May Guitar of the Month

[Brendan]

May Guitar of the Month (for Guitars and Basses finished in April)
Sorry all - life got away from me this month. Adam reminded me I hadn't kicked off an April GOTM. Will bring it together with the May one and run for a little longer.


Enter your finished guitar or bass here to be judged for the Pit Bull Guitars May Guitar of the Month.

Please remember:

For Guitars or Basses finished on (or before) the end of April.

One guitar/bass per member per month.
It must be a Pit Bull Guitars kit (mods and upgrades acceptable).
Guitar or Bass must be finished and playable.

We need at least 4 photos:
· full guitar shot from the front;
· close up of the body finish;
· shot of the back of the guitar; and
· close up of the headstock (please, no brand name logos)


Please post your photos in this thread. If you are having issues posting photos on the forum, please email them to brendan (at) pitbullguitars (dot) com

Please note: This competition is open to amateur guitar builders only. If you are making and selling guitars for profit, you are ineligible. Also while there are some stunning guitars around - you never know what the judges are looking for, so we encourage anyone who's built a Pitbull during the month to enter!

Competition for May closes at the end of April (Perth Western Australian time).

The sorts of things we judge on include:
· How well have the body and neck been prepared
· Is the choice of finish for the style of guitar appropriate
· How well has the finish been applied
· How well has all the hardware, pickups, etc, been installed
· Does it have the 'Wow Factor'· Which guitar would you make a beeline for in a guitar shop. That is, which one would you most like to take home.

BTW - remember that the winner is invited to be a guest judge the following month!"

[Mel.Burtt]

So, here is what you can finish up with when everything, yes everything, that can go wrong does... Just soldier on...

This kit is a YB-4 bass kit. It has been put together with the following: EMG geezer butler PJ set pickups (for the record if anyone is going to use these, their neck pickup is longer, noticeably longer than standard.. hopefully this knowledge will prevent you from this discovery after you have painted the body like I did. This upgrade was an afterthought), Schaller tuners, Babicz FCH 4 bass bridge, Schaller strap locks, Lake Placid Blue nitro finish with high gloss nitro top coats (was initially pelham blue, I ran out of colour, so did Australia, no more coming out of UK because of Covid, YAY, had to change colour), nitro Tobacco neck tint again with high gloss nitro top coat, more swear words than you can imagine, some Id never even heard before.

[Mel.Burtt]

More Pics:39910 399113991239913

[Wayne.Mumford]

Hi all, here’s my TL-1S, mahogany body with spalted maple top. I didn’t use the pick guard so I could see more of that spalted maple goodness. That left an opening for a bigger pick-up so I went with a Tone-rider Hot90. I didn’t like the look of the open rout with the pick-up just popping out, so I made my own pick-up ring and had it chromed. That turned out well as it matches the rest of the hardware perfectly.
39917,39918
39919,39920
39921

[Rabbit]

This kit is a YB-4 bass kit. It has been put together with the following: EMG geezer butler PJ set pickups (for the record if anyone is going to use these, their neck pickup is longer, noticeably longer than standard.. hopefully this knowledge will prevent you from this discovery after you have painted the body like I did.

Good to know. I have a custom YB-4 hopefully getting shipped next week, *and* I have the same pickups waiting in their box here for it. I thought they were the standard size. The P bass pickups appear to me to be the standard size. <shrug> no biggie, since I have them before the build I can always make adjustments during the mock up stage. How do they sound?

[grahamjohnston80]

Here is my entry. It's my first build so it was a very big learning curve. I loved doing it and am now working on build number 2.

It is an IC-1 Custom special. I originally ordered the standard model on back order but while I was waiting, the custom special came up so I upgraded. I finished it with Dingotone Karijini red on the body with about 30 coats of Tru-Oil. Dingotone colourless neck finish, again finished with Tru-Oil. Ink-jet waterslide decals on the headstock. Everything else was as standard with no upgrades.

My build diary is here where you can see the bumps along the way:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=10917

Here are the photos:

https://i.imgur.com/u8kVtnn.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tbREOVI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nSaBUKI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2gN42hE.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/JdumlnC.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/qd4SW4u.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jk9ENLf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/XgmPi7t.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/u15IX3o.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6BZmNfs.jpg

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Graham

[Trevor Davies]

Here is my first entry. My AG-2, stained with black and then red alcohol stain, finished with tru-oil. Stock parts except for the custom made pick guard cover, and purchased top-hat knobs and truss rod cover.

[Rodc]

Going to be another tight battle with this sort of competition! Great guitars. I'd hate to be the judges.. ;)

[Wayne.Mumford]

Very nice Trevor, my brother who is 73 years old now, still has his original SG bass in cherry red stain from his early band days in the 70’s.
Your AG-2 brings back some memories of those early days. Nice work. He also had Japanese Strat bass copy, which I am going to try and replicate and give to him for his birthday. Unfortunately I broke the original in my teen years and now feel guilty.
Very nice work indeed.
W.

[fender3x]

Great looking guitars. Love the spalted top on that Tele. Hope it sounds as good as it looks. I have head that the Tele-bridge and P-90 neck is pretty ideal.

I have a set of Geezer Butlers on my Frankenbass. They are a fantastic PJ combo. Between the color and the sound, I am guessing that will quickly be your go-to bass.

[Johnbamb]

Here is my special order mockingbird,
24 fret, spalted maple top with black binding.
I have fitted a pair of Warman pickups with split coil push pull pots.
Mini toggle is set up to switch between .22 and .47 caps and also kill switch.
Top is Crimson stain and finished with a clear lacquer.
40099

40101

40102

40103

[Johnbamb]

A few more pics
40104

40105

40106

40107

[project_chris]

Here is my entry. It's my first build so it was a very big learning curve. I loved doing it and am now working on build number 2.

It is an IC-1 Custom special. I originally ordered the standard model on back order but while I was waiting, the custom special came up so I upgraded. I finished it with Dingotone Karijini red on the body with about 30 coats of Tru-Oil. Dingotone colourless neck finish, again finished with Tru-Oil. Ink-jet waterslide decals on the headstock. Everything else was as standard with no upgrades.

My build diary is here where you can see the bumps along the way:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=10917

Here are the photos:

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Graham

This looks really awesome Graham, well done. Im building my custom Iceman now, going to check out your build diary for inspo.

[Mel.Burtt]

Good to know. I have a custom YB-4 hopefully getting shipped next week, *and* I have the same pickups waiting in their box here for it. I thought they were the standard size. The P bass pickups appear to me to be the standard size. <shrug> no biggie, since I have them before the build I can always make adjustments during the mock up stage. How do they sound?

They sound really good.. So good I think an amp upgrade could be on the cards to do them justice..;)

[Brendan]

Alright all - comp closed. New one soon.

[Brendan]

So to the comments...

Mel Burtt YB-4
Nicely finished and cohesive build. Good choice of bridge upgrade and from what I can tell in the pictures the attention to detail in assembly is also very commendable. The kit headstock is a bit weird so a remodel is a good idea, I’m not 100% convinced of this take, it does feel maybe a little stumpy? Obviously, that is a personal taste thing and I only bring it up as the main flaw I see in an otherwise great build.
Very nice & clean result, especially considering the problems you had along the way. If you hadn’t mentioned the complications, I wouldn’t have known there were any by the final outcome. The natural finished covers are a nice touch, and from the photos the finish looks virtually flawless.
Finish looks really clean. I can see what you were going for with the headstock. My inclination would have been to leave a tad more wood there.
Great colour and finish, and very different to what we normally see on a YB. Chrome hardware works well with the blue and some tasty upgrades. Particularly like the headstock shape. Not entirely sold on the cavity cover, it's kind of rippling the placid blue pool. Nice build.

Wayne Mumford TL-1s
Another very clean build, classy colour combo and some nice upgrades. Fit and finish look excellent in the pics. A little more ‘verve’ with the headstock logo would really elevate the build. At the moment, being right on the edge of the headstock it gives me anxiety, I’d like to see the design pushed a little further. All round a very solid effort
Really good build, good choice deleting the pickguard. I love the colour of the back – it looks just as good as the front. Looks like it could be a premium boutique brand hanging in a guitar shop.
Great colour and finish, and very different to what we normally see on a YB. Chrome hardware works well with the blue and some tasty upgrades. Particularly like the headstock shape. Not entirely sold on the cavity cover, it's kind of rippling the placid blue pool. Nice build.
I really like this. Finish looks really smooth. And I’m drawn to the colour of the back. Great job all round.

Grahamjohnston80 IC-1
Wow, that colour really pops in the sun! Yet another one that is difficult to find fault with. It works well and appears unified. The logo work is nice and gives it a commercial feel. Perhaps a little more care with the black hardware to avoid the finish coming off, but I am well aware of how easy it is to put a mark in it.
Cool guitar, love the rich red. Looks like there’s some blemishes but it could be shadows. Should be fun to play.
Beautiful top and treatment of the spalt, really nice. The mahogany back is a very rosewood colour in the pics, which feels almost too dark for the top? Still looks great with the grain showing through. Nice work with the pup ring, indeed a perfect match for the build. Well done.
Very well done. Good colour choices.

Trevor Davies AG-2
Classic looks and appeal with good attention to detail. Another one that is hard to find fault with, the standard just keeps going up. It’s difficult to balance the lack of upgrades with some of the other entries. Not that upgrading is required, but that extra consideration and the extra work required in fitting and modding has to count for something. That said, I can’t use that as a negative here as the overall realisation of the build is great.
I never liked SG’s until I saw this one. The finish looks great! Interesting pickguard design too. Classic look.
Strikingly red, nicely contrasted by the black hardware and white binding. Finish looks good, although the dreaded binding cracks strike yet again. Headstock looks great with the pop's hat TRC and decals. Great first build.
Cherry SG, what's not to love. Classic colour with a nice look to the finish. Custom pickguard works well. Nicely finished headstock and logo. Very nice build.
Classic SG-style with the classic red mahogany look. Finish looks good. Oozes class.

Johnbamb Mockingbird
It’s nice to see some of the weirdo shapes getting a look in, we’ve got a couple this month that are refreshing to see. Some lovely custom touches with the jack plate and TRC and a cohesive approach to colour and finish. Looks to be a missing screw on one of the pickup surrounds? Otherwise a very solid effort.
I really like the colour of the body, but was surprised to see grain – it looked like gloss at first. Definitely set up to be a player’s guitar.
Crazy good looking top with the spalt and grain showing through the stain. Love the contrast with the natural back and echoes of both on the headstock. Nice hardware upgrades and feature touches. A really striking guitar.
Incredible use of a great spalt top. The subtle burst suits the guitar well. You might want to clean the steel wool bits off your pickups. They can cause havoc.

[Brendan]

And to the runner up...
Congratulations to Trevor Davies whose AG-2 is pretty amazing.
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=39925&stc=1&d=1615606219

And the winner - or in this case winners!
For the first time in Pitbull history a MBM-1 winner!
Congratulations to Johnbamb - your MBM-1 is amazing with the details presented...
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=40099&d=1618200726

And the joint winner - Wayne.Mumford's TL-1S. The stunning clarity of the spalt makes this a fitting joint winner.
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=39917&d=1617266592

[Trevor Davies]

Congratulations John and Wayne. Well done and well deserved.

[Wayne.Mumford]

Thanks all, a very enjoyable build. Congratulations to John as joint winner, a really beautifully turned out guitar. I didn’t think I had a chance with such great work from every one else. Well done to Trevor for a well earned second. I love the AG style but have yet to build one.

[DarkMark]

Congratulations everyone, what a month.

[grahamjohnston80]

Congratulations to the winning builds. Some amazing work there. This was a great experience and seeing this has spurred me to get on with build number 2. It has hit the back-burner lately.

[Johnbamb]

Wow, thank you and congratulations Wayne.
Spalted month!
Yes I did tidy up the filings and needed a shorter screw for the pickup mount as it cut the wiring first time around.