Gday

Hey pitbull crew. Just introducing myself. Haven't bought my kit yet, too many great ones to choose from. Had my eye on the gretsch but after reading about some of the problems I might put it off for a bit. So now it's a toss up between the ex, esp or rg7. Can anyone tell me what kit would be better, the ex or the esp and is ash or basswood the better wood for painted finishes. Can't wait to get started. Cheers.

Hi Andrew, quick and relevant question, how much experience have you had with guitar building and with electronics? Knowing this will help us to guide you.

With building just the one kit I got a few years back. Unsure of the brand as it was a gift so didn't want to mention it on here. It's a thin line Tele in a cross between an gretsch orange and that on the new falcons. Semi gloss. As for electronics I've soldered all my own leads and patch chords, some repairs and switch replacements on my other guitars and that Tele. I'm in no way an expert but I can solder a bit haha.

The Ex and ESP wiring is the same, no real difficulty with these. Not sure which model you are referring to with the RG-7?

Is it the ib 7 string? The one modelled after the Ibanez rg 7 string with locking trem.

After a bit of reading tonight I think I'll get the ex with ash first up. Setting up the trem seems to be a bit of a pain, that'll be the next build. Ooh and maybe a 5 string bass...

Everyone's gotta have a 5 string bass :). Welcome along Andrew - keen to see how the EX comes out. Should be a good kit - generally the ash bodies have been very impressive in terms of looks.

Hey Andrew, welcome to the forum, good luck with the EX build, if you are going to finish it with solid paint you might as well order the standard basswood Ex-1 kit, would be a shame to cover that beautiful ash grain !

Reason for the ash, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is for its bright and punchy characteristics. I'm a metal head at heart so thing is getting a set of 12-62's and will live in drop b land. I've heard basswood can get muddy in standard let alone drop tunings.

Most "metal" guitars from the 80's and 90's were basswood, but yes ash is a brighter sounding wood than basswood. Having said that I haven't had a issue with muddy-ness on my basswood kit guitar. The other reason for the ash kits is the grain is much more prominent.