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GUITAR KIT WORLD EXP-style Guitar Kit, Assembly Manual

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GUITAR KIT WORLD EXP-style Guitar Kit Assembly Manual Download Page 4

A well ventilated work area

Ensure your work space is well ventilated, especially when finishing to prevent a build up of
potentially toxic fumes.

Making your Guitar Kit play & sound great

There are four stages to building a great kit guitar, these are:

1. Preparation and finishing

The finished surface appearance of your guitar e.g. staining, painting, or applying a hand
rubbed oil finish.

2. Hardware Installation

Fitting the tuners, strap buttons bridge, and pickups.

3. Connecting the electronics

Connecting the pickups to the input jack, and incorporating a pickup selector and volume
and tone pots.

4. Final Setup

Adjusting the neck relief, action, intonation and pickup height.

We’ll cover each of these below, starting with preparation and finishing.

4

Summary of Contents for EXP-style Guitar Kit

Page 1: ...des step by step instructions to build a DIY EXP style guitar using a kit Even if you have never built before you can learn how to get started by reading this tutorial There s nothing more satisfying than playing a guitar you have put together yourself 1 ...

Page 2: ...hillips head and flat head Pliers needle nose preferably Soldering iron Consumables Disposable gloves Titebond PVA or similar wood glue set neck guitar Small paintbrush Wood grain filler If open grain timber such as Mahogany or Oak Sandpaper Various grades from 120 up to 1500 depends on finish Finishing supplies This depends on your choice of finish Painters masking tape Assortment of clean rags a...

Page 3: ...nd volume knobs Assorted screws and washers Safety Precautions To complete your guitar kit safely also ensure you have the following on hand and a well ventilated work space to work in Protective eyewear Use protective safety glasses or a genuine face shield not regular prescription reading or sunglasses Disposable gloves Use disposable gloves if applying stains or oil finishes directly to the gui...

Page 4: ...nishing The finished surface appearance of your guitar e g staining painting or applying a hand rubbed oil finish 2 Hardware Installation Fitting the tuners strap buttons bridge and pickups 3 Connecting the electronics Connecting the pickups to the input jack and incorporating a pickup selector and volume and tone pots 4 Final Setup Adjusting the neck relief action intonation and pickup height We ...

Page 5: ...e filling deep scratches that require sanding and glue residue on the surface of the guitar that will prevent your finish from being absorbed evenly Glue stains will only apply for guitars with binding and or a veneer top Dry fitting the neck Insert the neck First push the heel gently into the back of the neck pocket then push the neck down flat This reduces the risk of chipping the thin edges of ...

Page 6: ...ompensate for the additional mass of the thicker bass strings and the saddles can be adjusted forward or back via the intonation adjustment screws Check the neck alignment The neck once inserted into the neck pocket should have very little sideways movement If it does mark the center on the neck heel and align this with the center of your neck and bridge pickup cavities If this results in a gap on...

Page 7: ...ate You can also use cardboard 2 Using a coping saw jigsaw or ideally a bandsaw cut out the headstock shape and sand the edges of your template smooth 3 Taking a small clamp clamp the template to the headstock and carefully trace the outline From there you can either cut the new headstock shape using the template as a guide or remove the clamps and cut following the outlines you just made When cut...

Page 8: ...e an even coating on both surfaces 3 Clamp the neck to the body of the guitar You can use one but two clamps is recommended Ensure you have scrap wood on hand to protect the surface of the guitar when clamping and clamp firmly 4 Follow the product recommendations with regard to when you can safely remove the clamps and handle the guitar In most cases leaving the guitar overnight will do the job Pr...

Page 9: ...open grain timber such as Oak or Mahogany the open pores of the timber will prevent a flat finish unless filled Basswood for the most part is optional In most cases it s advisable to grain fill but if painting a solid color you can get by using a primer which will level and seal the surface If you are staining depending on the product you are using you can grain fill either before or after In almo...

Page 10: ...nough to dig into the wood and create more open pores 5 Inspect the surface of the guitar and repeat the process if required Masking You should also mask the neck pocket and body cavities of your guitar when spraying a finish Mask the tuning peg holes on the headstock to keep the holes clean along with the holes for the bridge and tailpiece and pay special attention to the truss rod You should als...

Page 11: ...d piece of basswood for example may not provide a great aesthetic either Wear gloves and a mask and work in a well ventilated area as required Fumes from some finishing products can be toxic Clean the body of the guitar using a product that includes a degreasing agent Wear disposable gloves when handling the guitar after cleaning Make sure you are working in a relatively dust free environment and ...

Page 12: ...a day for example your first coat may have trouble curing If you are using steel wool on the body of the guitar prior to finishing ensure you remove all fibers left from the steel wool Hang your guitar in a cool dry environment Don t leave your guitar outside to dry and attract dust In most cases you can respray within an hour If you leave it longer than this you may need to leave the guitar for 2...

Page 13: ... small fragile and easily stripped Whenever installing hardware or plastic covers 1 Use masking tape on the guitar to mark the location of the hole using a pen pencils usually don t result in sharp lines on masking tape 2 Mark the location of the hole making an indentation in the wood through the masking tape using a hole punch or similar tool 13 ...

Page 14: ...s Mahogany and Basswood Installing strap buttons Strap buttons not only support your guitar when playing standing up the placement of the strap buttons also affects the balance of the guitar On an EXP guitar there are a couple of options for the location of your strap buttons For the rear strap button you can center the strap button or position it approx from the top of the lower bout The front st...

Page 15: ...er by lining up the hole at the tip for the truss cover with the centerline Installing the Tuners 1 Start by inserting the tuner in the back of the headstock with the mounting hole facing back toward the body 2 Place the washers over the tuning posts then place the bushings and install the tuners by hand tightening 3 Align the tuners using either of the methods outlined below 4 Mark the location o...

Page 16: ...also align tuners relative to one another using a steel ruler across your tuners once in place Or install the first and last tuner and using a steel ruler mark a straight line between them on masking tape to mark out the location of the pilot holes Installing the Bridge When installing the Tune O matic style bridge you will need to first insert the ground wire against the bridge post bushing which...

Page 17: ...e ground wire through to the electronics cavity There should also be a corresponding hole on the inside of the electronics cavity as shown There will be a loose black wire within your packaging 1 Remove a few mm of the PVC coating and expose the bare wires 2 Thread the wire ensuring the bare wires are exposed and will sit flush against the side of the bridge or tailpiece post bushing once installe...

Page 18: ...First identify the neck and bridge pickup You can easily tell them apart by the profile of the pickup surround The pickup with the deeper pickup surround is the bridge Then follow the steps below 1 Taking the neck pickup thread the pickup wires through the hole in the rear of the neck pickup cavity then position the pickup with the pickup wires adjacent to the top corner of the cavity 2 Take the w...

Page 19: ...ome cases When soldering there are a couple of things to keep in mind 1 Tinning Tin your soldering iron and the components you are connecting to Tinning refers to maintaining a light coating of solder over the tip of your soldering iron and prevents the iron tip from oxidizing 2 Preheating Soldering is really about transferring heat The lug or component you are connecting to should be preheated so...

Page 20: ...here are many ways to wire an electric guitar We ll cover each of the steps below The EXP style kit has 2 wiring configurations 2 Humbuckers w 2 volume 2 tone and 3 way switch or 2 Humbuckers w 2 volume 1 tone and 3 way switch We included the diagram for both on the next page 20 ...

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Page 23: ...n the side of the neck pickup cavity to the pickup selector cavity 2 Install the pickup selector to the pickguard 3 The washer and nut will be on the pickup selector Loosen these and reattach once the pickup selector is inserted into the pickguard Connect the pickup selector wires The four wires will now be connected to the pickup selector 23 ...

Page 24: ...neck and bridge pickup wires through the hole at the side of the bridge pickup cavity and place the guitar on its face You can tape the different wires together to help keep track of them Ground the volume pots and installing the capacitor Connect the ground lugs the lugs on the left if facing away to the back of the casing This can be done by either bending back the ground lug and soldering into ...

Page 25: ...her of the volume pots Connecting the output wires to the tone pot and input jack Next connect the loose green and black wires to the input and ground lug of the input jack The ground lug on the input jack is connected to the inner sleeve of the jack Once connected you can install the input jack as it won t be required again 25 ...

Page 26: ...ot Next solder the remaining loose black wire to the back of the tone pot You can now secure the tone pot into the electronics cavity if you choose Connecting the pickup wires Next we ll connect the hot and ground wires from our pickups to the input lugs of our volume pots To do this connect the shielded wires to the lug on the right hand side of the pot if facing away from you and the unshielded ...

Page 27: ...g the pickups and selector switch and volume by tapping on the pole pieces of the pickups in each position 4 Final Setup The last stage of our project is setting up the guitar This is an important step that makes all the difference with regard to playability and tone Our final setup will consist of four key areas Neck relief String action Intonation Pickup Height I ll provide a basic overview of e...

Page 28: ...r option is to hold down the first and last fret and then tap the 12th fret lightly of the low E string If the string is already sitting hard against the fret more relief will be required If sitting well above the fret the amount of relief may need to be reduced To adjust the amount of relief adjust the truss rod using the hey key included in your packaging Turn counter clockwise to loosen the tru...

Page 29: ...e taking into account the different string gauges Make sure the guitar is in tune before checking and making adjustments Action is adjusted at the bridge Loosen the bridge posts to raise the action tighten the bridge posts to lower the action Intonating the guitar Intonation in essence means is the guitar in tune with itself You can check this by tuning to standard tuning and then checking the str...

Page 30: ...ar toward the bass strings To lengthen the string turn the intonation adjustment screws at the front of the bridge counter clockwise To shorten turn them clockwise Make sure the guitar is in tune before checking and adjusting Adjusting pickup height Lastly we ll check and adjust the pickup height Much like string action the height of your pickups is mostly based on personal preference and will dep...

Page 31: ...come more accustomed to the guitar you may want to revisit some aspects especially the final setup of the guitar You should also test the guitar by going through each pickup position and testing the volume and tone pot Also test for interference by taking your hands off the guitar and listening for hum If you hear any signs of electrical interference you may need to open the electronics cavity and...

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