First kit build - PBG-2!

[Je11o26]

Hi all,

Decided it was time to plunge into the kit guitar craze with a couple of mates. My first kit arrived today after ordering it yesterday (feels good to live in WA).

I decided to go with the PBG-2 as it was a nice basic shape to start on, Has a basic bridge setup instead of trying to go floyd rose tremolo for the first one and has 24 frets which I really like. My options that I went with were Ebony fretboard and Black hardware. (Can anyone confirm that the kit I got is actually Ebony by the way? Always thought Ebony was darker that this?)

Still unsure on what finish I want to go for exactly but a couple of options Im leaning towards is either a dark red/wine stain or might even go a totally different directon and try a chameleon paint (if I can find out where to get the blue to green colour shift paint).

At this point I plan to keep it all stock but if the paint work goes well and Im happy with how its coming along.. then I dont mind spending a little extra on some better pickups etc.
Hoping to get started on the sanding process tomorrow!!
Just a couple of questions I have before starting...
1.Do most people try put it all together properly (eg set up a couple of strings etc) to check alignment before they start sanding/painting? Was a little worried about hammering any pegs for the bridge and then taking them out and causing chipping.
2. Do you guys know anyone who has done a pbg-2 build? went through several pages of builds and havent found anyone yet! Would be nice to see how others have done it! I did see one but it was custom ordered and didnt really give me much info.

Thanks for any help in advance and let the journey begin!!!

[Sonic Mountain]

Nice guitar! I haven't seen one of them built on here yet.

So yes it is a good idea to do a mock build and check it will all work. You are right you don't want to push the bridge pin posts in and take them out again. Most people wrap tape around them to get them to fit snugly in the holes for testing or you can get some clear tube from the big green shed and use that as a temporary holder.

There was someone painting an EX kit in flip paint, but he seems to have dropped off the radar. I think you can get it in rattle can form at Supercheap. I spy a JMA kit there as well. They are a really nice guitar when finished.

If you have a look at Volgars thread there is a heap of discussion about painted finishes. Otherwise we have guys like Phrozin and Jarrod who really know their stuff when it comes to getting the best out of them.

[Je11o26]

First for everything I guess!
Will have a crack and doing the mock build later, thanks for the ideas! the plastic tubing sounds like a winner to me!

I have looked into flip paint a little, I have found a place that does the purple to blue switch but I see a fair few of them and would prefer to do something different like a blue to green. Just seems harder to source the paint for it unforunately. Not sure If im allowed to post links or not but would love to get this finish on it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FW5O0l-xcM

You are right about the JMA kit That one is my mates guitar who is also having a crack at his first build, Im sure he will post a thread shortly too!

[Grubsta]

Welcome to the forum and best of luck with your build. I haven't seen a PBG-2 build yet either so ill be following with interest.

[WeirdBits]

Tough searching on this forum, but I knew there was a couple:
Astro
PBG-2

(Floyd versions, but the only ones I could remember)

[Simon Barden]

Yes, looks just like an ebony board. You can normally tell it from rosewood by the fact that the board is very smooth, whilst rosewood has more pores and a more open grain. Most of the ebony from a tree is not in fact black, but is like your fretboard. A lot of ebony was wasted because people only wanted the black wood from the tree, and a lot of the rest was historically thrown away (adding to the general shortage of ebony in most locations). Now ebony is scarcer and only really obtainable form a very few countries, people are rightly making far more use of the non-black ebony. It's still a great fingerboard material. I had a Warmoth parts Tele that had an ebony neck like yours.

[JohnH]

It's funny, but I always preferred the less black portions of ebony anyway. Such a waste so much perfectly good (and good looking) wood was turfed.

Anyway, welcome to the forum! Look forward to following your build

[Je11o26]

Well Well Well.. Its been a long time since I posted due to a certain company giving me the absolute ****'s. 2 months and I still havent received my stains and the other package from them came broken and not even the correct order so decided to go a different direction with the build. Luckily things have been going positive the last few days. My cousin had a bunch of leather dyes left over so we decided to have a crack at the wine red colour that people on the internet seem to have a lot of trouble with and I think we came pretty close. (Maybe slightly lighter than wine red but happy regardless) We mixed Red and Rose 50 - 50 and then added a touch of black to get the result you see. The pictures show it with its second coat of wipe on poly (still in the smoothing out process of the clear) I also used ebony timbermate to try pop the grain a bit more on the body.
On the neck I used a finishing oil which Id rather not say what it is purely coz I dont want to promote the company after what they have put me through. Sanded back the neck part to a satin finish for playability and gave the headstock another coat to keep that a semi gloss. Went a very basic headstock shape as it is my first build and wanted to keep it simple. Few imperfections over the whole guitar but I figure it just adds characteristic to it!

[FrankenWashie]

Nice job mate, sorry to hear you had some issues with a poor supplier, glad to see you've turned it into a positive result

[Simon Barden]

Looking pretty good. I've had issues with product myself and whilst the supplying companies have been great (even if one was a little slow), it's still hassle you don't want.

If you want a true wine red, it has a touch of blue in it (5%-10% depending on how dark a red you want), if you ever want to mix some up up again.