LP Korina Dragonburst - Pics UPDATE, MORE PICS

[Volitions Advocate]

so yeah.. i'll admit, im pretty excited.

I opened the neck box up first thinking id save the best for last and open the body after the neck.   I gotta say. i opened it up and took out the neck and i almost forgot about the body for a few minutes,, the neck is amazing!!.. theres this nice streak across the top you probably can't see int he photos.  My first time with an ebony fretboard, the pearl inlays are freakin amazing.  this neck is hot.

The body is so much more than i expected. and its LIGHT. i got it chambered so i guess thats why.  These pictures do not do this thing justice.  Sorry my camera sucks and i dont have any kind of diffused light setup, but heres the pictures!

At the time I post this. I've already go the first coat of shielding paint on there.  But I want to knwo if anybody has tricks to paint the channel that runs from the 3way switch - neck pickup - control cavity.   i have no idea how im going to paint inside there.

I've also got the machine heads already on the neck.. I just need to screw them on so they dont move.

Specs:
Black Kornia body (chambered)
Mahogany neck w/ Ebony freboard
stop/tail bridge.
SD JB bridge PUP
SD '59 neck PUP
Grover Rotomatic Tuners 18:1 ratio
500K pots
.47 farad caps

This is going to be one mean rock guitar.
All the hardware is chrome.

I can't wait to get this thing finished.  More pics to come.

THANK YOU WARMOTH!

 

[incense]

My first impression is "that guitar is going to be better than a real les paul!"

Probably not the 1st time you put it together (so you can at least A/B it) but maybe the first time you take it apart and put it BACK together (if you can bring yourself to do it) You should glue that neck joint to really get a good solid union - that's what I did with my bass (but, as you may notice) I wish I had checked it out w/o gluing 1st to notice if there really was a difference.  PLUS, if I'd had an alignment issue...(luckily I didn't)

 

[jackthehack]

Use shielded wire from toggle switch back to pots, you don't need to worry about painting that cavity.

I would NOT advise gluing the neck in...

 

[Volitions Advocate]

yeah i wont be gluing it in.  If it works dont fix it right? besides the finish on the neck covers the entire thing. so theres no bare wood on the whole neck.. might be kind of difficult to glue a glossy lacquer.

Theres also a cable already in the cavity fed into the stud of the bridge.  I guess thats the ground wire already supplied.  nice of them. makes thigns easeir for this first time builder.

 

[simple]

I saw this order before it left. Yes, it's definately WOW parts!  Congradulations!  :headbang:

 

[CD]

That guitar is going to be smokin' hot.

 

[Volitions Advocate]

okay progress pics.

I've got her all taped up and the 2nd coat of shielding paint is on.

The Control Cavity.  The wire was in there already supplied and its touching the stud to the bridge.  Does anybody know where its supposed to go? remember I'm new and i havent fiddled with it yet. im not at the electronics part of the build yet.  TOMORROW haha!

The neck is totally finished. All i have to do it bolt it on when im done wiring the body up.  That chrome metal logo looks fantastic.  Its like a dream it hasn't registered that this is gonna be a guitar yet it just looks too good.

and the back of the head stock.  I bought a Dremel and some bits for it to drill the holes.  I went to Michaels craft store and bought some plain candle wax and i just screwed the screws into the wax then took em out and put them in the holes i drilled.  Smooth.  It worked really well.  anybody complaining about broken screwheads. do this. it worked so well.

Im going to take the tape off in a few hours once the paint is dry.. I"ll let it cure overnight then tomorrow I'll work on figuring out how to wire it ..  thats the most daunting thing so far.
I need tips!  I'm doing the basic LP style wiring.  and honestly I have no idea how to mount the pickup into his cavity.  So let me know what you think so far. and gimme tips!  I"ll post a video when its all done.

 

[Alfang]

Do you know how to solder?  Use flux, it makes life sooooo easy

 

[Volitions Advocate]

the solder i got says it has non corrosive flux in it... so.. i guess i do.  and no i dont really know how to solder.

I looked at the pots.. they come included with 2 nuts.  one bigger than the other and a funny looking black washer lookin thing....  I dont know how to do it all up.

The paints dry now.. good and thick it looks like. It'll be cured and ready to wire tomorrow after i get home from work.  I'm confident i'll be able to wire it up properly its the structural things I didn't really think about.  Like how do i phsically put the pups in? they're both the same shape...  i dontk now how to use the spring and the screw.. and of course the mounting ring has its own set of springs and screws...  and then theres the different nuts and such that come with the pots.

the visible rods on the pickups end up facing different ways once their in right? do they both point towards each other or away from each other?  does that question make sense?  I guess I'll just have a look at a guitar with nickel plated pickups..  My dean guitar has covered picksups.. they look like EMG's but they're passive.. so i can't really see to use it as a reference for orienting the things.

My dad will help me with the soldering so im not too worried at the moment about the actualy wiring.  Its more installing all the hardware that I'm worried about.

 

[jackthehack]

How are you planning to wire it, stock Les Paul wiring? Any way you wind up doing the wiring all pots get grounded,  just solder the bridge grounding wire to the ground you'll run on back of one of the tone pots.

 

[Volitions Advocate]

yep stock LP wiring.  I figure I'll install the pots before i start soldering stuff. so that they're in the cavity while im doing it. but the jack i'l wait till im done all the soldering before i screw it on.  And I'll drill all the holes i need to before i start anything. (ie jackplate screws and control cavity cover screws and such)

 

[jackthehack]

Forgot to add; the orientation of the pickups should be that the pole pieces on the neck pickup are up - towards the neck, and bridge down, towards the bridge.

As to mounting the pickups; you thread one of the long skinny screws through the mounting ring and spring, depress the spring slightly and start the screw into the pickup. Once the pickup is mounted in the ring, push the wiring through the route to the control cavity and insert the pickup into the pickup route. Pull all the excess wire through to the control cavity, then get the mounting ring exactly centered in the pickup route (you might want to tape it in place for the next step). Use a 1/16" drill bit to drill pilot holes for the mounting ring, then insert screws and screw in.

 

[Volitions Advocate]

Okay... so mounting the pickups was easy. the hard part was all the soldering .. man what a pain.  But heres the biggest problem yet.  The wiring kit doesn't have enough shielded wire.  I need wire from the middle posts of the 2 volume pots to the 3 way and then from the 3 way back to the jack... but i only have enough to get back about halfway to the jack after wiring the pots to it..  anybody else run into this problem?? im so close to finished and i can't  figure out what to do....

 

[Alfang]

Okay... so mounting the pickups was easy. the hard part was all the soldering .. man what a pain.  But heres the biggest problem yet.  The wiring kit doesn't have enough shielded wire.  I need wire from the middle posts of the 2 volume pots to the 3 way and then from the 3 way back to the jack... but i only have enough to get back about halfway to the jack after wiring the pots to it..  anybody else run into this problem?? im so close to finished and i can't  figure out what to do....

You can go to any electronics store, radio shack, just find some small diameter shielded cable or wire, either use it as is, or you can actually remove the outer shield very easy, and slide new wire into it.  Be carefull if you use bare exposed shield , to keep from shorting on places it shouldn't. 

If your controll cavity is shielded and grounded. i wouldn't worry about it.

 

[givememytoys]

man thats going to make one sweet custom post pics when completed thanks kayle

 

[Volitions Advocate]

I have a Big problem. My solder must be wrong. its 60/40 solder with Flux.  And the flux wont burn off.  I can't get any good contacts on the back of the pots.  this really sucks my control cavity is such a mess.  I've been soldering for 2 days straight and all i get is bubbles and they dont stick.  Its very frustrating.  What kind of solder should I be using?  I've tried using flux with it and it really doesn't do anything.. the flux just keeps building up ont he pots and i have to try to wipe it off after heating it up.  I'm almost done (if i've even done it right or the soldering I've done so far have good contacts)  I need help. my dads an expert at everything and hes helping me and he says hes never run into this before.

 

[jackthehack]

??? Forget the flux; I just use the cheap ass Radio Shack rosin core solder, works like  champ; also you may be using too much flux, which you don't need with the rosin core solder and your iron might not be getting hot enough.

There's nothing on a guitar you can't solder with this cheap ass 30 watt Radio Shack soldering iron;

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062758&cp=2032058.2032236.2032313&parentPage=family

I've got high end Weller soldering stations at work and wouldn't even bother with carrying one home to do guitar solder work. (Fender 75 amp project a different story....)

 

[-CB-]

I use Pace

 

[-CB-]

I have a Big problem. My solder must be wrong. its 60/40 solder with Flux.  And the flux wont burn off.  I can't get any good contacts on the back of the pots.  this really sucks my control cavity is such a mess.  I've been soldering for 2 days straight and all i get is bubbles and they dont stick.  Its very frustrating.  What kind of solder should I be using?  I've tried using flux with it and it really doesn't do anything.. the flux just keeps building up ont he pots and i have to try to wipe it off after heating it up.  I'm almost done (if i've even done it right or the soldering I've done so far have good contacts)  I need help. my dads an expert at everything and hes helping me and he says hes never run into this before.

You need to CLEAN the pots down to shiney metal, or you'll not be able to solder to them at all.  For some reason this is true more on the pots I've gotten from Warmoth than others.... but it might be a fluke.  Really, all pots should be burnished or otherwise have the metal cleaned before soldering to them.

 

[Volitions Advocate]

Thanks CB thats what i suggested to my dad about scratching off some surface of the pots..  Truth is the solder we had was given to me by the machinist at work. and hes like 900 years old so i dont know when this solder was made.  wed not be using flux at all.. and wed melt the solder on the iron and out of nowhere puddles of the flux would appear on the back of the  pot. 

truth is though we stuck it out and got it done.. we used different solder.. that rosin core stuff you were talking about and it worked thousands times better.

now i just have to figure out 2 things...

My neck tone pot isn't working... not sure why.  something might've just come loose.

and if anybody can help me with this one.    When the 3 way is in the middle position if i turn down one of the 'buckers to off all the signal is gone..  In my Custom Tele II if you turn the volume all the way off on one pickup the other still sounds like normal..  im sure theres just a wiring trick..  I used the diagram from seymour duncan's site.  the 2 buckers. 2 volume, 2 tone, and 3 way.

there were actually 4 contact points on the 3 way other than the ground.. so the middle 2 i just squished together and soldered as one..  does that make sense?  was that a big mistake?  well i can live with the switching thing anyway. but the tone pot has to be fixed or i'll go nuts.

i'll post a picture later tonight for now i have to show off to all my friends..
then get it set up