XB1 custom kit

The main reason for custom is my Norwegian headbanging friend wants black on black on black with gold frets. So I ordered a custom neck with ebony fretboard with no frets.

It will be my first time fretting (pun intended) so I bought a second in case there are issues. Hopefully I come out the other end with 2 guitars...

I'm a little concerned (just a little, hardly my first build) that the XB1 isn't a common choice and the instructions may required extra interpretation. For example, there's a 3-way switch and one volume. The locations of the holes are interesting and as there are no built version pics on the web site, it may be fun configuring it. I may even need to drill a second hole -- I'm not sure I can contain all of the options available for the Fishman pickups in a single push-pull volume control.

And while I have a knob, I have yet of find the actual volume pot in either of the kits. Not a big deal as I'll need a different one for at least one of the kits (they aren't both getting Fishmans).

More as I dig in.

Millard

Heyo, I tried the search function on the forum without much luck (XB1 is too short and XB-1 yields no results), but a google search found this XB-1 build from last year from member hypnolope:

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=10949

Hopefully some pics and info in there that will help you out. I'll see if I can find any more threads or completed pics for you.

Not a lot of extra info, but I found these:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=10464
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=10823

Thanks much, Ross! I'm sure this will be plenty -- I'm sure I'll figure it out _AND_it helps to have at least one reference just to check myself.

It is a weird kit. The pickups go direct to the selector switch and then to the single volume and that's all you get. There's no picture of the back of the XB-1 on the kit page, so no clue as to how the cavities are linked. On the XBF-1 version with the 'Floyd' style trem, the wiring appears to go through the trem spring cavity, which isn't ideal.

Probably not the easiest kit to install Fishmans on, as some extra routing will definitely be required. Fine as a basic passive humbucker guitar.

My first, huh, what to do moment: My friend/customer wants gold frets, so I bought a custom shop neck that has been kerfed but without fret wire. The odd bit is that they seem to have "filled in" the edges of the kerfs so that it acts a bit like binding (but isn't). It doesn't seem to be the same thickness everywhere, though, so if I leave it, I'll need to clean it up some.

Would probably be easier to fret without it -- but I'd probably need to buy a kerf saw and lightly resaw the kerfs. I don't think I can safely just scrape it out (though worth a try, perhaps). I have a tang cutter, so doing it as if it were binding is a possibility and may lead to a better looking fretboard. Just a bit worried about how stable it is -- will it crumble away over time, creating trouble? Picture shows several more visible spots, but it's the whole board.

Anyone know why they might have done this (I didn't ask for it)? Is there something I'm missing as to why it's important and should leave it?

Thanks...MillardAttachment 41237

Thanks, Simon. I may have to do some routing anyway as the Fluence set has a "HF Tilt" option that darkens up the sound. That may require a micro switch somewhere (I already need a push-pull volume pot to access the alternate voicing).

Looks like the factory have done it as they normally would, which is to fill in the ends of the cuts. They would then use frets with the end of the tangs cut off. This came up recently here and I looked at my guitars and there was roughly a 50:50 split as to whether the fret tang ran to the edge of the neck, or whether the tang ends had been cut off and the fret slot end filled. A small dab of CA at each fret end should keep them in place.

If you assume that the neck will shrink slightly over time, and a lot of necks do, then a full-length fret will poke out and you'll need to file down the whole of the end of the fret, almost certainly requiring some refinishing work on the sides of the neck. With the tang ends cut off, only the very top of the fret needs to be filed back, which can be done with the edge of the neck masked.

I would like to know what the fret slot width is. You can try measuring the slots with feeler gauges or maybe Pit Bull can find the info for you from the factory. Whilst a lot of fretwire has a 0.02" wide tang and wants a 0.022"-0.023" wide slot, some is slightly thinner and some slightly thicker. So if you are ordering some Jescar EVO gold fretwire, you want to know that it will fit properly and not be too loose, or the slots too tight for the frets to seat well.

I can't tell from the photo, but just check that the fretboard has been radiused before you start to hit the frets in.

I verified the radius before I ordered the caul insert for the arbor press. ;-)

.026" will go in and come out without much effort. .024" leave some wiggle room.

I ordered the fret wire from StewMac. They say "Our fretwire is sized to fit a 0.023" (0.58mm) fret slot width." So you'd think I might have a bit of a loose, sloppy fit. That seems a bit better than creating compression on the board by having it the other way round.

I may need to buy the crimper to make the barbs a bit fatter, maybe. I did the hockey stick test and I had to hammer it to get it in and it didn't exactly pop out when I pulled on it (and, of course, it made little chips near the slot).

It might be okay as is.

Attachment 41238

I do very much appreciate your knowledge and assistance.

A little something in return:

Ricky has 8 guitars.
Ricky buys 2 more guitars.
What does Ricky have now?
Happiness, happiness is what Ricky has now.
(it will wear off soon, though...)

Consistent with the "It's a weird kit" comment, the pots and selector aren't tall enough to fit through the body and make full contact with their retaining nut. I'll try to gently relieve from the underside, but if anyone from Pitbull is listening, the kit ain't quite right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by millarde

Consistent with the "It's a weird kit" comment, the pots and selector aren't tall enough to fit through the body and make full contact with their retaining nut. I'll try to gently relieve from the underside, but if anyone from Pitbull is listening, the kit ain't quite right.

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That's not great. You should definitely put that in the feedback section if you haven't already. https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...splay.php?f=49

Quote:

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Originally Posted by millarde

Consistent with the "It's a weird kit" comment, the pots and selector aren't tall enough to fit through the body and make full contact with their retaining nut. I'll try to gently relieve from the underside, but if anyone from Pitbull is listening, the kit ain't quite right.

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Hi Millarde,
can you post a picture from the top and underside?
If you do need to rebate a bit more a forstner dill bit (25 - 30 mm) may be helpful!

I'm not sure a Forstner bit is the best way to go here. You'd want one the same size as the existing hole so it didn't wander around (with no wood in the middle for the central point to dig into) unless you used a drill press, and the small spurs on the outside of the drill would make a thinner, weaker area around the circumference of the hole.

I'd simply get new pots with longer shafts. A pot upgrade isn't a bad thing, so you might as well do it now. Guitar pots normally come in three threaded section shaft lengths, short (6mm), medium (9.5mm) and tall (18mm) (values given for CTS pots but other makes are almost identical). Short are meant for scratchplate mounting, medium for most rear cavity mountings and longfor rear cavity mounting with a very thick top.

I'd measure the top depth to see whether a medium or a tall shaft would be the best fit. Tall will be excessively tall, so you'll need to adjust the amount of thread poking out of the top with a nut and washer on the shaft on the inside (so make sure any tall shaft pots come with two nuts and two washers).

Knobs come in either 18 or 24 spline versions (I have found sone Strat-type knobs that are a universal fit and they are very good) so you need to get knobs that fit the pot shafts. CTS and Bourns pots are normally 24-spline and Alpha pots 18-spline (kit pots will be 18-spline), but they all make 'the other type', it's just finding stockists with supplies.

No big deal about the pot shafts. I have a Dremel grinder bit that I use to relieve a bit from the underside. Just feels like work I shouldn't really need to do.

A pickup ring question: both rings have a slight slant to them. It's not immediately obvious if it should tilt towards neck or not. In the one good post y'all shared about another XB-1, the guy replaced them with flat rings, so no data for me.

ALSO, feels like a huge mess: The wiring diagram shows pickup hot to switch and ground to volume pot. While that seems normal, the switch cavity and volume pot cavity are almost 5" away from each other. Am I really supposed to spit the wire cover, untangle the braided ground/shield and run it bare to a different cavity? Seems like a waste of it's shielding power as well as an operation that is likely to end in failure (ime, the braid isn't going to play nice when I try to split away 7" worth). Here's the provided diagram: https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-co...2H1v3_2014.pdf

I'm a bit leery about breaking the star ground, but grounding the pups to the switch (and switch to pot) would be much easier and I'd get the shielding benefit from the pup wire.

Re: pickup rings, you’re correct that they want to slope towards the neck. Also the highest one is for the bridge pickup and lower for the neck.

Re: ground wires, you can use separate single conductor wire to connect the pot and switch casings and connect the pickup grounds to whichever is easiest. Which is what I think you were proposing anyway.

Sorry for brevity of reply. I’m on my phone atm and typing is a pita 😊.

Thanks all, various challenges sorted. It's nearing completion: https://kerfguitars.com/guitars/on-the-bench