1st Pit Bull kit, LP1

Greetings from the USA. Here's my 1st Pit Bull kit in progress.

I've built kits before, as well as scratch builds and "parts guitars". I am always keeping an eye out for quality kits at reasonable prices, and so far I'm not disappointed with this one.

I've gone for a weathered/distressed look here (a frequent theme of mine). The color is Varathane Ebony stain. To get the look I was after I applied the stain, let it set 5 minutes or so, then wiped it down with mineral spirits to remove the excess, revealing some great contrast on the top, and a worn look on the back, sides, and headstock. Dog bone inlay on the headstock is mother of pearl. After gluing the neck the whole guitar was sprayed with 9 coats of rattle can nitro cellulose lacquer, satin finish.

That's nice Captcrank, really like that see through effect you've pulled in with the stain. Great Job!

Looking good man. The flame has popped very nicely indeed!

cheers,
Gav.

Welcome CaptCrank

Wow, really cool guitar - welcome

give the dog a bone CaptCrank nice work

mmmmm dark goodness!

Yes, coming along nicely.

Thanks everyone. I'll post pics of the finished guitar once completed... Soon... Maybe.

A little more detail about the build to this point:

When I first test fit the neck there was some significant lateral movement. Hoarder that I am, I found some very thin cutoffs of poplar from my last scratch build. After trimming to fit the treble side of the neck tenon I glued them up and left clamped overnight. Then, little by little I was able to sand these shims back until I got a nice fit.

The most time consuming part was, of course, spraying the lacquer. Per the label recommendation, each coat was sprayed at least 30 minutes apart. I soaked the cans in hot water (120-130° F) before spraying and between coats to keep it from spattering in my cold garage. Before entering the garage to spray I donned an appropriate respirator because I like breathing. Vent fan in the window and the cat flap opened to provide a draft, the odor never entered the house. So it was respirator, go spray, return can to hot water, set timer, play GTA V until timer was up, repeat. That was Saturday in a nutshell.

That said, I've got appx 10 hours in this so far. From experience I estimate 3-5 more hours to wire it and dial in the setup. Probably Saturday...

Nice! The good thing about that clear is you can keep layering it in quick time. I have been using the polyurethane clear, probably harder and more difficult to scratch, but takes a whole lot more time between coats so the whole process is spread over weeks (yawn).....

I use waterbase poly on furniture. Durable, easy, and after 3-4 coats it gives a great gloss finish without all the sanding and polishing of lacquer. If I ever decide to build a "shiny" guitar, I'll likely go that route. Of course, purists would burn us at the stake for even considering poly on a guitar 😉. But I really like satin, or semi-gloss finishes and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Cheers!

Ha! Won't be the first time I've annoyed someone... I just need to find a finish hard enough to try to make up for the fact than I'm damn clumsy!

It's more the depth of finish that matters than the material. Keep it thin and there's negligible difference to the sound. I think Nitro wears better with age, whereas poly mainly chips or makes long cracks, but poly is better at shrugging off light contacts with other objects.

True. Biggest advantage with nitro is that it's easier to repair. A cracked poly finish would need to be stripped before refinishing, but nitro just needs a bit of sanding and re-spray and the new finish blends with the old. Especially important when repairing the "inevitable" broken headstock on Gibson necks.

Interesting, I didn't know that! Mind you I'm hoping not to go so far as breaking the neck.......

Hi, Captcrank, it's very interesting your threat, and what you are telling about nitro and poly. Up to now, I'm doing tests with poly and it's liking to me because it seems to be pretty hard and it will resists along time, but didn't know that it's more difficult to repair it later. I will keep in mind. By the way I like poly, but won't forget that consideration.

Need to get better pics but I'm pleased with the results

Nice looking build Crank! Well done.
One suggestion, and this is purely a personal thing, but I would change the volume and tone knobs to a matching colour to the pick guard and pup surrounds. I like things to match!

I had the same thought. These are what came with the kit. I recently got a 3D printer... Think I'm going to try printing some knobs.

Nice! Doesn't get much more original than that!!

Actually, after refreshing my memory by looking at pics of factory LPs, cream pickup mounts and pickguard with amber knobs is correct.

But I'll still try 3D printing knobs for scratch builds

Classic look, great job.

Sent from Android Nougat

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Originally Posted by captcrank

Actually, after refreshing my memory by looking at pics of factory LPs, cream pickup mounts and pickguard with amber knobs is correct.

But I'll still try 3D printing knobs for scratch builds

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Yeah, but classic doesn't mean it looks nice to the eye!! :p

No, it was just practicality. The same knobs on all Les Pauls. It generally worked, but other colour choices would have been more appropriate in some cases.

Good to know, and yes... Other choices would be nice. However, knobs are cheap so it's not a huge problem to replace them.

And my 3D printing experiment yielded useful knobs (sorry, no pics). But it can really only produce solid colors or semi-transparent.

Nothing more classy than a classic black LP. You've highlighted the flame very nicely indeed - great job!

cheers,
Gav.

Thanks Gav, and everyone else. Once I finish my current scratch build I'll be ordering the mahogany Rickenbacher kit, which shall be finished in the classic black and white.