The YB4 Build

nice work Greg, love the angular burst, its original and original is cool in my books. Keep going with the theme I reckon !

cool!

Thanks for the support guys. I was worried as it is such a departure from the norm. I actually quite like the result so far.....see how it goes with more colour and the gloss finish.

I lashed out and continued the theme up the neck and onto the headstock.

I love how dye finds the glue spots you missed....and then shows them to you. I have no found three I need to wire brush when it is dry.
http://pitbullguitars.com./wp-conten...eadstock01.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com./wp-conten...jqm-neck01.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com./wp-conten...968-neck02.jpg

looks cool the neck Greg, keep the theme going.
Yes stain always uncovers any unsanded machine marks or glue so well !

Love the concept. This is looking very nice.

looking good .

I HAVE TO PUT THIS AWAY TODAY....OR I SHALL TOSS IT OUT....THIS IS THE WORST KIT I HAVE HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO BE INVOLVED WITH.

There must be no quality control.....or these things are like factory thirds or something.

I decided that I would try this "RELIC" look that has been a hit of late. So I made my marks....completed my finishing....was really happy with the result.

I began putting it all together today.

I noted the "tear" in the wood where the bridge earth wire comes through from the control cavity when I first got the kit. But who sticks a wire etc through the hole to check? Well not I. I have tried all I can to make a connection from the control cavity to the bridge.....there is not one.

I then began to fit the tuners to the head stock. I own a RBX270J so I took the angles from that headstock. I then noted that I had to really push hard to get the nuts to go down over the collars off the tuners.

Then to my amazement I note that the last one I fitted was completely solid. Yes a completely solid TUNER.....no place to poke the string in....no place to anchor the string....no way to tighten the string.

I can live with this....so I complete the build. I note that the neck angle seems not quite right....so I undo the neck bolts and check out the seating of the neck in the pocket....all looks good. I then set this guitar next to my RBX and note THE HUGE DIFFERENCE in the neck height and angle.

I think I can live with this and I continue.

I measure the nut to the 12th fret on both mine and the YB4. Nice....it is the same. I then measure the 12th fret to a mid point along the travel of the E string saddle and the G string saddle. I use a couple of clamps and vise clamps like on the movie on You Tube. I mark the five holes and I set the depth on my drill....and I make the move.

Now I look at the neck and the saddles and note that the saddles themselves do not appear over the end of the neck....really starting to wear me down now.

I adjust the saddles to the maximum travel they have.....I check the neck relief....little out....not much....by eye as I don't have an E string....see the solid tuner reference above. GRRRRR.

I try to tune and at least have A D G working....no chance.

I have upgraded POTS, 1/4 pounder P J Bass pick-ups from Seymour Duncan I purhcased and imported from the USA myself....and I have all this mounted to a F#$@%^$ STICK.

I must go now or I shall burn the whole thing....breathe....breather.

This has not been a great experience....not a lot fits....not a lot works....not a happy camper.

These kits are shit....go elsewhere people you can get better....I have two from other locations way better than this......STICK.
http://pitbullguitars.com./wp-conten...19-tuner01.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com./wp-conten...k-pocket01.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com./wp-conten...e-bridge01.jpg

Oh and it gets even better......the cavity cover....yeah the black plastic thing.

Whoever cut it....put the countersinking on the wrong side.....and yes they can only go on one way....and also the peel off plastic is on the other side....not good at all.....nice stick.

Wow I am surprised my first build was the YB4.
Great kit and its my regular player.

Ozz - sorry to hear that you're having some serious issues with the kit.

I can see the issue with the E string tuner - I believe that this is an easy fix and Adam can send out a replacement tuner pretty quickly. The cavity cover should also be an easy fix / replacement part that I believe can easily be mailed out.

As for the other issues, I believe that they are all fixable - neck relief is tricky - miniscule changes at the body can make significant changes along the neck. Without seeing the whole neck I am thinking it could be a couple of things:
The neck may not be fully embedded within the body - especially on the two screws on the bridge side - it's hard to tell from the photos above - from experience though, tightening those two screws can have a significant effect - especially on a bass with a long neck.
The neck may have some back / front bow and not be dead straight - from the missing truss rod cover, it looks like you have had a go with the truss rod, but it might also be the culprit.
I'm sure that there are also potentially other things that could be the source, but I must admit I'm still learning in this space, so will defer to wiser heads (DB / Gavmeister) who may be able to offer other solutions.

My only recommendation is this - from experience of myself and others on this forum, Adam takes QA seriously and if there are issues as you've put above with some of the kit, I'm sure an email to Adam@pitbullguitars.com will resolve many of them. I am sorry for the issues with the kit, but do believe that they are all fixable. They all require some effort to get them right - that's part of the challenge and fun of building your own guitar.