Build #2: Sinister Seven String Explorer

Now that the weather is finally starting to co-operate, I will be able to start building a new axe.

The kit:  Custom 7 String Pitbull Guitars EX-1 (www.pitbullguitars.com).

Build plan:

- Black body, neck, headstock
- Black locking tuning heads
- Black tune-o-matic bridge
- String through tail
- Gibson style pick guard, with 3 way toggle
- EMG 81-7 (bridge)
- EMG 60-7 (neck)
- EMG AB-1 Gain boost
- Graphtech TUSQ-XL Nut

Anxiously awaiting my next builds

Back in March, I ordered a pair of kits from Pitbull Guitars (http://www.pitbullguitars.com/).

On top of that, I received a bunch of gift certificates for my birthday to purchase a Precision Guitar kit (http://buy.precisionguitarkits.com/).

Looking forward to building these kits... However, as each is coming from outside of the US, it is taking a bit of time to get them. Patience is not always a strong quality of mine. Hopefully they get here soon, so I can build some sweet axes.

Ibanez Rebuild = Complete

It is official, the Ibanez is done.

Finished wiring, installed the pickups, installed the nut, installed the bridge and tail piece, tuners, and strung it up.

Here are some photos of the last phase of the rebuild:

Ibanez rebuild: Some more progress

Spent most of the day today apartment shopping, working on a website for a client, and spending the evening with the girlfriend, but I did manage to get a couple of tasks done on the Ibanez rebuild

- Finished the battery compartment (finally managed to drill a hole between the battery compartment and the control cavity, so that i can hook the gain boost up.

- Removed the old plastic nut.   I'm putting a graphtech man made ivory nut on there, which is slightly wider E to E, but should make the guitar much more of a pleasure to play.


As always, here are some pics:

Ibanez Project - Tear down and some progress

So, I have begun tearing down the Ibanez.

Here are some photos of it all torn down:

Through doing this tear down, i discovered a few things... I have to do some mods to get some of the new parts to fit.  Mod 1:  Expand the control holes for the volume and tone pot, Ibanez uses smaller metric pots from the factory, so the holes are slightly too small to fit the new CTS pots.  The other problem I came across is the new 3 way switch's thread sleeve was too small, so I have to remove some of the wood around the hole so that I can bolt it on.

Simple enough.

The fun part was routing the battery compartment cavity.  Having never used a router before, I think I did a decent job.  Accidentally took a small chunk of the paint off when I first started...  Gives it character, right?  HAHA.

Here are some photos of the progress i've made so far.

Finally, might I also offer a word of caution... working with guitars can be dangerous:

Next Build(s) have been ordered

So, I took a chance and decided to custom order a pair of 7 string guitar kits from Pitbull Guitars

(http://www.pitbullguitars.com).

The kits I ordered are:

#1: 7 String Explorer (Pitbull EX-1 model)

#2: 7 String Les Paul (Pitbull LP-1 model)


Both guitars have customizations:

- Ebony fretboard with no inlays
- No binding
- No tailpiece drilling (going to do a string through)


These kits are supposed to arrive sometime in April or May, so I hope to begin a dual build at that time.

Build #1: Finished

I forgot to post photos of the finished build... oops... 6 months late, but here goes:

New Project: Renovating an Ibanez ART100DX

Ibanez ART100DX

Parts are ordered.  The guitar is on its way.

So, what am I doing?

I am tearing down an entry level single cutaway "Les Paul" copy, and upgrading everything that isn't permanently fixed to it.

The guitar being white, I am doing dark hardware.  Everything but the cavity cover, truss rod cover, knobs, pickup rings and pickups will be black nickel.  (the bridge, tailpiece, input jack plate, strap buttons, tuners, and 3 way switch will all be black nickel coated).

So, what specifically am I putting in this build?

The build list:

Nut: Graphtech Black Tusq XL

Pickups:  EMG H4 (bridge) / EMG H4A (neck)

Bridge: GOTOH GE-103B-T 

Tailpiece: GOTOH GE-101A

Potentiometers: CTS 500K Short Split Shafts

Tuners:  Proline Locking Tuners

Some other cosmetic things that I'll be doing to this guitar:

Staining the fretboard to an ebony color

Sanding the gloss from the back of the neck

As things arrive and progress I will be updating the build list.  Stay tuned :)