How to build your Pit Bull Electric guitar

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Originally Posted by dingobass

Sand in the direction of the grain, start with 180 and work your way up to 400.
Use each grit until all the marks from the previous grit have been removed.
On a flat surfaced Guitar, it helps to use a sanding block so you dont end up with dips and other gremlins :)

With the sides, sand in the direction of the rings or lines in the timber, that will enable you to remove any machining marks.

My rule of thumb when sanding is Sand, sand and sand. Then sand it again and when you are sick of sanding give it to your wife/ partner to sand :p

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+1 for DB's advice. I also sometimes start sanding a grade or two heavier (150 or 120) to remove really heavy machine marks. You do have to be careful though not to start reshaping the wood.

You'll know when you have sanded enough as you will be completely over it by then! The reward will be a nice finish :)

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Originally Posted by Gavin1393

Body Preparation

With the body of the guitar it is vitally important if you would like to obtain a great result that the body is prepared with due care and patience.

If you rush any stage of the preparation it will show up in your finish either as scratches in the wood because you did not sand properly or as swirls because you forgot to use steel wool at the appropriate time.

Additional things to watch out for particularly if your guitar has binding but also if your kit has a cap are glue spots.
These can be a bit of a pain to get rid of, but the job is made a lot easier if you follow our suggestions in this thread.

Also be aware that wood fibres compress and expand and sometimes, by sandpapering over a particular spot you can create area where you will have over polished spots.
These compressed wood fibre spots will refuse to take a stain finish.

The best way to discover these spots is to use a damp rag (water) and wipe the guitar body.
Not only is this a great idea to get rid of fluffy fibres with Basswood but it will highlight any glue or polished issues BEFORE you start applying the finish to your guitar.
If you discover these polished areas, a gentle scrub with a small wire brush will loosen the fibres and allow the finish to penetrate.

:) Solving issues with Glue and with over polishing
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=1838

:) Sanding your body and neck of the guitar

Pit Bull do not recommend Generic Hardware Store Sandpaper, it is generally of poor quality for sanding guitar bodies.
You can get professional grade sandpaper from Pit Bull Guitars here http://pitbullguitars.com/?product=p...lity-sandpaper

If you have a basswood body, wet it with a damp cloth before sanding.
This raises the uneven fluffy wood fibres and while these are raised cut them down with your 180 grit sandpaper. Repeat this process with each grade of sand paper.

Other bodies, skip this damp cloth step.

Start your sanding with 180 grit and go over the body and neck thoroughly checking regularly to make sure you are getting rid of any scratches or swirls.

If you have binding or a cap (flamed maple, spalted maple, for example) be extra careful that you do not sand the cap away at the edges where the cap is thinnest.

Further, be careful with binding as it is plastic and will scratch easily and is also capable of being sanded too thin very quickly.

After the 180 grit Pit Bull Guitars highly recommend giving the body a good sand with the 220 and 240 grit making sure to check that any major scratches are removed as you proceed.
Then go over the body again with Super Fine '0000' steel wool.

This will prepare the body nicely to absorb the finish, particularly if you are using Dingotone and your finish has a stain colour coat, this needs to be applied before applying the intensifying coat.

Always make sure you follow the instructions to the letter with your application of Wudtone giving each coat plenty of curing time between coats and where required always make sure you use the steel wool to get rid of dust particles that decide to stick to your finish whilst it was wet, as well as any swirls.

The rubbing with steel wool also has the effect of keying the surface to give it teeth for the next coat of Dingotone to adhere to.

Additional comments from DB
"As for the fluffing up after damp ragging, that is normal and if you were preparing for a French Polish would be desirable, but for Dingotone not so...

I have found on the kits that I have done that 400 grit is more than enough, you need to leave a reasonable tooth for the Dingotone to grip.

I start my sanding process with 220 then 320 followed by 400.
This gives me a nice surface without any deep scratches.

As Gavin said, super fine steel wool between each coat to remove any streaks or swirls and to create a key for the next coat".

:) Preparing the Binding BEFORE applying Dingotone
If your guitar has binding you will spend ages removing paint from a 'keyed' binding surface if you do not prepare the binding before painting.

I learned this trick from my good mate and fellow author on this thread DB, here is his trick for keeping the binding clean..

After sanding, grab some 400 wet and dry and VERY carefully give the bindings a polish.
Then break out the 600 and repeat.(If you don't have 600 grit, you can polish the binding with steel wool) Then let the Dingotoning begin!

When you have let each coat dry, a light and VERY careful rub with the steel wool will remove any Dingotone and add to the polish on the binding.

Do this after each coat and by the time you are at the final coat stage, you wont have to worry as the binding will be as smooth and shiny as a *censored, censored*..... you get the idea!

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So no product is needed for the polishing of the binding simply rub off any stain with steel wool after each coat?

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Thats it, Joe.

After sanding I will always carefully polish the binding with 800grit wet and dry just to make the final cleanup easier.

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Originally Posted by dingobass

Thats it, Joe.

After sanding I will always carefully polish the binding with 800grit wet and dry just to make the final cleanup easier.

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Why oh why didn't i pick a no nonsense no binding no veneer tele for my first build[emoji14](will be my next one).

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Hi, I need some directions around gluing the set neck of my SG bass.
The guide has a url / YouTube link but it's inactive. Can you point me in the right direction? Cheers.

Here is a link to all of the video guides http://www.pitbullguitars.com/videos/ and you are right, the youtube vid no longer works???

Best to follow same procedure for lining things up with a bolt-on neck and put a light pencil mark around where neck protrudes out of the neck pocket as a reference point as to where to stop and/or line things up when gluing and clamping.

Make sure you triple check scale length as that is most important and hard rectify once things are fully set. Once you are sure you have everything marked out and lined up properly apply a thin spread of tight bond to neck pocket surfaces and same to end of neck heel and gently squeeze it all together. A little bit of excess glue seepage is not such a bad thing as you can wipe that into the joint cracks as you clean it up after clamping. For the clamps you need to have something soft between the claws and the guitar being clamped. Some high density foam rubber (I cut bits from a Yoga Mat) works well and suggest if there is a ribbed surface and a flat to make sure the flat surface sits against the job and the ribbed against clamps to avoid any transfer of the indentations. Also suggest leaving it clamped for a couple of days and then avoid loading up with any string tension for a few more days just to make sure everything has properly set.

Happy for anyone else to drop in and add there suggestions.

Space_Bass - Waz is right - best glue to use is an aliphatic type glue - like Titebond - available in Australia through the blue bunnings and otherwise - check local hardware / carpentry shops. The vid was probably taken down as it referenced a PVA based glue, which couldn't cope with the tension from necks and meant there were a few failures (in the early days). Process is pretty much the same though - good glue, good bond, good time to cure and should be a good outcome.

Hi Space_Bass, apologies about the video, we do have one in production, which Dingobass has done, just waiting for that to be edited then it will be up on the site.

There's a good video from our friends at Precision Guitar Kits in the US, which I have been directing people to in the interim.

It doesn't go into great detail about setting up the scale length, angles, etc, so view this video and read the instructions on this Forum.

https://youtu.be/cyXOPq1KW4I

Oh, we have the correct glue available on our site, in 10ml bottles.

Awesome, thank you all for the responses! :)

Rob / Space_Bass

Hi guys, Just about to start my first build and trying to get everything right in my head first. Two question buried in here...

Under "Installing the Bolt-on neck" it says to "Wind all the saddles as far forward (towards the pickups) as they will go" when Setting the Scale Length. Is this right? i would have thought you'd want to start with the saddles half way along their travel so you had room to move them either way? I noticed in a later post "Setting up your Intonation" in step 5 is says "When you complete this, the saddles on your bridge should be somewhere in the middle of their adjustment range". I noticed an ealier post saying to just clamp the next on at this stage just to get everything right, so that's what i intend to do.

The reason i want to get this right early on is because i intend to drill the tele string-thru-holes before i stain. Is this a good idea? (since i also have furrules to install).

Hi Chansom,
welcome to the forum another Perth-ite joins the community good to see !

you are bang on with your assumptions. Set the saddles about mid way. Good idea to drill string through holes even before the sanding process. What sort of string through bridge are you using for your tele ?

I would be wary of setting the saddles at their mid-point regardless of all other factors when positioning it.

E.g. The Tele bodies and bridges have a limited amount of positioning movement because of the size of the bridge pickup rout. If you set the saddles on them mid-way and measure the scale length, you can get concerned that the overall length is too long and that the bridge plate needs to be moved forwards (which you can't do without increasing the bridge pickup rout size). But if you set the saddles further forward, but still with a few mm of thread showing, then everything is OK (not all Tele bridges have the same dimensions, so for some after-market units you may have to enlarge the rout, but with the supplied kit bridge, it's fine). With Strats, the trem block and it's rout determine the amount of bridge movement.

Unless there is something very uneven about the string construction (so it hasn't got a uniform mass per unit length), then the actual scale length will always be slightly longer than twice the nut to crown of 12th fret distance. So you should never have to move the saddle more forwards than this. As the string thickness goes up, the small amount of non-vibrating 'dead' string at each end increases slightly, so the saddle has to be moved back to get the same length of vibrating string. For wound strings, it's mainly the core wire thickness that determines this (as the wrap mainly contributes to increasing the mass per unit length rather than determining tension), which is why the first wound string saddle is normally further forward than the thickest plain string, as its core wire is thinner than that plain string.

So you'd generally want to allow some slight forward movement (strange things do happen), but the majority of any adjustment will be towards the rear of the bridge. Don't forget that if you've got springs pushing the saddles forwards, then these can only be squeezed up so much before they stop any movement, so if you do set your saddles 'half-way', then measure this point from the end of the adjustment screw to the point where the saddle won't move back any more, rather than the very start of the adjustment screw.

@ Simon fair points raised. No need to go into too much detail but all good info !
@ Chansom there's a good chance you need to route the bridge pup cavity forward about 5mm, been a small factory error for a while the route is about 5mm too far south.
So place your new bridge with bridge pup installed, clamp the neck, wind the saddles forward and please give us distance 12th fret crown to both E saddles. High E should be around 323-325mm and low E about 327/328mm sort of range. If the distance is more than this the bridge pup cavity will need to be routed forward a few mm

Sort of nearly right, set the E/B saddle most of the way forward and set the scale length to it, the rest get incrementally further as the strings get thicker.

Once you have the bridge mounted up drill string throughs 1 & 6 right through and the other 4 part way only, then flip the body over and stick a drill bit in the 1 & 6 holes and slip the bridge over them, then drill the holes for 2 - 5 through to meet the ones you have part drilled this will ensure the holes on the back are very close to straight and correctly spaced.

I used a 3.5 drill for this and for the ferrule a 6.5 which gave a firm fit but test this drill size in a bit of scrap first because there is no easy going back if you drill that fraction too large, the ferrule holes where 11mm deep from memory.

If you have the PB ferrule with the lip, the lip sits proud it is not flush but there are flush ferrules out there if that's your preference

Thanks Wakkaboy & Simon. Fitted up as you suggested. Measurements on the PB bridge as supplied with about 4mm sticking out the front of the threads is 323 & 328, so it looks like I'm right on. It is so much easier with you guys looking over my shoulder :)
I've actually ordered a Wilkinson bridge but it hasn't arrived yet so I'll double check when it does.

Thanks Dave for the advice on drilling the strings & ferrules. I was hoping the PB ferrules would fit flush, but I will have a think about my expectations. Cheers

So regarding forum etiquette, is it OK to keep posting questions in this thread or should I start a new one / try and find an appropriate one for each question. Thanks

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Originally Posted by chansom

Thanks Dave for the advice on drilling the strings & ferrules. I was hoping the PB ferrules would fit flush, but I will have a think about my expectations. Cheers

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The PB ferrules follow the traditional Tele style sitting proud, my Squier Tele has flush ferrules.

You would have to be very careful drilling for flush ferrules because a fraction too deep and they won't look as you might wish and you won't be able to retofit standard ferrules

It's always worth trying to search for previous questions on the subject, unfortunately the search engine on the forum is poor so you are unlikely to find anything useful with it. There are some sections here that have general help info, but there are times when you need answers specific to your build.

So it's really best to start a build diary (in the My Build Diary section), to show what you've done and ask questions there. Pictures can tell people a lot and others might recognise possible issues a long time before you do. Only if you don't get a reply there is it really worth starting a thread elsewhere; unless it's a more general question for your own interest, when it's not that applicable to your build. Then I'd start a post somewhere else. Most people will read new posts, not everyone reads additions to older posts.

Great. Thanks Simon. Plowing on ;)

Do you need to grain fill a basswood body?

Hi BigGreg. Welcome to the forum. Basswood has closed pores, so doesn't need grain filling like an open pore wood like mahogany or ash does.

Any advice on a set neck?

hey TYS, what kit is it ? Have you done a mock build to check if the neck pup fits ok and the neck heel fits flush ?
You also need to check the scale length is correct before you glue the neck

I have done a mock build, but not sure what really to look for, and no I have not checked the scale length. I am not starting for another 2 weeks, so I am just looking for advice to look over. The kit is the PRS-1H