TLA-1 - first kit

Hi everyone,
This is my first attempt at building a guitar. I am using the ash tele body finished with dark amber wudtone.
My plan at this stage is to use the pitbull headstock shape.

Cheers,
Tom
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...3768-image.jpg

hey Tom, welcome to the forum, great kit to start on. Start sanding and do a mock build to make sure it fits together well. Looks like you scored a good looking kit.
Do you mean you will build it with the headstock unshaped ? If you have got minimal tools I'd recommend buying a saw and cut a tele shape headstock - it will look a billion dollars better

Hi Tom! Looks like a great kit. The ash tele's really come up nicely with Wudtone and dark amber is a great colour choice. Have fun!

cheers,
Gav.

Cheers guys,
In one of the instructional videos it mentions a pitbull shape and that there was a template somewhere on the website. I have do e a forum search but can't find it. Failing that I will go the classic fender tele shape. Any ideas where I can find a printable template?

Hi Tom,

I can certainly give you a copy of the "Pit Bull Guitars" shape that we designed, but, to be honest, when we did that video, we were very inexperienced. I haven't put that headstock shape on the site, because nobody has asked for it, but I can send it to you as a PDF if you want it. Personally, I like it, but it's not everyone's cuppa.

Hi Tom. I'm curious like Wooka. Are you going to keep the paddle shape for the headstock? It really isn't that hard to shape it to a standard template or design your own. Even if you cut it roughly you can then sand it back. Personally, I'd think about it a bit more, but go with your heart. Thanks for starting a build diary.
Cheers.

I found fender templates so that should do...

I found fender templates so that should do...

That body looks really good. Nice and consistent colour and grain at the moment, which seems less common for the ash bodies than some of the others imho. It's going to look great.

Headstock shaped, body & neck sanded
I picked up a little gouge (maybe a mark from manufacturing, but more likelihood something I did) right near the nut that I had to sand out.
To shape the headstock I used a jigsaw to do the first pass and then a rasp and sandpaper. I don't have much in the way of tools so I had to do it by hand.

The next step is the wudtone base coat.

Do you have to do anything to the fretboard?
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...3k2c-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...l681-image.jpg

nice Tele style shape, that worked out pretty well.

Welcome and enjoy

In terms of what to do with the fretboard - keep an eye on DB's build diary for his little bro to the bass and work out his questions, then a little package may wing it's way towards you... (http://www.pitbullguitars.com/commun...topic&t=1304.9). Alternatively, you could use an oil like Lem Oil or Dr Ducks Axe Wax to finish off the fretboard. Both are generally available from most music stores. Having used both, they are both pretty straightforward to use. Generally though sanding is minimal on the fretboards. If you're feeling adventurous though, it is possible to replace fret dots with shell - see http://www.pitbullguitars.com/commun...iewtopic&t=998.

Thanks for the heads up Brendan, DB's through body build will be something that I will keep my eye on.

I think i will keep the standard fret dots, not feeling quite that adventurous.

One coat of the dark amber in and it's really brought the grain out nicely; although the color is a bit darker than I was expecting, so I'm not sure how many more coats I will put on it. I might just do the one more, but I can't see myself doing any more than 3 (and that at a stretch).

I just spotted a bit of what could be a grease mark to the left of the bridge pickup cavity. Any tips for getting it off?
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...i9o3-image.jpg

Hi guys,

I need some advice/help with this - i tried a mock up assembly (I now know I should have done this first) and it seems that there are a couple of (potential) issues with how things fit together on the body.
There seems to be a 1cm approx gap between the pick guard and the bridge and the base of the neck when I thought it was all supposed to be basically flush.

Have I missed something?

Also the slot for the neck in the pick guard is too narrow.
Should I just widen it up? Any suggestions for how? My hunch would be to use a Stanley knife or similar.

Cheers

Hi Tom,
yes a mock build should be done first thing but you haven't gone too far with the build.
With the grease mark on the body, this could be glue or even grease from your skin. Will it be covered with the pickguard? If not think you have to sand back these areas and rub a wet cloth over until there is no evidence. Use say a 320 grit paper so you can apply your next dark amber coat over it.
Most of the tele kits the bridge pup cavity is a bit too far south, so if you don't have a router you can enlarge the cavity about 5mm toward the neck. Some forum people have drilled small holes, then chiselled the rough out. It will be covered by the bridge plate.
With the neck heel does that fit all the way in the neck pocket ? If not you will need to sand off small amounts of each side of the neck heel till it fits. Sand off small amounts and do a test fit.
Often the pickguards need widening around the neck. Don't use a sharp blade, use a fairly fine hand file and again test regularly so you don't take off too much material.
Maybe if you can please post photos will make these issues clearer

Thanks for the quick reply.

I wasn't aware of that issue with the bridge pup cavity, it's some comfort that others have gone before.

As below it looks like I will have to drill and chisel, as I don't have a router. I guess then my main concern is to make sure the bridge remains square.

The neck fits in fine, the only issue was with how it fits into the pick guard.


http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...jxez-image.jpg

Before you start drilling and/or chiseling you should clamp the neck in place and measure out your scale length to ensure you get the bridge in the correct position. If you just use the pickguard as your guide you could end up with the bridge being too far forward.

good point Scott, the dimensions of the ash kits may vary to the alder kits which needed routing the bridge cavity.
Tom maybe if you can please do what Scott suggested and post the dimensions nut to 12th fret and 12th fret to both outside saddles. cheers

Tom, there's also typically a gap between the pickguard and the bridge of a couple of mm... Without ever building a Tele - (so more than likely wrong), it looks like you need to move the bridge back a bit... Scott and Wokks have given some good advice - getting the bridge in the right place is the critical bit here. If it's wrong, you won't be able to intonate it, which means it will never be fully in tune.
Photo of a Fender tele - showing the gap.
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.6079...232672&pid=1.7

My pickguard on a similar kit was also too narrow at the top.

IMHO you've got a nice enough body to ditch the covers and leave it all showing

Thanks guys,

I measured the distance between the 12th fret and either end and bridge as located now is too far south. The bridge at its furthest extent is only just the right length and I don't want to kill all my adjustment like that.

I think I will take out just a little bit more <5mm just to give me the room for further adjustment after final assembly.

The first photo is the bridge as routed and the inside of the black mark is the measure.

The second photo is where I think I will move it to. Thoughts?

Any advice for tidying up the edges on the scratch plate?
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...l159-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...884m-image.jpg

Hi Tom,

have you checked the position of the back mounting screws using the Stewmac fret position calculator? Always my first port of call to get a feel for whether the bridge is positioned correctly..

http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator

cheers,
Gav.

Hi Gav,

I tried the link, but I'm not sure how to interpret the results. The distance between the nut and the 12th fret is 320mm so the calculator spits out the following length.
Telecaster® style bridges - 646.274mm (± 0.5mm)
Is that to the saddle or the screw point on the bridge? If it is to the screw then the existing is more than 15mm too long (I.e. 663mm) and my proposed is too long by 5mm (652mm).

Hey Tom,

Hmm interesting. My understanding is that it is to the end mounting screws as you say. I think that this definitely supports your decision to more the bridge forward. Interesting that it is so far out though. Maybe the resident luthiers will have something more intelligent to say about this than me :).

cheers,
Gav.

Tom, 320mm seems a little on the short side for a PBG TL kit, all of mine are closer to 323-324mm. Are you measuring from the fretboard-side edge of the nut to the crown/peak/middle of the fretwire of the 12th fret? Like this:
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/images...caleLength.jpg
(a certain Mr Bramley has also done an excellent video on measuring scale length, it's using a G-style guitar so it's a shorter scale than yours)

Can you please double-check your measurements for us, just to make sure we can give you accurate advice.

Yeah, you are right Scott, I remeasured and it is 323mm. It still puts the setup as a bit long, but not by nearly as much. It means that where I want to move it to is just about spot on.

So I have put it all together and the guitar looks great, but now for the more important part. It looks like shifting the bridge a little bit north has worked well as the intonation is fine and didn't require much adjustment at all.

However i have been having some trouble getting the action right across the range of the fret board. At the moment the action is too high at the bridge end and too low (it jangles on the frets) at the nut end. I played a little with the truss rod, but that seems to pull the neck up, which isn't going to help. So I think I might try sticking a shim (i remember reading something about trying a slip of paper somewhere) at the bridge end between the neck and the body of the guitar.
Does that seem reasonable? or should I try something else?

Hi Tom,

A shim will get the strings down lower at the bridge end of the fretboard. A good rule of thumb is that near the lowest height adjustment on the bridge, the strings should touch the tops of the last fret(s). Then you have the opportunity to dial the action in by raising the bridge saddles bit by bit. If you can lower the bridge saddle so that the strings hit the last frets, then you don't need a shim.

When you say the strings jangle on the frets at the nut end it sounds like either your neck has a huge back bow, or your fret heights are uneven. Have you done a fret level and recrown on the frets at all? This is almost mandatory to get a nice action on these kit necks as the frets haven't been leveled in the factory.

To do the fret level you'll need a couple of tools: a notched straight edge, a sanding beam and a crowning file. There's lots of tutorials on You Tube that show you how to perform the fret level. The first step is to use the truss rod to get the neck perfectly flat. Even this might help your action in the short term.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

cheers,
Gav.

Another thing - given it's a bolt on neck - check that the neck screws are tight - small changes in the neck screws can make a big change at the nut - that said - sounds like one of the other issues Gav has mentioned above.
Careful with the truss rods - they are double action - they work both ways and a 1/2 twist is really a full twist of the truss rod...
Easiest way to check for back / front bow - fret a string at the first and last fret - should give you a beautiful straight line. If the neck deviates too far from the string, you need to look at adjusting the truss rod. May be worth a couple of photos so we can see what the issues are...

Hi guys,
Thanks for the pointers. I have checked the tighteness the neck screws and straightened the neck using the truss rod (I think I put it out playing around before I had any idea, as opposed to a little idea now). With the bridge saddles at minimum the strings do not touch the frets, so according to Gav's advice a shim might be worthwhile.

I haven't leveled the frets yet, I'll keep that as an option, but to my eye the frets look fairly even.

The saddles are just above the minimum and (I think) the guitar plays ok. However, the action is still a bit higher at the bridge end. As I haven't much electric experience, what is a good level of action to aim for?

If photos will help, what angles do you want?

Quote:

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/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from tomglyde on August 5, 2014, 19:49
I haven't leveled the frets yet, I'll keep that as an option, but to my eye the frets look fairly even.

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There is no way the frets will be level right off the cuff. There is very little tolerance for 'jangle' and I'd strongly recommend levelling the frets as a priority. Perhaps the only other test i'd recommend is to check that there is no back bow. Check as described by Brenden.
Back-bow, in almost all cases, causes the guitar to play improperly and is almost never desired in a guitar neck. Because back-bow causes the strings to become closer to the frets, back-bow can cause string buzzing and the inability to play on certain frets. Also, intonation may be affected by back-bow. The truss rod will need to be loosened to adjust the back-bow or flatten the neck/fretboard. By loosening the truss rod, you are allowing the neck to assume a more natural shape under the tension from the strings.