A
Anonymous
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I started getting a hankerin' for a Charvel Custom Shop Explorer pointy with a white/black zebra paint job and matching headstock, because of an old one I saw on eBay.... but, of course, Charvel doesn't make Explorers anymore...
So I thought I'd just build my own and see if I could paint it myself. Figured I'd do a build thread to show all the steps of painting and building the thing since I thought some might be interested in my trials and tribulations trying to do this. While I've built many guitars from parts, I've never painted anything. You'll see if I screw it up or if it comes out cool.
I've decided to shoot urethane enamel paint because of the fact that it dries so much quicker than lacquer. Here is what I want it to look like:
The difference is mine will have a black original Floyd and the pickups will be direct mounted. I got all the parts. Going with a black Dimarzio Super D in the bridge and a Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell in the neck. Got an aftermarket 2010 Charvel USA Pro Mod neck plate for authenticity. Planet Waves black locking tuners. Two EVH low friction volumes and a 3 way switch. Decided to go with a black Korina body from Warmoth and a Warmoth Jackson/Charvel point style neck. First step is to mask the body and neck and build and install a holder for the body:
Next step is to fill those deep holes in the pickup cavity that accommodate the mounting screws when using pickup rings. They need to be filled because I'm going to screw the pickups directly into this area and the holes are very deep and the wood at the bottom is quite shallow. That is just the way Warmoth does their bodies, although I found out the can do a route for direct mount pickups. Oh well too late - got this body from the showcase. I needed something that could fill a big area and could be sanded, painted and drilled, so I went with Devcon 10 Minute Epoxy. It is a two part marine epoxy. At first, I tried some Devcon epoxy wood filler, but it sucked - wouldn't dry. I had to dig all that shit out and start over. What a pain in the ass! You can kinda see the remnants of that shit in the pickup holes in the last picture. The marine epoxy will for sure do the trick. As soon as the applicator get here, I'll do that. Then it is time to fill the wood grain on the body and headstock with Pacer Z-Poxy. More soon...
Steve
So I thought I'd just build my own and see if I could paint it myself. Figured I'd do a build thread to show all the steps of painting and building the thing since I thought some might be interested in my trials and tribulations trying to do this. While I've built many guitars from parts, I've never painted anything. You'll see if I screw it up or if it comes out cool.
I've decided to shoot urethane enamel paint because of the fact that it dries so much quicker than lacquer. Here is what I want it to look like:
The difference is mine will have a black original Floyd and the pickups will be direct mounted. I got all the parts. Going with a black Dimarzio Super D in the bridge and a Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell in the neck. Got an aftermarket 2010 Charvel USA Pro Mod neck plate for authenticity. Planet Waves black locking tuners. Two EVH low friction volumes and a 3 way switch. Decided to go with a black Korina body from Warmoth and a Warmoth Jackson/Charvel point style neck. First step is to mask the body and neck and build and install a holder for the body:
Next step is to fill those deep holes in the pickup cavity that accommodate the mounting screws when using pickup rings. They need to be filled because I'm going to screw the pickups directly into this area and the holes are very deep and the wood at the bottom is quite shallow. That is just the way Warmoth does their bodies, although I found out the can do a route for direct mount pickups. Oh well too late - got this body from the showcase. I needed something that could fill a big area and could be sanded, painted and drilled, so I went with Devcon 10 Minute Epoxy. It is a two part marine epoxy. At first, I tried some Devcon epoxy wood filler, but it sucked - wouldn't dry. I had to dig all that shit out and start over. What a pain in the ass! You can kinda see the remnants of that shit in the pickup holes in the last picture. The marine epoxy will for sure do the trick. As soon as the applicator get here, I'll do that. Then it is time to fill the wood grain on the body and headstock with Pacer Z-Poxy. More soon...
Steve
You are a true Renaissance man. Is there anything you can't do? 
