I have got to stop looking at specials and customer returns.

This little girl is headed my way.

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...ustom-special/

The listing:-

"Pit Bull Guitars ATL-1SW Electric Guitar Kit – Custom Special

This kit was custom ordered but didn’t meet the customer’s exact specifications.

Our all new “A Series” TL Thinline kit features an Ash semi-hollow body with White binding

The body has a stunning Spalted Maple veneer which demands a subtle clear or translucent finish

Chrome hardware pack with a red pearloid pickguard which has been pre-loaded with 1 single coil pickup, plus a Control Panel with 1 Tone, 1 Volume and a 3 way switch.

Pit Bull Guitars ATL-1SW Electric Guitar Kit – Custom Special

This kit was custom ordered but didn’t meet the customer’s exact specifications.

Includes:

Ash “Thinline” style, semi-hollow body
Spalted Maple veneer, with white binding on top and back
Maple neck (Modern “C” Profile) and rosewood fretboard
(648mm, 25.5″ scale length, 21 medium jumbo frets, 12″ radius)
Width at nut: 42mm

Chrome Hardware pack includes:

Red Pearloid pickguard (pre-loaded)
2 x single coil pick ups
1 volume and 1 tone knobs and 3 way switch
Adjustable bridge
Die-cast tuners (upgrade to Grover 406C Mini Rotomatics Locking Tuners from A$44.95)
Guitar lead and Allen keys (for truss rod and saddles)
Strap buttons
All electronics (pots, caps, wires and solder)
Level of Soldering Difficulty: Novice
FREE Shipping – Anywhere in Australia

This kit, if purchased with Hardware, contains everything you need to build a complete, playable guitar, except your choice of finish."

Extras from PBG:-

Grover Chrome 6 Inline Mini Locking Rotomatics (406C) *UPGRADE ONLY* × 1
Pit Bull Guitars Capacitor and Resistor Fidelity Upgrade × 1
Entwistle AT52 TL Set (Bridge and Neck Pickups) × 1
All Parts CTS Audio Mini 250k Mini Audio Taper Pot × 2
Sprague Orange Drop 0.047µF Capacitor × 1
All Parts Switchcraft 1/4" Mono Output Jack × 1
PBG Bone Nut for F type 6 String Guitar Kits - Bleached White × 1

Real Parts order as well:-

Electrosocket Jack Plate - Chrome - US Thread x 1

Wilkinson Compensated 3 Saddle Bridge - Chrome x 1

I am thinking this one is so pretty she needs to be a NUDE......maybe "The Nekkid Tele." The interesting part for me is what to do with the binding. I want to use some timbermate to fill the pores of the Ash body.....and add a smidge of colour. But then I would like to seal and highlight grain with a few coats of Tru Oil and then lock her up tight with the Cabot's Marine Grade Polyurethane. However, both Tru Oil and Polyurethane put a yellow/amber hue into things. Maybe I might be better served doing my kids paintbrush water based wipe on poly over the binding first....but then what do I do when I spray? Do I scrape the binding afterwards...then it leaves an edge.......hmmmm.

I would like the binding to be clearly white, but to have no edge between it and the sides and the body.

That then leans me towards my old stomping ground of oils and waxes as a finish. I reckon I could still cover the binding with the water based poly, then apply the oils with the steel wool over everything. At least the first couple of coats, and then it could be ragged on.

The first two coats of the wax with steel wool as well and the last couple with a rag as well.

The finish will not be completely sealed, but the binding will be white and the surface will have a more preserved not painted finish to it, which I can colour with the use of timbermate and/or stain beforehand. i.e. A little Golden Teak all over then the oils and then the wax to give a complete Amber Hue to it all.....or something a little different from Walnut or Mahogany Timbermate???

Oh the options. But the Veneer on top will limit the use of any abrasive to smooth, seal, top coat. Steel wool could just as easily cut through the veneer as sandpaper.

Some photos for her too......

Cool, I'd just oil it. :cool:

Nice veneer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

Cool, I'd just oil it. :cool:

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Cliff I am very tempted. If it was going to be kept by me I would....but my grand-daughter wants to feel the weight of it to see if she would like me to do this one for her to GIG with......I was doing another Ash body one for her...but it was up over 5 kg.

I sent her the photos and she sent me a page full of smiley faces back.

So, I think in the interests of robust longevity Polyurethane will get the nod. But, I am very tempted to do minimal colours under the poly.....maybe just some timber mate over the body and the neck to add a little colour....then just seal her up....not doing it Pink in colour either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnH

Nice veneer

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I hope it turns out that way when it gets here. Shipped to me today.

It will be interesting to see if the binding is truly white or ivory.

"This kit was custom ordered but didn’t meet the customer’s exact specifications."

I'm sure I'm not the only one who reads this about some of these kits and wonders what it is about them that didn't meet expectations.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Well it's spalted, but not as highly spalted as some. There have been a lot of guitars on here with 'prettier' spalted tops than that. Possibly because it looks to be a single piece of veneer rather than a two-piece book-match, so it lacks the symmetry of that style of guitar.

Otherwise there's a small knot on the ash in the back, but that's about all I can see.

Maybe they wanted a bound F-hole, or a bound neck, or drilled for string-through but it didn't come with that.

But it should make a very nice guitar.

What a beautiful looking guitar! Good luck ozzbike, will be following with interest!

Waiting for me when I got home was the new girl of the house.

This one is multiple piece....routed out...capped...and then I think a spalted maple veneer has been attached. For an ash body this is by far the lightest of the ones I have...by a mile.

I have not had the Entwistle pickups for the Tele before (I think) so I am keen to hear them at play. The grovers, bone nut, treble bleed and some mini CTS pots with an Orange Drop cap to round it out.

The Jack socket and bridge from Real Parts is already waiting this kit arrival.

I took the pickguard off and this is the hole underneath....very light this one.

The fingerboard is real ROSEWOOD. The neck looks straight to my eye....and the normal paddle headstock. The holes are drilled okay....will check as I go.

I am nearly certain now that the spalt is in a veneer. I can see (second last photo) some body filler on the left side of the neck pocket....somebody made a boo boo.

The double binding is extremely rough and dirty...but that is my job to clean up. With a metho rub down I can only see glue on the sides.

I think I will do a more thorough metho rub down and note the glue and sap spots and get at them with a nylon brush and some goof off.

The binding will need a clean up before I seal it....the sides and the back will need a sand. I am honestly tempted to not sand the top at all....maybe a wax and grease remover wipe over...but then to just hit it with a few coats of CA glue and seal it up. Then wet sand and recoat until we have a smooth finish.

I think I will leave the back and sides to have some grain and figure and will cover them with timbermate. (Cedar which is my favourite to highlight wood grain.) Then I will do the kids paint brush trick with the water based poly on the binding....then I have to decide which way I go. Full natural...or whack some colour into it with a stain??????

The white binding is extremely white DarkMark.....but dirty and having rough marks in it.

Looks like fun!

I took a jump and decided to forget my worry about veneers on kits. But...I did only use light pressure when sanding.

I have hand sanded the body from 80 grit, 120 grit, 180 grit, cedar Timbermate, 240 grit, 320 grit, to 400 grit. Then it has had a serious wipe over with Wax and Grease remover, then a dust down with a tack rag.

Now three coats of Cabot's marine grade satin aerosol polyurethane ten minutes apart. I am liking the finish colours and tones in the wood. The binding has come out seriously good, no water based poly required as I did not use a stain.

Even though I have been lucky enough to be working from home....I am still stuck here. So I finished this one in the early hours of today.

This is it for me now. The Dragons Breath p Bass will have to wait for my new house. I have to leave by 18 July, and must dump stuff and move stuff now.

Anyway here she is......the entwistle pickups are really smooth...not as hot as the Tonerider...but I think they are fatter...especially on neck and middle position. The bridge twangs like a breaking fishing line.

The finish is really smooth and the spalted top really sets off the red pickguard. I like the colours.

Hint for me:- Binding is not the devil. But it is if you want to do tricky stuff with colour changes. Treating the whole body as one and just sanding and then spraying the polyurethane all over has done well. If you look on angles at the binding you can see some slight amber from the poly. I decided to not scrape the binding and leave it sealed like the body.