September 2013 Guitar of the Month

Enter your finished guitar here to be judged for September Pit Bull Guitars Guitar of the Month.

Remember:

• One guitar per member per month (if we have more than 8 entries)
  It must be a Pit Bull Guitars kit (mods and upgrades acceptable)
  We need 4 photos: full guitar shot from the front, close up of the body finish, shot of the back of the guitar and close up of the headstock (please no brand name logos)
  Post your photos in this thread or email them to adam@pitbullguitars.com.
  Competition for September closes 31 August 2013.
  Winner will be judged by the Pit Bull Guitars Panel.

Looking forward to this, and see some of the great builds that were not in time for the August GOTM

First cab off the rank for September...and using lacquer...the cheek of the man!! ;)

Here she is, my first build, the LP-1.
Standard kit build, other than the vintage Gibson styled tuners, truss rod cover and the Sprague Orange Drop Capacitors.
Amber stain wiped on, couple of coats of clear, then red dye in clear to spray the sunburst.
That way I didn't loose any of that beautiful flame maple grain.
Thoroughly enjoyed building it and learnt so much along the way...especially patience.

Thanks also to some of you guys for your help and guidance when a newbie required it...appreciated.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...-Full-Body.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...Coloseup-1.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...-Full-Back.jpg

The headstock and another closeup.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...-Headstock.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...Coloseup-2.jpg

I don't think I've seen a shot of the back of your LP yet Andy. The back looks just as Impressive as the front.
You must be well chuffed.

The LPAS is now on it's way to your place Andy!

LPAS?? sorry Pest, don't understand the lingo.

Lock up that guitar Andy....Thick chains....

Pest is the leader of the LPAS

Les Paul Acquisition Squad.....

Andy, you are going to scare away the competition with that AXE.....!!! It's a beauty.

Les Paul Acquisition Squad....ha ha good one!
Bit like Adam's Tele Squad.
Will definitely get out the chains and padlocks.

top work Andy, that finish is awesome and super glossy.
Love the detail of the custom logo

that is a beautiful build Andy, well done, looks like a Les Paul from the factory, other than your headstock logo.
Nice work on the burst, this will be a serious contender for September GOTM for sure !

Andy, I'm sure there are a number of looking at the 'les paul' scrip and the logo on your headstock and going "How did he do that?" It is so crisp and clear. Can you share?

Is it something you did yourself?
If not where did you get it from?
Is it Mother Of Pearl, a decal, etc?

Best headstock I have ever seen completed.

loving the lp andy, great work on the paint and detail headstock ,, love feedback on how --like gavin1393 said !!! are you a sign writer or lashout on some decal stickers ,, I've seen make your own head stock decals on ebay ,, very interesting to know what you done ??

To answer your questions regarding the headstock decals, yes I did them myself.

I have a small signwriting and graphic art business with all the necessary equipment and computer programs, etc. at my fingertips to make it possible. I gave it a fair bit of thought, and this is how I tackled it.

Printed the whole thing as a single decal, my logo and Les Paul lettering on a black background, just slightly oversized for the headstock. Applied it and then trimmed it to shape once on.
Most of the work was in vectorizing the "Les Paul" lettering. By using vector graphics you get a really sharp image, no matter what size you're working in, no loss of clarity.
For the mother of pearl in my logo, (knew that would trick a few of you), I grabbed a photo of MOP texture, and placed that within the letters EA..."tricks of the trade".
Once applied and trimmed, I sprayed clear lacquer coats over the decal to get the glassy finish.

I used our wide format solvent printer, which gives a great print and can take lacquer over it.

There you go...the secret has been revealed!

Awesome, reckon there are a few amongst us who would hire those services!

yeah, that decal is great!

Just a quick note on Trademark decals. Legally, it is absolutely fine for anyone to make a guitar (kit or scratch) and put any trademark logo on it, as long as it is for your own personal use and you are not selling the guitar.

It is covered under fair use of trademark for "fan use".

However, if we (Pit Bull Guitars) show off your guitar (on Facebook or our site) we prefer to play it safe and black out any trademarks. So, please don't be offended if we do this.

^^ True Adam. You don't want the big guitar company's legal gurus chasing after our hobby in the name of trademark infractions.

I do love the logo though...

Quote:

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Quote from adam on August 12, 2013, 18:21
Just a quick note on Trademark decals. Legally, it is absolutely fine for anyone to make a guitar (kit or scratch) and put any trademark logo on it, as long as it is for your own personal use and you are not selling the guitar.

It is covered under fair use of trademark for "fan use".

However, if we (Pit Bull Guitars) show off your guitar (on Facebook or our site) we prefer to play it safe and black out any trademarks. So, please don't be offended if we do this.

---

And seeing as Gibson has forced Warmoth to stop making anything that looks like one of their guitars, I think Adam would like to avoid contact with their legal team

Fully understand your position Adam.
Probably a bit naive, but I never even gave it a thought...only really thought that about the guys that actually stick gibson or fender on theirs.
Happy to black out the offending article on the two photos and resubmit them if necessary.

No problem Andy, I've already done that on the Facebook photos I posted.

[quote]/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Andyport on August 12, 2013, 08:07
WOW, Andy, what a great guitar. Let me know what month you are entering a kit so if I have one right to go I'll be able to hold it back, just to get a slight chance.
Rick

Since it is displayed here under September, I'm guessing he's entering it this month?

Thinking more of future builds Gavin.

Thanks Rick.
Won't be long and I'll be starting the ES-1GT I've had tucked away for a while.
Now that will be a challenge.
Not sure what finish to go with...I'm thinking classic cherry red.

Quote:

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/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Ricmo on August 14, 2013, 09:44
Thinking more of future builds Gavin.

---

Don't be psyched out Rickmo! Anyone can win it but I have to agree with you that the standards are being set very high lately!

Truly an amazing job Andy. It's the standard of finish that I can only dream about. Well done!

Cheers,
Gavin.

Quote:

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/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Andyport on August 14, 2013, 14:30
Thanks Rick.
Won't be long and I'll be starting the ES-1GT I've had tucked away for a while.
Now that will be a challenge.
Not sure what finish to go with...I'm thinking classic cherry red.

---

Can't wait to check that one out, my main guitar is a 335, arguably one of the best in Australia, no thats a lie there is no argument (ha ha) and it will be nice to look at the one you make. (see profile pic).

No worries Gavan, I was just complementing Andy. Now that we know the secret of his fancy head-stock he better watch out. (ha ha)

Doh...knew I should have kept that to myself Rick...lol

Wow this month is really getting away from me. It's the 20th already.

I plan on entering my ST-1, I just need some rusty screws to replace the shiny one's. and some time to take some glamor shots.

Here is my entry for GOTM.

The SKAT.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...081v-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...090y-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...4b41-image.jpg

Some more shots of the Wudtone finish. Overall I tried achieve a smooth Saturn finish to give it a natural timber feel.
I had a great experience building my first PBG kit. And I am chuffed with the final results.

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...xrdb-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...b4zi-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...8tt0-image.jpg

Fantastic work here, Dan.

I am breathing a sigh of relief I don't have any up for selection this month.... :D

Wow... just wow Dan!!! Great work!!!

That is a beautiful looking guitar Dan, and totally unique. Well done mate.

rob

well done Dan, very original look, even down to the control knobs and black bridge pieces. Did you make the scratchplate and back trem/spring cover by hand ? Did you overlay wood over the headstock as well ?

I'm glad you guy's appreciate it. Thanks for the kind words.

Wokka, for the scratch plate and back plate I laminated 5 pieces of veneer then cut and shaped with a jigsaw and sandpaper. Then I stained the patern and finished in fretboard oil.
I had planned on veneering the headstock, but it had such a nice flame in the maple that I didn't want to cover up so I just stained the front of the headstock.
The black saddles are actually graphite saddles, and the alloy knobs were $2 at Jaycar.

No one noticed the knob for the whammy bar I whittled from a 4x2 sleeper.

Yep, very well made, looks a treat.

nice one Dan looks awesome