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Brendan
01-12-2019, 08:42 PM
Who wants to be crowned top guitar for the new year! All you need to do is enter your finished guitar or bass here to be judged for the Pit Bull Guitars January 2020 Guitar of the Month.

Please remember:

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

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 closes at the end of December (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!

Hindsightboy
07-12-2019, 08:08 AM
Here is my completed SH-1 (first ever guitar build)

The body has been cropped at the top and then carbon fibre skinned.

Silver tape has been jused to cover the carbon cloth joints.

The neck and fretboard have been eboney black stained with the neck being finished in danish oil.

The bridge has been lowered by 3mm into the body compared to the standard kit and the neck has a 0.5 deg shim to give a really low action after the frets where levelled and re-shaped.
Click image for larger version.

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FrankenWashie
07-12-2019, 01:07 PM
Yep. Comp over. Just give the man the gong now.
Absolute stunner, taking an already out there kit and pushing it that teensy little mile further out.
Fine work mate, very fine work!

Hindsightboy
07-12-2019, 08:05 PM
Yep. Comp over. Just give the man the gong now.
Absolute stunner, taking an already out there kit and pushing it that teensy little mile further out.
Fine work mate, very fine work!

Thanks for the comment FrankenWashie it's appreciated.

blinddrew
09-12-2019, 02:46 AM
That's a very special piece of kit!

PJSprog
10-12-2019, 04:59 AM
That is definitely a unique instrument, HSB. That carbon fiber look is just over the top cool. Nice work.

wazkelly
11-12-2019, 07:08 PM
Looks cool. Just wondering where the strap buttons are as it might need them some day?

Hindsightboy
16-12-2019, 04:46 AM
Looks cool. Just wondering where the strap buttons are as it might need them some day?

Have since fitted buttons as shown
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Brendan
31-12-2019, 05:42 PM
Any more entries? Can't just have one...

Brendan
08-01-2020, 07:27 PM
Given there has only been one entry - will throw it open for another month...

Monn1
18-01-2020, 04:49 PM
Greetings form Finland forum,

Here is my first pitbull kit build.

It started as an EXM-1 with a custom electronics cavity and a blank headstock. My inspiration on this build was Ken Lawrence explorer as a colour reference and ESP snakebyte as a headstock reference but with a more traditional explorer body shape. I also updated all the hardware (gotoh tuners, gotoh stringholder/bridge, black pickup selector, new jack/jackplate, push/pull pots wired to a 50's style gibson wiring with a series/parallel switching for the SD Distortion/59 pickups). I ended up using the pitbull bone nut because I didn't find a good black alternative locally.

The colour was a result of trial and error. I first filled the grain with some wood filler and then mixed some water based stains from three different colours and finally found the right combination. And after this I finished the guitar using Liberon finishing oil and liberon bison wax. It's not that resistant to dings but the finish has a nice satin feel and looks awesome.

Set up went suprisingly well as this was my first set neck build. I levelled/re-shaped the frets and filed the string slots on the nut and got it intonated nicely.

This was a very nice experience for me and I'm really pleased to the pitbull kit and the final result.

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wazkelly
19-01-2020, 03:42 PM
Nice version of an Explorer Monn1.

Looks great.

Tassieaxeman
20-01-2020, 05:19 PM
Throwing my hat in the ring for GOM , I will inlay a 1963 shilling in the headstock at a
later stage. But here it is.
One of your thinline kits with bigsby. I was originally going to paint it all, but quite liked the grain so stained the front with a mix of stewmac lemon yellow and tobacco stain. Then numerous coats of Tru oil.
Tru oil for the neck. The headstock shape is an amalgam of several tele headstock shapes!
Back and sides are Mitsubishi blue mica over quick silver, acrylic, masked the stars. Then 12 coats of acrylic lacquer. I've swapped out the humbuckers for some bullbuckrs I had on hand and added coil tapping with push pulls. Replaced the nut with bone nut. Which eliminated an annoying twang on the high E, which took me forever to isolate, nice it ended up being such a simple fix. All in all Im pretty happy with it, it plays nice holds tune and the bigsby style tremolo is amazingly good! Only thing I'd do differently, is I'd use either wipe on poly or 2pak clear. The clear coat took forever to cure, as the timber holds thinners a lot longer than a car body!
Next up is either a PRSQ or an AG, still pondering that!

Jbuller7
20-01-2020, 07:49 PM
Well its as good as finished now apart from headstock so might as well put it in for GOTM and let you all see it. Like Tassieaxeman I still have to add a Silver Celtic knot to the headstock but its currently buried in the garden 'aging'.

I always fancied an ES335 guitar but the traditional sunburst and cherry finishes never inspired me to lift them and play them so this is my take on it.
The plan was always to stick with a very early style with dot inlays, no neck binding and traditional style wiring but then ideas started forming. Stayed with dot inlays and no neck binding as i'm usually a strat player but decided to give a few more options tonally with the electronics. Fitted with Vanson pickups, which are great pickups for the price, I went with a P90 neck and 59 classic splitable humbucker in the bridge. This gives 5 tonal options rather than the traditional 3 as there is a DPDT bridge POT to split to single coil rather than humbucker.

Back and neck was kept simple and just sanded back to 3000 grit and then 4-5 coats of Danish Oil whipped on. The top of the body was done slightly differently... Lightly sanded back and sprayed with coral blue nitro undercoat before applying 5 layers of copper leaf over a 2 week period. During the copper leaf process the headstock was sanded, primed, sanded, sprayed, sanded, sprayed, sanded and lacquered to give a piano black finish before some edging detail was added with more copper leaf. Once cured a few applications of plant food / vinegar / water solutions were added in various concentrations to tarnish the copper to various depths of green / blue . The same was carried out on the truss rod cover. After 48 hours of tarnishing the fretboard was taped up and 6 coats of satin gloss nitro lacquer applied to the completed guitar.

Neck joint was spot on, initial set up was easy, once frets had been levelled polished, and the guitar plays and sounds like a dream. It will need another setup in a few weeks once the neck has got used to the string tension but that's normal as far as I am concerned.

Copper strap locks and an amazing Richtone strap finished the build off perfectly. I cannot walk past this guitar without stopping and looking (and normally playing it) so I'm a 100% fully satisfied builder. 3 other guitarists have seen it, played it and tried making off with it in their gig bag. Good gob its a 335 size and wouldn't fit in their gig bags.

Tassieaxeman
21-01-2020, 02:17 PM
Nice job, not a fan of the tarnished copper effect, but so long as you like it, that's all that counts.
Like the knobs! How was the build? Any problems? I have a 355 pencilled in after my next build, how is the tone with the basswood body?

Jbuller7
21-01-2020, 04:23 PM
Hi Tassie axeman, cheers for the comment. Really good build. 335 needed minor adjustments during the build. Pickup pockets needed enlarged slightly, pot holes needed enlarged slightly and neck pocket needed a bit of tidying up. Tonally it sounds pretty damn good. The basswood is a bit soft (neck pocket) but it has made the guitar lightweight and comfortable. Nice sound unplugged which is good. Not as sharp/brittle unplugged as my epiphone hollow body was.

Jbuller7
21-01-2020, 04:25 PM
Monn1 great work. you should check out Ben at crimson guitars on YouTube. Currently building a hollow body explorer with fan fret. Great channel for tips and tricks

wazkelly
21-01-2020, 05:46 PM
Gotta say that copper tarnished finish looks pretty cool to me.

Tassieaxeman
21-01-2020, 06:07 PM
Nice work, Jbuller7. I was also surprised by the tele, your right the basswood is very soft compared to mahogany, but it does seem to have a similar tone.
Also gotta say your coppertop is growing on me. It would look good on a fiddle or double bass.

Tassieaxeman
21-01-2020, 06:13 PM
Nice one Monn1, the mahogany came up a treat. You should have access to mammoth ivory in Finland. It makes a fine nut if you can get it.

Monn1
21-01-2020, 11:22 PM
Thank you guys for the good feedback. Nice shine with the tru-oil Tassieaxeman! And very cool copper effect on your ES Jbuller7. And yes I'm famillar with ben from grimson guitars, been waching his videos a lot. He has very good videos with tips and tricks.

Jbuller7
22-01-2020, 07:41 PM
Gotta say that copper tarnished finish looks pretty cool to me.

Cheers Wazkelly

Jbuller7
22-01-2020, 07:48 PM
Nice work, Jbuller7. I was also surprised by the tele, your right the basswood is very soft compared to mahogany, but it does seem to have a similar tone.
Also gotta say your coppertop is growing on me. It would look good on a fiddle or double bass.

having never owned a 335 or any other mahogany body guitar its hard to compare. As I mentioned above its a warmer sound, not as sharp / brittle sounding as the Epiphone Emperor Swingster Royale that I owned. Epi updating their website so cant check what its centre block was made out of but I think it was maple.

I've a couple of fairly bad played videos up on the demo section of the forum which should give you an idea of how it sounds. Amp was set to edge of breakup for my strat so I could hear the difference in tone between the 2 guitars.

You'd be copper plating a double bass for weeks lol

Jbuller7
22-01-2020, 07:49 PM
Thank you guys for the good feedback. Nice shine with the tru-oil Tassieaxeman! And very cool copper effect on your ES Jbuller7. And yes I'm famillar with ben from grimson guitars, been waching his videos a lot. He has very good videos with tips and tricks.

Thanks Monn1
Excited to see how Bens 2020 build turns out.

jsnkc28
24-01-2020, 12:32 PM
I have always wanted a explorer type guitar and I have always wanted to try building my own guitar. My girlfriend was nice enough to get me the ESP-1 kit for xmas. I did a ton of research and ended up dying the wood with Angelus leather dye. Did a bazillion coats of wipe on poly and finished it off with some music nomad guitar polish. It aint perfect, but I love it and couldn't be happier with it!

Simon Barden
24-01-2020, 03:36 PM
That looks very nice.

So what's the next kit going to be? ;)

piece
24-01-2020, 05:54 PM
Time to put mine up as well, light changes the shades in to color in an amzing way. Dust on the shiny surface makes it hard to get good pics :).
Specs as follow, Schaller Hannes piezo bridge with flagship preamp, Dimarzio humbucker from hell in neck and Super Distortion in bridge position. CTS Pots. Piezo stuff take to much place so i could not get the cover on the back down in the wood.
Plays really well, sounds amazing, im in love withe the piezo stuff.

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piece
24-01-2020, 05:55 PM
Some more pics

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Sonic Mountain
25-01-2020, 04:59 AM
Really nice work, comps heating up now.

jsnkc28
25-01-2020, 12:43 PM
Possibly a 5 string bass

AJ4420!
26-01-2020, 08:57 AM
First build

Here is a bit of my story that will help explain some of my choices as to how I finished this HBB-5.
About 41/2 years back I ran into some serious health issues and was told by my cardiologist that I would most likely not live more that another 4 years. Since then I am unable to work and found myself sitting around just bored out of my mind. Depression set in and I decided I needed something to occupy my time and mind. I had lost about everything I ever had and realized that once I’m gone, I really had nothing to pass on to my daughter that really would be a true reminder to her and to the grandkids that I may never know, as to who I was. I love guitars and have about a dozen or so in my collection. I play around with the Bass a bit, but am a much better collector than musician. I decided to build this Bass simply to pass down once I’m no longer here.

I served on a volunteer ambulance for 23 yeas as well as worked for 2 fire departments for 20+ years each and even though I can no longer do the job, it will always be a huge part of who I am (reason for the pic of me on the back). Also, I have always had a love for gambling, especially Texas Hold ‘me. In one pic it shows a little ladybug in the finish (my daughters nickname since birth).

It’s far from perfect and it was over a year to finally get it done, but I know it will one day mean the world to my Ladybug, and hopefully a bunch more family that I may not be able to meet here on earth, but will be watching from above (if that’s how that works, anyways)

Thanks for lookn

Not sure the photos are uploading right, so I hope they show up!

AJ4420!
26-01-2020, 09:19 AM
A few more pics

matthew
26-01-2020, 12:39 PM
Lots of customisations. I like the inlays. I gather you have it tuned EADGC?

AJ4420!
26-01-2020, 12:48 PM
Yes, I have a Warwick 5 string that is strung BEADG and I never use the B, ever. So I thought I’d change it up a bit.

doltex
29-01-2020, 01:11 AM
Hello,

This is the flying V I just finished earlier this month. If you saw my build diary, you know that I had wanted a flying V for ages, but I did not want a heavy metal looking one, so I based this very closely on a lot of the bling of the king. . . Albert King, that is. I had built and rebuilt guitars in the past, but this was my first go with a set neck. I am happy to say it turned out great and not only that, I learned a whole lot in the process. Since I am so pleased with the way it plays and feels, I am certain to upgrade the pups. I would go a bareknuckles PG set in my dreams. I recognize the imperfections, but I just call em birthmarks. Lots of love to the community!

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piece
29-01-2020, 03:37 AM
Its a really nice Flying V, maybe I need to do one for me also one day. I like the style on yours a lot.

Monn1
30-01-2020, 12:49 AM
Really cool looking builds you guys! It's gonna be a tough competition....

Brendan
02-02-2020, 07:57 PM
Comp closed - got one submission via email - after end Jan - so I'll kick of next month's with it.

Brendan
07-02-2020, 09:26 PM
OK votes and comments are in:

Hindsightboy’s SH-1 -
Love the carbon fibre look of the guitar – struggling with the silver tape though, but appreciate that you’d need something to finish the wrap somehow… Savage reshaping, how’s the balance? Overall nice outcome though!
love the carbon fibre finish but the new shape isn't practical, you haven't got much for your elbow to lean on if using a strap. I would have preferred some rounded shapes instead of a straight cut line.
love the clean look of the carbon fibre skin, good choice for the radical body cut.
not my style of guitar, but it is very hard to go past in a store, definite wow factor
Conflicted. I like the finish effect, but I struggle with the body mods. I feel they could have been a bit more “organic”.

Monn1's EXM-1 -
Love the clean lines – headstock really does it for me – seems to really fit this build. Great looks – classic and clean! Hope it’s as much fun to play as it looks!
great choice of upgrades and electronics
very nice clean look, done great justice to the timber choice, I am a sucker for Explorers though
like the headstock shape, but marks off for no logo
clean looking explorer finish looks nice
Finish looks really smooth & neat. Well done!

Tassieaxeman's TL-1TB -
Nice outcome and timing – just before Australia day. Back looks striking to me, but I can appreciate the work on the front. Great work!
Nice upgrades and custom pickguard.
the finishes on the front and back look to be very well done but for me the two very different colours clash a bit, although i understand the theme you were going with, in the end these are personal guitars and it's built to have meaning for you.
would have been good to see a headstock logo too
finish looks good, plenty of gloss. You will get better scores from judges with a clear focused photo !
Great job! I might have gone with a few less colours on there - chrome, black, white and blue, but it looks really well done.

JBuller7's ES-1 -
Love the looks of this guitar! Aged patina on the copper and the strap really work well… Nice attention to detail with the truss rod cover and binding on the headstock as well… Back and sides do the top justice and stay out of the way to some extent and give the front a chance to shine. Love the work!
Wow factor that i can go past, really love the distressed finish and appreciate all the work that goes into one like that.
great work on the binding, very clean
love the custom truss rod and celtic themed control knobs
good upgrades and wiring
cant really fault this build at all other than no headstock logo on the guitar as presented
I know this isn’t to everyone’s liking, but it is to mine. It’s unique and I love the effect.
like the copper look and the knobs go really well with the effect. Needs a headstock logo to say you built it.

JSNKC28's ESP-1 -
Nice work – hard to judge many of the aspects as we need a couple more photos, but overall the outcome looks good. Glad you’re happy with it – faults and all!
would have been good to see a few more photos and some detail in the build diary as it is a bit hard to get a real feel for the work you have put in.
Like the shape and the finish looks good, but not a huge fan of the colour, might just be the dye type used or the photos not doing it justice.
like most other guitars this month, lacking the finishing touches like headstock decals.
Love the colour, but I had to deduct some points because you didn’t post all the required pictures.
you are supposed to enter more photos for the judges. The blue stain looks great. Is the headstock a lighter blue than the body ? might be the way the photo has come out.

Piece's AIB-1Q -
Nice quilted top and finish is immaculate. Great matching of hardware with the body and overall outcome is stunning. Great guitar!
Great job! Amazing finish! I probably would have gone with a trussrod cover, as you need to have an immaculate trussrod cavity to let it out it on display.
love the finish and the gloss you achieved. Very cool looking axe well done
-like the headstock shape and logo, could possible do with a truss rod cover for me. Tuners and finish look great, really highlight the cap brilliantly
great colour scheme and really well done burst as they are very hard to get right
good choice of upgrade and a very well finished understated guitar, looks like a great player.

AJ4420's HBB-5 -
Have always struggled with the matching of images / paper with a finish and (personal feelings only) the back doesn’t quite do it for me. Front however does – and that’s what most will see – great work! Theme does come together nicely – and has a great meaning – can certainly get that! Hope it plays well!
love the story behind this build- this is the reason we all build our own guitars, to give them a personal touch and meaning.
like the theme very clear direction on where you are going, very nice work on the designs on the top, would be good to hear how it was done in your build diary.
some bits a little bit busy for my taste, the playing cards on the reverse of the headstock and input jack detracted on the overall look for me, but i understand this is a build that has a lot of personal meaning and is important to you.
Amazing job on the finish and the adornments. I hope it becomes the heirloom you hope for it.
love the 'cards' style theme, the fret markers look cool. A unique build for sure glad you are happy with it !

Dotted's FV-1 -
Stunning finish – almost feels a shame to hide the flame under the pickguard. Wood pickguard looks nice – but part of me feels its out of synch with the rest of the feel of the guitar. That said – gloss looks amazing!
Lovely work on the subtle colour scheme, blends in really well, quite a different choice from most Flying V's out there
nice choice of hardwear
custom truss rod and pickguard look good
great job on the binding, looks nice and clean
points off for no headstock logo
little bit hard to fully appreciate due to the photos supplied
nicely finished flying V, what sort of timber is the pickguard has some nice figure ! Next time take a bit more care with the tuner alignments !
Your own personal “Lucy”. Great job. There are a few areas that could be blemishes or reflections, so I’m saying they’re reflections. The finish seems good to me, and I like the Lucy style LP headstock. Do you play left handed, but strung right handed like Big Al used to?

Brendan
07-02-2020, 09:29 PM
So - runner up: Piece's AIB-1Q

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=33373&d=1579863272

And the winner - all the judges loved the aged patina of JBuller7's ES-1
Well done!

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=33335&stc=1&d=1579524223

Tassieaxeman
08-02-2020, 12:09 PM
Cheers for your critique, can't say I disagree with any of your points.
I had a plan for all blue and silver, but the look basswood surprised me and I decided to stain it with what I had on hand.
Expect a bit more cohesive and highly finished effort for my next build a PRSQ kit.

AJ4420!
08-02-2020, 01:20 PM
Thank you for your thoughts. I had a blast building my bass and can’t wait to finish my next build. I also picked that sweet copper top as the winner. What a beautiful guitar! You definitely got it right!

Jbuller7
08-02-2020, 04:22 PM
Well holy sh1t! Thank you so much for the feedback, the votes and the win. Completely blown away. What an honour. Loved every minute of the build and can't get enough playing time.

There will definitely have to be another build next winter

wazkelly
08-02-2020, 05:20 PM
Congrats to all entrants, winner & runner-up.

That aged copper top is so unique and looks great.

DarkMark
08-02-2020, 07:52 PM
Congratulations to on finishing your guitars. All good guitars but the winner and runner up had the wow factor for me.

piece
08-02-2020, 09:07 PM
Thanks for all feedback and I think you made the right choice on the winner. It’s truly unique.
For the truss rod cover, I made 5 different ones, but it felt better without it. Still arguing a bit with myself if I should fit a white bone nut as I ordered it with the kit, but in the end I am not sure as It came out nice with the black nut on.

Anyway as it’s built on the wash machine, I’m very honored to not end up with the boobie prize.

Andy40
09-02-2020, 11:13 AM
Well done guys nice quality work!