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Brendan
03-02-2018, 07:23 PM
March Guitar of the Month (for Guitars and Basses finished in February 2018)

Enter your finished guitar or bass here to be judged for the Pit Bull Guitars March 2018 Guitar of the Month.

Please remember:

For Guitars or Basses finished on (or before) the end of Feb 2018

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 January closes at the end of Feb 2018 (Perth Western Australian time).

The sorts of things we judge on include:
· How well has 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!

ozzbike
04-02-2018, 12:34 PM
Ladies and Gentlemern here she is...."JAZZMINE."

Her build diary.....

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=8119

What I did to her in Summary:-

PBG Jazz Bass Ash Body with Blackwood neck.

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/guitars/pit-bull-guitars-jba-4-electric-bass-guitar-kit-ash-body/

Body:-

Walnut Timbermate ONLY....then Feast Watson Fine Buffing Oil then Gilly Stephensons cabinetmakers wax then Bowdens Own Carnauba Wax

Neck:-

Vintage Amber Colortone stain....about ten coats of Tru Oil and then Bowdens Own Carnauba Wax.

Hardware:-

Gotoh elephant ear tuners
Tusq nut
Wilkinson Bridge
All parts bridge and neck pickup chrome ashtray covers
All parts thumb rest
Strap Locks

Electronics:-

1 x Bourns Premium 250K push pull series/parrallel pot, 1 x dishback CTS 250K A curve volume pot, 1 x dishback CTS 250K A curve tone pot
Orange Drop .473uf cap
Switchcraft jack socket
Tone Rider Jazz Bass neck and bridge pickups
Vintage push back wiring everywhere except for bridge earth wire.

ozzbike
04-02-2018, 12:36 PM
Five more to please your eyes....

ozzbike
04-02-2018, 12:36 PM
Hmmm chrome covers....:)

Some video and sounds recorded on my phone...

Aussie Crawl...

https://youtu.be/b7MJ-v23D3g

Rammstein...

https://youtu.be/qgDtS1RRGq8

JohnH
04-02-2018, 12:54 PM
Looks good Ozz - love the chrome and the colour of the stain

Sonic Mountain
10-02-2018, 11:13 AM
Yeah this one has come together very nicely. Very classy.

teamjeffo
10-02-2018, 12:10 PM
Salutations my guitar guru brethren.

I'd like to present my "Chickenf#*ker", an RCA-4 with zero sign of any ash anymore.

I had every intention of detailing the build in my build diary, but I had a rather rough start to 2018, and the diary went by the wayside.

To the specs. I painted this chook in Metallic Aztec Gold, and I don't mind telling you that I doubt I'll do metallic again. Far too stressful. Having said that, I'm bloody chuffed with the outcome.

I swapped out the tuners for some Gotoh's, the bridge for a traditional Ric style number, new pots, caps and knobs, locking strap buttons, and of course the piece of resistance... the custom truss rod cover from the one and only Pablo Pepper. Thanks again you magnificent bastard. [emoji120][emoji120]

On the topic of thanking people, to everyone who answered questions, offered solutions or encouragement, I thank you once again. Both of my projects would have come to a complete standstill without your help, and would have looked, sounded and felt completely different!!

Lastly, sorry if the name offends anyone.

The last picture is of my tripod dog when I was soldering this thing up. I lost him to cancer not long after. One of the reasons to a rubbish start of 2018.

Now to learn how to slappa da bass!!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/65787e7310f6bfa1f00b7f7c6648adc8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/0ba4978b54dd62b78749dbd13bbb1d6b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/0a55a2ed606352a18a7482522d013e3c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/efd445fe7f7853060e5c9f15ec9408a0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/41a9a1338e0ed85e38cadaa869f5b7be.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/23a4f4a59fcbb24042e99a43dfe26f04.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/866c744f3f4595729d1dc62126e45082.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/fc76e617980119638673318105cf1818.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180210/b4087a7c26fce679d557cfbb506e2be0.jpg

Grubsta
10-02-2018, 01:04 PM
Two very nice basses to start off the month well done guys.

I wasn't going to put forth my JMA-1 but after some encouragement from a few people i decided that i may as well.

So with the exception of the pickups this has all stock hardware.
The Pickups are Warman Texas Vintage Rangers in the neck and middle positions and the bridge humbucker is a Warman Retro Rocker aiming for vintage tones there.
The body was grain filled with ebony timber mate and stained with Dingotone Bushfire Sunrise. For the neck i went with Dingotone Colourless stain. Build time was around 6 weeks.
Being my first build i wanted to keep it basic i do like simplicity every now and then.

Best of luck to everyone i look forward to seeing what else pops up this month.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4624/39466642254_95430bd87a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/238wRKd)[/url] (https://flic.kr/p/238wRKd)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4751/39466142654_40ef9e0d36_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/238uieq) (https://flic.kr/p/238uieq)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4663/26304730158_c023a3c27e_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/G5sBQj) (https://flic.kr/p/G5sBQj)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4671/40177678191_089aba6593_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/24dn6Xv) (https://flic.kr/p/24dn6Xv)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4667/39279162585_ffe90243bd_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22QXYz8) (https://flic.kr/p/22QXYz8)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/40177674891_e85d191591_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/24dn5YB) [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/154553294@N06/] (https://flic.kr/p/24dn5YB)

Brendan
10-02-2018, 01:05 PM
Hey Jeffo - looking sweet - where did you score the bridge from?

teamjeffo
10-02-2018, 01:15 PM
Hey Jeffo - looking sweet - where did you score the bridge from?https://www.realparts.com.au/bridges-tailpieces/bass/rickenbacker-bass-bridge-tailpiece.html

There you go my man.

Brendan
10-02-2018, 01:36 PM
Sweet.

Thanks for that.

Sonic Mountain
10-02-2018, 03:17 PM
Man things are heating up already this month. Great work Jeffo and Grubsta. Sorry to hear about the troubles Jeffo I did notice you'd gone bit quiet. The Chicken...erm.."enthusiast" bass has come up a treat :D

teamjeffo
10-02-2018, 05:42 PM
Man things are heating up already this month. Great work Jeffo and Grubsta. Sorry to hear about the troubles Jeffo I did notice you'd gone bit quiet. The Chicken...erm.."enthusiast" bass has come up a treat :DCheers mate. Onwards and upwards. Might need a Pitbull to replace him [emoji6]

ozzbike
11-02-2018, 05:13 AM
Two very nice basses to start off the month well done guys.

I wasn't going to put forth my JMA-1 but after some encouragement from a few people i decided that i may as well.

So with the exception of the pickups this has all stock hardware.
The Pickups are Warman Texas Vintage Rangers in the neck and middle positions and the bridge humbucker is a Warman Retro Rocker aiming for vintage tones there.
The body was grain filled with ebony timber mate and stained with Dingotone Bushfire Sunrise. For the neck i went with Dingotone Colourless stain. Build time was around 6 weeks.
Being my first build i wanted to keep it basic i do like simplicity every now and then.

Best of luck to everyone i look forward to seeing what else pops up this month.

Wow. Nice colours.

That has to be the most gloss I have seen from a D.T. finish yet. Nice work looks great.

Grubsta
11-02-2018, 05:31 AM
Wow. Nice colours.

That has to be the most gloss I have seen from a D.T. finish yet. Nice work looks great.Thanks it took a bit of buffing but it came up pretty good in the end. I should also point out something that i forgot to add to my original post and that is the front face of the headstock was sprayed with acrylic clear just to seal the pitbull decal.

Brendan
11-02-2018, 07:39 AM
Cheers mate. Onwards and upwards. Might need a Pitbull to replace him [emoji6]

If you're ready for a new mate at some stage - hit Adam up - he's part of the Pitbull Rescue crue here in WA - may have some contacts in Vic.

teamjeffo
11-02-2018, 10:06 AM
If you're ready for a new mate at some stage - hit Adam up - he's part of the Pitbull Rescue crue here in WA - may have some contacts in Vic.I was thinking more of the timber variety [emoji6]

Brendan
11-02-2018, 08:25 PM
I was thinking more of the timber variety [emoji6]

Well then Ads can certainly sort you out there. Difficult thing is which one.....s.

FrankenWashie
12-02-2018, 06:15 AM
Well then Ads can certainly sort you out there. Difficult thing is which one.....s.

Yeah. Just when you think you've gotten all the ones you want he gets some new ones in....He's a grand fellow like that.

mango
19-02-2018, 12:43 PM
Some great entries this month!

Ozo
22-02-2018, 01:13 PM
Okay guys here is my #2 Pit Bull build. It has Pit Bull hardware and neck. The body was built from scratch and is made from Australian Plum wood.

24948
24949
24950
24951
24952

Grubsta
22-02-2018, 02:25 PM
Okay guys here is my #2 Pit Bull build. It has Pit Bull hardware and neck. The body was built from scratch and is made from Australian Plum wood.

24948
24949
24950
24951
24952

That's beautiful Ozo. Love the body and the choice of finish is perfect really nice job all around. [emoji106]

Sonic Mountain
22-02-2018, 04:18 PM
This is really cool, is there a buijd diary?

JohnH
23-02-2018, 11:56 AM
Nice work Ozo - love the headstock shape

Ozo
26-02-2018, 12:22 PM
Thanks mate

Ozo
26-02-2018, 12:31 PM
Thanks. Got some pics on my phone of a couple of stages for the body but Im having trouble downloading them to my computer. Soon as I have that sorted I will post them.

FrankenWashie
26-02-2018, 12:37 PM
another set of tough calls this month...who'd be a judge?

teamjeffo
26-02-2018, 12:42 PM
Thanks. Got some pics on my phone of a couple of stages for the body but Im having trouble downloading them to my computer. Soon as I have that sorted I will post them.Download the Tapatalk app. Makes uploading pics to this blog a breeze. I rarely use the desktop version anymore

Ozo
27-02-2018, 05:15 PM
25062

25063

25064

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25065[/ATTACH

here we go...some pics of build process.

DJP
28-02-2018, 01:44 PM
Oh well. I keep looking at it and thinking ... "can't believe the finish worked so well ..." First attempt at a solid colour finish. So what the heck ..why not throw in a mini strat called Emily's Night Fury for GOTM ? I'm assuming that you take guitars not of the full length quota ?.
It is basically an out of the box 2/3 strat style from Pitbull. No frills or additions. The finish is a colour called "Gogo Blue" which comes in a rattle can, and is covered with a whole stack of acrylic layers- also from a spray can. The blue is sprayed onto a bright white undercoat (spray can again) which was sanded to 800 grit. The project was a workshop in learning about dealing with runs ... and patience.
Dragons were requested by the young end user, and said dragons had to be of the "Night Fury" category - pics of which were found following a google bash. Sourcing decal paper online was easy, however getting even black coloured prints without shuttle lines onto the decal paper was very hit and miss, but we managed to get some using new ink cartridges.
The headstock decal is from Rothko and Frost, who were kind enough to provide a second one free of charge when the first melted into a Salvador Dali droopy looking affair when sprayed with acrylic (from the dregs of the can. I recommend avoiding near empty cans). Top service from R&F though ! Only upgrade was addition of grover strap locks - which seem smaller than others I have used ? and hence well suited to a 2/3 sized model. Finished with nice pale blue leather strap from an Aussie supplier.
The guitar is done, but as with all my Pitbull builds, now that it is set up and working ... I'm thinking nice ... now how about some future upgrades ? tuners and bone nut perhaps ?. Tho getting it back from the grand daughter might be easier said than done. She loved it (and also helped with quite a bit of the sanding).
25084
25082
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DJP
28-02-2018, 01:48 PM
The neck and another front shot
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25087

wazkelly
28-02-2018, 05:49 PM
Lovely shade of Blue. Looks good.

FrankenWashie
28-02-2018, 06:16 PM
That is too damn cute DJP. One very lucky Little lady.

Grubsta
28-02-2018, 06:24 PM
Very nice DJP.

Brendan
28-02-2018, 07:04 PM
Couple of hours left - any more entries?

Brendan
01-03-2018, 09:33 PM
Comp closed - will open a new one for April soon.

Brendan
04-03-2018, 08:37 PM
Okay - Judges comments are in. Thanks lads for getting back so quickly.

Ozzbike's JBA-4
So simple a recipe but so delicious.Nice hardware upgrades and I'm a sucker for ash trays.Very tasteful indeed.
Great build diary and beautiful result. This guitar doesn’t so much smack you in the face, but instead is great example of less is more. Lovely finish complimented by careful and considered assembly using some nice upgrades. It’s resulted in a very high quality build with a lot of class. Nice to see some videos of it in action as well. My only ‘con’ with this is the headstock logo is a little uninspired, but that is a very, very minor quibble.
A superb build. The wood grain is nicely detailed (it's just a shame that it's not a 1-piece body). Nice choice of hardware upgrades. Big 'wow' factor. Interesting to see a JB style with the covers all on. Plus we got to see some demos of the bass.
Great job. The colour is amazing. I love the ashtrays. I think I might find difficult to play between the closeness of the thumbrest & the ashtrays. But I like looking at it.
This is just a beautiful JB. The Timbermate only with oils and waxes was an inspired choice. Normally mis-matched planks detract from a bare build, but I think they actually enhance it in this case. Heavy chrome matches it nicely as does the white scratchplate and black knobs etc. The neck and headstock is maybe a touch yellow/amber for the body colour for my taste, but still good. Nice electronics and upgrade choices. Great build.
Another Ozzie masterpiece complete with old school ashtray, PUP cover and thumb rest. Lots of good upgrades with only original bits being neck, body, scratch & control plates. If I was being picky, back of neck is possibly a touch more yellow than what ties in with rest of the body colour but gives it that aged look in keeping with the era of hardware used.

Teamjeffo's RCA-4
Some very nice upgrades here, and an interesting colour choice.I wasn't sure if I should add or subtrack points for the thonged feet in the neck pic :P Possibly could have done with more sanding of the colour coat as there seems to be a bit of texture under the clear.
Great to see Teamjeffo in action, as usual, entertaining and informative build diary, unfortunately a little incomplete for understandable reasons. Some great problem solving involved and also some admirable attention to detail, which makes all the difference for the finished result. Neat upgrades and a well executed gold finish, not really my personal taste, but certainly suits the build. Solid effort all round.
Another very good build with some good hardware upgrades and nice personal touches. Some brave character building moments during the build as well. A shinier, smoother looking gloss finish would have given a touch more 'wow' factor to the bass, but it still looks great.
Nice metallic finish. Looks like a beast. Great one.
Clean, refined looking Ric with a nice bold finish. It looks great although I'm not entirely sold on the colour, I expect I'd warm to it more in person. Great hardware and excellent plastics, but the TRC looks a little tight on the low E tuner bushing. Really nice bass and something you'd expect to see hanging in a store.
At first glance it looked like a gold top Riccy but next shots showed gold all over which turned out great. Extra points for the custom truss rod cover plus swapping to the Grover tuners was a sensible choice. Some other tasty upgrades too.

Grubsta's JMA-1
Another case of less is more. I nice simple build that just reeks of class and I bet those pick ups sound great! A great first build.
I really like these kits and it’s great to see one done with a natural wood finish. Another good build diary - not afraid to show us the boo boos, I find that almost more helpful than just sailing through it, as it helps show others what traps there are to fall in. The body work on this one has come up exceptionally well and is nicely complimented by the hardware upgrades. Floating bridge appears to be correctly adjusted and overall the assembly is very neat and tidy. The contrast between the neck and the body is great, I’m a little less convinced about the pick guard on the wood colour, but it’s what is supplied so I can’t really fault Grubsta for using it. I feel the same way about the Pitbull decal, I probably would have owned it a bit more considering how well the build came together.
Another well-built guitar, a great first-build effort. Several major obstacles overcome during the build. Lovely finish on the body, nice clean neck. A shame the acrylic pickguard idea couldn't be made to work as the brown body and red pickguard aren't the best combination for me. But it's still all very nicely done.
The wood grain has come up real well. Personally I would have a different colour pickguard, but it's still a great job.
The way the grain has been enhanced combined with the Bushfire Sunrise just works amazingly, and good choice with the colourless neck. Just love it! I'm not sure the pickguard colour does the body justice, but that said, I can't imagine it with anything else. Very nice clean looking build. Well done.
Top effort for a first build. Not a fan of the red scratch plate as it is competing too much with the lovely DT Bushfire Sunrise finish. White cover on rear looks a better contrast however to do same on front would require a custom scratch plate job. Upgrade bridge & PUP’s should make a huge difference.

DJP's ST-1JR
What a lucky girl! great choice of colour and the decals are tastefully scaled ( scaled...dragon....get it?) Proof that you don't need to spend a fortune to get great results.
Classic colour combo, well executed with some personal flair. Exactly what building a PBG is all about! Neat decal work which will always get points from me. The fit and finish while good probably isn’t quite as good as the others in the thread once you look closely. Even the plainest of Jane builds benefit from fine attention to detail. Otherwise a great effort and for what it is for the new owner must be stoked.
A lovely stock-kit build, expertly executed and with all the personalised touches the client ordered. Factory level finish.
Love the colour, and the story behind this guitar. I'd be happy to have this guitar myself.
Emily's Night Fury... awesome. Great coluor, nice finish, excellent decal and graphic touches. The 3/4's are so cute and you can just imagine how pleased she is with it. The blue with white plastics and natural neck works beautifully. Appears to be a slight edge still showing with the dragon decal, but not sure if more clear clayers would hide it completely. Really nice result for a lucky junior guitarist.
Love the colour scheme plus custom dragon decals and headstock logos. Nice smooth, flat shiny finish.

Ozo's custom
Moderators comments: - unfortunately Ozo’s scratch does not meet the requirements of the Guitar of the Month Competition – as it is not a Pitbull kit. That said, we’ve asked the judges for some constructive feedback in line with other entrants.
I tip my hat to anyone who can make a body from scratch. This has come up really nice, a strat but not a strat. One to be proud of.
This one is a lot of fun! Really cool to see a different interpretation of the stratocaster body. The shaping, finishing and colour really lift this one. A little disappointing we didn’t get to follow the build along as it happened, but some nice progress pics in the GOTM thread. Good use of the kit hardware while pushing in a different direction to a standard build.
I'm always in awe of people who scratch-build even part of their guitar, and the body has been very well made. Being very close to, but not quite a Strat shape, for me it looks slightly awkward from some angles and great from others. With a bit more refining, it could make a great signature guitar shape. A very nice job.
Unique take on the body shape. Personally I feel the headstock could be sleeker in line with the sharper body. Two thumbs up.
Plum job. The colour is brilliant and suits the body wood so well. Great headstock and good choice with the natural look for the back of the neck. I like the body shape. It's interesting with the soft rounds and sharp points, although looks a little lumpy from the back around the control cavity. Very nice semi-scratch build.
Looks like a solid one piece body with a personalised reshape of an old classic design. Unique headstock shape with same body colour ties in well. White scratch plates and chrome were the right choice too. No strap buttons fitted yet?

Brendan
04-03-2018, 08:40 PM
And to the runner up - congratulations - GRUBSTA! Your JMA-1 has grabbed some attention and love! Keep up the good work.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4624/39466642254_95430bd87a_c.jpg

And our worthy winner - with a classic JBA-4 - congratulations to Ozzbike!
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=24608&stc=1&d=1517614530

Simon Barden
04-03-2018, 08:50 PM
Well done everyone, and special congratulations to Ozzbike and Grubsta. We expect your next builds to be even better!

JohnH
05-03-2018, 02:27 AM
Well done guys!

Andy40
05-03-2018, 02:56 AM
Congratulations guys

Grubsta
05-03-2018, 03:24 AM
Wow with the quality builds i was up against and it being my first one i wasn't expecting that result. The feedback on the pickguard is taken onboard and plans are in the works to cut a new one and re-position the pickups. Thank you for the support everyone its much appreciated and congratulations to Ozz a worthy winner indeed.

wazkelly
05-03-2018, 03:34 AM
Congrats Ozzie & Grubsta plus all other entrants.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

Sonic Mountain
05-03-2018, 05:51 AM
Congrats to all who entered. Finishing a guitar build is a win in itself so everyone should be proud to be in such esteemed company. Well done to Oz and Grubsta, well deserved.

Guvna19
05-03-2018, 07:25 AM
Congrats all, and well done Ozz and Grubsta

ozzbike
05-03-2018, 08:57 AM
Wow Wow Wow.

Gee thanks guys...so privileged.

Well done to all...and good job Grubsta....like the finish on that JMA. :)

wokkaboy
05-03-2018, 09:27 AM
congratulations Ozz and Grubsta, two excellent entries. Also the other entries were of a high standard. I was going to vote today but looks like I got out of it !

Dedman
05-03-2018, 11:12 AM
congrats guys, all well deserved!

Fretworn
05-03-2018, 03:17 PM
Congratulations

Adam Barnes
05-03-2018, 05:57 PM
Congrats ozz and grubsta 2 nice builds. Each month seems to get better well done to all

nitroburner1000
24-03-2018, 08:40 PM
Congratulations guys, another great month of talent.