Where can I find an Explorer style neck?

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I'm thinking of building myself an Explorer body and getting a readymade neck for it, but I'm having serious trouble finding one. LP, Strat and Tele necks seem to be really common and easy to find, but so far I haven't had any luck finding an Explorer one. I'd love to get a Warmoth neck, but getting one shipped here would cost me roughly 290e total, which is way too much for this project. It has to be mahogany and come with a fretted fingerboard. Does anyone know where I could find one?

Here's a rough sketch of what I'm planning:

 

[Metaltastic]

www.warmoth.com, absolutely unparalleled customizability and quality! (but you definitely pay for it )

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Dude,

I'd love to get a Warmoth neck, but getting one shipped here would cost me roughly 290e total, which is way too much for this project.

 

[Metaltastic]

FUCK, I hate reading

 

[Jaymz]

Is there actually such thing as a "explorer" neck? The necks on the ESP EX series are on some other models and I thought the Gibson Explorers necks are basically like a LP/SG?

 

[Metaltastic]

I think it's the headstock he's mainly concerned about

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Yup, the headstock. The necks with blank paddle headstocks I've found aren't big enough to turn into an Explorer headstock. I might have to settle with something else. I think a Schecter-ish 3+3 could fit pretty well, too.

 

[MetalJonesy]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Banana-Maple-...QptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item1e57aef057

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Banana-Maple-...QptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item1e57aef057

Looks sweet, but that's a maple neck, not mahogany. I'm thinking of settling for one of these and making a different kind of headstock: http://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/Set-Neck-wRosewood-Fingerboard__BYO-SN.aspx

Anyone know if the BYO stuff is any good?

 

[AHChris]

Hmmmmmm I would call this BYO guys. They offer a Explorer style guitar kit with a mahogany necks...... If you´re lucky they´ll sell it separately.

PS: You did a sweet photoshop job here^^

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Hmmmmmm I would call this BYO guys. They offer a Explorer style guitar kit with a mahogany necks...... If you´re lucky they´ll sell it separately.

PS: You did a sweet photoshop job here^^

Excellent idea, thanks! I emailed them about it, let's hope for the best

 

[AudioPhile777]

Where can I find an Explorer style neck?

When I first read that, I thought... "On an explorer... duh!"

haha.

 

[53Crëw]

My first thought was obviously Warmoth. They are the only company I'm aware of that makes an Explorer neck as a standard item. (Albeit, a bolt-on.)

Carvin makes some neck thru paddle head necks. They are shown in maple, but perhaps they would do a Mahogany one....

http://www.carvinguitars.com/necks/

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

My first thought was obviously Warmoth. They are the only company I'm aware of that makes an Explorer neck as a standard item. (Albeit, a bolt-on.)

Carvin makes some neck thru paddle head necks. They are shown in maple, but perhaps they would do a Mahogany one....

http://www.carvinguitars.com/necks/

Almost as expensive as Warmoth (a mahogany neck, if they agreed to make one, would probably cost even more), wrong number of frets and wrong scale, so that's a no go

At this point I'd be happy to settle with pretty much any mahogany, blank headstock, Gibson style set neck. If I'd find one inside the EU, I'd be twice as glad!

 

[53Crëw]

I think the problem is the fact that Gibsons are set neck guitars. So there's no market for "replacement" necks. Therefore, no one really makes them unless you go with a custom... Which obviously gets pricey.

Just to throw out a couple other options...

Would something like a Musikraft Hockey Stick neck be close enough? It would still be bolt on, and doesn't have the tilted back headstock. But they offer Mahogany. You might ask if they can do a 24.75" scale version in 22 frets.

https://www.musikraft.com/product-info.php?pid139.html

Finally, they do offer custom made tiltback necks with a paddle head -- Which you can order in 24.75" scale as a standard option, but the price is higher.

https://www.musikraft.com/product-info.php?pid124.html

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Since it turns out to be damn near impossible to find the kind of neck I want, I decided to settle with the BYOGuitar blank mahogany set neck and do something like this:

I also found it impossible to find plans for a GIBSON Explorer (all the ones that claimed to be Explorer plans were actually the ESP model), so I had to take some critical measures from an Explorer at work, download the highest-resolution front picture of the guitar I could find, trace the outlines by hand in Photoshop and then scale it to the measures I took.

 

[DevilJaw]

im currently in the process of refinishing my explorer project i traded a epiphone les paul custom for a custom warmoth explorer it was solid mahogany body 3 piece mahogany neck, awesome ebony fretboard with very nice jumbo fret install.