Pit Bull IB-1F (First Build)

Probably a little ambitious for my first build, but really wanted something with the Floyd Rose style tremolo.

Received the kit a few days ago. There are a few things that bugged my OCD, but I will work through them:

1 - Big scratch on back of neck
2 - Big scratch on face of body
3 - 1 rough fret (little burr from the tang)
4 - Body too thin for the football jack plate, there will be an overhang
4 - Need to route the rim around pickup cavities so the cover plates will sit flush with surface. Also going to make my own cover plate.

I will upgrade some of the parts, which I planned to do anyway (tuners, switch, pots, and eventually the pickups). Also going to drill a hole for a third pot.

Going to take my time with this and hopefully it turns out well. The dragon inlay work is amazing. Going to try and compliment it with a purple/green color morph paint job.

Keen to see some photos of the offending bits. Sounds like you might need to speak to Pitbull to get it sorted out.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Yeah, as soon as I read "big scratch" my first thought was send it back. Talk to Adam, I'm sure he can help you out.

Agreed, that doesn’t sound right

I would have thought that one would come with a deep panel or Barrel jack rather than an oval plate?

Scratches I would for sure contact PBG an send images.

Hi and welcome.

The proud control cover plate is standard for the kit. Probably because the Ibanez S series also has it.

Rough frets are to be expected with these low-cost kits. Some are better than others, but you can expect to do a reasonable amount of fret levelling and reprofiling to get your kit really playable.

These used to come with a top-mounted barrel jack, like an Ibanez S-series.

The kit photo indicates a barrel jack is supplied, which is normal for thin bodied, side-mounted jacks. But I can't find a recent build diary of one here, so I've got no idea what to expect on the kit now.

Due to the thinner than normal body, the cover plate probably needs to be proud in order to fit the pickup selector switch in. If you do plan to recess the plate, measure first, as you are probably only just fitting the kit selector switch in the space as it is. Replacements or super-switches may be a real issue as good quality switches tend to be a few mm taller. Also check pot heights, especially if you plan to use switched pots.

Yeah that looks odd. The website pictures of the kit show the oval jack plate, but not where it attaches. A barrel jack is a decent option, but make sure the control cavity allows it to be secured. My AIB didn't. I'd also be very careful about recessing the control cavity cover. I had a hell of a time with my AIB, without even doing any recessing.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Note also that you'll really want to get a string retainer bar so a) the strings can be pulled down onto the locking nut, allowing you to use the main tuners to tune up and keep it in tune when locking the strings and b) allow the string locks to simply clamp down on the string to hold it in place, rather than one end of the plate also having to counter string tension trying to pull the plate up. They do clamp a lot better.

Can you clear up something for me here, JJRebel? Just looking at the IB-1F kit photos and there are conflicting images. There are a couple of photos on the PB site under that item of a finished build (stained green with pitbull logo on the headstock). These photos show a recessed jack on the front of the body as you see on a standard S series, however the selector switch isn't raised from the body like a standard S. However, the rest of the photos, coupled with what you're saying, seem to suggest the jack is more of an RG style positioning. Although, it sounds like this body is somewhere halfway between an S and an RG which is why the jack plate is too big?

I'm not seeing any IB kits that match that finished product in those pics.

Edit: Now I also see that the first photo shows a stock standard surface mount style jack as others have mentioned, but then another pic shows a barrel jack. Very confusing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Note also that you'll really want to get a string retainer bar so a) the strings can be pulled down onto the locking nut, allowing you to use the main tuners to tune up and keep it in tune when locking the strings and b) allow the string locks to simply clamp down on the string to hold it in place, rather than one end of the plate also having to counter string tension trying to pull the plate up. They do clamp a lot better.

---

I'm by no means an expert here, but I'm not sure if a string retainer bar is really needed here. These headstocks are angled unlike F style headstocks giving the strings a decent break angle behind the nut. None of the Ibanez models I've seen have string retainers. Looking at my Ibanez S670 just now, all strings have the exact same angle behind the nut (except the low E but that's only because it's been wound poorly). Same deal looking at my son's RG and his IB-7 kit build.

I think you'd also have trouble fitting a string retainer with a truss rod cover in place. There's not a lot of real estate around that low E tuner.

You are almost certainly right, m0j0. I didn't notice the angled headstock.

If the strings are pulled into the grooves at both ends of the nut, then you won't need a retainer bar, but if not (e.g. if the string post holes are particularly high and you don't wind the strings a long way down the posts), then getting one is recommended. The truss rod cover shouldn't get in the way as the bars normally have posts between the low E/A and B/high E strings, but the truss rod cover's shape can be modified to suit if necessary.

Ibanezes vary depending on the neck shape/headstock fitted. My RG08 definitely has a flat headstock and a string retainer. Some S-series have a flat headstock (my mate's new S6570SK Prestige has one) but I know most of the S-series models have angled headstocks. The current RG range tend to be more mixed and some have flat and some angled headstock. Plus they only need a string retainer bar if they have a locking nut and a flat headstock.