PBG-2 Shred/Djent

Hi all,

This is my first guitar build and I've decided to try the PBG-2 as my first victim. I was initially attracted to the shape of the body and particularly loved the finish shown in DB's demo. I am hoping to achieve a similar sort of finish using Dingotone Karijini Red on the body & headstock and Bloodwood on the neck.

I had good intentions of starting this diary from the moment I opened the box but like most things never got round to it. I have however been taking photos along the way and will add them shortly.

I look forward to sharing my experience with you all and hopefully receiving some constructive feedback and help along the way.

Cheers,

Wanners

love the shape of these, reminds of of the EVH Wolfgangs, good luck dude!

Yeah would have loved to have a similar sort of headstock shape to the EVH. Given the positioning of the machine head holes, I decided to go with a Fernandes Monterey style in the end

Here are some photos of the body straight out of the box with some cardboard templates of different headstocks I was trying out.

There were a few glue spots on the body which I got rid of with ease. There was however a weird mark/crack across the body and into the bottom left corner of the neck pup cavity. I have been trying to sand it out but don't know how far to take it.

It looks like the factory might have glued the crack as well.

I'm thinking you're looking at paint rather than a transparent finish...that crack is in a bad spot. What about paint either side of the midline, with a natural finish up the middle like a reverse-racing stripe?

If it was on the treble side I would suggest covering it with a pickguard.

yeah its going to be hard to hide that crack. Wanners have you grain filled the body ? Looks like it

Hi Wokkaboy, I don't think I had grain filled it in those photos. I have filled it since then with some mahogany timbermate and tried sanding it back. I'll upload some photos of what it looks like currently when I get home.

Hi Island_Moose, that actually doesn't sound too bad having the transparent racing stripe down the middle. Don't know how I would go with painting the body though

Here are some pics of the crack now (post filler and sanding). How do you all think this would go with a Karijini Red? Would it be significantly visible after staining?

Another issue is I've sort of created a bit of a low spot in the area from trying to sand it out.

Hi Wanners, the good news is the crack isn't deep. You have tidied it up nicely.
I think karijini red will look excellent on the mahogany. I've have a crack at a stain coat. See if the low spot is visible after the coat.

Hi all, here are some pics of the headstock shape I went with. Still needs a lot of sanding to get the curves just right.

I'm still sanding the mahogany body with the 180 grit - taking my time and trying to adhere to DB's sanding rule. Don't know Ive gone too hard though as I have started noticing some spots showing through the grain though on the right hand side of the body. Are these polished/compressed spots, or just the natural qualities of the mahogany?

Ive attached a photo of the body after a once over with a damp cloth too.

That looks totally insane! :)

Those "marks" are actually the natural figure of the timber.
Sand it down to 320/ 400 and watch those babies leap out at ya.

Hi all, sorry for the double up on posts but I couldn't fit all the photos into one.

I have also noticed that when I place the neck into the pocket, the fretboard sits significantly proud of the body (approx 10mm) which is a little worrying as I want the floyd rose to sit flush with the body for a low action setup. There is also a visible gap between the neck heel and the inside of the pocket. I'm not too worried about this gap though, as I'm sure it would give me some wiggle room when setting up the scale length.

I have compared the mock build PBG-2 to one of my Jackson FR guitars which shows 10mm to the strings from the body. All of my fixed bridge bridge guitars sit a lot lower too.

Should I give the under side of the neck heel or pocket a light sand to reduce the height?

Awesome!! Good to hear that. Cheers DB

You can still get a low action, it just means you will have to set the Floyd detuning....oops...Floyd trem system a tad higher.

It is also possible to sand the heel but it can be tricky to get it even and square, also you may have to shorten the neck screws a bit so they don't rip through the fretboard.

Yeah I didn't really think about the impact on the neck screw lengths. Cheers DB.

The trem cavity is going to be stained anyway so it shouldn't matter too much if it sits a little bit higher than the body. I'd rather not mess around with the neck too much.

Hey Wanners, I have an un built PBG-2 kit and I just checked the height of the fingerboard in the pocket and mine was about 8mm to the fretboard. Yours looks a bit prouder. Make sure your neck heel is seated properly and there is no debris or burs in the pocket.
As DB says better not play with the heel or pocket so I'd see how the action is when you get to putting the kit together and string it up.
Grain looks excellent on the body. Keep sanding !

Just for a point of reference, I measured my PBG-2 (Astro) for the neck height. It was 10mm to the top of the 24th fret from the body
Attachment 5346
which left the top of the bridge 'plate' about 3.5mm above the top of the body
Attachment 5347
I would've liked it to be flush with the body as well, but isn't that noticeable. Hope this helps.

Grant

good one Grant good info there for Wanners and when I finally build the kit. Don't think a slightly high floyd trem will look out of place

Cheers Wokks. Should note that the string height at 12th fret is 2.25mm, low E side, which is a little on the high side.

sure that could be tweaked a bit Grant. How does yours play ?
I forgot how cool these kits are when I pulled it out of the box.

Plays great, well, as good as I can play anyway. That's why the string height is up a bit, I hack more than play. When - if - I improve, the action can be lowered.

Cheers for that info Grant!