Brodies IB-1 "V-Bay at Noon"

F clamp but yes :P it's as if the fret has rolled/the tang is bent in an awkward way. Might be a case of refretting just the problem children as the rest of the neck is looking straight.

Artsy, scored lines:

http://i.imgur.com/KAS5chs.jpg

OR

Straight black binding?

http://i.imgur.com/6g57HyB.jpg

I'm leaning towards straight black, TBH. Just looks cleaner and more professional. However, I do like the scoring, so I wouldn't rule it out for a future build.

The black looks cool, but it's not bonded to the plastic just sitting on top. You will most probably find that it will smear and contaminate your top coats.

Pabs man! You're killing me over here! :P

But seriously though, thanks for the unbiased warning.

Alas, I have thrown caution to the wind, and decided to risk all. Sticking with black. Applied first Wudtone today. Dark Onyx deep colour on back, sides and top. Back and sides did not need much, being already soaked in Feast Watson goodness, but my oh my was the maple top thirsty! Did three passes before all the grain was covered, and every pore had soaked some up.

Currently curing in my cupboard. Once ready, I will sand back and apply Azure Lagoon. Exciting times ahead, and hopefully all goes well. Pictures soon, my friends. :)

Sounding and looking great Brodie!

Sounds great Brodie. Looking forward to seeing that top!

cheers,
Gav.

Sorry bro, I would feel really bad if something went pear shaped and I was sitting here going 'knew that would happen'. I will be very happy to be proven wrong though. Onwards and upwards!

[fingers crossed]

best of luck Brodie, hope the black binding works out. The scores look pretty good.
Look forward to seeing the cap with azure applied

@Pabs: No stress mate. I really do appreciate getting some 100% honest advice. :)

So, as promised, pictures (cause I know how much we all love them)!

I was a chump and forgot to get one pre-sanding, but I did remember everything else so, without further ado, here they are:

Dark Onyx sanded back, with a newly stealthed out trem cavity:

http://i.imgur.com/thWZ2q4.jpg

First coat of Azure Lagoon:

http://i.imgur.com/ltG0rPK.jpg

One more for posterity ;) :

http://i.imgur.com/w4zJoVW.jpg

Not 100% happy with the way Wudtone sands back. I now have about 6 pieces of sand paper absolutely ruined because they are clogged with it. Plus, it didn't leave a very clean, defined wood and grain surface for the Azure, meaning the pop will be a little muddy. For future builds, I think I will use a Feast Watson stain (should have listened to Wokka in the first place :P ).

Overall though, things are looking up. :D

Damn. That is HOT!

nice work, it came out nicely

Thanks for all the nice comments gents. :)

UPDATE:

I have applied an endless stream of base coats, which really haven't levelled out the colour as much as I would have liked. Unfortunately, it appears I've reached the stage though where the wood just cannot physically take more stain, so it will have to do how it is.

I'm applying highlights soon, and then will move on to clear coats.

As for neck, try as I might I can't fix it. Luckily, I ordered a Pit Bull kit, and thus I have received great assistance from Adam who is getting me a new one, free of charge. Talk about legendary customer service (but you all knew that already)! If all goes well, I'll have it mid to late September, and the guitar will be ready to play in early October! Excited is an understatement! Keen to see how this beasty turns out!

Keep your eyes peeled for more news soon. ;)

Yep - they're good that way. Hope it comes together - it looks pretty good so far.

love the azure/black grain on these kits, looks similar to Pablo's build.
Glad a new neck is on the way, what was wrong with the original neck Brodie ? (sorry if you already mentioned, I don't have time to trawl through the whole diary)

Hey Woks, there was a significant number of frets that were raised from the board, and we couldn't get them to reseat, no matter what we tried (hammering, clamping, mallet, etc.).

To give an indication of how stubbornly resistant they are, I actually broke a clamp trying to squish them back down.

thats right cheers Brodie, I remember now ! Sounds like the frets weren't shaped to the correct fingerboard radius, the fret slots had gunk in them/too shallow or the fret barbs were damaged.

I got a neck with a broken truss rod so I'm going to mount an axe above my bar

Nice! Now that's a bar I wouldn't mind drinking in. ;)

One day I will hopefully have enough spare moolah to just write off a build like that, and do something similar. For the time being though, I need (want) every one of these guitar playable!

yer its a ST kit Brodie so I got enough to be able to use it as a display axe !

I'm waitng for weather to fine up and I'll post a pic when its mounted. Don't want the bridge and other chrome to rust !

Even still! That's $125 bucks I don't have sitting around!
One day though. ;)

Sounds good mate, definitely keen to see it once you've got it all mounted and such.

UPDATE:

I have finished my base coat application, applied highlights, touched up the binding, and have applied a clear. Now, pictures!

Clear number 1, nice and shiny already. I have also begun stealthing out my pick-up cavities, just because I can ;) :

http://i.imgur.com/ne0HTf0.jpg?1

I scraped the top of the binding for a nice contrast between the azure and the black. I think it looks snazzy:

http://i.imgur.com/vWJgH1K.jpg?1

The black on the side binding seems to be holding up well so far. Fingers crossed this continues now that clears are going on:

http://i.imgur.com/DrNhJsc.jpg

Well, that's all for this post. Let me know what you think, especially about the binding.

Cheers. :)

top work Brodie, looking good

looks great Brodie, looks different with black binding on the sides but it works well

Honestly, this is one of the coolest guitars I've seen. I love the esp h series with a nice trans top, still looks classy but still metal without being pointy, but it can still level city blocks. This thing looks the same, but with an original colour that suits the body shape. Amazing, amazing job man. I can't wait til its finished, would love to see you put her through her paces.

Great job Brodie. It's been really cool to follow your build and see you overcome your setbacks to produce something that looks so amazing! The colour suits this model so nicely, and the black binding makes the top of the guitar look even sleeker. Is that shielding paint in the cavities? Top job.

cheers,
Gav.

Looks great Brodie - like how it's coming together.

Really digging that white pinstripe. Classy.

The binding has come up really well. I'm glad you were able to find a solution you like.

Cheers lads, appreciate it. :)

@Andrew: WOW! Was not expecting such high praise! Thanks heaps, man! I don't think I'll be able to do it as much justice as you clearly think it deserves, but I'll definitely be uploading a sound test once it's done.

@Gav: Nah, just one coat of black Feast Watson applied with a hobby brush. I will probably need to see about shielding at some point, but since electronics are a long way away yet, I'm not in any particular rush. Any recommendations on where to obtain some though, for when the time comes?

I would personally use copper tape for the shielding. Make sure you get the stuff that has conductive adhesive (conductive both sides). You can solder the ground wire directly on to it! Pitbull sell it, or ebay etc.

cheers,
Gav.

I've been using snail & slug barrier tape from B*****gs. It's costs less than the copper tape sold as guitar shielding and is a bit thicker and less fragile, but is essentially the same stuff.

Thanks for the suggestions, gents. How about in the single coil route though? I don't think having copper tape showing would be the most ideal thing.

*****UPDATE (It's a biggun)*****

NECK:

So, checked my mail today, and my new neck had arrived! Well ahead of schedule too, might I add. Absolutely stoked with the PBG service, so thank you very much Adam and co. The neck is in pretty good nick overall, but there are a few things that will require work.

Grain is phenomenal (especially on the headstock), and the dragon inlay has some really nice colours in it, which will come out awesome with a LOT of TLC:

http://i.imgur.com/8Dx4JbE.jpg?1 Headstock Front

http://i.imgur.com/QRfgOFt.jpg Headstock Back

http://i.imgur.com/ti11EpV.jpg Neck

http://i.imgur.com/eB0LHj1.jpg Inlay

Slight issues include squashed binding on the bass-side rear of the fingerboard (no picture), and a nut that has been mounted way too high, over the top of binding (bit like what Bargeloobs had), which will make the action at the first ridiculously high. However, I'm sure they're issues I can work around:

http://i.imgur.com/xqwGk4o.jpg

As for the frets, as many of you know I had some serious problems with the first neck. This one looks to be almost flawless. Provided here are a comparison of the worst from neck 1 (old), and the worst from neck 2 (new). Not sure how much of an issue the bow in the fret from the new neck will be, but hopefully there is a fix somewhere:

http://i.imgur.com/aoN2Gqc.jpg?1 Neck 1 (Old) worst fret

http://i.imgur.com/aOAKEPU.jpg?1 Neck 2 (New) worst fret

BODY:

As for the body, it is coming along swimmingly. Four coats of Wudtone clear on now, and I am no longer getting residual stain coming off on my application cloth (meaning it is fully sealed!). The stained binding is also holding its colour perfectly (praise Jeebus). So, with a few more coats she'll be ready for some electronics!

And of course, as always, pictures (even though there's already a lot :P ):

http://i.imgur.com/lwoyWKK.jpg Wudtone Coat 4 Front (1)

http://i.imgur.com/c2LwoAV.jpg Wudtone Coat 4 Front (2)

http://i.imgur.com/p3HtSGJ.jpg Wudtone Coat 4 Back

http://i.imgur.com/6TapDjt.jpg Wudtone Coat 4 Side (binding holding colour)

I apologise for the exceptionally long post, but I know how much we all love details. ;)

I am reprofiling my neck tonight, and may even apply the first coat of colourless Wudtone!

Cheers for visiting, and let me know what you think!

Just saying, the floyd nut is (should be) adjustable. There should be two tine as allan screws on it on the fretboard side ridge. Those adjust the height of the nut so you can control your action.

Man, that redefines my impression of a "Blue Meanie" in the best way!



http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...mi-d4n6z6t.png

Haha! Thanks Max! Appreciate it. :)

Yeah, thanks Nathan, tried that already mate. It is as low as it can go, and there is an action of about 3-4mm at the first (pretty much unplayable level). I will need to remove the nut and see what I can come up with I think.

Found the problem...

http://i.imgur.com/C0hODZs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YNtry7q.jpg

Please refer to my last post regarding this axe.

Damn that bodies coming along something wicked mate, it looks better than a bought one!!

body looking very nice Brodie, fairly similar to Pablo's. Very tasty.
Glad you worked out why the nut seems high, looks like binding needs to be sanded back.
Keep at it and you will be plugging this baby in soon and entering October GOTM !

So, we get to go from one problem to the next. Found out the factory did me another solid by sending these for my tuning pegs:

http://i.imgur.com/sqh8Ib5.jpg

These lil' suckers aren't gonna help nobody. This problem seems like one not to bother the PBG boys with though, so it's off to eBay to try and find suitable replacements. Le sigh.