Hi. Have a couple of questions.

[Spychocyco]

Hey, guys. I've been playing guitar for more years than I want to say, but just started thinking about building one. Being a Music Man fanboy with a couple of Axis models in the stable, I wanted to start with the MM1 kit, but have a couple of questions for anyone that's built one.

I'm in the process of returning a similar kit that I purchased from another company because the truss rod was useless (the wheel was on there basically for show the best I could tell. It definitely didn't adjust anything.) There were also other flaws that I was willing to live with because they were more fixable (uneven frets, sharp fret ends, very rough routing, detached binding, etc.) So, I'm curious about the quality control from Pit Bull. I don't want to pay twice as much and run into similar issues.

Also, from the photos, it looks like most things are pre-drilled, particularly the holes for the Floyd studs. That was something else I was very worried about getting right. Is that the case?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give.

[ILRGuitars]

G'day mate. I can highly, HIGHLY recommend Pitbull. The build quality is very good. As with all mass produced items, there can be some minor issues with build quality, but the service and backup from Adam and the crew is above and beyond any other company. I had an issue with the tuner holes on one build and they replaced the whole neck free of charge! They pride themselves on quality. Fret dressing has to be done on all builds, that's the nature of the beast. BUT the help from everyone in the forum will help with any other trouble you may encounter. It really is like one big family trying to help everyone do the best and enjoy the whole build from start to finish.

Go for it mate, you won't be disappointed.

[Sonic Mountain]

The QC is a bit questionable. Some kits are great, some not so much from what I can tell. You should expect to have to rectify a few issues, in my limited experience its usually pretty doable. The neck/truss/frets are all really good on mine, however the tuner holes were misaligned. I dowled and redrilled and I'm happy with them now.

The biggest bonus of one of these kits is Adams after sales service and these forums, which as IRL mentioned will help you through most problems. If something is irrecoverable, Adam is more than happy to replace it.

You just have to bear in mind that theses are very much unfinished and will require some work to get a nice result, but if you have a look around the forum, it is possible to build some very nice instruments using the kit as a base.

Given the work required and what you receive I think the price point is pretty fair for these.

[wazkelly]

Kits with bolt on necks are a good place to start before moving on to ones with set necks.

For the price main weaknesses are low output stock pickups and barely adequate tuners and on some the bridges are a bit dodgy too. Most folks tend to upgrade some or all of these hardware items along with upgraded pots, capacitors, switches, output sockets, and I also highly recommend the vintage push back cloth covered wire plus a bone nut. Rough rule of thumb for a $220 kit will end up around $400 to $450 AUD once you factor all of this in plus you get to have lots of fun customising it exactly the way you want it to be. Agree that tuner hole drilling could be better but whilst being slightly OCD myself it doesn't bother me so much that I would have to dowel and re-drill.

Cheers, Waz

[Spychocyco]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I was planning to upgrade pickups and hardware, and I expect to have to do some cleanup work on frets, etc. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't getting the same kit I ordered before, where the designer clearly had no idea what a truss rod is used for. The adjustment wheel was really just a cap that screwed off, leaving no way to adjust the rod. Bad experience all around.

Think I'm going to give it another shot with PBG.

[Dedman]

Defiantly not a guitar leggo kit but the work that needs to be done (final sanding,finishing, fret dressing/leveling) is doable by most people if you read up and take your time. The reward is an axe you built to be the way you wanted it

[wazkelly]

Have built 3 guitars & 3 basses and no truss rod issues on any of them.

For the money they are damn good value and forum members who have built others seem to comment that PBG ones are better. 2 of mine were from another kit company that was going out of business which was a mistake as zero after sales backup and one was not so well routed at the factory. That said, they all seem to have a similar look and may have come from same suppliers?

Best thing is Adam's commitment to excellent customer service and this great forum community.

[Spychocyco]

In for a dime, in for a dollar, I guess. Just ordered an MM-1 and a JK-1, so I should have plenty of work to occupy me in a couple of weeks.

[wazkelly]

You will have loads of fun and makes lots of new friends along the way.

[Spychocyco]

Both kits arrived today. Only had time to take a peek at them on my lunch break, but both look to be better quality than the one I returned. Routs looked good, bodies seemed fairly smooth. No big flaws at first glance. Planning my mock builds over the weekend.