Hi from Matt in Sydney

Hey everyone. First time builder and (terrible) bass player here.

Been keen to try my luck with a guitar kit for a while now but have always been unsure about the quality of the kits coming from other suppliers. After hearing great things about these Pit Bull kits I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the bass kits on this site.

After constantly checking the page since yesterday morning waiting for the bass kits to go up I finally snagged the PBH-4 kit (Good thing I was home all day, looks like it was the last one too. Lucky! I knew you guys were on to a winner with these kits).

I've been reading all of the great advice in these forums and watching the videos on this site for weeks now in anticipation, so I have a fair idea I think of how to go about the build, and certainly feel more confident about taking on the project than I otherwise would have. Thanks for the great advice everyone!

There is just one bit of advice I'm hoping someone can help me with. Looking at the photos, it appears the bridge holes aren't pre-drilled. What's the best method to get the measurements to make accurate holes to secure the bridge?

Really looking forward to getting the kit in my hands and starting on the build. Hopefully I'll have some photos to share by the time I've finished up with it.

Cheers.

Matt.

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Quote from Matty on March 11, 2013, 11:59
Hey everyone. First time builder and (terrible) bass player here.

Been keen to try my luck with a guitar kit for a while now but have always been unsure about the quality of the kits coming from other suppliers. After hearing great things about these Pit Bull kits I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the bass kits on this site.

After constantly checking the page since yesterday morning waiting for the bass kits to go up I finally snagged the PBH-4 kit (Good thing I was home all day, looks like it was the last one too. Lucky! I knew you guys were on to a winner with these kits).

I've been reading all of the great advice in these forums and watching the videos on this site for weeks now in anticipation, so I have a fair idea I think of how to go about the build, and certainly feel more confident about taking on the project than I otherwise would have. Thanks for the great advice everyone!

There is just one bit of advice I'm hoping someone can help me with. Looking at the photos, it appears the bridge holes aren't pre-drilled. What's the best method to get the measurements to make accurate holes to secure the bridge?

Really looking forward to getting the kit in my hands and starting on the build. Hopefully I'll have some photos to share by the time I've finished up with it.

Cheers.

Matt.

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Hi Matt, welcome to our forums! Yes, some holes aren't pre-drilled, so you might want to get a drill bit that matches the screw diameter (normally 2mm or 4mm on the guitars!) and just drill to the depth of the screw!

Also, DAMN, you got one of the good lookin basses that I wanted... But anyway, we all really love seeing where everyone is up to in their builds, so start up a thread in the "My Build Diary" sub-forum and document every stage of the build!

One last thing: you should probably be familiar with us all talking about Wudtone (aka Luthier's Gold!) and you probably would have seen the awesome looking Axes that can be created via Wudtone, so if you want a neat finish, try it!

Cheers,
Callum

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Quote from Matty on March 11, 2013, 11:59

There is just one bit of advice I'm hoping someone can help me with. Looking at the photos, it appears the bridge holes aren't pre-drilled. What's the best method to get the measurements to make accurate holes to secure the bridge?

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Bas guitars.....ummmmmmm.......

1800 DingoBass!

If it's anything like an acoustic or electric then measure from the nut to the 12th Fret, then from the 12th fret use the same measurement plus approx. 3mm to get the correct intonation. This final measurement is from the 12th Fret to the adjustable saddles of the bridge. Usually you would adjust the saddles of the bridge to the centre position.



DB should be able to confirm.

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Quote from Gavin1393 on March 11, 2013, 17:02

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Quote from Matty on March 11, 2013, 11:59

There is just one bit of advice I'm hoping someone can help me with. Looking at the photos, it appears the bridge holes aren't pre-drilled. What's the best method to get the measurements to make accurate holes to secure the bridge?

---

Bas guitars.....ummmmmmm.......

1800 DingoBass!

If it's anything like an acoustic or electric then measure from the nut to the 12th Fret, then from the 12th fret use the same measurement plus approx. 3mm to get the correct intonation. This final measurement is from the 12th Fret to the adjustable saddles of the bridge. Usually you would adjust the saddles of the bridge to the centre position.




DB should be able to confirm.

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Yep, Gavin has got it all sewn up!

Good luck with the build Matt, and as I always say..... I know, I know guys, you are all tired of hearing me say it but for Matt's benefit...
Take your time, a slow build will always be a good build!

Thanks for your help everyone :) That's really cleared it up for me.

While I'm certainly excited to get to work on the kit, I'm definitely planning to take my time to make sure I get everything done accurately. I'd much prefer to take the extra time to make sure I'm doing the job properly than waste all that time I've saved, and probably more still, correcting mistakes made as a result of rushing.

I'm certainly familiar with everyone talking about Wudtone here, and seeing some of the remarkable results people have had using the product on their kits, but I'm not entirely sure just yet how I'll be finishing this kit yet, or what colour it'll turn out. I've been using the red pearloid pickguard as a base to try and pick a suitable finish. I have considered going a straight black, or perhaps olympic white with black hardware. I was even thinking that most manly of colours...baby blue, might work well with the pickguard.

I'm definitely hoping to be able to take plenty of pictures along the way and keep a build log here. As well as being something to reference later down the track, it would also be helpful to get advice and such as I'm working on the build.

Thanks again guys. Glad to be on board.

Hi Matty, welcome aboard. If I can add my two cents, I'm a big fan of the baby blue with red pearloid scratch plate. I did one of my first kits in that combo and people still comment how cool it looks. It's a classic combo. Here's a (not very good) photo:




http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...Guitar-003.jpg

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Quote from adam on March 11, 2013, 20:08
Hi Matty, welcome aboard. If I can add my two cents, I'm a big fan of the baby blue with red pearloid scratch plate. I did one of my first kits in that combo and people still comment how cool it looks. It's a classic combo. Here's a (not very good) photo:




http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...Guitar-003.jpg

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Adam, I thought I must've seen that configuration somewhere to have gotten the idea. Now I remember seeing that very guitar hanging in the background in some of your instructional videos haha! I agree the baby blue looks great with the red pearloid pickguard, and after thinking it over all day, I'm pretty sure my bass will end up with this colour scheme too.

And just as a follow up from my measurements question before, I was taking measurements on my current bass (a Yamaha RBX270 fittingly enough), and wound up with measurements of 43.5cm from the top/headstock end of the nut to the bottom of the 12th fret/top of the 13th, and 43.5cm from the bottom of the 12th fret to the centre of the middle bridge saddles, making for a total of 87cm from the nut to the saddle. Am I on the right track with this?

One last thing I've been meaning to inquire about, I know I should be masking the neck pocket to avoid getting any paint in there so the neck sits right, but should I be masking the base of the neck that will be sitting in the pocket as well, or is it alright to apply the finish over that section of the neck?

Thanks again for all the input everyone. This really is a great, helpful community here.

Hey Matt, if you have a good image editor (like paint.net which I use, or gimp or even photoshop, just not Microsoft Paint!!!) do what I did, and copy the image of the Wudtone kit that you like, and layer it over the image of the kit with a mock up build. Then just remove the parts of the 2 images that aren't needed, and merge them into one image!!! There is a thread where I posted an image like that, so see if you can hunt it down!

Cheers,
Callum

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Quote from Matty on March 11, 2013, 20:32

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Quote from adam on March 11, 2013, 20:08
Hi Matty, welcome aboard. If I can add my two cents, I'm a big fan of the baby blue with red pearloid scratch plate. I did one of my first kits in that combo and people still comment how cool it looks. It's a classic combo. Here's a (not very good) photo:




http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...Guitar-003.jpg

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Adam, I thought I must've seen that configuration somewhere to have gotten the idea. Now I remember seeing that very guitar hanging in the background in some of your instructional videos haha! I agree the baby blue looks great with the red pearloid pickguard, and after thinking it over all day, I'm pretty sure my bass will end up with this colour scheme too.

And just as a follow up from my measurements question before, I was taking measurements on my current bass (a Yamaha RBX270 fittingly enough), and wound up with measurements of 43.5cm from the top/headstock end of the nut to the bottom of the 12th fret/top of the 13th, and 43.5cm from the bottom of the 12th fret to the centre of the middle bridge saddles, making for a total of 87cm from the nut to the saddle. Am I on the right track with this?

One last thing I've been meaning to inquire about, I know I should be masking the neck pocket to avoid getting any paint in there so the neck sits right, but should I be masking the base of the neck that will be sitting in the pocket as well, or is it alright to apply the finish over that section of the neck?

Thanks again for all the input everyone. This really is a great, helpful community here.

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Hey Matt,

You are very close with your measurements,
To be spot on, take the first measurement from the inside edge of the nut (fret board side) to the middle of the 12th fret, then from the middle of the 12th to the bridge.

If you like the blue, I would recommend the Tbird finish. I am working on a JM at the moment finished in this and it is starting to look very nice.
The blue does bounce off the red pick guard beautifully.

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Quote from dingobass on March 12, 2013, 06:20
Hey Matt,

You are very close with your measurements,
To be spot on, take the first measurement from the inside edge of the nut (fret board side) to the middle of the 12th fret, then from the middle of the 12th to the bridge.

If you like the blue, I would recommend the Tbird finish. I am working on a JM at the moment finished in this and it is starting to look very nice.
The blue does bounce off the red pick guard beautifully.

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Thanks for that clarification dingobass. I've tried my luck taking measurements on my bass again, and wound up with 42cm from the inside edge of the nut to the middle of the 12th fret, and 45cm from the middle of the 12th fret to the bridge saddles. Have I got it right this time?

I have been looking at the Wudtone kits, but I'm unsure which colour I'd go with. All the blues look a lot harsher than what I'd intended to go with. Is it possible to get a softer finish, something closer to that baby blue, with one of these kits?

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I've tried my luck taking measurements on my bass again, and wound up with 42cm from the inside edge of the nut to the middle of the 12th fret, and 45cm from the middle of the 12th fret to the bridge saddles. Have I got it right this time?

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When you say 'To the middle of the fret' you do mean to the fret bar don't you, or are you actually going halfway between the bars ? The measurement is to the 12th fret bar itself. If you're going inbetween the fret bars it'll give you length error you're seeing.

http://funkybluesmusic.com/garygraym..._fretboard.gif

Hey Matt another newb here AND a bass player.

Measured my 2 basses (Ibanez SDGR, and an old Fender Jazz) and they both measure 43cm from the fretboard side of the nut to the middle of the 12th fret wire. Another 43cm (average) from the middle of the 12th fret wire to the saddles. The saddles are adjustable to different lengths for intonation from 43cm to about 44cm.

One day I might be able to afford new strings and then I'll have to adjust those saddles again.

Hope this helps
rob

Mike and Robin, thanks heaps for your help. In my rush taking the measurements I actually did only go to the middle of the fret itself, silly as it sounds now.

I've just now remeasured my bass, and the numbers I got are in line with the measurements Robin provided for his basses. Wound up with 43.2cm from the bottom of the nut to the 12th fret wire, and 43.5cm from the 12 fret wire to the adjustable saddles, which shows the extra 3mm in the bottom measurement Gavin mentioned in his post to get the positioning.

Took me a while to get there, but having figured all this out now should save me a lot of time once it comes time to start on the kit itself.

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Quote from Matty on March 12, 2013, 15:47
Mike and Robin, thanks heaps for your help. In my rush taking the measurements I actually did only go to the middle of the fret itself, silly as it sounds now.

I've just now remeasured my bass, and the numbers I got are in line with the measurements Robin provided for his basses. Wound up with 43.2cm from the bottom of the nut to the 12th fret wire, and 43.5cm from the 12 fret wire to the adjustable saddles, which shows the extra 3mm in the bottom measurement Gavin mentioned in his post to get the positioning.

Took me a while to get there, but having figured all this out now should save me a lot of time once it comes time to start on the kit itself.

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As long as you get there in the end is all that counts!!