# 8 string 30 inch explorer (first build)



## thedarknightshreds (Jul 27, 2014)

Hi guys first time builder here and i thought "we need more explorers" so i decided to make my first self built guitar, my first 30 inch scale guitar, my first 8 string and my first explorer all in one  
massive influence taken from this thread: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...-ngd-vapula-custom-8-str-empire-explorer.html
Specs i'm thinking as of now (might change slightly):
30 inch scale
Gibson Explorer body shape
neck through construction
maple, or ash neck
maple wings
macassar ebony veneered maple top
no brand pickups (for now)
hipshot bridge 
hipshot tuners
natural finish back and sides
maple fretboard 
here are some pics or initial drawings









and here is a halo custom shop rendering of what it should look like if i designed the guitar with my eyes closed 





Thanks for looking guys should be uploading more pics and updates soon 

Jack


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## thrashmetal85 (Jul 27, 2014)

I'm doing a V as my first build. 

What are you going to do about upper fret access? Because with 30 inches you'll have to move the bridge back or the headstock away. And Explorers are the undisputed kings of neck dive.

For my V I had to sacrifice the Gibson shape altogether as the body joined somewhere around the 15th fret 

And the Halo builder doesn't increase scale length even when you choose the option. It's always 25.5

Use this fret spacing template builder to help your design http://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/


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## thedarknightshreds (Jul 28, 2014)

I have scaled the body up by about 15%, I played a gibson explorer and figured since I am fairly large guy, It would look better if it was a bit larger.
The neck ends bout an inch from where the top horn joins the body so no problem with fret access
I understand the explorer is the king of neck dive but I am totally used to playing long scale SG's and other neck heavy guitars so I am used to it, but having the larger body may help a little bit
Also looking into chambering the body. I'm used to heavy guitars but I can imagine an upscales explorer being very heavy


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## rikomaru (Jul 28, 2014)

I saw that Halo rendering after your drawn shape and instantly started raging......until I actually read the closed eyes comment. Lmao


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## thedarknightshreds (Jul 28, 2014)

rikomaru said:


> I saw that Halo rendering after your drawn shape and instantly started raging......until I actually read the closed eyes comment. Lmao



it is rather hideous


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## rikomaru (Jul 28, 2014)

Now, now, everyone has a right to their own sense of taste......I guess. >_>


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## thrashmetal85 (Jul 28, 2014)

With my V I am routing an entire chamber in the lower wing to add a counterweight to to try and offset neck dive.


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## thedarknightshreds (Jul 29, 2014)

Got my wood! Sorry for atrocious picture 




specs have changed a little bit as i managed to blag myself a LOT of free walnut (12ft X 8inches X 50mm), I am now having a Walnut and Beech (yes Beech!) 3 piece neck, and i have also managed to blag myself a shoebox full of veneers for free so I may not be having Macassar ebony but i think it is black walnut so almost as good and it brings the whole cost of my build right down!
More updates soon, as i will be examining the veneers I have later today 

Jack


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## thedarknightshreds (Jul 29, 2014)

More wood!
This time the veneer pron!




Would anybody like to fill me in what species of wood this is, i have a feeling it is black walnut as nothing has been done to the veneer and it has some beautiful grain in it

Thanks again guys!
Jack


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## Guitardude (Jul 29, 2014)

Sounds like a cool build. I'm excited to see how it goes!


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## Grif (Jul 30, 2014)

the halo rendering reminds me of the guitar from daft punk music videos, that aside seems like this will be a cool build!


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## MoshJosh (Jul 30, 2014)

I've never had any neck dive with my explorer? haha maybe I'm just lucky, but with a maple body/wings I wouldn't imagine you'd have dive problems, isn't maple a fairly heavy wood?


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## thedarknightshreds (Jul 30, 2014)

Hi guys
More updates coming soon as I have had some parts delivered today!
Before I do any more work could somebody point me in the direction of an appropriate truss rod for this beast 
Thanks!

Jack


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## thedarknightshreds (Jul 31, 2014)

More pics!

Pretty nice flame for standard maple!




Planed and ready to be flattened further and to be prepared for glueing!




More flame




and just for you guys, a sneak preview of some wood ready to become part of a laminate neck, DAT WALNUT!





Thanks for the interest guys, more updates to come soon, stay tuned!

Jack


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## thedarknightshreds (Jul 31, 2014)

Update!








New chopping board for my mother!




Damn twists! All is well now, everything is going pretty well!




Some lovely maple boards!


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## lewis (Jul 31, 2014)

Cant wait to see this outcome.... an amazing project Idea. 8 string explorer made from these woods and that scale :O win.


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## immortalx (Aug 1, 2014)

Keep the photos coming man, this is gonna be awesome!


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 8, 2014)

Hi guys, sorry for the lack of updates due to me being on holiday.
All was going so well until i started planing the wood to try and get the damn twist out of that maple. I just kept planing until i realised that for the twist to be gone, the maple would have to be nearer 20mm thick than the desired 40-45mm thick , so another trip to the lumber yard is at hand  but i get to buy more wood so it's not so bad after all 
More updates coming soon as I have lots of parts being delivered soon, and hopefully some more wood to rectify my maple 

Jack


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 9, 2014)

My twists have not yet put me off so I sat down with photoshop for a little bit and edited some halo custom shop designs to the final 4 i think I will use. 
(Ropey photoshop content!)




I am feeling the bottom left design with the walnut body and 3 piece 
maple/walnut/maple neck and the maple fretboard


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## Forrest_H (Aug 11, 2014)

The bottom left looks fantastic.


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## jwade (Aug 11, 2014)

I vote bottom right neck config matched to bottom left body wood.


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 13, 2014)

More pics! Specs have changed yet again but the specs are pretty much fixed as i have actually started putting the thing together now!













Gonna cut some more wood out for the middle of the body so the body won't be so fat as it is!




With the help of Ben Crowe from Crimson Guitars, the specs are now
Chestnut body
Black Walnut and Ash neck
maple fretboard
Thanks guys, more pics coming soon

Jack


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 14, 2014)

Update!
Had a lovely big parcel from Hipshot USA today containing some amazing locking tuners and a great bridge! Also got a Shadow Killpot and a generic 500k tone pot




Got my neck blank all glued up!








More pics coming in the near future after the neck has dried
Jack


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 18, 2014)

Update!
Got the neck cut almost to size, got the fretboard and more bits have started to get glued together, small update but it really seems as if this build is tarting to come together! Also cut the route for the truss rod!
















Thanks guys

Jack


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## immortalx (Aug 18, 2014)

I really like this one and it's getting better and better.
I wish my first one looked half as good as yours man!


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## Chemical-Pony (Aug 18, 2014)

Is that a single action truss rod? If so you'll need a curved channel, fillet and a nut at each end for that to work.

Apologies if I've got it wrong.


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 18, 2014)

^Dual Action im pretty sure, 
Thanks for the comments guys!

Did I mention that this is for my school's Extended Project Qualification, so the school have agreed to pay for all of the woods and part! 

Thanks once again guys!

Jack


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## RunawayThumbtack (Aug 18, 2014)

thedarknightshreds said:


> Did I mention that this is for my school's Extended Project Qualification, so the school have agreed to pay for all of the woods and part!



Oh, wow...what pickups are you gonna get, then?


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## Alex Kenivel (Aug 19, 2014)

No shit? This is dope. 

+1 for some Explorer love. 
+1 for free build.


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 19, 2014)

RunawayThumbtack said:


> Oh, wow...what pickups are you gonna get, then?



I'm thinking BKP Warpigs or some lundgren m8's when I have some more money to shell out on this beast


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 19, 2014)

Alex Kenivel said:


> No shit? This is dope.
> 
> +1 for some Explorer love.
> +1 for free build.



Yeah all true and I get a qualification which is equivalent to getting an extra A level!


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## Pikka Bird (Aug 19, 2014)

This looks pretty great so far, except for one thing- the truss rod channel looks _huge_. The rod is supposed to fit snugly in there but it looks like yours is swimming in there. Perhaps you should cut some strips to glue to the sides of the channel to narrow it a bit.


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 19, 2014)

Pikka Bird said:


> This looks pretty great so far, except for one thing- the truss rod channel looks _huge_. The rod is supposed to fit snugly in there but it looks like yours is swimming in there. Perhaps you should cut some strips to glue to the sides of the channel to narrow it a bit.



Thanks Pikka, much appreciated!


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## thedarknightshreds (Aug 30, 2014)

long late update! pics are slightly backwards but you get the idea!
















and got the neck profile done, im just saying the neck thickness is 23mm with a 7mm fretboard 
thanks guys

Jack


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 1, 2014)

Moar pics from today!








You never know what you can expect to find when digging around in a family member's unwanted offcuts! Gonna make some pickup covers out of this!
(pictures don't do it justice!)





Thanks guys
Jack


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## immortalx (Sep 1, 2014)

Looking great man 
How thin is the neck profile?


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 1, 2014)

^very much an Ibanez neck profile, similar to a wizard II profile and very thin, looking to be about 19mm when the fretboard is taken down to the correct size


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## philentology (Sep 1, 2014)

this is an awesome start. *must rent workshop*


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 1, 2014)

philentology said:


> this is an awesome start. *must rent workshop*



Thanks man, great work on your SG, just read the thread! Nice job!


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## Pikka Bird (Sep 2, 2014)

Did you forget to cut a channel before gluing the wings on?


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 2, 2014)

Pikka Bird said:


> Did you forget to cut a channel before gluing the wings on?



Tried to drill a hole from the pickup cavities to the control cavity but I do not not own a drill long enough. Don't worry the cavities will have matching grain covers so it will look the best it possibly can in this situation


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## Pikka Bird (Sep 6, 2014)

^No worries, it looks like you got that... covered.

It's all learning experiences with the first couple of builds anyways. But for future neck-through projects you should just cut a channel into the side of the neck before attaching the wings. Just plan ahead where the cavities will be so the channel is not too long or too short.


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## Blue1970Cutlass (Sep 6, 2014)

Is it just my imagination, or did you scale up the body size since it's an 8 w/ 30" scale?

...I know Explorers are big guitars but this thing looks HUGE!


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 7, 2014)

Blue1970Cutlass said:


> Is it just my imagination, or did you scale up the body size since it's an 8 w/ 30" scale?
> 
> ...I know Explorers are big guitars but this thing looks HUGE!



I know exactly what you mean, the body is a little bit bigger than a standard explorer but the main thing that throws the eye off is the fact that the fretboard joins the upper horn at about the 22nd fret and it ends before you reach the bottom of the cutaway. this just means awesome upper fret access, especially for someone like me who has ogre hands (big but with not excessively long fingers).


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## Killemall1983 (Sep 7, 2014)

I am not sure the angle of that horn was the best decision visually. It looks pretty off. 
Have you played a 30" scale guitar before? That is pretty dang long.


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 8, 2014)

Killemall1983 said:


> I am not sure the angle of that horn was the best decision visually. It looks pretty off.
> Have you played a 30" scale guitar before? That is pretty dang long.



Now that you mention it, it does look a bit off. It's sort of a performance over aesthetics thing (major upper fret acces)
I play bass a lot and I have played a few ibanez m80ms and I really liked the extra long scale, it's also the idea of being able to tune it down to 9 string tuning if I wish


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 11, 2014)

Update!
I hope you guys like Purpleheart cause thats what your getting!

Purple  dust!






Obligatory router shot





You can make out the router marks, almost looks like a bruise..





This stuff is hard as heck but not as hard as a lot of people make it out to be, so if you plan on using the stuff, go for it but just to be sure you have some sharp tools!

Thanks for keeping up with this project guys, these pickup covers are taking a while to make so progress has been slow but it is getting there!

Also got the truss rod glued in and the back covers grain matched but don't have pics..

Thanks again guys, just want this finished now!  and sorry for the wordy update!

Jack


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## Jim666 (Sep 11, 2014)

You lost me at purpleheart...

But looks great otherwise!


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## pondman (Sep 11, 2014)

Aagh please don't use pickup rings.


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 11, 2014)

pondman said:


> Aagh please don't use pickup rings.



I was hoping no one was gonna bring it up!

Not pickup rings, pickup Covers! ala EMG, no rings in sight or anywhere near this build!

Edit: Found a relevant image


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 18, 2014)

Update!
Got the pickups fitted!
This is where i explain the covers, 
I am not the most experienced woodworker and because of so, a chisel is my tool of choice for precision work as I am very inexperienced with a freehand router. 
The covers are there to hide the rather shoddy cutting and routing on the pickup cavities. 








The work looks extremely shoddy in this picture, I promise is isn't this bad in real life. But this is my guitar and it is not going to be sold to anybody anytime soon, all in all i am okay with this level of work on my creation. 





Almost ready for fretting! 
Thanks guys
Jack


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## pondman (Sep 18, 2014)

thedarknightshreds said:


> I was hoping no one was gonna bring it up!
> 
> Not pickup rings, pickup Covers! ala EMG, no rings in sight or anywhere near this build!
> 
> Edit: Found a relevant image



Phew. I take it back.


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## Berserker (Sep 19, 2014)

Maybe I missed something, are you still putting a top on the body? I don't mean to offend you but those pickup cavities look awful... I hope they're getting covered up somehow. You have a router, I can't comprehend why you wouldn't make a template and use it.


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 19, 2014)

I didn't think to make a template at the time, now that you mention it i should have!

The pickup covers are covering the cavities as well as the pickups so those routes would be covered!
I was considering putting a top on but i quite liked the aesthetics as they are (minus the rather terrible job on the cavities).


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## Berserker (Sep 19, 2014)

thedarknightshreds said:


> I didn't think to make a template at the time, now that you mention it i should have!
> 
> The pickup covers are covering the cavities as well as the pickups so those routes would be covered!
> I was considering putting a top on but i quite liked the aesthetics as they are (minus the rather terrible job on the cavities).


 
Not sure how pickup covers can cover the cavities but I'll take your word for it. Looking forward to seeing how iit looks.


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## thedarknightshreds (Sep 19, 2014)

they are sort of pickup and cavity covers, they are not attached to the pickup, they are just placed over them and attached to the body with an area for pickup adjustment


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## thedarknightshreds (Oct 2, 2014)

Time flies when you are busy, doesn't it?


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## thedarknightshreds (Nov 29, 2014)

Hi guys, for anyone still following this thread, it has been finished and the showcase thread is here: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...-completed-8-string-explorer.html#post4227620


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