Hello and Questions

Hi all,
I am Ben and I am from the U.S. I've been interested in getting one of these kits for a while and I'm at the point where I'm almost ready to pull the trigger. I primarily play bass and dabble with guitar.

I really like the RC-4/RCA-4 kits. If I go rattle can I'll probably just get the RC-4 to save a little money. Has anyone ever gotten either one of these kits with a bolt on neck? I see that as a potential option but does anyone know if they do it on these models?

For those in the U.S. that have ordered, how long did it take to ship to you and were there any issues that happened?

Welcome Ben. Good choice on the RC-4 kit, that's on my wishlist as well for next year. I'm in Canada and I think shipping was a little less than two weeks when I ordered my customized kit (an FV-1G). That was after it arrived to PBG headquarters in Australia from the factory in China though. It took several months from the order to delivery.

Is there a reason you want to go with a custom bolt-on neck? The set necks are in stock so you wouldn't have to wait for it to be built if you order the standard kit.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I don't think that a bolt-on would be viable with the current RC4 design. The space available to put a neck pocket in would only be about half the length of a normal bolt-on neck pocket and that just wouldn't be strong/stable enough. They'd have to modify the design significantly to build-in a longer body heel to support a bolt-on neck, which probably wouldn't be viable for a one-off. They are fine if you want to leave various routs and holes out, or rout a standard body for different pickup configurations, but adding extra bits on to the basic body would require a different CNC program for both the body and neck.

Now it may be that the factory makes, or has made, a bolt-on RC style bass that PBG don't sell, but that''s probably only a slim chance. But email Adam and ask. At worst he can only say it's not possible but may even say yes it is. Note that there's normally a 3-4 month lead time on custom orders, so you would have to wait a bit as well.

Welcome Ben. As Simon said above the RC style doesn't really suit a bolt on neck. The only option would be to not have the neck pickup to allow enough wood for the bolt on connection. The ability of the Chinese factory to make customisations is based on whether they have the designs and jigs to allow them to machine what is required. What you are suggesting would probably require not only a custom body, but a custom neck, so the chances are probably low, but you never know until you ask.

Is the reason for wanting the bolt on fear about gluing the neck on your first build?

Thanks all for the replies. It sounds like a bolt-on is just not feasible with this kit. It just seems like a bolt-on is easier to work with versus gluing.

I thought the same to be honest with my first guitar, did my first glue on neck last night and was easier than I thought it would be... clamps are still on till later today...

Hi Ben welcome to the forum

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Welcome BJMtz, go with the kit you like. cause there's lots of help on this forum to tackle anything that may crop up