Build #3 - ES-1GT

Hi all,

Now that Pitbull is stocked up with kits it was time to jump on what I've wanted to do for a while - the ES-1GT! So I have just ordered and look forward to delivery whenever delivery happens.

I'm going to take my time with this one though with the Christmas holidays coming up I'm sure I'll be keen to get stuck in when I'm not at work.

I am thinking classic cherry red with gold hardware.

Can't wait to rely on the wealth of knowledge here and ask stupid questions along the way!

It's good to be back :)

Hi and welcome back!

Great choice with the ES-1GT but I am a little biased.
My experience with the kit was mostly very positive so hopefully you will be the same.

Cheers
Ricky

Thanks Ricky.
I think I will be getting a lot of info from your build diary on this one! It's a little daunting I must admit but I think with some patience I will get something I'm happy with.

Don't worry about it. The kit is really no more complex than any other (although the wiring installation is 'interesting').

When the kit arrives, check it over very carefully - glue spots, binding, neck fit and angle, contents etc. Decide what faults you can fix and what ones you need advice on.

One thing I advise you to check is scale length and fret relationship. Let me explain.
The scale length is 628mm. This means 12th fret is at 314mm (although many will say just measure from nut to bridge).

On mine I discovered a small but fixable issue or at least it would have been fixable if I had noticed it in time.
The distance between each fret reduces as you move towards the bridge - obvious. On mine the distance between nut and fret 1 was the same as fret 1 and fret 2. There should have been about a 2mm difference. The solution would have been to remove the nut and insert a fillet between the nut and fretboard.
I advise you to check yours - it may be a kit issue or just peculiar to my kit.

Any advice then just ask.

Cheers
Ricky

Thanks Ricky. I will definitely refer to this when I get to this point :)

My order arrived last week which was fairly speedy from WA given the border closures, checkpoints etc I'm sure it had to travel through. I think around 10 days after ordering.

Attachment 38282
Attachment 38283

I did a quick layout and check everything was included in the package

Attachment 38284

Aaaaand then I got hit by some kind of virus, which has knocked me out for close to a week now. I got a COVID test (negative) and have just been resting and watching terrible Netflix movies for a few days. Perhaps not such a bad thing; advice I've seen is to let the wood rest at its new home for up to 2 weeks to adjust to the climate. While Brisbane is not much different from Perth in terms of climate, it has been a humid week here. Can't hurt though so I'm not too bothered by the short delay in getting stuck in. I'll wait another week before doing anything drastic anyway.

Some small things that I noticed upon doing an inspection of the body:

Attachment 38285
Attachment 38286
Attachment 38287

None of these I am overly concerned about. Seem to be fairly standard for these kits from what I have seen.

One thing I did notice that I wasn't sure about is the area where the neck fits in:

Attachment 38288

Is it normal for this to have a gradient? I assumed that it would be fairly flat and square with the end of the hole that the neck would fit up against. It's a bit hard to explain but its shallower towards the nut and rises up towards the bridge. I'll whack the neck in there this week and see what angle it comes out on but seems perhaps a bit too much of an angle to it.

Yes the angle in the pocket is correct. It allows for the proper break angle of the neck.

You should temporarily install the high and low e tuners as well as the bridge (Just use some tape around the posts, no need to install the inserts) then clamp the neck in place and run some ordinary string down to the bridge. This will tell you that the bridge is properly aligned with the neck and also show that there is enough break angle to allow the bridge to sit up off the body by a couple of mms.

Also it's very rare for the tang on the end of the neck to fit hard up against the cavity wall, there should be a gap there usually. Using the above method also allows you to check the scale length (628mm for a 'G' scale) from inside of nut to the high E saddle when adjusted most of the way forward.

Hi there Glen, although I have never build an ES-1 kit it is completely normal (indeed necessary) for the the neck pocket of an arch top guitar to have a few (or more) degrees angle. Being an arch top body the bridge sits higher than on a flat body and the neck angle is needed to "ramp" the strings up to the bridge. When you do your mock-up build you will be able to check to make sure that everything sits right.

And regards to your first post, just know there are no "stupid questions", only stupid answers. ;)

Enjoy the build mate.

Cheers
rob

p.s. Dang, ninja'd by sonic.

Thanks Sonic and Robin!. I thought there would be some angle to it but it seemed like a lot! I'm sure once I put the neck on like you've instructed things will be more obvious. Thank you kindly.

You can see in this pic in the neck cavity the gap between the tang and the cavity wall.

https://i.imgur.com/WJ7E8aR.jpg

And here it is checking neck alignment and scale length.

https://i.imgur.com/gVKU0pl.jpg

There was enough interference for this neck to sit in the body without clamping which was nice.

And here (on a different guitar) is an illustration of how the angled neck pocket works to give clearance for the bridge.

https://i.imgur.com/BZcdnua.jpg

Quote:

---

While Brisbane is not much different from Perth in terms of climate, it has been a humid week here.

---

Yes it has. I've got some spraying I want to do, but I've held off. Probably being ridiculously over-cautious, but I'm hoping there are still some cooler/drier days left before Christmas.

Good luck with your build. Look forward to watching.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain

You can see in this pic in the neck cavity the gap between the tang and the cavity wall.

And here (on a different guitar) is an illustration of how the angled neck pocket works to give clearance for the bridge.

---

Aah this is very useful, thank you!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by McCreed

Yes it has. I've got some spraying I want to do, but I've held off. Probably being ridiculously over-cautious, but I'm hoping there are still some cooler/drier days left before Christmas.

Good luck with your build. Look forward to watching.

---

Cheers McCreed.

I'm over the humidity! Hoping we aren't just riding this through the summer now.

And thanks, I'm looking forward to the build!

Did a little mock build on the weekend with the spare time that I had to see whats what.

Here's a few pics that show the angle of the neck which I now see as being quite normal:
Attachment 38326
Attachment 38327

There is a slight gap at the back where the neck meets the body. Not sure what I'm going to do about this yet. Maybe I will have to see what its like once its actually glued in. Filler of some sort?
Attachment 38328

Everything seems to be in order though:
Attachment 38329

And has the approval of Harrison at this stage
Attachment 38330

I have ordered an imitation Bigsby not unlike this one for about $30 delivered from China.

Though just now I have seen this one and and contemplating dropping $70 on it. I couldn't justify the expense of a real one but now I'd be at $100 worth of imitation Bigsby's.. I must contemplate this further.

I have also been thinking about pickups but admittedly I am a total novice when it comes to the electronics of a guitar. If I get something like this for example.. will it a) sound much better/different from the standard Pitbull ones for a bedroom/garage guitarist and b) require different pots, etc? If anyone can suggest some reading for a newbie on this kind of stuff that would be great too.

That little gap under the heel isn't unusual, I had the same on my kit. Once clamped and glued if mostly closed up. I then did a coat of finish, let it dry, ran a bead of superglue along it, let it dry and recoated and it's fine.

When you are clamping for glue, be careful how much force you put on the heel as it is possible to move the break angle in that process, worth checking and double checking as you go before letting it fully cure and bond.

Personally I like the covered kit humbuckers and I have them in a number of guitars, so maybe see how they sound to you first. The pots won't need changing for different pickups, but you can always upgrade them as well to better quality ones. The kit ones are absolutely fine, but are likely to wear out and go crackley sooner. So I'd just stick with the kit stuff and see how you go.

There are loads and loads of options for upgrades, the Tonerider pickups that Pitbull offers are great bang for buck if you decide the kit ones don't do anything for you.

Got to agree with Sonic regarding the Tonerider pickups. I’ve just ordered some no name lower resistance p90’s in a humbucker cover off eBay for an upcoming project.
If you suggest what you are aiming for/style of music, perhaps people could point you in the right direction?
After reading through the descriptions of pickups on the pit Bull site and various build diaries I even kid myself I’ve learnt something about them. The resistance seems to be an indication of what you get, but others with more knowledge will tell you that is not the be all and end all of it.

I agree with the above comments.
The PBG supplied pickups are certainly adequate for getting started and maybe a lot longer!
You can always change the hardware later if you wish.

I have just found this that may be an alternative - plus it gives you coil split and minimal/no soldering. ( it might mean swapping 2 pots that i think look full sized but still easy to do.)

I personally would stick with your first choice of vibrato - far more honest than the one that SAYS Bigsby.
BTW, that is the same one I have on mine and it works great.

Cheers
Ricky

Thanks for the advice all. I think I will stick with the kit pickups for now and see how I go. Honestly unless I'm wanting to record something super-clean I don't think its going to make a huge difference to me.

Ricky, I did see that you have this same imitation bigsby on your build and I think you're right!

Quote:

---

...the Tonerider pickups that Pitbull offers are great bang for buck if you decide the kit ones don't do anything for you.

---

FWIW, PBG's prices are the best you'll find for Tonerider, and free shipping!

PBG = $79.95, Realtone = $95 + postage

Some head stock work on this thing over the weekend. Went for the open book style. Hand drawn and then shaped by hand. Not perfect but neither am I ;)

Attachment 38421

Attachment 38422

Attachment 38423

Attachment 38424

Looks good Glen.
I like that it hints towards traditional, but not an exact copy of a Gibson open book.

Very nice! Looks like an old fashioned center part haircut. I am really impressed by how nicely symmetrical you got it with hand tools.

Thanks both :)

Haha yes - I was thinking the same thing. Getting flashbacks to year 8.

Hi Glen, I have just about finished my ES-1. Had a few problems with my kit. It has a small ding in the body don't know if it was done by the sander when they were finishing it but it went through the veneer. Managed to hide it a tad when I stained it. The heel on the neck was hit by a sander and carved out the tongue in one place. Had a chip out of the body where the neck fits. And about 6 glue spots that I didn't discover until I started staining it. It was that hot here when I wiped the body over with metho it didn't have time to show the glue up.
Other then that its a great kit. It was my first kit out of 3 so far that the bridge holes in the body actually fitted the bridge...winning there.. ;)
Check the intonation. You might have to grind out the back of the front pick up pocket to move the PU back so you can get the 314mm. I went with a Gotoh bridge and reversed it (screws facing headstock) so I could get the saddle forward as far as I could. Even the saddle that came with the kit was out about 3mm and it has the 3 high string saddles facing the head stock.
Enjoy mate. It's a fun kit...especially when it comes to wiring. Could had been easier if I didn't go with 2 push pull pots as well..