March 2020 GOTM

March Guitar of the Month (for Guitars and Basses finished in February)

Enter your finished guitar or bass here to be judged for the Pit Bull Guitars March Guitar of the Month.

Please remember:

For Guitars or Basses finished on (or before) the end of February.

One guitar/bass per member per month.
It must be a Pit Bull Guitars kit (mods and upgrades acceptable).
Guitar or Bass must be finished and playable.

We need at least 4 photos:
· full guitar shot from the front;
· close up of the body finish;
· shot of the back of the guitar; and
· close up of the headstock (please, no brand name logos)


Please post your photos in this thread. If you are having issues posting photos on the forum, please email them to brendan (at) pitbullguitars (dot) com

Please note: This competition is open to amateur guitar builders only. If you are making and selling guitars for profit, you are ineligible. Also while there are some stunning guitars around - you never know what the judges are looking for, so we encourage anyone who's built a Pitbull during the month to enter!

Competition for closes at the end of February (Perth Western Australian time).

The sorts of things we judge on include:
· How well have the body and neck been prepared
· Is the choice of finish for the style of guitar appropriate
· How well has the finish been applied
· How well has all the hardware, pickups, etc, been installed
· Does it have the 'Wow Factor'· Which guitar would you make a beeline for in a guitar shop. That is, which one would you most like to take home.

BTW - remember that the winner is invited to be a guest judge the following month!

First entry from Oldmate:
Here is my finished GR1SF. I used black dye then sanded back to make the grain pop lots more fine sanding, then several coats of green dye followed by several coats of spray on poly, sanding between coats a final sand with 2000 paper cut back and polish. Numerous hours on the frets and a set of slinky strings made this play like a dream.
The only mod was a set of Jim Dunlop 250k super pot.
I couldn't find the green I wanted in timber stain so I used a craft fabric dye it worked great.
Cheers from
Oldmate

A couple more images:

This one had a complicated gestation. Ordered as a custom kit, it ended up with a different builder and an almost completely different set of hardware.

The bridge is Hipshot, bolted flat to the (scraped flat) body.

Pickups are Artec and the tuners are Jin Ho.

The pickup rings and truss rod cover are home made.

The control circuit is basically JB like with switches for single coil (bridge) and single coil/phase (neck).

The finish is natural, in Tru oil, with the exception of the engineered rosewood fingerboard which has been treated with a low viscosity epoxy primer and then lemon oil. It seemed to me that it only had very moderate flame in the top, so a spectacular finish wouldn't work well (and besides, that's not me). Oddly the flame in the maple is more visible in the photos than it is to my eyes.

Headstock decoration is a transfer on a background half veneer and half abalone, inlaid into the headstock.

Headstock profile is largely out of the box, but with the sharper corners radiused down to a GBR 10 pence piece.

Strings are Rotosound flats.

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Many thanks to Simon Barden for doing difficult bits which I didn't have the tools or experience for and Fender3x for encouragement and endless agonising over cases!

I'll give it another go....

PBA-4 - Precision Bass Ash body - It is very simply done, nothing too fancy, pretty much a basic build. Complete and playable/gigable, though over the past few days there are changes that are niggling at me. Mostly just minor details on the pick guard that I might do one day...

Finish is rattle can Vintage White Nitro to a slightly better than satin finish with very slight patina of the wood grain of the Ash body just showing through, and '63 Strat tinted clear gloss Nitro on the Maple neck/headstock. Wilkinson tuners, Bone nut, Stock kit bridge and PU's, and CTS 250k pots on a replacement Black guard. The tone is quite full and great, and intonation is spot on, with quite low action for a bass making it quite a fast player.

The body was pore filled with Timbermate and then sanded back. As far as the Nitro goes there was one coat of clear primer over both neck and body and then lightly sanded with 400 w&d. Three coats of the White and then three plain clear gloss coats over the white to the body. The Neck got four coats of the '63 tinted clear gloss and just one coat of plain clear gloss.... With use it should relic up nicely.

This is my first build, which I completed with my 15 yr old daughter, making it a great bonding experience. Initially, I decided to give this a go as a possible project to teach at school as I am a woodwork teacher. Upon undertaking this build, my daughter and I researched for ideas through this forum and we loved another persons steampunk bass guitar. So, as I was building this for my daughter, she wanted steampunk theme.

We purchased the PIT BULL DMS-4 ELECTRIC BASS GUITAR KIT (2 PIECE MAHOGANY BODY), and stained the body with Japanese brown and the neck with Japanese black. We coated the whole guitar with a satin varnish. We also purchased all black components to match the darker colours.

Unfortunately, the guitar did not come with shorty strings, so we have to purchase some new strings. The pick guard was white, so we had to paint it with hammered metal effect brown amber spray paint and a small crystal clear resin for paint protection.

I sunk the cogs into the body by using a 22 mm forstner bit and filling the hole with the same resin used on the pick guard.

I used a radial arm saw at work to cut a 30 mm section out of the body, and then carefully marked out where to drill the holes to place in the copper pipe.

It was a slow build, about 10 months due to my health, but for a first build we are happy.

The only things needing to fix are the screws in the pick guard and one holding the neck to the body as they were missing from our package.

I took it to our local music shop for them to adjust properly and they were amazed, telling me I should sell them. I may give making and selling a go. If anyone has experience selling these, please pm me if you have any advice.

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Very interesting build basham75 with rather small horns compared to a typical P Bass shape.

This one is done....completely.

I have finished all that needs to be done for this one today. I even recorded a shitty video of me doing some scales on a clean and a crunch channel on a cheapie modelling amp.

Kit:- the nice PBG upgraded one here...

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...hardware-copy/

Hardware from PBG:-

Set of Grover locking chrome tuners and a bone nut at the time of purchase. EDIT:- Forgot about the set of noiseless Entwistle pickups.

Parts:-

Push pull Bourns pot in the volume position. 2 x bourns pots in the tones position. PIO Black Candy Capacitor. Switchcraft Jack socket. CRL five position switch.

White knobs to suit CRL five position blade switch, end of tremolo, 1 volume knob and two tone knobs.

Wilkinson WVP6 oval shaped screw holes tremolo bridge....straight drop in change with PBG bridge cut out.

2 x barrel string-trees.

Finish and Prep:-

Body and neck sanded to 180 grit and both hit with one coat of Cedar/Blackwood Timbermate. (Fingerboard not done.)

Body stained with three colours of Japan Brown, Jarrah, and Golden Teak Feast Watson Prooftint alcohol based stains.
Body then had four coats of Feast Watson Fine Buffing Oil in total. Left to hang for two weeks eventually.

Three coats of hand rubbed Gillys Cabinetmakers Wax...and lots of buffing. Left to hang for two weeks. Then three coats total of Gillys Carnauba Polish and even more rag based hand buffing.

Fretboard received three coats of Fine Buffing Oil, then three coats of Cabinetmakers Wax and two coats of Carnauba Polish.

Neck:-

Back of neck prepared the same way as the body. Front of headstock sanded and filled with timbermate....then decals applied and about ten coats of Tru Oil laid over the face of the headstock.

Back of neck and face of headstock finished with a number of coats of Carnauba Polish and buffed a lot.

Setup:-

As usual the setup on a tremolo strat was crap.....still don't like them....but I like the options they give.

The rear of the bridge floats at 3/32 of an inch above the deck. This gives you a full step lower and a 1/2 step higher on the trem.

The bridge saddles height matches the radius and the neck is shimmed with two pieces of business card on top of each other at the headstock end. This lifted the fingerboard up and left me with some adjustment in the bridge saddles.

The strings were changed today from the kit strings to the Ernie Ball strings that came along as well. I was amazed to have to adjust things....then looked at the strings....they are like 08 to 42.....hmmm.

The bone nut was a drop in fit. The string height at the first fret is close enough for me. Once flattened the neck bent up to give 0.10 inch relief once strings applied.

I have string height of 3/64 to 4/64 across the fretboard at the 17th fret. Not too bad for an amateur like me. Pickups are set away from the strings at about 3mm on bass side and 2.5 on the treble side. No buzzing etc along the neck...only my fingers making bad noises.

A complete fret level, crowning and polishing was done. All ends of the frets filed and sanded. Edge of the fingerboard rolled and sanded. All hit with wax again and then one more carnuaba polish when done.

Intonation required adjustment on the fat E and Fat A string....the rest were good.

Issues:-

The Volume pot is push pull and the Seymour Duncan diagram for this was followed. The suggestion that a toggle switch may have been easier to use is probable closer to the mark. However, if the extra two sounds are not needed in a big hurry then the push pull volume pot is fine.

I found my missing tone connection and all is soldered good now.

The wiring diagrams on the net to give the bridge pickup a blend in the lower tone pot do interest me.....maybe later.

The pickups are very ringy like a telecaster even. My limited AMP setup skills are put to the test when I use a clean tone on the bridge pickup on the treble strings. The tone sustains extremely well....but the output is full of treble.

Drop the middles and trebles on the AMP...grab a chunk of Crunch or a Blues Amp Model and I like the sound. I love the spankiness of the fat strings in the slightly gainy Clean Tone and the bite they have in Crunch makes me smile.

The pickups make no noise at all. The pickups themselves and the worlds biggest collection of copper tape has seen to that. They are very impressive in that way.

Time for me to use this to make myself learn guitar to go with my average Bass playing.

McCreed especially for you......against my embarrassing wariness here is some video....just blues scales at the fifth fret in clean and crunch.

https://youtu.be/0kv3mwJMeJQ

Just a few more for the mix....

Yeah...really the end now.

Here’s my LPM-1E

Finish on the front is FW Golden Teak over the flame maple veneer and SCA gloss. Back is SCA red feathered on over a grain highlight of ebony timbermate, with 3 coats of tru oil on to give nice satin type textured finish. My idea here was that I wanted textured look, rather than smooth with a very subtle grain highlight popping through the red (super hard to capture the subtlety in a photo, but I think you get the idea).

Upgrades;
Tusq nut, Grover tuners, Gotoh bridge stock tailpiece, epi Probucker bridge / Alnico Pro Classic neck pups with coil splits. Handmade TRC, recessed jack plate, aftermarket knobs and pointers, switch / wiring etc.

More detail including in the build diary.

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Looks great B12

Here is my ATL1-SW, my first bash at a kit geetar.

Initially called the Peelycaster it is more commonly known as The Brown 'un due to the colour it sort of
came out. Mainly due to my schoolboy attempts at staining that went wrong when I added some gold grain filler.
However, I rather like the 'bling' effect, was trying to get hold of a set of Optima gold strings to finish
it off but Strings Direct are out of stock for a couple of weeks so standard steel jazz jobbies fitted.
You may note the lack of string tree(s) which I do have but found in my setup that they really are not needed.
It may be my playing style, gentle finger picked and small bends rather than full on Hendrix style.
And before anyone says ' but they will obscure the headstock logo if you fit them Fatboy' - yeah, I know haha.

The headstock logo defeated me, the one on the rear is what should be there but the colours faded over the red.
The Pitbull one did not, most likely as it was laser printed and not inkjet printed like mine.
There it is in all its glory, a big thank you to those who have provided me with so much help and encouragement
on this fantastic resource.
May I buy you all a beer...…..

My next one is started, a Precision Bass style - not a Pitbull one alas but I will get around to doing another
Pitbull in the future assuming that the world as we know it still exists !
Cheers, Fatboy.

And some more.....

Last one, must update/finish my build log.

Comp closed - working on the new one shortly. Should get the notifications out to judges today - all the best to the entrants!

Great to see so many entries this month after a couple of quiet ones. Don't envy the judges though......

Oldmate's GR-1SF -
Nice build with that amazing green, it came out really well. Nice job
Great looking guitar, fresh looking green is very different and maybe too much for me. Looks well finished and the gold hardware works really well with the green. Good polishing job.
There are few minor blemishes, but after a few months playing they will look like battle scars. That green definitely is bright.
Beautiful, vibrant colour with a nice gloss to the finish. Appealing combination with the gold hardware. Would like to have seen a truss rod cover, and maybe a logo on the headstock. Nice build.
nice finish, gold hardware works well on the green. Needs a headstock logo to say you built it !
A very different green, not sure of the shade, but polished up very well. The variegation in the grain structure comes through clearly, though the lighting seems to make the colour look patchy. Tuners seem a bit out of kilter, though that’s not uncommon with the kits. Some of the close ups show a bit of variation in the surface finish. I would have liked to have seen a logo, or some other personalisation, on the whole a nice effort. The green and gold works for me though still not certain about the shade. Love the Keystone tuners and the overall effect of the thing. Doesn’t light my fire but I’d still want to pick it up and twiddle, especially plugged into that nice big Randall cab.

JimC's ESB-4 -
These always seem to look good and this is no exception. Nice to see something that isn’t full tilt gloss. Love the headstock logo treatment.
Great, simple looking guitar. Looks to be very well finished and what a great headstock inlay. Looks like its from the 60's and has had a lifetime of playing.
Really like how this one has turned out. The headstock is especially nice.
Good choice with the natural look, it suits it well. A fantastic inlaid headstock logo, very classy. The white plastics don't really work for me, although I'm not sure another colour would suit better. A very determined build with an excellent result.
nice mods and upgrades, looks clean with a natural look, love the headstock logo.
There is much to love about a naked arch top! The stripped back aesthetic is great, with some well thought and stunning personal touches (Logo button, controls, pup rings, TRC etc.). The naked treatment of the body has brought the wood grain to life, for me both front and back are incredibly pleasing. Some nice flame and a hint of quilt seem evident. The finish looks smooth and silky, it looks like it would feel great sitting in your hands. Careful work to mount the non kit bridge, some tasty upgraded parts add to a really well crafted look. Its hard to pick up where others have left off, but I feel Jim has done incredibly well here. My only wish for this would have been a matching bound fretboard and peg head, the rounded head corners and heel end seem a little out of place on it. Very well turned out axe, would be one I’d gravitate to in a store.

Marcel's PBA-4 -
Wow, looks like its just come off the production line at a well know manufacturers. Looks really well finished.
A great example of what can be done right out of the box, simple and very stylish.
Simple & beautiful. A bit of a shame that the tuners turned out too big for the headstock.
A beautiful clean, simple PBA - looks like a real player. Love the black on white look of the top, and the overall finish. Those baseplates on the elephant ears always seem to be a headache. Great looking bass that you just want to grab.
love the white with black pickguard and natural headstock, cool looking bass !
Nothing fancy, nothing OTT just a really nicely turned out bass. The finish suits it, and the replacement scratch plate sets off a wonderful contrast to the stark white body. Everything lines up really nicely down the neck to the bridge. The hint of grain through the finish is pleasing and the fretboard reveals some serious effort spent getting it just so. My only question mark is over the headstock shape, it just seems a tad bulgy? If that makes sense? The Wilkinsons also seem as though they are just a tad overlarge, they appear to hang over the top edge? Or is that just the angle of shot? Logo work is in keeping with the overall feel, Nothing overstated, just crisp and simple. This one would get some extended plunking in a store.

Basham75's DMS - 4
awesome project with your daughter - parenting done right! This is a very cool mod and looks the part, cant wait to see what you two come up with next!
Love the steam punk look and love that you are looking to teach in school. Great idea to get more people building. Unique. Unfortunate that there are a couple of screws needing finished off
wow that's a different concept cutting a section of the body out and join with copper pipe. Sunken cogs a nice touch. I would find some screws for the neck to body or order some, string tensions on a bass are massive !
I’m in two minds about this. Did you go too far, or not far enough with the mods. The finish is on point though.
A great family build with just the right amount of crazy. I love the detached section and finish with a light steampunk touches. Pending the screw updates, excellent result and a really nice build.
’Tis a brave rookie that takes to their first kit with a radial arm saw and Forstner Bits! Some cosmetic reshaping appears to have been done on the horns? The finish has come up great, the black/brown combo with the grain pores on show works for me. The copper pipe stand off at the upper bout is interesting, as is the inset gear cogs, it would have been nice to see that theme taken a bit further, perhaps a carved/etched scratch plate or Truss rod cover? Some more copper touches to carry that through it maybe? Upgrading to black was nice it does suit, though I think it would have worked well with chrome or an antique or relic nickel finish also. Neck plate in black is cool, again perhaps a monogram or similar on that. Shame about the mixed screws, that can happen from time to time. A great effort, some original touches and thinking, and a nice overall build.

Ozzbike's AST-1 -
A excellent classic looking ST that's certainly flash enough for anyone. Nice finish with subtle grain highlights and tidy overall look. Great looking build.
nice looking strat Ozz, another great looking build and nice upgrades
The simple and classy look plays down how nice this really is, you’ve been here before and never disappoint.
Not a massive fan of wood finished strats but this one looks to be really well thought out and finished. Great electrical setup.
Really great job. It’s come up a charm. I’d be tempted to round off the lower horn of the pick guard a bit so it matched the body better.
The only way this could get upgraded any further is to change it out to an actual Strat! The rubbed wax finish over the FW stains is wonderful, looks satin and silky and makes the colours seem deep and dark, especially at the edges. Tasty upgrade package, love the bridge and the controls upgrades. I really enjoyed the sound you got from the Entwistle pups in your video. I suspect that neck was grafted in from a TL kit with the squared off Fretboard end? Its about the only ?? Bit of the whole thing for me. I love that you’ve detailed what you did, transplanted and upgraded, as well as shared some of the tribulations you’d had getting it done. It really is a wonderful looking, great sounding guitar.

Bakersdozen's LPM-1E -
Very nice LP and classy execution.
really well finished guitar. The top looks stunning and in my opinion better than how a lot of LP's look. Very different to see no fret markers but i lobe how clean this makes the neck look. Carbon parts are a great addition.
I’m not a fan of LPs, but this is a classic. Impressive stuff!
Beautiful, just beautiful. Love the finish, love the hardware, love the carbon fibre look plastics, just love it. The back looks a touch cherry-pink rather than red on my screens, but I'm sure it's more red in person. Great headstock and fantastic looking build.
awesome looking LP great choice of colours and upgrades, well done.
I like this guitar. The front highlights a fantastic veneer, the colour combo suits it to a T. Not sure about the texture effect for back of the body and headstock neck, but to each their own. Tasty set of electrical upgrades with some handy switching options. I like the use of the rounded socket for the output jack. The Carbon fibre effect covers just gives it a little pop, especially on the rear, where it could have been acres of flat red with some shiny black plastic. I love that simple flowing “Baker” logo. It’s perfect for the whole ethic of the build. The flat black expanse of the fretboard just helps to highlight the wow grain on the front and on the headstock. I’d need to pick this bad boy up and jack it into a half stack if I found it in a store. Wonderful job.

Fatboy's ATL1-SW -
This is certainly a Tele with the lot. This blingtastic creation is quite eye catching. The top turned out quite nicely
another great looking guitar. trying to bribe the judges with a Pitbull logo? lol. Super clean finish on the binding and love the colour on the rear. Gold strings would really finish it off.
A great finish. I love the colour combinations, even if I know others won’t.
cool looking tele the finish looks great and choice of colours work well with the gold hardware
I love the look and colour of the top, especially with the gold hardware. Not so sold on the red scratchplate and headstock face, although good when viewed in isolation. The natural fretboard provides a nice contrast to the back of the neck and body. Nice result.
I really dig the way the red/gold effect comes across in the grain of the body. The unusual spalting pattern on the front kind of draws your eye in, and then you note the finish, which is deep and shiny all over. The red gold effect continues through the hardware options, another one with some wise upgrade choices, you can’t really go wrong with the Grovers. I think your logo is great, and it would have been wonderful to have seen them reversed, with the PBG on the back. The inkjet ones are so very finicky and limiting. Not sure if that is the standard scratchplate but it certainly works with the whole motif. Neck looks very well aligned, string paths are all tracking well across the bridge pup. Close up shots show a nice smooth finish coat, it looks slick! Not normally a tele fan, but this one has a little bit of something special about it, would have to spend some time twiddling.

So - runner up
Congratulations to a first timer and family in their awesome steampunk DMS-4! Well done Basham75!
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...4&d=1582622508

And the winner!
We haven't seen a LP for a while, and this one's a stunner!
Take a bow BakersDozen!
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Great work guys!

Oh wow, totally wasn't expecting that as a result of all these wonderful builds. Thanks to the judges and hats off to all other entrants this month, with some absolutely knock-out guitars.

Great work everyone and congratulations to Bakersdozen and Basham75.

great selection of stuff i'd like to own this month! Well Done Bakers Dozen and Basham75, really nice builds.

Great job Bakers Dozen and Basham75! fantastic builds

Congrats to all this month the standard just keeps going up.

Nice work with the Tuff Dog tribute brandonop, good to see I'm not alone

Wow, runner up, I am pretty happy about that. Thank you.