Jackson/Warmoth Explorer

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

You probably would want it painted after it was modified for the Jackson heel. I agree, do a KNE, it looks much closer to an Explorer body anyway (Warmoth's is kind of... Off.)

[killxswitch]

Thank you guys for the help. Once I have some CC debt paid off I will start on this project. I was prepared to pay a lot more for the body and neck (thought I'd have to get a Warmoth neck too) so I may be closer to this thing than I thought. I've done a lot of googling and never came across KNE.

Planning to go w/mahogany body, flame maple top dyed a dark crimson, white binding, Bill Lawrence (not "Bill Lawrence USA") L500XL in the bridge and L500R in the neck w/Q filter and split coils. Still considering a single coil between the two humbuckers and a 5 position switch.

Any suggestions on sources for Jackson necks? I've looked on ebay, some decent options there. But I'm thinking word-of-mouth is going to get me where I need to be.

[hunterkolb]

either go for a DK2 neck or one of the ones from guitarpartsonline, those arent bad. pretty comfortable.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

22-fret Jackson necks aren't too easy to come by since almost everything is 24-fret these days, and those are not interchangeable.

[axmann]

I just went to that KnE website. They sure have some cool stuff that seems to be reasonably priced. Yikes.

[hunterkolb]

I just went to that KnE website. They sure have some cool stuff that seems to be reasonably priced. Yikes.

Yikes??

[RacerX]

Yikes??

As in, "Yikes, my wife's gonna kill me when I go on a KNE shopping spree!"

[killxswitch]

Yikes??

Maybe "yikes my wallet is about to get lighter".

[ginsambo]

I'd also highly recommend KNE. I got two star bodies recently, one ash, one mahogany and you can't fault them. OK so a hairline crack in one of the peices of mahogany, that was in the wood and the neck pocket of one is ever so slightly, so very slightly chipped out from routed, it is nothing you cannot get around when sealing and base coating with primer and nothing that wouldn't happen with a production guitar. I'II say the router bit was very sharp when they were routed. They are identical in every contour and final sand and perrrfectly smooth.

KNE did the TOM bridge rout (Note: TOM Bridge superior to recessed floyd rose ), even though it wasn't a listed option. They knew exactly what I wanted when I sent them just an email, even though I sent them additional example photos or website links for with examples on them. The whole service was very personable and they were very switched on and clued up and have a fast turnaround.

I didn't know they did the 2 and 1/4" neck pocket - which they WILL do! Obviously it stands to reason with all the other ciustom options they'll take on. In fact I'd be surprised if they haven't got a router template for a long heel / Jackson type 24 fret neck.

KNE bodies are VERY Authentic to the originals, whereas Warmoth are definitely a more Fender orientated company i every way and think inside the box.

Warmoth do make great necks but the service is much more ticks and crosses on order forms, turnaround is longer and although the necks always play great the quality can be a little off at times, they are not perfect either!

You could always get two bodies made that way if you don't like the tone of one....

If you want a flame type top and have patience, you could try dying it yourself and going nitro cellulose, as all that stuff is available for DIY. Its the catalysed 2k acrylic/poly laquer that is equipment hungry and harder to fix if it goes tits up.

I'd do Warmoth (2 and 3/16") or Jackson (2 and 1/4") neck and KNE body with pocket to suit rather than trying to widen something yourself. Remember if it is routed for a surface mounted floyd, the neck pocket will be angled by two or three degrees which will make widening it cleanly a bit more involved than just slapping a router and a guide on it.

There are some 2 and 3/16" Jackon neck about beleive it or not. But they are rare as they were early Indian production I think and not worth searching out I wouldn't think.

[GuerillaPete]

Same here. +2 for KNE. I've gotten two bodies from Mitch for projects; a star and a soloist-styled. Told him what I was doing. He made suggestions/recommendations and in the end Pete was a happy boy.

KillxSwitch: Very cool concept.
Was actually thinking of hitting up KNE before the Xmas holiday for an explorer project. But I've got too many things going on.

[Devotee]

ginsambo and GuerillaPete, please post pics of your KNE stars.

[killxswitch]

ginsambo and Pete, thank you for your input. I have a follow-up question for you and for others that have used KNE and Warmoth.

I got a quick response back from Mitch, less than 8 hrs! I asked about the Jackson neck pocket width, flame maple top, Kahler trem route for the bridge, and routing for the switch on the lower horn. The answer was "yes we can do that" to all of them, so that was great. However, what was not so great was the price. The maple top is $225, so all-told it would be $435 plus unknown shipping costs.

A Warmoth body, without any bridge routing but otherwise exactly the same, would be $365 + $17.50 shipping. Pretty big difference. Of course that would lock me into getting a Warmoth neck (which would be more expensive) or having the neck pocket widened.

Thoughts? I'm sure the KNE body would be high-quality but the $70 price difference is pretty significant.

[GuerillaPete]

It's up to you. Warmoth's pricing is lower probably because of the sheer volume of orders they do. You can save $70 now, and then you'll have to spend money later for bridge routing and neck pocket widening, etc.

If you do go with Warmoth, you might want to look at their 'showcase' section for pre-existing bodies. You might save some money there too.

[killxswitch]

I am still leaning toward the KNE. Neither option is perfect.

I was tooling around the web and found an Explorer guitar generator. Amazingly, it had EVERY option I want! This is the perfect visual representation of the guitar I am going to build! So cool to just stumble on it and make it in like 20 minutes!



The generator is found here: http://www.liquidpixelshop.com/LPSCG...rGuitarGen.htm

[RacerX]

Hey, that looks really cool. I think you should break out your piggy bank and go with the KNE.