Hi all. Total novice. Questions galore.

[Uppo]

Hi all.
My wife and son have purchased a Pit Bull bass guitar kit (PBH-4) as a project for my 13 year old son.
As often happens, the task of project manager for such jobs has landed on me. Unfortunately my level of guitar building knowledge is limited and my knowledge of bass guitars is even less.
Initially I thought I was ok with this job after reading the details on the Pit Bull site which said this guitar was 'a great place to start for new builders'.
After spending most of today watching videos and reading threads on the pit bull site, I have found that I have a lot to learn about guitar building, even to build something that is 'a great place to start for new builders'.
I'm sure I will follow this first post with many questions.
Uppo.

[chrissyinbkk]

Welcome Uppo, I'm sure you will get all the help you need on this forum...I did... newbie just like yourself... just be aware of the addiction you will surely get

[Uppo]

Thanks Chrissyinbkk.
Hopefully we will end up with a half decent guitar at the end of the production process.
I'm fairly confident with timber finishing as I do get into my workshop and make a bit of sawdust at times. It is the general understanding of guitars and the specialised language that is used that is challenging me at present. Hence my first question.
In many of the videos guitars are identified as ST-1, TL-1, fender style etc ... Could anybody tell me what style of guitar the PBH-4 kit is, or is similar to? Is it simply called a PBH-4?
Uppo

[Simon Barden]

Hi Uppo and welcome to the forum.

The PBH-4 is basically a P-bass style bass but with an added Musicman-style bridge pickup.

[Brendan]

Uppo - keep the questions rolling - we're here to help. Overall the PBH-4 should be pretty straightforward to put together - in essence, while there are a lot of things you can do to improve the guitar, you don't need to do them all to get a good outcome.

[Fretworn]

Welcome Uppo. Most of the build will be sanding, and waiting for finish to dry. To keep things simple, make sure you talk your son down from any extravagant finishes. Single colour is best to go for starters, so then it really will come down to whether he wants solid colour (spray paint) or wants to see the wood grain (stain).

[Kick]

Welcome Uppo! We are here to help

[Uppo]

Thanks for the advice.
Looks like I was heading in the right direction with the finish. We had already decided to use a dingotone finish.
Got a couple of questions about the finish actually if that's ok.
Not quite sure what colours work with the red pearl pick guard, but we were thinking of a lighter colour, possibly Coolangatta Gold. Got any advice on colour choice for us?
Also, it seems that we need to purchase a different dingotone product for the final top coat for the neck of the guitar. From what I understand, we can use the same initial stain colour on the body and neck, but with the neck we go straight to the dingotone neck finish kit for the neck, whereas with the body we have to follow the initial stain with the body kit intensifying coat and then the body kit top coat. Have a got that right? I'm about to order this stuff and continue sanding until the order arrives.
Also, while I'm making an order, could you please confirm that I will need the following also:
- set neck glue (pretty sure I need this even though it didn't come with the kit)
- copper shielding tape. Not entirely sure if I need to shield the cavities for this guitar. Could you please let me know if shielding is necessary for the PBH-4.
Uppo.

[Uppo]

Hi again.
Have been watching a few more of he videos on the Pit Bull site and from what I understand with screw on necks such as with the PBH-4 you don't need to use neck glue. Could you please confirm for that I am correct with this.
Also another question following my previous post - When sanding and applying dingotone to the guitar neck, is it advisable of mask off the darker brown fret board timber to avoid sanding and staining the sides and top of the fret board (I have assumed that the fret board does not get sanded or treated with dingotone).
Would appreciate any input on these queries.
Uppo.

[Simon Barden]

You are correct. No glue needed on a screw/bolt-on neck.

And yes again. No DT on the fretboard. Mask off the fretboard and the edges to avoid staining it. Pay attention to getting the edges as firmlt pressed down as possible as it's surprising at how easily the DT can creep under the edges. After its all done, you can use lemon oil on the fretboard to 'feed' it and stop it drying out, and some people here use a bit of the DT guitar wax on the fretboard as they like it feeling slippery and a bit more like a maple neck in feel.