear finish is not super gloss but not matte either
@Giant_Guitars I was looking at a clear Semi-gloss. Or should I be looking at a full clear gloss? I have an old guitar that I spent a lot of time in my youth stickering up that I've been slowly modding. I want to basically make sure that the sticker "finish" won't peel more than they already have. Maybe that sounds mad.
Not bad, the bridge/alignment issue could be sorted by recessing the TOM a bit into the body to get decent action.. and while you're at it you could plug and re-drill the bridge post holes to make the strings align at the same time!! Looks like that is the issue as you can see the strings are a bit misaligned over the pickup pole pieces towards the high e as well.
Great idea in fairness, thank you. I still want a project to remove a set neck and re glue for practice but what you're suggesting would be easier for sure. Thanks bud.
Plug the bridge and saddle holes. And redrill so the strings align correctly. Way easier than to take off the neck. Or install a hard tail bridge. Both options should work. The latter being the better one if you want low action.
Yeah plug and move the bridge pins makes total sense, I didn't even think of that! Thank you 🙏. I did consider a hard tail of some sort but I think your suggestion of plug and redrill is better to be honest!
Just as point of note. In future I would round off the edges on top of the pick guard. Last thing you'd want is your fingers getting torn up or it catching on random things like if youre trying to put it in a gig bag. Overall, it will make the guitar look a little neater and more presentable as well. Otherwise I think you did a pretty decent job despite some faults
Bridge body anchors without the flange might get you enough drop for your bridge. There's a furniture makers method for grain filling that works really well on mahogany: after your stain seal the body with shellac, Then you do the same you'd do for French polish but include pumice (a particular sort, fine wood working supply can sort you out.) The pumice basically sands the body and combined with the shellac on your polish pad fills the open pores. You do it as many times as you need to be satisfied but you can go to a level that's like a spendy dining table surface, very glassy. After I usually hand rub lacquer thinned 50-50, 6-10 coats. I wait to sand until I've got as much on as I want but quite often end up buffing it without sanding. I use the cheap foam wheel buffing kits that chuck in a drill and Meguiars car polishes. Neck as well. No spraying!
Could you possibly just fill and re-drill the stop tailpiece and bridge holes a scooch to the left (looking down at it from the back of the guitar) to move the strings over? Just a thought, otherwise it looks good
you will have to press in dowels were the bridge is drilled,then redrill it to align the strings,then press the ferrels in so they are flush to get more drop of the bridge hieght
@@Giant_Guitars np,glad at least one of my suggestions is viable......ive made some pretty terrible guitars into playable ones ,just have to innovate a little
The string spacing issue could possibly be sorted out by replacing the nut and bridge saddles and cut the slots so they line up better. Otherwise it looks great.
@@Giant_Guitarshell yeah , you could also fill in the cavity for more stability or put that useless thing to use and make it a battery compartment for some activit electronics , like you can add a kill switch or even a built in boost toggle , idk just some ideas. Love the way it came out .
You could fix the e strings by buying a new bridge with unslotted saddles then slotting them all off to the side slightly then it would correct the spacing of the strings at the edges of the neck
@@JohnSmith-ym4sl that's a very good idea, I didn't think of that as an option at all! Thank you bud, do you know if there's a specific brand without slots? I'm going to Google that right now too.
@@Giant_Guitars Was gonna suggest the same. Maybe a Schaller GTM? They come with metric adaptors to fit the Asian guitars. Thomann has them for 50 quid, if you need some other bits and can save on postage.
Either that or the Schaller STM roller. You can space them where needed, without filing, and then loctite them in place. I've done that before on roller bridges and it works really well (providing there is enough break angle to hold them in the slots!)
That's totally correct. Also by filing the notches in the saddles deeper you will manage to set your action lower. Possibly, good practice would be to remove excessive material from the the top of the saddle later.
@@Giant_Guitars no worries just my being over-observant. Its a lovely looking thing youve made. Shame about the neck pocket. Its really unintuitive considering how well the pocket was cut otherwise, especially when the bridge etc is pre-drilled. At least with a bolt on you can reposition the bridge easier, or tilt the neck etc. I hope you get it playing right anyway
Lets be perfectly honest for the 150 quid you paid you got a nice hardwood body, a neck, A tailpiece and a bridge. That's a good deal. You knew you should have checked the neck alignment before glueing. Your decision. I really like the look of the guitar but was puzzled that you didn't put in a tone pot. All in all it's a very good basis for an epic guitar.
Agree with everything you said, I kind of knew what I was getting myself into lol but I'm ok with that! I usually do a tone pot and get 100 comments saying remove the tone pot haha so this one may get one added at some point don't worry!
Nope haha that's why I want to do one, to practice. I have a project in mind that requires doing that and I'm scared to ruin a good guitar if it's my first try.
The most sensible damage control at this point is move the bridge, plug w dowels, maybe route a channel for the tune-o-matic bridge to lower ever so slightly into the body to allow for further adjustment. That neck reset business is not worth the time you could devote to something else, unless you Reeeally want to document the pain n' agony. Still this is a worthy cautionary tale about set-neck construction. Scary to put so much effort into making something nice, but then have a fatal flaw in geometry. This really shows how building set-neck construction instruments are a next-level luthier skill, as bolt-ons allow you to course-correct at any stage & 'hide the crimes' as Adam Savage would say
I hope you can prove me wrong, but you are not going to get that neck off with out destructive means. I would just cut my losses and build another kit. Chalk it up a a learning experience. You can also use a straight edge to check the neck alignment so you don't have to install the threaded inserts. I have two 60" aluminum stick rules that I use. You can also verify the angle as well with the same method. If you do decide to move the bridge, don't forget about the pick ups. The poles will be out of alignment too.
No you're probably right to be fair but it's something I want to try at some point on a guitar and at least with this one I'll not be too scared to. Cheers for the straight edge advice I'll try that next time! And yeah a few have mentioned moving the bridge which may be the way to go, I'll think it through!
I was going to purchase myself a Jazzmaster kit, looks like all the fundamentals are there just very bad hardware. I'd probably go with a DiMarzio and maybe those Guyker tuners you used. Not sure on the color though, I have too many white, black, and red guitars and already have a blue one so maybe orange.
well if it doesn't play, it's still a work of art, you could hang it on the wall... people have paid much more for things just to hang them on a wall....
i bought a cheap flying v kit, long story short, after lots of work and money and parts it ended up being unplayable with the fret leveling being horrible
@@Giant_Guitars I’m. It trying to hate, you do you, it’s cool. I’ve just always wanted an explorer and if I were doing it I’d be doing it all in and would not be satisfied with a single pickup.
@@yodasecondave I know you're not mate haha my reply was just going to be about how one nut could be better 😂 😂 and yeah that's fair enough, I don't play enough to need two pickups 😅
I think it’s a worthy candidate to do that neck removal that you had mentioned. Though if you decide not to do that, you can also recess the bridge hardware into the body a bit. Probably 3mm should cover it.
The red dye you used looks MARVELOUS!!!
Thanks bud.
I keep seeing these kits and think about trying them, but then i remember I don't have the patience. I'm sure glad someone else does though.
Haha you're right, although I almost didn't have the patience for this one a few times.
Heh. Bought a HB strat kit a while ago. Sure, assembled it. Even shaped the headstock, if a bit sloppily.
Now, finish? Maybe one day, lol.
@@Tehstroyer do it 😁
@@Giant_Guitars Need to borrow a router and route for a bridge humbucker first, since that was the plan. That and summer's over. You think spraying in the fall weather makes any sense?
I definately want too see more of this guitar. It's too cool to fix off camera!!
Haha fair enough and thank you mate
Make the hardware and pickguard black for sure, was the exact thought I was having. Also wouldnt mind see this guitar more often.
Appreciate it. I think I will go all black on it 👌
I swear that you unintentionally made an ASMR channel for woodworkers and guitar builders hahaha. Freaking amazing work man! I feel like I want to start working more projects when I watch these vids.
Haha thanks Tommy, yeah I was actually thinking of doing a couple of complete ASMR build videos with zero talking!
@@Giant_Guitars I mean... honestly I appreciate the talking through because it helps me understand how to do these things. The strat builds you did a while ago actually got me to repaint a tele that I had, so I like knowing what you're doing too but I would totally watch these hahahaha.
@@TommyFitzwho good to know, thank you! I'll definitely not replace my usual videos with them but maybe the odd one?
@@Giant_Guitars Also... I want to see what you do to get rid of the fret buzz. I struggle fixing this a lot of the time. So... just my feedback... I'd like to see how you get it playing without the fret buzz.
@@TommyFitzwho no worries, easy fix once I find my tools lol
Really nice guitar!
Love the paintjob and the pickguard, really nice touch. Personally I've put a metal knob to suit the overall theme of the guitar. And the black painted metal pickguard with all black hardware is going to look awesome!
I'd like to see you work further on this build so please consider uploading follow up videos!
So glad to see you again doing awesome builds! I've missed your videos. Can't wait to see your new series and the coming builds!
That grain pattern looks great! You were right to do the burst as well. Good to know about the neck on those kits though. I'm thinking about doing a Les Paul style kit which has a glue-in neck. I'll be sure to check how the neck fits prior to gluing it in. I'd love to see you upgrade the hardware (your black idea is great), but I also think it's also the perfect candidate for learning to do a neck reset. I'd love to see more videos about this guitar.
@@TheGuitarCurator thanks mate I appreciate it a lot 🙂
I have an idea with a PRS that I want to do but that requires a neck removal but I'm too scared so I've been looking an excuse to do one haha
Guitar looks great, would definitely like to see more! I’ve considered a kit build myself a few times so, as someone who’s never done anything like this before, it was good to see the process 👌🏼
Do one for sure, it's one of the best ways to start. I'd highly recommend the Thomann / Harley Benton kits!
@@Giant_Guitars ah sweet I’ll check those out, thanks! 🙌🏻
nice build as always, the people want to see it made playable!
Thank you mate and yes they do
Great video, the burst came our better than I thought, I love the back of the neck. I'd love see more of this guitar get fixed because that string alignment is gonna give me nightmares.
Also Hetfield would approve.
Thank you, me too! And yeah I need to sort that haha I've had a lot of great ideas from commenters so I've plenty to try out now 😁
Love the video. Thanks for sharing. Definitely want to see more. Learned a good bit as well. The black hardware will be nice.
Thank you mate, I appreciate the comment ☺️
-Burst it, burst it, burst it!
-"I'm gonna do a burst"
-YES!!!
Haha thanks 🙏
I got a pango music explorer kit last year. The kit was really good. No issues with neck alignment at all. Still needed a level and a crown etc. i replaced all of the hardware and im really happy with the finished guitar
That sounds awesome, I'll look up Pango now
I love what you did with the stain on the neck
Thanks, it's one of my favourite parts too
It looks great mate. I'd be keen to see how you adjust the alignment issue. I have a Strat with quite a few issues, and that's one of them.
Bolt on? That might be easier to fix than you think, I've done it before on bolt ons. DM me on Instagram if you want and I'll throw you some tips.
Really liked the build! Loved the new video format too though
Appreciate that mate thank you
When you first cut out that diamond plate pickguard I was a little skeptical, but man, it turned out pretty fierce looking! Now to get it playable!
Thanks bud, I'll try 🙂
So glad you’re back - just found you recently and have been binge watching all your guitar content!! Got another around 40 mins to enjoy🙀🙀 Hope you’ve been doing okay too!!
Thanks brother, I appreciate it and will keep an eye out for you in future videos 🙏
Love to see more of this one!! Hope you’re doing well with the move too :)
Thanks bud, appreciate it 🙂
Nice build man! Congrats!
The moment in the video that you glued the neck without test the alignment of the bridge I was certain that something was very wrong.
The neck bone( or plastic ) doesn't seem to be well made, I suggest redo it because the spaces between the slots seems to be not even.
Other modification I suggest is to do static shield protection, after all the guitar is almost built from scrath.
Thanks bud, I appreciate it! I will probably start with the nut when I do some diagnostics and a few have mentioned moving the bridge slightly so we shall see!
Appreciate the comment 🙏
This has probably been said before but if not, telling the pickups apart, the wires always on the right side because that where the holes to run the wires in the guitar, in the right side of the pickup cavity that’s been drilled out. Hold your pickups so the wires are on the right side of the pickup and if the pole pieces are on bottom it’s bridge and top is neck.
Ahhh yess this makes total sense 🙂 thanks bud I appreciate it
Nice build brother!! Finally get to see your face!
@@1988davidsum thank you mate, yeah I thought it was time haha I did it in my shed build video and thought I'd just continue!
I really enjoyed the video and i am also very interested to see what will become of this very nice looking explorer, so a second video about how you fix/improve the issues it has would be very much appreciated.
I ask myself if you wouldn't want to put some kind of brand sign on your builds like your channel logo on the headstock or the truss rod cover.
Thanks Christian! I will probably do a complete rebuild at some point.
I have in the past been asked to put my logo onto the back of headstocks of guitars I've sold but it's not something I will do again until I'm building the whole guitar from scratch myself!
Finish looks great! 🤘
Appreciate that, as always mate.
I 3D printed a scratch plate with the same anti skid pattern in silver for my mates Epiphone SG.
I love the colour of this Explorer, such a shame about the E strings position, maybe re-cutting the nut might get enough room to get them more equal, but as you said taking the neck out and resetting it would be the sensible option.
3d printing one sounds awesome, I'd love to start trying that out, could be so useful for builds. And yeah you're right about the nut!
Wicked guitar! Would love to see more like it or in this style. Perhaps one on flying V?
Flying v sounds great to me. Thank you bud.
I know how to fix your guitar, nice paint/stain job! Dont fix the neck, too hard a job, instead remove the bridge components and fill in the holes with dowel. stain,oil, then redrill the holes in the new position to fix the string placement issuse (3mm to the left) far eaisier than removing the neck. Work out wether you want to lower height of the bridge, you can lower the bridge more when you redrill the new holes for the bridge components. The staining and oiling will take the most amount of time, filling and drilling the holes 30 mins. that takes care of string placement and height. Adjust pickup cavity accordingly also 3ish mm to the left! hope this helps! great video!
That definitely helps and you're 100% right, a lot easier than neck off and repair. I appreciate it 🙏
Good to see you back!
Thank you kindly
If you top wrap your strings (put your string in backwards, then wrap it over the top of the tailpiece), you lessen the angle from your tailpiece to your bridge. Not only can you get more sustain, but you'll also save a fortune on strings. Another tip from Billy and Elwood was to keep the ball of the broken string and slide it down the new string. It keeps the string winding under the tailpiece. You'll never break a string again. Check out The Music City Bridge. Pricey but seriously worth it. Don't be so hard on yourself. Set necks are always hit-and-miss. The guitar looks great. Music City might even have wee adapters with grub screws to address your string alignment.
Thanks bud, some very helpful tips here that I'm going to do for sure! I appreciate it all 🙏
Love the way the guitar turned out! Would a new nut maybe help with the string-alignment?
@@nissesguitars yeah possibly bud I think that could correct it some!
At 32:12 it looks like the problem is also the position of the bridge, it's off-center compared to the pickup pole pieces. The nut is also off-center a bit. If you plug the holes of the bridge and redrill at the correct position plus use a new nut, you might be good. I like the guitar build videos, keep it up! 🤟
Thanks, I was so focused on the neck that I've missed all of this! I'll check it out tomorrow evening ☺️
@@Giant_Guitars no problem, it could be that the neck causes this misalignment too, but it seemed to me a bit too much to be only from the neck. Anyway, just another idea to check out. 👍
@@blackhatjester 100% mate
@@Giant_Guitars right. check to see if the strings line up over the pole pieces. I just had this same issue with (a thankfully bolt neck) guitar where the bridge was about 1-2 mm off which made it look like the neck was at the wrong angle from the centerline.
@@clintthompson8256 I'll do just that, thank you!
I hear putting the high and low E strings on and marking inside the neck pickup hole helps set the neck and scale length properly. Oh you mention that later in the video, either way the color definitely turned out nice.
Thanks brother 😊
dude i love these videos so muchh, if you want feedback id like em less asmr-y and a bit more clear on the electrical aspects of the guitar but thats obviously just me. continue the formula and ill be here regardless
Honestly comments like this mean so much to me, thank you mate. And I get it, if you want some more electrical commentary I'll include that in the next one!
If I forget to, remind me haha 😂
@@Giant_Guitars the electric aspect intrigues me so much but i dont really have the money for spare guitar parts to do mods myself, rather just learn a bunch about it anyways, its so cool
And now we're back!
We are, thanks bud
Of course we want to see more of this guitar.
PS would having a new not solve some of the E string issue. From the image on screen they seem a little out if position at the nut.
Yeah I will play around with a few things but it might be neck off re-cut and glue. We shall see 😁 thanks bud.
Love the finish 🔥
@@gar1109 Cheers big son
I remember when this channel was way smaller. I use to comment on every vid
I'm still a channel to be fair but, that being said 12k subs for me is mad.
Thanks for all your comments bud!
Man, I wish my failures looked this good.
Great video. I'd actually love to see the pickguard and the panel cover stay regular diamondplate. Reminds me of the old ESP explorers that had the full body diamondplate covers.
I have a request for you actually. Any chance of a video on spray lacquering a finish? Asking for a me.
Hey dude yeah sure, any particular type of spray lacquer? You looking a high gloss finish? My favourite is a nitro clear finish is not super gloss but not matte either
@Giant_Guitars I was looking at a clear Semi-gloss. Or should I be looking at a full clear gloss? I have an old guitar that I spent a lot of time in my youth stickering up that I've been slowly modding. I want to basically make sure that the sticker "finish" won't peel more than they already have. Maybe that sounds mad.
@@SonicChronicle no I think that makes sense, you're planning to lacquer over the stickers to preserve them?
@@Giant_Guitars That's exactly right.
@@SonicChronicle leave it with me!
you could also recess the bridge, i have done that before as well
That's true! Thanks bud
Not bad, the bridge/alignment issue could be sorted by recessing the TOM a bit into the body to get decent action.. and while you're at it you could plug and re-drill the bridge post holes to make the strings align at the same time!! Looks like that is the issue as you can see the strings are a bit misaligned over the pickup pole pieces towards the high e as well.
Great idea in fairness, thank you. I still want a project to remove a set neck and re glue for practice but what you're suggesting would be easier for sure. Thanks bud.
Plug the bridge and saddle holes. And redrill so the strings align correctly. Way easier than to take off the neck. Or install a hard tail bridge. Both options should work. The latter being the better one if you want low action.
Yeah plug and move the bridge pins makes total sense, I didn't even think of that! Thank you 🙏.
I did consider a hard tail of some sort but I think your suggestion of plug and redrill is better to be honest!
Just as point of note. In future I would round off the edges on top of the pick guard. Last thing you'd want is your fingers getting torn up or it catching on random things like if youre trying to put it in a gig bag. Overall, it will make the guitar look a little neater and more presentable as well.
Otherwise I think you did a pretty decent job despite some faults
Yeah for sure, the pickguard needs rounded off more! I sanded it pretty much smooth but more rounded or bevelled would be nice!
Bridge body anchors without the flange might get you enough drop for your bridge.
There's a furniture makers method for grain filling that works really well on mahogany: after your stain seal the body with shellac, Then you do the same you'd do for French polish but include pumice (a particular sort, fine wood working supply can sort you out.) The pumice basically sands the body and combined with the shellac on your polish pad fills the open pores. You do it as many times as you need to be satisfied but you can go to a level that's like a spendy dining table surface, very glassy.
After I usually hand rub lacquer thinned 50-50, 6-10 coats. I wait to sand until I've got as much on as I want but quite often end up buffing it without sanding. I use the cheap foam wheel buffing kits that chuck in a drill and Meguiars car polishes. Neck as well. No spraying!
Thanks bud for both those tips, I appreciate that!!
@@Giant_Guitars Classical guitar luthiers use that grain filling method quite often, there are a few videos here as I recall
@@oldasrocks9121 I'm on it, thanks will search for and watch a few tonight!
For this project could you drill the tunamatic holds out a tiny bit to move it over slightly for string alignment. Not perfect but will work.
Thanks bud that's definitely one option that I hadn't thought of! Appreciate it!
Well done 👏
Thank you 😁
Could you possibly just fill and re-drill the stop tailpiece and bridge holes a scooch to the left (looking down at it from the back of the guitar) to move the strings over? Just a thought, otherwise it looks good
Yeah definitely mate, I totally over looked this idea but you're right! Thanks 🙏
That would be a cool guitar to rebuild, and do it with attention to details
Sounds like a plan Jonnie! Appreciate you bud
An explorer Junior lol. I like it
Lol oh yes 🤣
Thanks mate
you will have to press in dowels were the bridge is drilled,then redrill it to align the strings,then press the ferrels in so they are flush to get more drop of the bridge hieght
Few people have suggested this and I think you're right, that'd be much easier for sure! Thanks bud!
@@Giant_Guitars np,glad at least one of my suggestions is viable......ive made some pretty terrible guitars into playable ones ,just have to innovate a little
The string spacing issue could possibly be sorted out by replacing the nut and bridge saddles and cut the slots so they line up better. Otherwise it looks great.
Thanks bud 🙏 and yeah I think you're right!
Looks like a decent three hundred dollar guitar at least that decent just for all the work that went into it. I like it.
Cheers Patrick, I appreciate it
That thing looks so sick , if you put black hardware with a Seymourduncan black winter and it would be the perfect metal guitar
That's what I'm thinking too haha
@@Giant_Guitarshell yeah , you could also fill in the cavity for more stability or put that useless thing to use and make it a battery compartment for some activit electronics , like you can add a kill switch or even a built in boost toggle , idk just some ideas. Love the way it came out .
Great stuff
Thanks Zach mate
You could fix the e strings by buying a new bridge with unslotted saddles then slotting them all off to the side slightly then it would correct the spacing of the strings at the edges of the neck
@@JohnSmith-ym4sl that's a very good idea, I didn't think of that as an option at all! Thank you bud, do you know if there's a specific brand without slots? I'm going to Google that right now too.
@@Giant_Guitars Was gonna suggest the same. Maybe a Schaller GTM? They come with metric adaptors to fit the Asian guitars. Thomann has them for 50 quid, if you need some other bits and can save on postage.
Either that or the Schaller STM roller. You can space them where needed, without filing, and then loctite them in place. I've done that before on roller bridges and it works really well (providing there is enough break angle to hold them in the slots!)
@@MrCurtyWurty thank you mate!
That's totally correct. Also by filing the notches in the saddles deeper you will manage to set your action lower. Possibly, good practice would be to remove excessive material from the the top of the saddle later.
Those locking tuners I beleive might be staggered height. Looks it at the 27 minute mark...worth a check
Lol I'm so stupid you could be right 😂😂😂 I actually do that all the time
And thanks lol
@@Giant_Guitars no worries just my being over-observant. Its a lovely looking thing youve made. Shame about the neck pocket. Its really unintuitive considering how well the pocket was cut otherwise, especially when the bridge etc is pre-drilled. At least with a bolt on you can reposition the bridge easier, or tilt the neck etc. I hope you get it playing right anyway
get a new bridge with out string slots cut in the saddles then cut your own slots to correct the string placement on the fret board
This is a good idea, I will measure how much movement I'd need to correct it this way
Okoume, African mahogany, it can have that ribbony flame you got.
It's beautiful, I'll keep an eye out for that again
Is it possible to take the neck off and fix it at the point? I’m not saying you should. I’m just curious if it’s possible with the neck glued.
Definitely possible, what damage I'll do? Who knows haha. But yeah I want to practice doing that to a guitar so this may be the one.
It's not the ideal solution, but you could move the nut slots on the bridge to help get the strings in line.
Definitely a good idea mate thank you
@@Giant_Guitars not a problem.
looks great, i would of went no pick gaurd or black . but great job
Thanks mate yeah black would be killer or none if there wasn't a pickup route
Lets be perfectly honest for the 150 quid you paid you got a nice hardwood body, a neck, A tailpiece and a bridge. That's a good deal. You knew you should have checked the neck alignment before glueing. Your decision. I really like the look of the guitar but was puzzled that you didn't put in a tone pot. All in all it's a very good basis for an epic guitar.
Agree with everything you said, I kind of knew what I was getting myself into lol but I'm ok with that!
I usually do a tone pot and get 100 comments saying remove the tone pot haha so this one may get one added at some point don't worry!
@@Giant_Guitars I'm not worried mate . I'm too busy biting my fingernails in anticipation of the next video.🤣
@@laurencehastings7473 😂😂😅
Have you pulled a set neck before? I have not, seems daunting.
Nope haha that's why I want to do one, to practice. I have a project in mind that requires doing that and I'm scared to ruin a good guitar if it's my first try.
I would like to see this project all the way through to the end.
Thanks mate, I think that's what I'll do!
The most sensible damage control at this point is move the bridge, plug w dowels, maybe route a channel for the tune-o-matic bridge to lower ever so slightly into the body to allow for further adjustment.
That neck reset business is not worth the time you could devote to something else, unless you Reeeally want to document the pain n' agony. Still this is a worthy cautionary tale about set-neck construction. Scary to put so much effort into making something nice, but then have a fatal flaw in geometry.
This really shows how building set-neck construction instruments are a next-level luthier skill, as bolt-ons allow you to course-correct at any stage & 'hide the crimes' as Adam Savage would say
Yeah you're absolutely right, I'm definitely a hide the crimes type of guy... Usually lol
I hope you can prove me wrong, but you are not going to get that neck off with out destructive means. I would just cut my losses and build another kit. Chalk it up a a learning experience. You can also use a straight edge to check the neck alignment so you don't have to install the threaded inserts. I have two 60" aluminum stick rules that I use. You can also verify the angle as well with the same method. If you do decide to move the bridge, don't forget about the pick ups. The poles will be out of alignment too.
No you're probably right to be fair but it's something I want to try at some point on a guitar and at least with this one I'll not be too scared to. Cheers for the straight edge advice I'll try that next time! And yeah a few have mentioned moving the bridge which may be the way to go, I'll think it through!
I'm pretty sure I would have sprayed the checkerplate black chrome
That sounds beautiful
finally!
@@sixsledges5474 thanks bud. Much more to come 😉
Looks like Khaya ivorensis. It has that characteristic African mahogany look, with a pale color.
Thanks Mark I'll Google that right now
I was going to purchase myself a Jazzmaster kit, looks like all the fundamentals are there just very bad hardware. I'd probably go with a DiMarzio and maybe those Guyker tuners you used. Not sure on the color though, I have too many white, black, and red guitars and already have a blue one so maybe orange.
Thanks mate.
What about some sort of yellow? 💛
@@Giant_Guitars Perhaps, I like the yellow on the older RGs and Gibson's TV yellow.
well if it doesn't play, it's still a work of art, you could hang it on the wall... people have paid much more for things just to hang them on a wall....
Thanks bud, yeah that is true enough
It seems more of a nut spacing issue than neck alignment
A few have mentioned this, I'm going to check that out! Thanks
Show the progress on this one!!!
Thanks mate
Thanks
Wow thanks mate, never had someone do a super like before. You shouldn't have, but thank you for that!!
Why don't a bolt neck?
This was just a glue in neck kit is all
wonder what it sounds like
At the moment, shite 😅😂
😆
i bought a cheap flying v kit, long story short, after lots of work and money and parts it ended up being unplayable with the fret leveling being horrible
Did you ever fix it?
@@Giant_Guitars not worth it, dunno how and it costs too much to fix 😭
@@-cobainism- fair enough 😔
I would say reset the neck 👍🏻
Thank you! Most agree with you ☺️
What no primer???; On the body???
@@GaryBertolo no need with the hand dyes
Regarding the commentor yakking about a pad, don't take any guff from anybody, ever, man....
Haha yeah I try not too. Thanks bud.
An explorer with one pickup is like a guy with one nut, you can get the job done but it’s not nearly as fun or effective
Lol I started to reply to this and thought I'd just laugh instead, I get your point though 😂
@@Giant_Guitars I’m. It trying to hate, you do you, it’s cool. I’ve just always wanted an explorer and if I were doing it I’d be doing it all in and would not be satisfied with a single pickup.
@@yodasecondave I know you're not mate haha my reply was just going to be about how one nut could be better 😂 😂 and yeah that's fair enough, I don't play enough to need two pickups 😅
@@Giant_Guitars LOL glad you understood I was teasing in jest...keep on rawkin
Typical norniron lad, had to get the most orange gloves ever made
@@burrrrrrrrrrrrrrp lol 😂😅😅 I never even thought of that mate. I'll wear green next time to even it out?
@@Giant_Guitars lol
If you want to sell it let me know
Will do 😃
Just take the high e string off and have a nice 5 string chug machine...who needs a high e string anyway?
Haha I agree with this to be fair
I think it’s a worthy candidate to do that neck removal that you had mentioned. Though if you decide not to do that, you can also recess the bridge hardware into the body a bit. Probably 3mm should cover it.
Thanks mate yeah you're right if I don't do the neck I can move the bridge, I appreciate that