sexy ATL-1SB "THINLINE" first build journey

Good day everyone.

I'm Michel from Italy and this is my first build experience that just started.

After a couple of years where the idea of building a kit was crossing my mind, I found this lovely ATL-1SB "THINLINE" kit that PitBull's staff discovered in a dark dusty forgotten corner of the warehouse, and I fall in love with the spalted maple top so I adopted her and some groove.

PitBull sent the package very very quickly but due to covid the delivery was quite long and when it finally arrived I was a little disappointed about the customs taxes, 60€ for 150€ kit...but there are so many things that are disappointing me in Italy that I'm not surprised at all.

Opening the box I get immediately super happy because the top was exactly the one of the picture and I love it.

I checked the package content and unlikely, murphy is really on me, it was missing the potentiometers and PU selector. No big issue because with a very fast answer PitBull's staff send me back the missing part (probably it will be another 3 months of wait for the delivery and who knows about international taxes :D :D :D). The staff is always nice, polite, fun and quick, I like them.

I read the quick guide and I tried the mock build and checked the body and neck.

The body has a very nice spalted maple top, did I say that I like it very much? because I do :D
It looks very well made, a little chip around a predrill but it will be covered by the pickguard so no big deal about it. Something to sand into the PU holes, the f-hole to finish a little better, and just another thin sand all over the body.

neck and fretboard look good, frets seem well-positioned. The back needs to be sanded a little more than the body and there are 3/4 hits but they look like the one you can fix with wet cloth and iron. I think that fret also needs the last sand.

My plan about the kit is to keep it as more natural as possible but I have some fantasies about it...

Body top 90% it will natural with truoil but 10% I'm hypothesizing to give a light hand of some color to get a different contrast with the dark veins but note sure yet (some of those tones you're not getting if it is a blue or green)

The body back....my biggest fantasy is to try the Lichtenberg effect but I dislike my life not that much to risk the life for it so probably I'll move to another fantasy less dangerous like the Shou Sugi Ban, a light one, without "burning down the house"

Fretboard 99% it will only truoil everywhere

Headstock I probably move to a kind of rapacious profile

Probably I will change the pickguard (a deep Shou Sugi Ban one) but quite sure I'll give it a little mod to it because I'm gonna try to add a built-in LPB-1 boost just to make the first build easier and to give a punch to the pickups

The only thing so far that worried me is the little gap between body and neck. I didn't finish yet the instruction but I guess that a bolted neck don't need glue so I think that a filler is not the best idea....perhaps shaping a little piece of wood to glue to the body is a better solution

Some pics of the kit

https://i.imgur.com/E2dZm5Q.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6oDdTWA.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2YES3O0.jpg

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

https://i.imgur.com/5BEkClf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HVFtSq7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/j0wSFUB.jpg

Nice build and great music to everyone

That is a lovely spalted top. The back is also very nice.


+1 for a shim around the neck pocket to reduce the gap. The tru-oil coats around the base of the neck should also help reduce the gap.

Good luck with the build.

Thanks for welcoming me.

I'll do my best to cross all the insidious along the path.

Due to your experience should I give a hand of pores sealer and relative sand before using the true oil?

thanks

What a great looking spalted top!

Welcome, and what a stunning pattern!

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Due to your experience should I give a hand of pores sealer and relative sand before using the true oil?

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Not the spalted top, but if you mean grain filling the back and sides:
- yes, if you want to highlight the grain pattern and after high-gloss finish.
- no, if you want an oiled finish where you can still feel the grain/ the wood.

yes, I guess I meant the grain filler (I have no idea in English, in Italian is Turapori).
I do not want high gloss finish on the body, not sure yet if I want to keep it totally natural (sure the top will) , or use some substitute of dingotones for some watercolor effect, or try to use some light fire burn....little more confused about the neck...I think it will be only truoil until I find the right amount of hands I need for a good feeling (that reading around here and web seems we are talking at least 10 round of it)...no Idea at all at the moment about how to work with/on the fretboard.

thanks for the info about using or not the grain filler.

<3 I love it

Turapori would appear to be a sealer, rather than a grain filler.

You would normally use turapori straight on a smooth wood surface, or after you have filled the grain or a rougher wood surface with a grain filler. Grain filler is a much finer version of a normal wood filler and is used go get a surface level where there are open pores and a lot of deep grain structure in the wood, such as you get with ash.

This is one example. https://www.amazon.it/Rustins-GRNA23...45&sr=8-4&th=1

I'm checking deeper into all the parts (it will be a long journey to the end of the project, I'm super busy with work so I have only spare time to spend on this but I'm not in the rush, I already have more guitars than my ability to play need) and I just figure out that a predrill for the bridge that is not in perfect shape it has inside some metal something, seems like some leftover of a broken screw...
https://i.imgur.com/T50SgEo.jpg

That's a pickle, is this the left side/ top bridge mounting hole?
Would you be able to take another picture, focussing on the screw? (sometimes putting a finger next to the object that needs focus helps the camera out)

I think it’s more likely to be a broken-off drill bit, there would be no need for anyone to try screwing anything in the hole. If it is a drill bit, it may pull out if you can grip it with pliers. If it’s hidden by the bridge plate, you can drill round it enough to expose it enough to grab it firmly to remove.

Then drill out big enough to glue in a hardwood plug and then re-drill for the bridge screw.

Welcome

I am working on the same kit you can see the diary here

It funny how the kit has changed recently - different fret board design.

It will be interesting to watch them both develop!

I was moving to buy the same you own but I found this forgotten old kit in sale and i bought it. I like more the shark teeth than the classic dots, just because I like weirdo and unusual stuff. I'm taking this build only in the spare time so I'll need a lot of time before to finish it. Keep in touch

Ps: which is your solution about neck finishing? And about the frets?

I take a while to put together all your nice tips and help. According to @RocknRolf consideration about if is necessary or not to use some turapori/filler and thinking about @Simon Barden description about the two different products I think that I'm gonna use nothing on the body because I want to keep it natural, with a wood feeling but I'm thinking to use grain filler for the neck and fretboard before the trueoil. Does it make sense for a more "slippery" feeling on the neck? The wood is maple and to me, it doesn't look like that deep grain structure so perhaps it's better the turapori?

Maple doesn't need grain filling, so there's no need to use a grain filler or even turapori on the neck. Just use TruOil on the neck and fretboard.

Good day everyone. Little update. I shaped a thiny piece of wood to fill the gap into the neck socket. Have to refinish it but I have to check first, two three times, the bridge position,at first sight something is wrong with position and predrills but one thing at time.
And I start to work on headstock...first time shaping wood
Shaping https://imgur.com/a/pG4l59R

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Originally Posted by thiscocktail

Good day everyone. Little update. I shaped a thiny piece of wood to fill the gap into the neck socket. Have to refinish it but I have to check first, two three times, the bridge position,at first sight something is wrong with position and predrills but one thing at time.
And I start to work on headstock...first time shaping wood
Shaping https://imgur.com/a/pG4l59R

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Yes, although a different TL kit to yours my bridge was out and needed moving 3mm towards where the control plate goes. The original holes were covered by the bridge. I glued tooth picks in the old holes. Once you fit the neck, fit the bridge and put the 2 E strings on and check the alignment of the neck to see where the strings sit.

Liking that headstock shape!

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Originally Posted by Rodc

Yes, although a different TL kit to yours my bridge was out and needed moving 3mm towards where the control plate goes. The original holes were covered by the bridge. I glued toothpicks in the old holes. Once you fit the neck, fit the bridge and put the 2 E strings on and check the alignment of the neck to see where the strings sit.

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good, is the plan I was planning :D
I made several measuring and consideration about pickup hole, predrills, cheped part, etc and I choose to keep the PU hole as right point to refer at.
To center the bridge to the neck I guess that the steps are:
fix the neck to the body
put two long straight bars next to the neck
position the saddlers between them
re-check the distance between the bridge and the neck and put it parallel to its end
predrill
fix
cross Finger
mount the e strings and hope that them are right positioned upon the fretboard
check the neck if is ok or if it need a control at truss road
set the bridge etc etc

And everything have to be done once that the two parts are finished.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RocknRolf

Liking that headstock shape!

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Thanks a lot, I wasn't sure to be able to make it like that, indeed there was ready a very simple plan B :p

Hello folks,
Today I'm filling the wrong predrills, fixing also another guitar...
I wasn't sure about try to burn the back of the guitar so I let faith choose for me and the coin said burn it down....no problem til I did just the back, that was my first idea...than I saw how it worked and I though that also the side with those lovely lines could be good....bad idea....once o started with the side, the central block on the bottom side choose to crack...I'm feeling obviously like a dumb idiot but likely seem just few little silly cracks, in the last 2 days nothing move...the first plan was to use only truoil but I'm thinking that maybe 1 or 2 hands of grain filler could be an idea to think at. Beside this high risk I'm quite happy about how everything is going on. Still a lot to sand, especially the neck that has few chips to make even. Can't wait to start oiling all and to bolt the neck on..

Spikes https://imgur.com/a/Y9glBbO

I did many mistakes, especially to work on it on the wrong day I wasn't in the right mood and focus to put my hands on it...

Working in the spare room in my home also dog didn't helped, it make the kit fall on floor 4 times making some scratches, blow and other stuff...after a lot I choose to fix somethings and other no, to leave as traces of my mistakes. The bigger issue I've done is making the body through holes of the bridge...almost perfect the holes under the bridge, a kind of disaster on the backside...definitely not inline and holes that breaks to much wood...I put tape and a matching piece of wood but I was working with the wrong position, with a nonsense rush, and to much rage in my mind...my bad.

I had an issue also with the bridge, I received some extra pieces of the kit with the missing part....there was also another bridge...it looks identical to the ones I already had and I used both to check the position for drills because one had mounted on the PU in it and the other one no....obviously the bridge are not identical, are simply similar...but the one that fit badly into the PU pocket is a good one, the other fit perfectly into the hole and I can reach the right Diapason distance and center the position perfectly, or at least it looks to me, but the holes for the string, the back ones, and the body through also are little out of the center to the saddlers..at the end I choose for the second one. I did 2 coats of true oil on the neck/fretboard and 1 on the body...not sure If I want to sand it again to fix some scratches or not and If I have to fill or glue the little cracks I made.

More happy than what I expect

some pics

https://imgur.com/a/pu2zHnM

Sounds like you have been having fun with this, burning is, throwing it around, it's called character building.
The pictures don't really show the mistakes, looking good.

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Originally Posted by RocknRolf

Sounds like you have been having fun with this, burning is, throwing it around, it's called character building.
The pictures don't really show the mistakes, looking good.

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Yes, I definitely had so much fun, and I'm still having (I'm adding a switchable lpb-1 boost on board, I love to complicate my life😅)

Thanks a lot, I'm happy that the work looks good not only to my eyes.

Good day everyone.

I'm at wiring point...still have to fix a disaster I made with truoil on the fretboard but I'm not that far...and I'm not gonna make it perfect as a reminder for the next time...

I want to add an lpb-1 circuit between PU and Jack. I'm not sure if this scheme could work. That is what I figured out considering the prewired electronic I received with the kit. I'm not really good at drawing schemes, tried to make it more understandable as possible.

https://imgur.com/ab9AYRc

https://i.imgur.com/SQzGVon.jpg
Thanks

Some things to consider. Have you tired to fit everything you need housed in that control cavity including the pcb? Keep in mind you'll need an extra pot to adjust the boost on the lpb-1. And where do you plan on housing the 9v in terms of being quick and easy to change? Routing would be needed if your planning on routing a cavity in the back, which is all achievable, but needs to be planned out. I think that switch configuration would work, would be good to see if it added any ground noise while bypassed etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bakersdozen

Some things to consider. Have you tired to fit everything you need housed in that control cavity including the pcb? Keep in mind you'll need an extra pot to adjust the boost on the lpb-1. And where do you plan on housing the 9v in terms of being quick and easy to change? Routing would be needed if your planning on routing a cavity in the back, which is all achievable, but needs to be planned out. I think that switch configuration would work, would be good to see if it added any ground noise while bypassed etc.

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I already saw that I can fit the switch, the PCB (is small like a thumb nail) the trimpot and also the 9v...not sure yet about how to fix it, I'm considering atm 3 different solutions and quite surely I'll go for the fourth :D
I made the choice to do not do an extra room with easy access because I have no tools to make it happen without the risk to make a serious disaster, I'm on my first build so I'm not really confident with many things.
I guess that the circuit will not eat that much of energy so I hope to don't have to change the battery that often :D :D

Asking on various DIY pedal effect and wiring FB groups I had some tip about hot to reduce the risk of ground noise and I guess it's not gonna be the issue, I'm more worried about the pop once you active the circuit. I'm trying to figure out the best solution because once I start to solder everything if something will need modification it's gonna be a kind of pain, I have enough room to fit everything inside but not that much to work with confort

Well well well.....seems I'm almost done with my first build.

a quick overview about how it sounds and looks....I added an LPB-1 boost on board...soon better pics and vid

https://youtu.be/KxwLCxRW8RQ

Nice work work mate! Looks and sounds great!
Are those the kit pickups or did you swap?

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Originally Posted by McCreed

Nice work work mate! Looks and sounds great!
Are those the kit pickups or did you swap?

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They are the kit's ones.
I'm not happy about setup, my bad I'm not very good at it...tomorrow I'll do it again following a step by step tutorial...the nut needs some adjustment I think..and some frets, the first 3 ish, are not sounding very well, are not buzzing but they sounds like "into a box" if you get what I mean.

Good day everyone,

I'm almost done with my first kit but I'm finding a little issue about first frets. I do not own a lot of tool and I'm not ready to work on frets. But after 3 times of setting guitar start to play quite well everywhere into the fretboard beside the first 2-3 frets....I'm quite happy about octaves but the first 2-3 frets are having a kind of high pitch...The Low E is an E, is an E at 12fret but at first is an F almost F#...and like this for few frets...than around 5-6 fret start to be in tune, like after the 12 one...I'm not sure but my feeling is about something wrong at the nut...
any ideas?

Hi Michael.
I would say your assumptions are correct about the nut. It sounds like the string slots are too high, so when you fret notes on the first few frets, the string is getting stretched (just like when we intentionally bend a string to raise the pitch) except it's being stretched vertically in relation to the fretboard.

There are two way to correct this issue:
1) the individual string slots in the nuts can be filed deeper (generally with specialised "nut" files).
2) the entire nut height can be lowered by sanding/filing the bottom of the nut.

Given you mentioned a lack of tools, I think option 2 is likely your best method.

The best way to do this is to remove the nut from the neck; place a sheet of sandpaper (240) on a solid, known flat surface (eg: a sheet of glass or similar); slowly work the bottom of the nut across the paper being careful not to tilt the nut and thus creating an angled bottom. You can rub pencil lead on the bottom before you start sanding to make sure you're removing material evenly.

You will need to go through a trial and error process of refitting the nut/sanding/refitting etc until it is at your desired height. (NOTE: there are ways of predetermining and marking, but there is always a bit of back & forth)

The clearance you want to achieve is measured like so:
*With the E bass string depressed (or capoed) at the 3rd fret, measure the distance from the bottom of the string to the crown of the first fret.
This should be between .008" -.010"

*With the E treble string depressed (or capoed) at the 3rd fret, measure the distance from the bottom of the string to the crown of the first fret.
This should be between .004" -.006"

If you don't have feeler gauges to measure the clearance, consider this:
An average sheet of 80gsm copy paper is .004" - you can cut strips to make "feelers" and stack them to attain the desired thicknesses.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

It definitely helps...I choose to remove it and sand from the bottom instead to carve more the depressions...guess more safe from not remediable mistakes...I'm almost happy with the results I get. Not perfect...have to work a little on E and A string depressions.
Octaves are better than other guitars I own so can be better but is more than fine like this. Few frets need to be leveled, but also there no big gaps..little things to do but I'm quite happy with results now..I'm not a good player but it works...PU surprised me.

https://youtu.be/EUbBaXtDlqQ

Glad to hear things are improving!
Doing nut work takes time to learn. It generally doesn't happen on the first nut.

If it's just the E6 and A strings you're not happy with, and need to lower the slots a little bit, you can use off-cuts of the wound strings as "files" to adjust them. Care must be taken to ensure the slot bottom stays flat, but it can be done.

The strings can be used by themselves or with bit of 1200-1500 wet/dry sandpaper.
If using the string by itself, use the same gauge string as the slot you wish to adjust (eg: .046 string for .046" string slot).

Alternatively, use the next gauge down (eg: .036" string for .046" string slot) and fold a small piece of 1200 to create a V, placing the string off-cut in the bottom of the V, then use the string and paper together as a file. The wet/dry sandpaper actually provides a bit rigidity to the string thus making it easier to control the shape of your string slot.
You may need to experiment with string gauge and paper combination to get the appropriate thickness, but my 1500 measures .007" which is perfect!

Also, nothing wrong with your playing! Nice note choice.

I really like your headstock design too. I hadn't noticed it before. Looks like a shark tooth! Cool!

EDIT TO ADD:
Of course you can just continue with sanding the bottom as you've been doing. This is where using pencil lead on the bottom to monitor your progress and keeping it even.

Love everything about this build. Beautiful spalted top, unique headstock shape, sweet tones & nice playing. Great job Michel!

Peter